Read Online Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 by Amanda Washington - Free Book Online

safe,” Liberty admitted as she filled up one of the bottles,
screwed on the lid, and handed it to him. “You helped me, fed me
and let me rest and in return I … well, I wasn’t very kind to you.
It’s just that Ashley—” she shrugged. “she’s really hurting about
whatever happened to her parents and I can’t handle a hurt kid.
Kinda gives me this crazy-protective vibe.” She filled the second
bottle.
    Crazy’s definitely
accurate.
    Connor stuffed both bottles in his bag
and bent down to fill another. “She never gave me the chance to
explain. Every time I’d try, she’d stick her fingers in her ears
and start singing.”
    Why am I telling her
this? he wondered, but that didn’t stop his
lips from flapping.
    “ I’m just so … I don’t know what to
do.” He twisted the plastic lid too tightly and it cracked. “Damn
it!”
    Liberty’s stare was uncomfortably
intense, like her wild green eyes were trying to penetrate his soul
or something ridiculous like that. Then she whispered, “You cannot
be rebuilt, until you are destroyed.”
    What the—? How can
she—?
    The bottle slipped out of Connor’s
hand. He reached for it, but just swatted it further away. It
plopped into the water and the fast current swept it away.
Disregarding the lost bottle, he stared at Liberty in disbelief,
wondering how she could possibly know the words his brother had
told him so many times. He had to have misheard her. “What did you
just say?” he asked.
    She bit her lip and looked down into the
water.
    Did she know Jacob? Is
there some kind of book they get this crap out of?
    “ Nothing. Never mind.” She handed him
the last full bottle, stood and raised an eyebrow at him in
question. “Why did you do it?” Connor opened his mouth to reply,
but she interrupted him. “No. On second thought, you can explain it
to both of us.”
    He let out an exasperated breath.
“Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said? I’ve tried to talk to Ashley.
She won’t listen.”
    “ Then you haven’t tried hard
enough.”
    There were so many thoughts jumbled in
his mind that he couldn’t force any of them through his
lips.
    Liberty rolled her eyes.
“Eat with us. You get one chance to plead your case, counselor.” She narrowed her
eyes. “And if you mess with me, or hurt that little girl, I swear
I’ll cut out your spleen.”
    “ Why my spleen?” Connor
asked.
    “ Because—” A vicious
smile spread across her face. “You could live without it.”
     
    * * *
     
    By the time Connor replenished his
water supply and washed up, the girls had the fire out and were
ready to go. Ashley kept glaring in Connor’s direction, but Liberty
seemed unaffected. She gave them each a fish and motioned for them
to follow her.
    Crispy skin and flaky meat danced over
Connor’s tongue as he walked beside Liberty. The crazy woman had
selected the smallest fish for herself and finished it quickly. She
handed the fourth fish to Ashley then licked her fingers clean.
Ashley broke the fish and handed half of it back to
Liberty.
    “ You’re a good kid, Ash.” Liberty
mussed up the girl’s hair. Ashley giggled and swatted her hand
away, which turned into a wrestling match and ended with each
wiping greasy hands on the other. Connor watched, wondering what
had transpired to make them so chummy.
    Liberty split the remaining half of
the fish, handing part of it to Connor.
    He looked over her bony figure. “Keep
it. You need it worse than I do.”
    “ What’s that supposed to mean?” She
was paying more attention to Connor than where she was going and
stumbled. Out of habit he reached for her, but she steadied herself
and eyed his hand.
    “ You’re nothing but skin and bones,”
he answered.
    A smile spread across Liberty’s face
that lit up her eyes and showed off her cheek bones. “I think
that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me,” she replied. “Now take
the damn thing. If I end up any more in your debt I’m going to
throw myself from