“Bastard,” Melissa hissed under her breath. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands if I lay my hands on him.”
Frantically shaking her head, Avery warned, “He has a gun, we need to try and escape while he’s still asleep.”
“Where is the gun?” Melissa asked as a plan began to form in her mind.
“He keeps it in the bedroom. I don’t think there’s any chance we can get it from him.”
“I see,” Melissa said as she glanced back at the room. “We will just have to try and free ourselves before he wakes up. Try and rub your wrists together. I can feel my bonds giving way already.”
She took a deep breath and braced herself against the pain in her wrists as Avery followed suit and began the excruciating process of placing as much friction on the ropes as she possibly could. Her mouth curled into a grimace when her skin began to tear.
A sudden wave of relief shot up Melissa’s arms as the ropes gave way, allowing a cool gust of air to soothe her raw flesh. Acting quickly, she reached down and undid the bonds on her feet, then kicked the ropes aside and hurried over to her sister and set her free.
“Quickly now,” Melissa hissed under her breath. “We have to get out the door. I think Ewan would have taken the horses with the cart. Is the cart you came in outside?”
“Father left it quite a distance away, just in case I got any funny ideas. I’m not sure how to get back to the clearing, he carried me here over his shoulder. My view of the surrounding forest was pretty marred,” Avery hurriedly explained in a hushed tone.
“All right,” Melissa said with a quick nod as she helped her sister to her feet. “I remember how we got here.” She glanced out the window at the fading light. “It may look a little different in the dark. We should hurry back to Daniel’s castle, it’s quicker than trying to get all the way to yours.”
“I agree.”
Avery turned on her heel and gasped loudly.
“I told you, little wretches, to stay where you were!” George growled angrily from his position at the bedroom door. “I’ll make you both pay for disobeying my orders!”
“Hurry!” Melissa shouted as she shoved her sister toward the door, hoping that they had enough time to outrun him.
She quickly realized that she’d underestimated the amount of ale he had drunk as he jumped in front of the door with his arms stretched wide, barring their escape.
“Just let us go!” Avery cried angrily as she gripped Melissa by the arm and held her back. “You can go and live your miserable life without us!”
“How dare you talk back to me!” their father snarled, his teeth bared, as he lunged at them both, his arms outstretched in front of him, his fingers in a claw-like grip.
Pushing her sister to the side, Melissa took the brunt of their father’s attack as he backed her up against the table and wrapped his hands around her throat.
“Leave her alone!” Avery yelled from her position on the floor before jumping to her feet and beating at her father’s back with her fists.
Reaching behind him in an attempt to fight her off, George let go of Melissa’s throat, giving her the opportunity to fight back.
Thinking quickly, Melissa reached for the inkpot and threw it into her father’s eyes.
“Argh!” he roared in agony as his eyes filled with the black liquid.
“Now!” Melissa screamed as he stumbled away from them and used the inside of his shirt to wipe his eyes.
Both sisters quickly headed to the door, nearly tripping over the ropes that had been kicked to the side.
“I won’t let you get away!” George continued to yell as he lunged forward in a random direction with his eyes shut, gripping for whatever he could as he fell to the ground.
Melissa’s hand was on the handle of the door as she felt the vice-like grip on her ankle, dragging her down.
“No!” Avery cried out as her sister was dragged back into the room. “I won’t let you take her!” She pulled at Melissa’s hand with all of her might.
Realizing that one of them had a better chance of escaping and going for help, Melissa raised her head and looked her sister in the eye. “Go,” she mouthed so that their father wouldn’t hear.
“No.” Avery’s eyes widened as she realized what Melissa wanted her to do. “I can’t leave you,” she whispered as her hands began to slip.
“Go and get help.” Melissa winced from the pain of George’s unkempt nails digging into her ankles.
