She just kept kicking, fighting, praying. Just when she thought she wasn’t going to be able to hold on for much longer, the river turned yet another corner and she was flushed out onto a narrow bank. Just to the right of her, the river continued to surge. Her feet found purchase on the soggy silt covered bed. It was difficult going but she shuffled and kicked and dragged herself until she hit the sand on the edge. Julie threw herself onto the bank. Her feet still dangled in the river but she didn’t care. Her chest heaved. Her whole body shook both from cold and fatigue.

After a couple of minutes, she dragged herself further out. To where the ground was dry. If she hoped to stand any chance of survival she needed to get dry and fast.

After about five minutes, Julie turned herself over. She shook and shivered but at least she was alive. Banged up, but alive. Her knee throbbed and her arm was scraped open but she didn’t think she’d broken any bones.

She allowed herself a further ten minutes to regain her strength before pulling herself into a sitting position. Julie wanted to call out to Candy but she didn’t want to risk giving away her position. Candy could be anywhere. She only hoped that the other woman was alive. Her eyes welled with tears as she thought of Pauline. Poor, sweet Pauline. She grit her teeth, feeling anger well. There was nothing she could do. Right now, she needed to think about herself. She needed to get the hell out of there.

Quite frankly, she’d rather die of starvation. She’d rather be killed any day than be captured by one of those ogres. Those dark eyes were all she could see in her mind’s eye. They scared the hell out of her. So intense. So evil.

Julie spotted some tall reeds growing on a nearby bank. She pulled herself to her feet and slowly walked to them. Let that bastard with the dark eyes find her. She knew instinctively that he was coming. That he was the one to fear. Let him come, she thought to herself. Let the asshole come, she would be waiting. Lord help him if he tried to touch her.

Chapter 7

Blast and damn!

The crazy females had thrown themselves into the river. Coal did not want a simpering, wilting flower as a mother for his children but neither did he want a crazy person for the position either. Anyone who threw themselves into a river like that had to have mental problems. It was not normal.