Free Petals on the River by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Page A

steps.
     
    Shemaine's long fast in the cable her had left her feeling far too
    faint and weak to allow her to keep up with her new master.   Even before
    they reached the end of the wharf, her legs had turned to fragile stilts
    that wobbled unsteadily beneath her and threatened to give way entirely.
     
    Perceiving the impending danger as her vision began to blur, and shapes
    and structures reeled woozily around her, Shemaine staggered to a
    faltering halt and begged weakly for her master to give her pause.
     
    Gaining her release, she stumbled away and clasped a nearby
     
    post for support.   She closed her eyes and waited for her strength and
    wits to return, hoping fervently that they would.
     
    Gage took note of the shaking hand the girl pressed over her mouth and
    the lack of color in her face and knew this was no feigned attack of the
    vapors.   Half expecting her to collapse, he stepped beside her. "Are you
    ill?"
     
    Not wishing to upset her equilibrium more than it was, Shemaine raised
    her gaze cautiously and was surprised to find him so near.   Her stomach
    was so empty she wanted to retch, and it was a difficult moment before
    she managed to subdue the urge.   "Give me a moment to catch my breath,"
    she pleaded in a strained whisper.   "Then I'll be better.   Tis but a
    passing weakness, I'm sure."' Some understanding began to dawn on Gage
    as he considered her more closely.   Her sunken cheeks and the
    all-too-obvious trembling of her slender hands indicated a frailty
    associated with a lengthy fast.   "When was the last time you had
    anything to eat?"
     
    Though the frigid breezes continued to sap her energy and drag her down
    into a mental stupor, Shemaine struggled desperately to remain coherent.
     
    "I was given several crusts of bread and a bucket of stale water during
    the four days I was locked away in the cable her...." She swayed
    dizzily, feeling an invading debility sapping the last vestige of her
    strength, but when he reached out and steadied her with a hand beneath
    her arm, she staggered back abruptly, feebly brushing away his grasp,
    and willed herself to stand alone.   "In truth, sir.   .   ." She
    swallowed, fighting another wave of nausea, and continued with
    difficulty.   "I'm so famished .   .   .   I'm nigh to swooning."
     
    Gage promptly hailed a passing vendor and went off to meet the man.
     
    After purchasing several wheat cakes, he returned and offered one to his
    bondslave.   "Perhaps this will help."
     
    Shemaine accepted the cake eagerly and, tearing it apart, greedily
    devoured the pieces, nearly choking as she stuffed them in her mouth.
     
    Mortified by her lack of manners, she refused to lift her gaze to the
    man whose tall, broad-shouldered frame sheltered her from the casual
    glances of those who traversed the main thoroughfare of the town.   She
    swallowed the last crumbs and took a ragged breath, meeting his probing
    stare hesitantly.   "I was considerably more fortunate than some of the
    other prisoners, sir.   They died from the sparse fare. Thirty-one in
    all, to be exact."
     
    Gage recalled the broad shapes of Captain Fitch and his wife and grew
    incensed at the thought of them wallowing in gluttony while their
    victims died of starvation.   "I've heard tales of deprivation suffered
    aboard convict ships like the London Pride," he reflected.   "I sailed
    here as a passenger aboard a merchant vessel some years ago and have
    counted myself far luckier than most who have crossed the seas to get
    here."
     
    Self-consciously Shemaine folded her arms across her midriff as her
    stomach began to rumble.   "I'm grateful to be alive, sir, though at
    times I really had my doubts that I would survive."
     
    Gage handed her another cake and waited patiently as she consumed it,
    this time with a little more dignity.   She finished the last of them and
    immediately began to long for something to drink.   Her new master seemed
    to read her mind as he