Chapter One #2
“Keep up,” he muttered, yanking her forward as they began the long walk toward town.
The road was dark and deserted, the only light coming from the faint moon above.
Edith stumbled to keep pace with him, her breath visible in the cold as they trudged down the narrow path.
She had no idea why they were going to town, but fear gnawed at her stomach, twisting it into tight knots.
Her father’s temper was unpredictable, and the thought of where this night might lead made her feel sick.
They walked in silence for what felt like an eternity, Edith’s heart pounding in her chest with each step. Her father’s grip never loosened, his fingers a constant reminder of her powerlessness. The journey felt endless as her mind raced with possibilities—none of them good.
When they finally reached the edge of town, Edith’s legs ached, and her breath came in shallow gasps.
Her father dragged her down the main street, continuing to hurl insults as they passed the shuttered shops and darkened houses until they reached the saloon.
The warm glow of lantern light spilled out onto the street, accompanied by the raucous laughter and shouting of the men inside.
The heavy, choking stench of alcohol, tobacco, and sweat-filled bodies hit her like a wave, and the noise blurred into a mindless roar in her ears.
Edith’s heart raced in her chest, and she fought the urge to turn and run, though she didn’t know where she’d go.
She wasn’t supposed to be here—she didn’t belong here.
Everything felt disjointed, unreal, like she was floating somewhere outside her body.
The heat, the smell, the eyes on her—it all made her dizzy.
Her father’s grip on her arm was painfully tight, his fingers digging into her skin, but she barely registered it.
Her eyes darted around the room, catching only flashes of dirty tables, men hunched over their drinks, leering faces.
She couldn’t focus on anything. The voices, the laughter—they felt distant, garbled, like she was underwater.
She tried to keep her breathing steady, tried to stay upright as her father dragged her through the room, but it felt like the floor was slipping out from under her feet. Everything was spinning. There were too many sounds, too many faces. She just wanted to shrink away and disappear.
She wasn’t sure where they were going or what was happening. She caught snippets of her father’s loud voice as he barked at the men seated at a table. There was the sound of coins clinking and cards slapping down, but none of it made sense to her. None of it felt real.
Then she heard a laugh—deep and unsettling—and her father’s voice cut through the haze in her mind. She blinked, suddenly aware of the harsh grip still holding her in place. Her vision cleared just enough to see the man at the table, bearded and scarred, grinning at her.
“My girl here,” her father shouted, his voice thick with something dark. “Eighteen today, and ripe for the taking.”
Everything in Edith froze. The words slammed into her like a fist, knocking the breath from her lungs.
She felt the blood drain from her face, her limbs going cold as her father’s words settled over her, suffocating her.
He wasn’t just joking or boasting. He was serious.
He was trying to sell her like she was no more than cattle.
Her vision blurred again, but this time from the tears that filled her eyes. Her father’s grip tightened as the men laughed, as they looked her over with casual interest, as if she was nothing more than a thing to be bought and used.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. Her legs trembled, her body going numb, but her mind was racing. No, this couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real.
A low murmur of voices and the shuffling of cards became a muted hum in the background. All she could hear, all she could think about, was the fact that her father had put her up as the wager.
“Pa, no, please—” she tried to plead, but her voice was barely a whisper.
“Shut your mouth,” her father hissed, shaking her roughly. “Yer gon do as I say.”
She flinched, terror welling up inside her.
She wanted to scream, wanted to run, but her feet were glued to the floor.
Her whole body felt paralyzed, except for the rapid thumping of her heart against her chest. How could he do this to her?
She had always known he was cruel, but this?
This was beyond what she could have imagined.
And then, through the blur of tears and fear, she felt someone watching her.
Slowly, she turned her head and saw him—a tall man standing by the bar, his dark eyes fixed on her.
His face was partially hidden in the shadow, but there was something about him—something different from the other men in the room, something that made him stand out.
For a moment, their eyes met. His gaze held hers, steady and unreadable, but it raised the hairs on her neck. The noise around her, the laughter, the shouts seemed to fade away. In that brief second, it was just her and the stranger’s gaze, locked together in a way that made her chest tighten.
And then, just as quickly, the moment was gone.