Kick. Kick. Kick.
I say it over and over in my head.
We get closer to the side, and as we do, the ground comes up and I can stand. My feet dig into the silt at the bottom, which is like quicksand, my feet sinking down through the smelly, dirty layers, but I struggle through.
I’m puffing like I’ve run a marathon.
I drag us both out of the water, and soon Lucy can crawl. She helps herself the rest of the way. We both flop onto the edge, collapsing onto the muddy shore.
Lucy is coughing. I’m coughing.
She coughs so much she’s sick. All the pond water she has swallowed erupts out of her nose and mouth. Snot. Spit. Pond water. All of it.
It’s disgusting. I’d be telling her how disgusting it is if I could catch my breath.
She flops to her bottom, sitting in the sludge, her legs pulled up to her chest. Her little yellow dress filthy and wet, clinging to her. Her dark hair is caked in mud and pond goop.
“You look like the swamp monster fromRoom on the Broom.”
She shivers and her bright eyes lock onto mine. “You should look in the mirror,” she says through her coughs.
I grin and shuffle, so I’m sitting next to her. “You really should learn to swim. I can’t keep jumping in ponds to save you.”
“You make it sound like I do it all the time. Will you teach me?”
“Of course.” I reach over and grab a pond weed from her hair and drag it out. “I don’t know how we are going to explain this one. What happened?”
“I was hopping on those stones and lost my footing.”
“I told you not to play close.”
“I know.” She coughs again and snorts out some more water.
“You spewed your guts up. It came out of your nose. It was disgusting.”
“Stop,” she whines.
We both sit quietly for a minute.
“That was scary,” she says, a gigantic sigh coming out of her.
“It was.”
“Thank you for saving me.”
“I’ll always save you, Cookie. I made a promise, remember?”
6
Kara - Present Day
“Ineedsomeair.”I sidestep the table and walk past Owen, but his hand reaches out and grabs my wrist. I scream at myself not to react. My body tense.
My instinct is to rip his hand off me and throw him over my shoulder onto his arse.
But I don’t.
I pause, looking down at his firm hold. “You need to give me a minute.”
