Read Online A Thread of Time: Firesetter, Book 1 by J. Naomi Ay - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J. Naomi Ay
Ads: Link
Jan!” Pellen called again, grabbing
the tiller and swinging it to and fro. Had I not been so busy trying to set
the sail, I would have told him the rudder was not an oar and no amount of
swaying would propel us any further.
“I can’t,” I cried instead, pulling the
sail up as quickly as I could, but there was no wind to catch us, only the
river’s current to carry us out to sea.
“Stop!” the men yelled, their guns
flashing brightly with yellow light. Something pinged against the mast,
followed by a scream from Pellen.
“He’s hit!” Dov called.
“Uncle?” I scrambled across the deck into
the cockpit where Pellen was clutching his arm, blood running through his
fingers like a sieve.
“Do something,” Dov begged.
“I’m trying!” I pulled the tiller from
Pellen’s hand, and pushed him onto the cockpit floor where he lay stunned,
watching the blood pool around him. His face had gone deathly white and his
body began to shake.
“Take the boys to the motherland, Jan,” he
murmured. “No matter what happens to me.”
Pointing the boat down river, I did my
best to fill the sail, although it merely luffed and rippled, flapping like a
useless wing. A shot pierced the sail and another hissed by my ear. “Get
down!” I yelled to Dov and Amyr, who stood clutching the cabin door.
“Do something!” Dov demanded and for the
second time, I thought he was speaking to me.
“I am! I am steering the boat. Get on
the floor before you are hit, too. Take Amyr with you,” I shouted, but neither
boy paid any attention to my voice.
Dov was pulling Amyr forward, instead of
down into the safety of the boat.
“What are you waiting for? Stop this
now.”
My cousin raised a hand, his palm
outstretched as if to catch an unseen ball, and then, I saw a flash of bright
white light.
From the shoreline, I heard an explosion,
a thunderous boom followed by another, and accompanied by the rancid scent of
burning flesh. At the same moment, my sails filled, a ferocious wind erupting
from behind my back, catching us and propelling us forward at a rapid clip.
We raced down river as if we were flying.
The sounds and scents from the explosion at the wharf receded into the past.
With them, disappeared my mother and my auntie and all of my life in that tiny
village.
Instead, I was embarking upon an adventure,
a journey to a new life in the motherland across the sea with Pellen, Dov, and
my cousin, Amyr, whose eyes shone like a million stars.
Just as we passed the mouth of the river,
bursting out to the open sea, Amyr placed a hand upon my uncle’s wound and
healed it with his touch.
Chapter 9
Ailana
When I was eighteen years old, I was
admitted to a university across the continent, surprising everyone, except for
myself. It was in the outskirts of the Capitol City, a prestigious and well known
institution, and I was very proud to have attained the rights to study there
amongst the most learned professors and smartest students in the land.
“How will you pay?” Grandmother demanded,
barely glancing up from the needlework in her lap. “I certainly can’t afford
it.”
“I will find a way,” I insisted. “I know
I will.”
“Better take your needle and thimble. You
can always sew.”
I would never sew. I would wait tables in
a restaurant, or sweep the floors and polish the silver in the house of a great
lady, long before I would submit again to hemming, darning, and tatting.
“Suit yourself,” Grandmother said with a
self-important sniff. “But, take this letter with a copy of my old royal
commission. It will admit you into the service gates of the Imperial Palace
where, at least, you’ll be paid well for your toils. Now, thank me, you
ungrateful child and give your old grandmother a kiss goodbye.”
I did both, somewhat insolently and with
little gratitude, although in hindsight, I have realized it was Grandmother
the tiller and swinging it to and fro. Had I not been so busy trying to set
the sail, I would have told him the rudder was not an oar and no amount of
swaying would propel us any further.
“I can’t,” I cried instead, pulling the
sail up as quickly as I could, but there was no wind to catch us, only the
river’s current to carry us out to sea.
“Stop!” the men yelled, their guns
flashing brightly with yellow light. Something pinged against the mast,
followed by a scream from Pellen.
“He’s hit!” Dov called.
“Uncle?” I scrambled across the deck into
the cockpit where Pellen was clutching his arm, blood running through his
fingers like a sieve.
“Do something,” Dov begged.
“I’m trying!” I pulled the tiller from
Pellen’s hand, and pushed him onto the cockpit floor where he lay stunned,
watching the blood pool around him. His face had gone deathly white and his
body began to shake.
“Take the boys to the motherland, Jan,” he
murmured. “No matter what happens to me.”
Pointing the boat down river, I did my
best to fill the sail, although it merely luffed and rippled, flapping like a
useless wing. A shot pierced the sail and another hissed by my ear. “Get
down!” I yelled to Dov and Amyr, who stood clutching the cabin door.
“Do something!” Dov demanded and for the
second time, I thought he was speaking to me.
“I am! I am steering the boat. Get on
the floor before you are hit, too. Take Amyr with you,” I shouted, but neither
boy paid any attention to my voice.
Dov was pulling Amyr forward, instead of
down into the safety of the boat.
“What are you waiting for? Stop this
now.”
My cousin raised a hand, his palm
outstretched as if to catch an unseen ball, and then, I saw a flash of bright
white light.
From the shoreline, I heard an explosion,
a thunderous boom followed by another, and accompanied by the rancid scent of
burning flesh. At the same moment, my sails filled, a ferocious wind erupting
from behind my back, catching us and propelling us forward at a rapid clip.
We raced down river as if we were flying.
The sounds and scents from the explosion at the wharf receded into the past.
With them, disappeared my mother and my auntie and all of my life in that tiny
village.
Instead, I was embarking upon an adventure,
a journey to a new life in the motherland across the sea with Pellen, Dov, and
my cousin, Amyr, whose eyes shone like a million stars.
Just as we passed the mouth of the river,
bursting out to the open sea, Amyr placed a hand upon my uncle’s wound and
healed it with his touch.
Chapter 9
Ailana
When I was eighteen years old, I was
admitted to a university across the continent, surprising everyone, except for
myself. It was in the outskirts of the Capitol City, a prestigious and well known
institution, and I was very proud to have attained the rights to study there
amongst the most learned professors and smartest students in the land.
“How will you pay?” Grandmother demanded,
barely glancing up from the needlework in her lap. “I certainly can’t afford
it.”
“I will find a way,” I insisted. “I know
I will.”
“Better take your needle and thimble. You
can always sew.”
I would never sew. I would wait tables in
a restaurant, or sweep the floors and polish the silver in the house of a great
lady, long before I would submit again to hemming, darning, and tatting.
“Suit yourself,” Grandmother said with a
self-important sniff. “But, take this letter with a copy of my old royal
commission. It will admit you into the service gates of the Imperial Palace
where, at least, you’ll be paid well for your toils. Now, thank me, you
ungrateful child and give your old grandmother a kiss goodbye.”
I did both, somewhat insolently and with
little gratitude, although in hindsight, I have realized it was Grandmother
Similar Books
