In that moment, she realized that there was only one chance of getting away. It certainly wasn’t on foot. She would need to give herself over to the mercy of the river. There was only one little problem with that, she hadn’t been taught how to swim. It wasn’t like swimming was high up on the list of subjects at the orphanage she was from. Foster families were so busy trying to put food on the table or they just didn’t give much of a shit. Swimming hadn’t featured much. It was a luxury. Sure, she could swim from one side of the pool to the other. Slowly and carefully. Doggy style. But could she actually keep herself afloat long enough to survive the immense power of the surging river?

There was a loud scream behind her. It was bloodcurdling and so filled with fear that it almost had her stopping and turning. Pauline, they had Pauline. There was no other explanation.

“Let go of me!” She screamed. “What are you doing?” She screamed even louder.

Everything in her told her told her to stop, to help, but it would do no good. There was no way that she could stand up to these brutes. Julie glanced at the river. It was either stay here and face these men, with very little chance of survival or take her chances in the river. She glanced over her shoulder. The other one was right behind her. There were several more of them behind him. If he reached out, he might just be able to touch her. If he missed, there would be more to take his place. It turned her blood cold.

From the corner of her eye she saw Pauline sprawled out on the ground. She continued to scream. There was a man on top of her, his hands were all over her. It angered her. The injustice and the brutality of it all. The savagery. It sickened and disgusted her. She had to remind herself that there was nothing she could do, if she stopped to try and help, she would be next.

On a loud yell, that came out sounding more like a battle cry than a scream of terror, which was what she was feeling, she hurled herself into the river. For the first time, she was thankful that she was wearing so little. At least the light dress wouldn’t weigh her down. The woolen shawl had long since fallen in the river, swept away by the current much like what was about to happen to her as well.

The dark eyed brute managed to snag her dress. There was a moment where time seemed to stop. Then there was a tearing noise as her dress ripped free from his grip. The current grabbed her immediately, it pulled her down. Her eyes were squeezed shut. The air forced out of her lungs in a whoosh as the cold gripped her.