“Help me…”
I couldn’t leave her. I shut my eyes as blood throbbed in my head. I had to do this. I had to. As frightened as I was, that little girl had to be even more terrified.
“I’m coming,” I croaked. I squirmed and wiggled until I managed to extract myself from the tight spot where the pipe was bent inward. After that, the rest of the way down to the little girl felt slightly more open, but no more comfortable.
“Mama?” The tiny voice chirped right by my ear.
“I’m taking you to her. Come on,” I said, feeling around for her hands. “Hold on tight, okay? We’ll help you get back to your mama.”
Small hands found my own, and I clamped down hard.
“Ow,” she protested.
“Pull!” I shouted up to the men.
The little girl gave a cry of fright from the sudden shout.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I reassured her. My head was pounding and it felt like my eyeballs were being pushed forward in their sockets. Acrobats were out of their minds. I never wanted to be upside down again. “See? We’re going up.”
The ropes dug into my waist as we were heaved upward. Halfway there, the bent pipe pressed against me again. I held the little girl as far away from it as possible; only I was big enough to get stuck.
“Pull hard!” I yelled.
The men gave a mighty tug. As I surged upward, something sharp on the underside of the bent pipe dug into my side. Immediately, blood began trickling up my body toward my chin where I hung upside down.
I shouted in pain, then clenched my jaws together so hard that it hurt. I redoubled my grip on the little girl. “Don’t worry,” I told her through gritted teeth. “You’ll be fine.”
Light was filtering into the tunnel, spilling onto the girl’s face, which was tear-streaked and young enough that she still had some baby fat.
Hands grabbed at my feet, hoisting me up the final distance, and finally, finally, I was out. The crowd swarmed forward to get the girl and return her to her mother. I hastily tugged on my tunic to be sure it fully covered the tight strips of cloth binding my chest. The fabric had torn and blood was staining through, but I quickly donned my jacket again and it went undetected.
Hands rained down on my back as I hastily untied the rope and tried to smile. My side felt like it had been split wide open. I needed to examine it privately, and soon.
“You’re a hero, lad.”
“Well done!”
“You saved her!”
Melody’s mother came and thanked me profusely then gave a big hug that pressed on my side and nearly made me black out from the pain. The praise continued, but I simply wanted to get away. If anyone found out I was injured, they would insist on looking or taking me to a doctor and my identity would be compromised.
“Really, anyone would have,” I mumbled over and over, trying to fight my way through the applauding crowd. I felt like a fraud every time someone praised my courage. I hadn’t been courageous. I’d been terrified but would rather die than admit it. It was much better to be thought of as some hero. If my side hadn’t been killing me, I would very much like to have stayed and get names so I could call in favors later.
“Gil, are you all right?” Lochlan had appeared by my side.
I nodded shortly and forced a tight smile. “Just ready to go back. Being upside down that long gave me a jolly good headache.”
He chuckled. “I would imagine so. Make way!” he called, raising his voice to the crowd. “Make way for the hero who saved Melody!”
The crowd parted. Someone had even retrieved our handcart loaded with our booth’s goods for us. We gave a final wave in farewell and headed back.
Silently blood dripped down my side, hidden beneath my jacket, and I snuck my fingers over to press against the wound. When Lochlan wasn’t looking, I withdrew my hand to look and found my palm covered in blood.
CHAPTER 12
“You earned the right to call yourself a man today,” Lochlan told me. “That was a very brave thing you did.”
I nodded, too nauseated to open my mouth. The day had felt comfortable and pleasant before I went down into that pipe but now everything seemed hot and muggy. My vision swam and time seemed to pass more slowly than normal.
