Free Pride's Prejudice by Misty Dawn Pulsipher Page B

a moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
And if I ever lose my legs
I won't moan and I won't beg
Oh if I ever lose my legs - Oh if...
I won't have to walk no more
And if I ever lose my mouth
All my teeth, north and south
Yes, if I ever lose my mouth - Oh if...
I won't have to talk...
    She
let her eyes settle on William during the bridge, wanting to make sure he knew
that he didn't affect her.  But in place of the self-pleased expression
she'd anticipated, she found him watching her solemnly with dark eyes. 
When his expression progressed to discomfit and then pain she continued,
pleased with herself.
    Did it
take long to find me?
I ask the faithful light
Did it take long to find me?
And are you going to stay the night?
I'm being followed by a moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
    As she
finished, applause broke out from Jenna and Les, and she couldn't help
smiling.  Lucy could have been a bystander at a golf tournament for all
her clapping, and Kara looked remarkably like a deer in the headlights, wearing
the same devastated expression she'd had outside the tent  earlier. 
William sat rooted to his camp chair, looking positively uncomfortable and possibly
even nauseous.  So, she'd done it.  She'd gotten through William
Darcy's bravado and unsettled him.  The impression was confirmed when he
stood abruptly and strode out of camp, vanishing into the hulking trees.
    It was
clear he couldn't stand her.  He didn't scruple to conceal his dislike for
her the way Kara and Lucy did.  In a way, she had a certain appreciation,
if not respect, for his honesty.
    Kara
and Lucy retired to their tent complaining of violent fatigue (code for their
urgent need to gossip), and Jenna looked tired and spent.  Les had eyes
for no one else as he swept Jenna up into his arms and carried her to the tent.
    Beth
stared into the fire for several minutes, then began picking another tune on
the guitar.  Might as well get a practice in, she told
herself.  Maybe I'll be drowsy enough for bed after.   Twenty
minutes later, she was as far from tired as she was from being BFFs with
Kara.  She carefully propped the instrument against the empty chair beside
her, and leaned back to take in the show of stars.  It occurred to her
that she might be able to see more of them away from the firelight, so she
stood and stretched.  Then she left camp, walking opposite the direction
William had gone.  It simply would not do to run into him.
    ~:~
    William
strolled along the bank of the river, taking his time getting back to camp.
 A cool breeze had picked up, teasing the leaves into a rustle.  The
moonlight was brilliant, casting a cool blue glow over everything.  The
water, dark in some places but luminescent in others, broke over the protruding
rocks with patient splashing.  He had traced almost a complete circle
around camp, leaving in a northern direction, and coming back in from the
south.  Now he stood in the same place he'd been when Beth had shown up two
days ago.
    The
very recollection of the sight of her tonight still stopped his heart for a
beat or two; Beth strumming the guitar, her face bathed in a golden glow from
the fire and her long, dark hair falling around her face and shoulders in thick
waves; and her voice.   There were no words to describe it.  It
was lower in pitch, soft and somewhat raspy.  When the song began he'd
been brewing up a snarky comment to deliver after, like 'who sings
that…..?  Oh, you should let them.'  But afterward, he couldn't even
bring himself to look at her, let alone speak.  He could only walk away,
the tightness in his chest making it impossible to draw breath.  The only
other thing that made William feel so powerless - well, it wasn't something he
liked to think about.
    Feathery
steps whispered in the leaves, pulling him from his dark thoughts.  A
shadow approached, silhouetted against the rushing liquid onyx of the river.
    ~:~
    Beth
didn't know