Page 79 of Scourge of the Shores
Soon, a bonfire lit the sky, and music replaced the shrieks. Danna watched from a rowboat as Lucas rowed them to shore with others injured.
Danna glanced to her left and right, and more rowboats with the injured poured in. The pain in her stomach strained the breath of peace she tried to draw. Lucas watched her with concern etched in his brow. She lowered her gaze and lifted her shirt.
The red and indigo clashed with the ashen-tinged skin in a warped swirl up her belly and lined her ribs—the temporary mark of victory against her nemesis. Danna groaned as she lowered her shirt again. Her belt slung low on her hips, no longer able to wrap around her waist.
The only hope that kept her from collapsing was that Cain was dead, never to rise again, and maybe Ma would return to the life she once knew.
The rowboat struck the shore, jolting a tendril of pain through Danna’s core. She winced with a bent back and hunched shoulders. She gave Lucas a quick smile to assure him she was fine, but his keen stare was hard to deceive.
She stepped on the shores of her home, followed by the rest.
Lucas lowered his hand to her shoulder. “I’ll see to the injured. Get home; see yer Ma,” he told her.
She nodded, trying to keep her core perfectly still and avoid the anguish. Her hands clenched at the anticipation of walking the long way up to the hut at the top of the village.
Each step burned, but she forced her legs forward, her breath hissing through clenched teeth. The laughter and cheers of the islanders faded behind her as she climbed the hill toward the hut. One step. Another. One more.
“Make it to Ma,” she whispered through ragged breaths. “Ignore the pain.”
She repeated as her mantra until she reached the porch. Darkness nipped at the edges of her vision. She gripped the doorframe to steady herself before pushing the door open. Her shadow fell across the whole room.
“Danna?” Her mother’s voice was faint. Isabelle had been left to tend to the hearth and feed Ma in their absence. Danna scanned the interior. It looked clean and vibrant. The fire was warm and inviting.
“I’m here, Ma,” Danna said, her voice clogged with angry tears. “Cain’s gone.”
Ma sighed. “Oh, Danna. Oh, I’m so glad to hear it. Now you can be happy, my girl.”
“What?” The word ignited a fire in her belly. “No, no, no,” she spat, quelling the agonizing flame coursing through her torso. “Now ye can be happy.”
The words came out in spurts as Danna strode into the room, enduring the pain that radiated through her gut. This was not how it was supposed to go.
She scooped her mother up into her arms, stumbled forward, nearly falling, but she refused to stop. Ma’s weight was light, but the wound in her belly screamed in agonizing protest with every step, warping around her side and back, taking her breath.
“Stop, Danna,” Ma ordered, trying to push against her chest with her one good hand, but Danna held Ma with an iron grip.
Danna bit down hard against the twitch in her legs and carried her outside with stiffened arms to alleviate the scream pulsing through her body.
“Take me back, Danna.” Ma covered her face with her one remaining hand. “Right now.”
“No, Ma,” Danna choked out. “It’s time to live.” Each word was a struggle. She chewed her lip, searching for another breath.
Her knees wobbled, but she clenched her jaw and pressed forward. Just a little more. Just a few more steps. She sat Ma down in the sand with a loud grunt.
Her legs buckled, and her knees hit beside Ma. Danna’s gaze lifted. “I did it for ye, Ma,” she said through tears and clipped breaths. “For ye, Ma!”
A fresh wave of pain sliced through her stomach and stabbed through to her back. Her vision went white.
A sharp cry ripped from her lips. She grabbed her belly as she crashed to the ground beside her mother.
“Danna!” Ma’s scream barely registered.
Lucas came running to them and rolled Danna onto her back. He lifted her shirt, and Ma screamed again at the grisly sight of the injury.
“Why’d ye not wait for me?” Lucas yelled at Danna and shook his head.
Danna winced. “I just wanted”—she took a shallow breath—“Ma to live again.”
Her shoulders sagged, releasing the tension from her corded neck. Her legs splayed out in final resignation. The position of the dirt mounds beneath her lower and middle back relieved the pain in her side, and Danna decided that was where she was going to stay. “Leave me,” she whispered. “I’ll be well.”
