Page 102 of Emma & Edmund

Pounding on the narrow front window, just barely seeing the whipping black cloak on the other side, Emma could practically feel the creature beyond shaking with mirth.

"Molek, you need to slow down before-"

A loud crack cut off her words, but Emma only had a moment to hear it before she was thrown again, first against the back of the cabin, and then her cheek crushed into the door handle.

There was a snap second where she had thought Molek had just taken another curve too dangerously.

But the way the wheels skidded backward was not like anything that had happened before, nor was the way the front dipped harshly to the ground.

And then, the world began spinning.

The sounds of crashing metal and cracking wood acted as the symphony to Emma's violent tumble through the cabin as it flipped on its head, to its side, and back again.

The contents of the overhead compartment went flying, hitting Emma's limbs and face, burning almost as badly as when her body hit what felt like every sharp corner in the entire cabin.

Just as quickly as it started, the cabin came to a slamming halt. Emma lay within, face against the shattered door window. She didn't know the specifics, but she imagined she wouldn't be battered and slammed against a carriage door if everything went according to plan.

She had only barely conquered her dizziness when another danger began to wash into the cabin. Her already destroyed shoes quickly grew soggy and heavy as water seeped in through the smashed window.

The smell of river water filled her nose, copper coating her tongue. She didn't know if she was bleeding or panicking but had little time to consider either.

With one door currently acting as the floor, there was only one other option for escape - and it sat above her head. Looking up at the crystal knob, no doubt the same one that had done a number on her bruising cheek, Emma took a hard turn towards panicking.

Opening it was one thing, but hauling herself out? She hadn't a clue if she possessed such strength.

As the water began to rise up her ankles, she didn't have time for self-doubt. She hadn't a clue if the river she landed in could fill the cabin entirely, but she couldn't trust her luck otherwise.

Opening the door turned out to be far harder than she had anticipated. Even if she stood on the tip of her toes, she could only grasp thehandle and open it just a bit - nowhere near enough to fling the door open to allow her to pull herself out. To make it worse, with each attempt, an onslaught of rain poured down on her.

Trying thrice and getting nowhere, Emma stopped to catch her breath. Her hair was plastered to her face, she could barely see, but still, the water crept up her leg.

"Molek!" She cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling as loud as she could. "Molek, help me! Please!"

Although she called again and again, no sign appeared that he came. There was no guarantee he even heard her; she could barely hear herself over the storm.

Giving up with a groan drowned out by the wind, Emma reached above her head again and grabbed the knob, pushing it up with what was left of her height.

Rain almost immediately blinded her, but she held on. With her free hand, she started to walk the wood up, inching her hand along, the weight of it making it considerably harder than necessary.

Her knees began to shake with the effort, her elbows straining, and her nails dug into the decorative padded fabric of the door, now only acting as a heavy, waterlogged annoyance.

A tickle ran across her ankle at the worst possible time, just as she was about to pass to the halfway point where the door would flop open permanently. In her anxious state, Emma couldn't help but shriek out loud.

Just as her fingers lost their purchase, the wood lifted from her hands.

Mesmerized, Emma watched the door fall backward, crashing against the outside wall with such ferocity, she could have sworn it had been opened for her.

But as she looked up into the rain, no one came to the opening. It might have been just luck that the door suddenly behaved, but that luck wouldn't be lifting her out of there.

It seemed, at least for the time being, the water had stopped rising at her knees. Although paused, it didn't make it any easier to find the power to jump, the only way she could grip the doorframe enough to even hope to get out. Her fingers slipped over and over again, sending her splashing down into her private pool, soaking her borrowed dress even further.

She swore right then and there that if she made it out of this alive, she would never again step foot outside on a rainy day. She earned it.

Emma tried again, but the moment her fingers hit the slick wood, she was back on her feet. The hope of lifting herself was slowly dying.

She had to reduce weight, and fast. The wood on the exterior walls was only going to get more slippery as the seconds ticked by. In truth, she only had one option, and although a blush burned brightly on her cheeks, she didn't hesitate a moment longer.

Unsnapping, untying, and shimmying out of the now-excessively heavy dress, she tossed it with a plop to the corner, where it bobbed on the water's surface before sinking. Her chamise and corset had gone through quite an ordeal since they were donned, but they still held true. Clung to her aggressively, perhaps, but held.

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