Page 103 of Emma & Edmund

They weren't the only things that did, either. As Emma jumped again, her grip finally found purchase on the frame, clutching it from the decorative filigree that lined it.

Hanging there for a moment, Emma could have laughed with delight when she didn't immediately fall again, but stopped herself, knowing the hard part was to come.

Digging her fingers into the wood, Emma threw every inch of strength she possibly had into rising up bit by bit. After significant struggle, her arms shaking with the effort, she managed to get one elbow up, and then another. From there, she pulled the rest of her out with ease.

The river rushed around the mangled coach, sinking into the mud on the bank.

Leading to it, the broken branches and scraped dirt betrayed the path forged by the accident. While the hill was not as high as it initially felt on her way down, there was no sign of Molek or the horses above.

Although she only spared it a glance, the shaft that attached the horses to the carriage had shattered and splintered, no doubt under the extreme toll Molek put on it their entire journey.

The shiver, now familiar, began to set in, clattering her teeth and forcing Emma to remember her plight was far from over. She had little choice but to move on.

For a moment, she thought that it might be best to climb the hill, but the created path was already beginning to turn into a mudslide, taking the debris and rocks stirred up by the cart in its wake.

A flash of lightning highlighted her salvation.

She might have felt a bit silly for feeling like that, knowing the small overhang of roots and vines was far from heaven, but it was at least shelter.

Scrambling to the edge of her platform, Emma tried to carefully slide off and into the soft ground, only to have her feet nearly sucked into the sogging bank.

Her shoes had to be sacrificed as she freed herself from the earth's grasp. In their condition, it was no great tragedy.

As quickly as she could, Emma trudged through the elements, ducking into the small opening as if her life depended on it.

It smelled of dead fish and dirt, but the rain didn't penetrate, and the ground at least didn't try to claim her.

Seating herself as carefully as she could, not able to see much in the darkness, Emma's sigh echoed off the walls of her shelter.

"Wait a moment," Emma said out loud, listening as the words bounced back at her once more. She couldn't see much, but she could tell it wasn't just some small overhang.

She found herself in a cave.

Despite that knowledge, though, without fire or sunlight, there was little reason for her to move beyond the entrance.

All she could do was sit, arms wrapped around her clattering knees, and watch the river's edge, hoping it wouldn't rise any further and drown her out.

Chapter 31

Emma gasped awake.

She hadn't meant to fall asleep, hadn't wanted to. She wanted to keep watching the river, waiting for a break in the storm, but consciousness slipped away without her permission.

Tucked into her still-folded arms, Emma's neck ached, her back begged to be stretched out, but at least her skirts had begun to dry and her shivering had ceased.

Even more, sunlight shone on the river, now calm and tranquil. A bird sang nearby.

Shooting to her feet in excitement, Emma's skull cracked against the roof of her shelter, nearly sending her back to the ground.

"I swear to all," Emma grumbled, rubbing at the forming bump on the top of her head, "I'm never going outside again."

Waiting for the stars bursting before her eyes to clear, she sat again. As she plopped to the earth, a strange rattle sounded.

"Who's there?" Emma shouted first out the entrance and then turned to look within the cave for the first time.

The thin fingers of sunlight that stretched past the opening did not make it to the back of the place, still shrouded in darkness. Emma didn't care much to find out what lay within the dark corners; not when the source of the clattering was obvious and astounding.

Just a bit further than she was within the cave floor, far enough she wouldn't have been able to see during the storm, sat her trunk.

---