The Girl From Ortec: An Omnibus Read online

  The Girl From Ortec

  an Omnibus

  Including:

  Crashing Waves

  Black Dolphin

  Castles in the Sand

  Amy Richie

  ©2014, 2016 by Amy Richie

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by: Melissa Ringsted, Alana McKinney, and Melanie Williams

  Cover by K. C. Designs

  Formatting by EK Formatting

  Table of Contents

  Book One: Crashing Waves

  Book Two: Black Dolphin

  Book Three: Castles in the Sand

  The Girl From Ortec

  Book One

  Crashing Waves

  Chapter 1

  The rain beat against the single window in a steady staccato, the sound strangely amplified in the smallness of the unfamiliar cabin. The sound alone was enough to stir me from my sleep, and I uncurled my legs so I could turn over to my back. Or maybe I had just never fallen asleep.

  Had it been a full day already?

  I opened my eyes wide in the semi-darkness, trying to dissect the shadows dancing along the ceiling. A flash of lightning scared away some of the darker shadows, loosening the knot in my chest.

  Rolling over to one side, I pushed myself agilely to aching feet. For a brief moment, as the blood rushed to my head, a pair of bright green eyes flashed behind my own honey-colored ones. I shook my head quickly, hoping I could erase the memory completely.

  Stay busy.

  In a swift movement, I bent low to retrieve the borrowed sleeping mat. I rolled it back up without breaking stride, even though every part of my body ached. Now that I was fully awake, I could just make out the sun trying to fight through the storm and the darkness to rise above the vast water.

  The storm.

  I rubbed roughly at my dry eyes. Was there ever a storm that lasted this long? I was sure, as I stood there in the almost dark cabin, that even in the time of the great wave—when most of the Earth was covered in water—it couldn't compare to the storm raging now.

  With a small jump that didn't have much to do with the low rumbling thunder outside, I rushed to rebuild the low fire. Nanny Grace would be stirring soon and it would be poor repayment of her hospitality to let the cabin get cold.

  The growing season was still upon us, but the cool mornings meant harvest season would be here soon with the freezing season nipping at its heels. I shivered again just at the thought.

  One day at a time.

  There was a light shuffling sound, and suddenly Nanny Grace was behind me. The oldest woman in all of Ortec and she could still move silent and fast. Maybe that was how she had lived so long. Nanny Grace could remember a time before the great wave; she alone had memories of trees that grew higher than the council building and animals that were almost as big as some of our islands.

  “You're up early,” she commented in her raspy voice.

  “Couldn't sleep,” I mumbled in response.

  She grunted lightly and pushed past me to stand closer to the fire. Careful to keep my eyes on the floor, I scooted further away from my dejected place directly in front of the dancing flames. I shouldn't have been standing so close anyway, I realized. How would the rest of the room be warmed if I was blocking the heat?

  “Have you heard anything from Veronica?” Nanny Grace asked.

  My eyes darted to the closed door of the second bedroom, and I shook my head. I hadn't been up long myself, but I had yet to hear a sound from Veronica or her young son.

  “It's good to let her sleep,” she grunted. Finally deciding she was warm enough, Nanny Grace made her way to the kitchen and began pulling out pans. I rushed forward to help and was stopped by a single, gnarled hand.

  “There's a couple hens out in the pens,” she spoke without looking at me, “should be a few eggs.”

  Since she wasn't looking my way, I didn't nod; instead turning on the spot to do her bidding.

  I had never actually collected eggs before, but I had seen it done plenty of times as a child when I stayed with an uncle on Number Four.

  I eased my way cautiously into the enclosed pen, watching the largest of the three birds with a wary eye. Surely he wouldn't attack me, right? With one eye on what I was doing and the other on the birds who were watching me, I managed to collect four precious eggs. I held them safely in two hands only after I had secured the latch behind me.

  That wasn't so bad.

  However, before I could take even one step, a small man strode forward on the path. “Rani of Number Three, wife of Sid?” he asked when he spotted me. I jerked my head in acknowledgement of his words. “There is to be a city meeting at the council building. Finish your breakfast, then come. It will start when everyone arrives.” I jerked my head again. His eyes lingered briefly on my face, then he moved forward … on to the next house.

  As I watched him disappear from view, my thoughts swam back to the day before yesterday. Of course there would be a meeting; we had to decide where to go from here.

  Once again, green eyes floated just behind my eyelids. They were so vivid my breath was snatched from my lungs and my knees gave out, forcing me to clutch tightly to the sharp metal twine that closed in Nanny Grace's chickens. I couldn't feel the bite of the metal as it tore away my skin, those green eyes made everything disappear.

  After too many seconds I brought my fingers up to gently prod the places on my face that were bruised and swollen. Only some of them were from the man with the green eyes. I clenched my eyes closed, willing away the sharp memory of rough hands, hair more blond than any I'd ever seen close up, bright green eyes, and black, billowing smoke. My eyes snapped back open.

  No one must ever know.

  Chapter 2

  A woman sat at the table when I pushed the door open, clutching the two eggs I had managed to save. Her mousy hair hung limply in her face in a clump of strands … and her pale face didn't turn expectantly toward the door as Nanny Grace's did. She held tightly to a small bundle of blankets at her chest.

