Sarah and Granny Rose last left off
HERE.
The first thing Sarah thought when she woke up on the forest floor was, “Where am I, and why am I here?” The second thing was, “What is that stench?” That’s when it all came back to her – the fleeing from home after Granny Rose’s death, the gorging on the berries, and the sickness. She was parched, her throat as dry as the July garden soil, but at least her stomach no longer churned. As she sat up, her head spun, and she had to lie back down. She needed to find water so she could wash and drink. Sitting up again, more slowly, the earth shifted softly, but not as rough as the first time. She steadied herself by placing her hands on the ground. And when a voice spoke, she almost fell over again.
“You’re in a fine mess, aren’t ya? I thought you was gonna sleep all day.”
Sarah’s eyes widened at the sight of a girl – at least she seemed to be a girl with long tawny braids falling to her waist. But everything else – her worn bib overalls and her wide brimmed felt hat – everything else screamed boy. Sarah instinctively tried to push herself away, to give herself some space from this unknown girl, but she didn’t have the strength in her arms.
“Don’t be ‘fraid. I won’t hurt ‘cha. I’m Genesis Louisa Blevins. But my friends call me Genny. My Papa used to be a travelin’ preacher, so he named me after the Bible and after my mama, but then he said God tol’ him to stop all that harassin’ people ‘bout hell and damnation, to put down the Good Book and do some hard work to feed his daughter. Tha’s me. He been workin’ the coal mines ever since. Say, you got a name or what?”
Sarah just stared. She’d never met anyone that talked so much. She wasn’t sure her voice would work, but she opened her mouth and said, simply, “It’s Sarah.”
“Alrighty, Sarah, I didn’t get to all my traps yet, for watchin’ you and waitin’ for you to get up, but we gotta get you washed. Leechy Creek ain’t far, we’ll go there. It’s called Leechy Creek on account of it’s got a lot of leeches, but don’t you worry ‘bout that. I know a swim hole in it that ain’t so bad. Gonna be cold tho. Think you can stand up?”
Sarah slowly pushed herself up. For a moment, the world spun again, and she wasn’t sure her legs would hold. But gradually the stars in her vision cleared.
“I can walk,” she said, as she tentatively placed one foot in front of the other.
“Hold up. Here, least take a few sips of my water,” Genny pushed a canteen towards Sarah, who took it and gulped the icy water with gratitude.
“Easy. I don’t know what you done to get so sick, but you drink too fast it’ll come back”
Sarah reluctantly handed the canteen back to Genny.
"Hang on, I gotta get my stilts!" Genny ran over to the base of a tree and grabbed two chopped circular slices of tree, with ropes attached. "I'm gonna be in the circus, you know. If I practice and I been practicin' ever day for 3 months now. Next time they come through town, I'm gonna join up. You ever seen a circus?"
Sarah just shook her head, not knowing what to make of Genny teetering on her crude stilts. Their progress down to Leechy Creek was slow, as Sarah was wobbly and Genny didn't move very fast either on her logs. Sarah's mind raced, as she worried about descending down off the ridge into the territory inhabited by more people. So many dangers lurked in the big unknown of other people, in the reliance of strangers. She tried to think of an alternative, but then her skin would itch with the filth, and she’d catch a whiff of her own feces, and she could barely stand it. Once she even gagged, and desperately hoped that the other girl didn't see. She figured it was best to just follow Genny. More than anything, she had to get out of this dress and scrubbed. After she got cleaned up, well then she could head back up the mountain into seclusion and safety.
The prompt this week was: What does your character want most?
On a side note, I wrote in a rescue because so many of you who commented on my last piece suggested it. I aim to please!
