The Sands of Borrowed Time Read Online Free Page B

wakey, sunshine.  We have a significant assignment coming up, and I’m rounding up those with the tenacity to see it through, and so far you do not impress me, boy,” Cain said with a grin.
    Jeff shrugged his shoulders again, “Is this about the ship?”  Cain’s eyes widened as his grin melted away.
    “Sorry, I overheard you talking,” Jeff quickly said before Cain could open his mouth again.  “It's so quiet in the morning; no wind or dust, the birds long gone, it’s difficult to ignore what people are saying.” 
    Cain’s grin slowly returned knowing what he meant, “I like a boy with sharp radar.  You can be one of the lookout crew while the rest of us do some plundering.”
    Jeff nodded his head, unsure whether to be thankful or not.  “We will do as Kyla says; under the cover of darkness, on a moonless night, and when the supernova is behind the horizon,” Cain said as Kyla grinned at Carla, Carla smiling back scornfully before walking away.

 
     
     
     
     
    Watching from the Shadows
     
    “Dad will fucking kill us,” Rhoswen uttered miserably. 
    “No, he won’t.  He doesn’t even know we’re out and about,” Riana protested as they walked along the bridle path that cut through the dead forest towards home.  They had been out for a stroll but had been taken by surprise at the sudden and unusual rainfall. 
    “He fucking will, though,” Rhoswen objected harshly. “We’re soaking bloody wet, our feet are covered in mud, and we have probably been missed by now.  He’s gonna be well pissed off. He told us not to come out this way,” she continued.  “Look at it, it hasn’t bloody rained for months, but now it’s coming down hard and fucking fast, just to piss us little wenches off,” she moaned, watching the once baked ground and dirt turning into a muddy sludge, her feet sliding this way and that.  She could feel her long, black hair stuck to her face, her clothes hanging heavy on her sodden skin. 
    “We should have gone back before it got dark,” she continued to complain, flailing her arms in the air. 
    “Remember what Dad told us about the forest at night,” she continued. 
    “I’m bastard starving,” Riana brazenly interrupted, her bright blue eyes mocking Rhoswen’s sorry face, ignoring her reservations. 
    “Oh, shut the fuck up, you’re always bloody starving,” Rhoswen swiftly replied with a vicious glare. 
    “Then we should get some decent blooming food, then, shouldn’t we,” Riana complained. 
    “But there fucking ain’t, you know that,” Rhoswen answered, annoyed that her sister was always complaining about food.  It was true, though, she thought, but when people grumbled on about it, it just brought it into the light more, like they were rubbing everyone’s nose deeper into their misery.  The rain was relentless through the leafless trees, a constant drumming of droplets onto their already wet heads that trickled down their backs. 
    “Fuck...! What the fucking hell was that?” Rhoswen suddenly said, visibly alarmed. 
    “What?” Riana replied. “What you muttering on about now, you dippy cow?  You’ve scared the living daylight out of me.” 
    “There, look, over there,” Rhoswen insisted, pointing her finger to a place ahead through the trees.”
    “You ‘ave lost it, my dear sister,” Riana replied, chuckling nervously. 
    “Look, are you fucking blind?” Rhoswen whispered harshly, grabbing Riana firmly by the hand. 
    “Why are you whispering, and don’t squeeze my arm,” Riana replied, finding herself whispering also.  Rhoswen grabbed her arm tighter and put her finger to her lips as if to say hush.  She pointed again, out into the forest.
    “Fucking look!” she repeated in a harsh, muffled tone.  Riana grabbed her sister also by the hand, her grip even firmer and pulled her close.
    “What the fuck are you talking about?” she replied, almost inaudible.  Dad has scared you with those stupid fucking, fairy