  Veronica had woken up.

  “There's a meeting after breakfast, up at the council building,” I announced quietly. Placing the two remaining eggs carefully on the table, I reached for the thin whisk Nanny Grace was using to mix the oats.

  Her brow rose, but she relinquished her surprisingly firm grip. “Only two eggs?”

  “I dropped the rest,” I mumbled, heat searing up my neck and along the bottom of my ears.

  “No matter,” she instantly snatched them up, “Veronica will eat them both; she needs the strength more than we do.”

  I pressed my lips more firmly together. Of course I wouldn't have any, but now I had lost Nanny Grace her breakfast as well. She was one of the few people on Ortec who treated me with kindness too.

  “What kind of meeting?” Veronica spoke for the first time, her eyes widening as she glanced at me.

  “Isn't it obvious?” Nanny Grace expertly dished out three bowls of oatmeal and Veronica's plate of eggs, plopping them unceremoniously onto the table. “Sit down and eat, Rani,” she ordered not unkindly.

  “The attack?” Veronica sputtered. “What's there to talk about now? It's over.”

  “By now, they'll know what kind of damage has been done. We'll need to regroup and repair what we can. We're lucky they came now,” she continued, oblivious to the shock on her much younger guests' faces, “when harvest season has just barely started. It could have been much worse.”

  “I don't see how it could be any worse,” Veronica argued.

  Nanny Grace sucked in a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly. “It could have been worse,” she insisted in a low voice.

  I shoved a spoonful of oatmeal
into my mouth, wishing for some honey. Just a small dab to sweeten the necessary mush. Guilt flooded in almost immediately; I should just be thankful ... I let my thoughts drift away, careful not to sigh. Maybe tomorrow I could be thankful.

  “Why did the pirates come here anyway?” Veronica suddenly fired out. “Ortec isn't big and we're not wealthy.”

  “Our city is bigger than a lot of them,” Nanny Grace answered in her usual calm way. “Seven islands … anyone would think we were wealthy.”

  “They probably didn't get much.” The moisture in her eyes began to spill over onto her face. “A little bit of food and our husbands.” She jerked her thumb to include me.

  “Sid was the lawman.” Of course they would kill him, he had been the first to fall.

  “And your husband,” Veronica snapped.

  Evidently, my lack of tears had not gone unnoticed as I had assumed. Who would cry for Sid, though? Maybe someone who didn't know him, but we all did. My finger automatically rose up to trace the thin white scar just under my right ear. Surely no one expected me to be sad he was dead.

  I bit hard on my bottom lip, hard enough to taste blood, and refused to acknowledge Veronica's accusation. I would not be faking my tears today; let everyone else do it if they wanted to.

  “You best hurry and eat,” Nanny Grace waved her spoon in the air between us, “we need to get up to the council building.”

  ***

  My lip biting didn't stop at the table. In fact, by the time the three of us had managed to fit into the high domed space reserved for city meetings, the skin was frayed and tasted metallic.

  I had lost count of all the awkward head pats and tear-filled sympathetic faces. My eyes down, I followed blindly in Nanny Grace's wake until finally we came to a stop just a few rows back from a raised platform.

  In the middle of the platform stood a tall man with a full head of dark brown curls. His usual smile was gone today, replaced by a solemn expression. Avery, leader of Ortec.

  “My friends …” he said, holding his arms wide as if to give each of us a deep embrace. I was half surprised he didn't actually do just that. Luckily, he kept his place on the platform; I would have to hurry out of here when this was over.

  “A sad day here on Ortec. Our beloved city has been shadowed by a dark cloud.” Everyone stared up at the man they idolized in raptured silence. “Pirates,” he snarled uncharacteristically, “they have come here and stolen what was ours, touched our women.”

  I heard a low sob from somewhere behind us. My spine stiffened.

  “It is the way of this world,” he continued sadly, “and now it lays with us to pick up and move forward.” This was met with a general murmur of agreement.

  Move forward? I almost laughed out loud, but caught myself in time. There was nothing else we could do except move on. It wasn't like we could fight pirates.

  We outnumbered them—by a lot even—but there wasn't anyone on Ortec, not one single person, who matched their blood lust. Well, no one left anyway.

  “Help your neighbors rebuild their houses,” Avery's voice cut through my silent musings, “and we’ll harvest as usual. We need to prepare for the freezing season. It'll be upon us in just a few short months.”

  His wife, Constantina, nodded enthusiastically. Her dark brown hair hung loosely down her back, more grey today than the last time I'd seen her. As I studied her profile, she turned suddenly to meet my stare. Accusation hung clearly in her stern features. I sank back against Nanny Grace, cursing my wandering eyes.

  “Go back to your homes now,” Avery finished, “someone from the council will come to each island over the next few days. We will get through this as we have gotten through everything else. Together.”

  The crowd was reluctant to disburse, instead clustering into smaller groups to talk and offer comfort. “Rani, wife of Sid,” Avery's voice called out over the din of conversation, “you'll come up here. There are some things we need to discuss!”

