Page 33 of Everything Under the Sun

“Get up,” the voice urged, soft and not at all threatening. “Come on, wake up so you can get a bath and something to eat. I know you must be starving.”

The hand on my hip shook me a little harder until finally I was back in hell again.

My eyes opened a sliver at first, and then gradually the rest of the way as the reality of the moment became apparent.

It took a long time to realize that the rope had been cut from my wrists, and when I noticed, it woke me up the rest of the way. I looked down at my reddened wrists in a sort of awe, forgetting about the three women standing in the room with me.

“Come on,” the same woman insisted.

Still mesmerized by my small bit of freedom, my head rose slowly to look up at the woman.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

The woman wore a long, flowing dress the color of cream that hung loosely over her hips. Her strawberry-blonde hair fell neatly over her shoulders, a barrette on each side kept her bangs out of her face.

“No one here will hurt you.” She smiled down at me with kind eyes set in an inviting face, and reached out a slender hand.

I glanced over to see that Petra was no longer in the room.

With hesitation, I reached out my hand and placed it within the woman’s.

“Where is Petra?”

“She went to get a hot bath,” the woman answered. “It was harder to wake you, so we thought we’d let you sleep longer—you seemed to need it.”

I noticed the brunette woman to my right was pregnant.

“You said a hot bath?” I asked, realizing.

I could hardly believe such a thing. Back at home I learned to clean up quickly using what little water we could spare for bathing and washing dishes. There was never enough water for full baths—it would take many hours to carry enough back from the lake to fill just half a tub.

“Yes,” the woman answered with a gentle smile; she led me out into the hallway, and then told the other two women: “I’ll take it from here.”

The women left down the wide hallway, the fabric of their long dresses swishing about their legs.

The woman took me to a room with a cast iron tub on four clawed feet. Wisps of steam rose above the water, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. A bath full of hot, clean water just for me. My heart warmed, and a smile almost split my face, until I thought of Sosie and felt only guilt.

“Can you tell me anything about my sister?” I turned to the woman gathering a few things from a supply shelf.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she said, “but I don’t know who your sister is. Is she the girl you were asleep with? Petra?”

“No…no, my sister’s name is Sosie. She’s blind. That man, the Overseer, said she had to go to…the brothel.” For a second, I was uncertain if it was the word he had used.

I assumed by the woman’s silence she didn’t have the heart to comment; she placed two tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the floor beside the tub.

“Here, let me help you.” She reached out and took the bottom of my blouse into her fingers.

I raised my arms with reluctance and let her slip the fabric over my head.

“You’re not as skinny as most girls brought here,” the woman said as I stepped out of my pants. “But you’re malnourished.”

Cuts and bruises covered my body; the woman’s face went from kind to apologetic the longer she looked at it. I stood naked next to the tub, my scrawny arms crossed firmly over my breasts; my bony legs were pressed together tightly; my ribs protruded beneath the skin, and from the mirror I saw my spine defined down the center of my back like an alien out of a science fiction movie.

“Oh, sweetheart,” the woman said, placing a hand at my lower back. “We need to get some antiseptic on those feet; I’m surprised you’re able to stand on them at all.”

So was I. All I’d ever wanted to do since I’d traded my sandals for Satan’s boots, was sit down.

With the woman’s help, I got into the tub, bracing my hands along the cast iron side. I practically melted when the hot water touched my skin, and I sank deeper into its depths. I braced the back of my neck against the edge of the tub; I didn’t care one bit that my feet were burning to where tears were filling up the corners of my eyes—I would take any measure of pain in exchange for this godsend.

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