‘We thought you’d run away.’
‘What happened to you?’
‘Are you hurt?’
I’m pleased at their concern but unable to give them any sensible answers. All I can rasp is ‘Drink’ and ‘Thirsty’. One of them runs off to her room for a jug of water, and I sit on my bed and gulp it greedily while they all stand around and watch.
But I’m still as thirsty as ever when I finish, and now I feel nauseous. With a heaving retch, I vomit the water violently back into the jug. The girls all take a step back.
‘She’s ill,’ whispers one.
‘She’s caught something,’ says another.
I feel so odd. So cold. I need to sleep.
The jug is taken from my hands, my shoes removed, and I curl under the covers with a shivery sigh as the door closes.
Blessedly alone at last.
A cool hand brushes my forehead, and something pours down my throat in a smooth sweet river. But it’s not real. It feels like I’m remembering something from a dream.
Sleep now, little one. And you will drink again.
***
A sharp rap on my door rouses me, and my eyes snap open to find a purple glow decorating my room.
‘Sadie, are you decent?’
I mumble something in the affirmative and sit up as the door opens. Mother Swift enters with a candle.
‘Are you well or poorly?’ she asks, peering at me. I note she keeps her distance.
I flex my fingers and roll my shoulders.
‘I feel ... quite well,’ I tell her. And it’s the truth, apart from still being terribly thirsty.
Mother Swift breathes a sigh of relief, her large bosom swelling in her red satin dress. Her strong perfume wafts tomy nose, making me flinch. Pooh! She’s not usually so heavy-handed with it!
‘Thank goodness! I thought you may have caught the pox,’ she says. ‘But it must have been one of those quick passing illnesses. That’s why I let you sleep so late. I know it was a difficult night, after the raid, for all you girls ...’
I nod. ‘Thank you, I appreciate it.’
‘But if you’re feeling chipper again, there’s a gentleman downstairs.’
‘Oh?’ I massage my lower back, easing out the sleep kinks.
‘Yes, he’s not one of your regulars. But he asked for you by name and said he saw you last night. You must’ve made quite an impression on him.’
She winks at me, and my upper gums throb. I run my tongue over my teeth. They feel a bit too big for my mouth.
Mother Swift is looking at me. ‘So should I send him up? He said he’d pay double.’
I remember the gentleman. The handsome one with the lengthy rod. My cunny starts twitching.
I lick my lips. All of a sudden, I can’t wait to have him pounding inside me. Or maybe he can go on the bottom this time and lie there while I fuck him and ... bite him. Yes, that seems like an excellent idea.
Slowly, I tilt my neck one way, then the other—the bonescracking.