  Chapter 3

  I sucked in a deep breath, stopping where I stood halfway to the doors and completely hidden by the crowd. There was a small, indecent moment of indecision. I could probably keep going, pretend I didn't hear him.

  Instead, I turned back to the platform, trying without success to swallow with my dry throat. The people closest to me parted at once so I could get through; several hands shot out to pat my back.

  Slowly but steadily, my feet carried me forward until I was staring up at Avery on the platform. He stared back down at me with eyes too sympathetic to be comfortable. I was the first to look away.

  “Let's go to my office,” he said suddenly, swinging himself down to join me on the floor.

  He led the way at a brisk pace through a short hallway. We stopped in front of a very tall door that had been painted dark red. I had never been through it before.

  “Constantina has a certain liking for the color red,” he chuckled back at me.

  I moved my eyes quickly to the floor in front of us, moving only when he did. I couldn't stop my eyes from swinging around the spacious room, though.

  When I was staying on Number Four, a boy called Dennis had tricked me into following him into a small building where a pig was being slaughtered. Blood was everywhere; the sight of it filled my eyes before I could squeeze them shut again. Avery and Constantina's office looked a lot like that slaughter shed.

  Dark red curtains hung in heavy folds all the way down to where they met carpet of a similar shade. The long desk was painted to match the door. And the chairs ... I hoped he wouldn't make me sit in one of those chairs.

  “She claims that red was once a color of royalty,” Avery's amused voice spoke from behind me where the door clicked shut with an echoing sound, locking us alone in the room.

  “Come,” he pulled gently at my arm, “sit and be comfortable.”

  I shuffled forward obediently, dreading the moment I would make contact with the blood red material stretched tight over the wooden chair. Avery took a chair that faced mine, but at least he didn't pull it closer.

  “Rani,” he began kindly, “is it all right if I call you Rani?”

  Not sure if he expected an answer, I let my head jerk forward slightly; regretting the movement instantly. It wasn't like he needed my permission. He could call me whatever he wanted. Shame and embarrassment raced each other to color my cheeks.

  “Good,” he continued, not breaking stride, “you're so young, too young to be called a widow. How old are you?”

  This time, with such a direct question, words were necessary. “This freezing season will be my seventeenth,” I replied quietly.

  “Seventeen?” He shook his head, his smile sad. “Do you know how many freezing seasons I've seen?”

  Of course I didn't. Did he expect me to answer? Was I supposed to guess? My heart sped up to pound in my ears.

  “Forty-eight,” he supplied proudly. “Next one will be forty-nine.” He grinned widely, but caught himself with a small shake of his head. “I wanted to send you back to Number Four, Rani. Someone there would have undoubtedly taken you in, considering what you've been through.”

  A tingling started in my fingers. Would I be able to return home? Was it possible?

  Avery's voice chased away my foolish hopes. “Constantina reminded me of the laws, though.” He nodded as he continued, “Being the wife ... er, widow of a lawman yourself, you will understand that the laws of Ortec are for the safety and well-being of our people.”

  The laws of Ortec, I knew what they said about widows—just like everyone else knew. A woman who became a widow that had no children or parents to go back to would become servants of Ortec and live in the council building for the remainder of their lives, or until someone else wanted to marry them. I knew the law. Why had I let myself hope?

  Realizing Avery was waiting for some acknowledgment, I nodded again.

  “Good.” He smacked his hand loudly against his thigh. “Now, I've spoken to doctor Gourini and he has a spot that needs f
illed. Jenn, Servant of Ortec, and now wife of Thitch, has left the council building. Starting tomorrow, you'll become the newest OB assistant.”

  His words hung in the air around us for so long that his grin disappeared completely before I realized I should nod again. An OB assistant? I had heard enough about the doctor to be wary of my new post under him, but maybe if I had to choose between being under his watch and Constantina's, I would choose him.

  I slumped guiltily in my seat, shame once again taking residence in my chest. What was wrong with me?

  “It's a position to be proud of,” Avery said loudly in response to my silence. “You'll be responsible for helping us bring the babies safely into our cities. Short of having your own family, I can't imagine a better position for someone like you. So young, and with so much to offer.”

  I caught my lip tightly in my teeth. “You never know,” he continued, “in a few years, someone else might take you for a wife. You're strong, healthy, and okay enough to look at.”

  I tugged gently at my honey colored curls that were almost a perfect match for my eyes. They had only managed to grow out to my shoulders—still bearing the mark of my grief from the last freezing season.

  “Rani.” He reached across the space that separated us to take my hand, nearly knocking me off my chair with shock. My spine stiffened. “If you work hard, you can still have a happy life, despite the ... trials you have faced so early on.” His eyes bore into me, but I refused to look up.

  Chapter 4

  I rubbed my hand roughly against my thin shirt and made my way quickly out of the council building. No one tried to stop me. Avery's voice still echoed in my ears, and his touch lingered on my skin.

  I hadn't given myself much time to expect what would happen to me now, but if I had, this would be it. All widows went to work in the council building, unless they had somewhere to go.