Sojourner Read Online Free PDF

You’ve got to stay awake.” 
    “It’s c…cold.”  I look at him, expecting his face to be flushed from the cold water, but his complexion is golden.  Even his breath is slow and calm.
    “I know.  The house is just ahead.  Then we’ll get you warm and dried, but you have to stay awake.”  He frowns at me and swallows hard, his dark blue eyes full of something I can’t read.  Whatever emotion it is, it hurts, and it seems as though it’s aimed at me.
    “I…I know you” I whisper as we reach the house.  He twists the doorknob with one hand and pushes it open with the other.
    “Course you do.  We have history together.”  He offers a smile and then shifts his attention.  “Celia?  I need help!”
    A girl with the same golden blonde hair appears.  She’s much shorter than I am, her body so demure she looks like a delicate ballerina.  Her hair falls in tight ringlets around her oval face, framing soft perfect features.  It hurts to look at her.  His sister, perhaps?
    “What happened?”
    “She slipped off the bridge.  She’s freezing.”
    “Take her to the bathroom while I get a change of clothes.  Start her a warm bath and I’ll be right there.”
    “Okay.”  He carries me through the house to a hallway and turns into the doorway on the left.   Once inside, he looks me in the eye. “I need to set you on the counter so I can start the bath, okay?”
    The moment he releases me, I feel the shudders ripping through my body grow more desperate.  In the background, I hear water running.  Everything blurs and feels funny.  The world starts to tilt.  Then his hands grip my arms.
    “Hey, there, no falling off,” he says.  I can hear a forced calm in his tone. 
    “Okay, I’ve got her,” Celia says. 
    “I’ll be right outside.”  He squeezes my arm.  “Cee will take care of you.”
    I open my eyes and find his mysterious blue ones staring at me, a worried frown tugging at his lips.  Then he walks away and closes the door.  Immediately Celia tugs the saturated coat from around my body.  I try to help get the wet clothing from my body, but my fingers cramp and they fumble uselessly.
    “You look absolutely blue,” Celia says.  Once the wet clothing has been removed, she helps me into the warm water that at first feels so hot but then, as it washes over me, my internal body temperature adjusts, calibrating itself to the warmth of the water.
    She pulls the curtain closed to afford me privacy.  “Will you be all right by yourself?”
    “Yes,” I manage, the chatter in my teeth slower, quieter.
    “Once you’re ready to get out, there’s a clean towel to dry with and a set of Lev’s sweats.  You’re probably too tall for my clothes.  I’ll be right outside in case you need anything.”
    “Okay.”  I focus on my breathing as I hear the door shut, leaving me with my thoughts.  I drift in the warm water until I feel warm enough to get out.  I draw the curtain back and find myself standing in front of a full-length mirror.  The walls are a light blue, and a framed print of a beach at sunset hangs on a wall.  A basket of shells sits on the counter by a cluster of white candles.
    Stepping out of the tub, I see large red areas on my shoulder and hip where I crashed into the ice.  As I run my fingers over them, pain explodes beneath the skin, confirming the bruising that will show in a few hours.  Still trembling, but ever so much closer to warm than I was, I grab the towel and dry the bathwater from my skin before stumbling into the fresh clothes which have been set out for me.  As the comfy fleece covers my body, I realize just how big Lev is and how small I am compared to him.
    My hair is wild, and I try to brush my fingers through it, but that does nothing to tame it.  My face is flushed, my lips chapped, and I really look ill.  Because I didn’t eat lunch, I can feel my stomach reeling.  If I don’t get a snack or something, Celia is going to find me on