Free Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) by Willow Rose Page B

been
confirmed by the police, I believe it's very important that we don't spread too
many rumors and especially that we don't make any new ones up as we go along.
Fear and panic is very easily spread in a small society like this."
    They all looked at me like I was a complete
idiot. "That's just what I think," I said. "Now if you ladies
will excuse me I have work to do."
    I turned feeling their eyes on my back while I
walked back to my house. I heard steps behind me. Sophia caught up with me.
"Are you insane?" she asked with a low voice as she tripped on next
to me towards my house. "You can't tell island people to not spread
rumors. That's all they live for for Christ sake. It's what gets them up in the
morning. Finally something exciting happens on our island and you want them to
keep quiet about it!"
    I couldn't help but chuckle. The woman had a
point. There wasn't much to do let alone talk about on this island. Two
killings in less than two months was quite spectacular, especially since no one
had been killed here in twenty five years.
    "So will you bring the wine tonight, or
shall I?" Sophia said.
    I laughed. Our weekly gatherings had become some
sort of tradition already and something I was always looking forward to.
    "I will," I said even though I had
been the one to bring it every time, but also knew that it was fair since she
was struggling financially.
    "See you at nine."

21
1978
    Christmas came
and went so did New Years Eve for Astrid down in the
bunker. By January her stomach had grown so big, she was out of breath from her
daily exercise walking fifty times up and down the stairs and the little
gymnastics she had taught herself to do on the cold concrete floor.
    The radio had become her closest friend and
helped her keep track of the days. Some days she would spent on the bench
crying, others she felt strong and did whatever it took to keep living, to have
some sort of decent life even given the circumstances. She would keep herself
busy with washing her clothes, cleaning the toilet and reading the magazines
given to her over and over again.
    But what Astrid loved the most was to simply lie
still on her back and feel the baby growing in her stomach. She would cry with
joy as she felt it kick or move in there. Every now and then she was struck
with fear and almost panic that the baby would never know anything other than
this awful hole in the ground. She speculated a lot about the birth and what
she was supposed to do and as the days passed on she grew increasingly anxious
that something would happen to the baby, that it would die or get hurt while
she was giving birth. Astrid didn't know anything about babies or births, but
she had read a lot in her magazines that had been provided for her, since they
were all about motherhood, pregnancy and giving birth. It calmed her a little
to read the stories from all the women who had gone through it, but she
couldn't help thinking that they all - unlike her - had someone to help them.
Doctors, nurses, midwives. Astrid could wake up at night feeling contractions,
but not knowing what it was, she would fear that the birth had started. She
could even scream for help some nights fearing that she had to go through this
all by herself.
    "How?" she would ask into the room and
hear the echo of her own voice as the only answer. "How am I supposed to
do this?"
    Astrid had always believed in God and she also
believed he was there with her in that hole in the ground and she had a firm
belief that he was going to help her go through this. If anyone could, it would
be him. But she had her moments of doubts and they knocked her down like a
hollow tree in a storm. There were days she would scream and yell at God for
putting her through this, and those days were the worst. The doubt and the fear
made everything so much worse for her. She had grown up knowing that God
punished people for their sins and she was wondering what she had done to feel
his wrath like this upon her life. Yet on the