Girl Possessed (Book 1 of The Girl Trilogy) Read Free Page A

I
responded gravely.
    “ I’ll take you to her. You
shouldn’t be out alone.”
    “ Thank you.” I didn’t want
to show him where I lived, but I figured, considering that my
mother had been stabbed on the island, I might be safer with this
strange boy than I would be alone. He was swift and strong. I would
take a chance on him. At that moment, something inside of me told
me that I could trust him. “Just follow the trail to the
canyon.”
    I was nervous about my mother’s well
being. When I left her in our cave, she was unconscious though the
bleeding had stopped. I assumed she would refuse the antibiotics
because she believed in natural healing methods, but we didn’t have
time for that and she wasn’t strong enough to heal
herself.
    The rest of the ride we were silent as
the horse galloped onward. White clouds waded above in the black
sky. The gelding panted and snorted as he ran homeward. The closer
we got, the faster he ran whinnying occasionally to the clan of
horses in the canyon. A cloud of dust followed behind.
    The boy tightened the reins as we
entered the notch in the earth, slowing the dark haired creature to
a walk.
    “ Cross the ravine there and
at the end we can let the animal go,” I spoke quietly so to not
bring attention to us, but the gelding snorted and threw his head
in excitement.
    We dismounted at the edge beside the
woods and set him free.
    The boy gazed ironically at me lifting
an eyebrow. “You live way out here?”
    “ Actually, I live past the
trees on a small island out at sea.”
    He chuckled and shook his head as he
helped me out of the canyon into the woods. When we got to the
shore, he said, “You have a boat?”
    My face reddened and I looked at him
uncomfortably. “I swam.”
    “ You swam all the way from
the island?” His bright eyes widened and he chuckled some more.
“Ok, let’s go.” The look in his gaze sparkled with
determination.
    Though I usually leave my clothes at
the tree, I didn’t want him to see me naked so I decided to leave
them on. “Maybe you should stay. I’m a strong swimmer and you might
slow me down.” At that point, I considered ditching him.
    He laughed again. His smile turned
crooked. “I can keep up.”
    His confidence amazed me. “Ok.” My
voice was skeptical. Then I started to rush into the ocean figuring
I’d lose him in the waves. Nobody could keep up with me in the
water.
    “ Whoa—wait a minute
there.”
    I turned to him. “What?”
    “ Give me the antibiotics.
We can’t have them dissolving in the ocean.” His face was hard
now.
    My eyes widened. “You’re right.” I
blushed, quickly retrieving the bag from my pocket. They were still
dry.
    There was a new seriousness in his
expression. “I can hold it above the water as I swim.”
    “ Really? What? Are you some
kind of superhero or something?” My voice was sarcastic and
condescending.
    “ Just give me the
medicine.” He took it from me, but he wasn’t smiling
anymore.
    I looked at him trying to read his
face, but he was expressionless now. “Follow me,” I said and then
dove into the water.
    He pursued behind closer to the
surface. It was true—he was an unusually strong swimmer. I couldn’t
believe he was keeping up. I reasoned that my dress must be slowing
me down.
    It was pitch black out at sea, but the
sky was clearer now and the stars and moon lit the surface in
twinkles and shimmers. I loved the ocean. The cool water felt
soothing to my dry skin, but I was anxious to get to my
mother.
    When we reached the island, I directed
him to swim with me to an isolated side near our cave where my
mother and I hid from the dangers of thieving, murderous humans and
from the serpent people who had not infiltrated the island
yet.
    We climbed into the tide pools,
stepping over starfish and sea urchins and from there onto dry
land. Palm trees rustled in the hot wind. The warm sand bit at my
legs.
    His black pants and t-shirt clung to
his lean, muscular body. He must have