Emily Taylor - The Apprentice Read online



  Emily Taylor Book 3

  The Apprentice

  ©2010 Vi Grim.

  Published by Vi Grim

  1st September 2015 Edition

  Cover photo©Dreamtime

  Inside cover illustration ©Lulu

  All Rights Reserved Worldwide

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please download an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Also published by Vi Grim

  Emily Taylor Book 1- Abducted

  Emily Taylor Book 2- The Slave Girl

  Emily Taylor Book 4 – The Teenage Mum

  [email protected]

  The Emily Taylor series is based on the inside cover illustration by Louise

  Many thanks to Sofie for the slugs and slimeballs, Sam for Theo the Owl and the fat penguins, and Zoe for her love of everything horrible and nasty.

  1.

  Cool, plump raindrops drummed down on Emily. Wet grass pressed against her cheek. Her body was on fire, every bone, every little pore, cried out and screamed in agony, then darkness returned.

  As she flew through the air, she saw the apartment fill with fire and shatter around her.

  The heady smell of summer rain tugged at her senses. She shook her head and opened her eyes. It was bright, much too bright, so she closed them tight again, slipping back into the world of flying concrete, fire and searing pain.

  A clap of thunder pulled her back to the rainstorm.

  Wincing with pain, she stretched her limbs. They were cut and bruised but seemed intact. There was a teapot in her left hand. She remembered grabbing it as it floated by. Amazingly it was still in one piece.

  Shame it’s not full; I’d kill for a cup of tea, she thought.

  She let it drop into the soft grass.

  Her dark red belly-dancing outfit was torn and soaked in blood.

  Emily shielded her eyes against a volley of raindrops as a gust of wind flattened the swaying grass. There was another puff of wind, then the rain eased and warm sunlight broke through the cloud, turning the meadow green and gold.

  Where am I? There was an almighty explosion, pain and light, then nothing and suddenly I’m here. Am I dead? Am I in heaven?

  The strong, summery smell of rain on dry grass reminded her of home. Propping herself up on an elbow she looked around. She could see nothing but tall grass and flowers. The sun burned brightly, bathing her in warm yellow light. Stars kept it company, visible in the dark blue sky. A half moon rose up and crossed the sky, shrinking to a crescent when overhead, then growing plump again before it set behind the grass.

  Struggling to her feet, Emily could see that the horizon wasn’t flat, but curved like she was standing on a giant football. A tsunami of pain overwhelmed her and she crumpled back into the long grass.

  When she came to, it was night. The stars shone brightly, bathing the meadow in soft light. Two moons orbited slowly, one coming up as the other went down. Crickets chirped happily and fireflies flitted about, tracing trails through the darkness. Emily shivered in the cool night air.

  She tried stretching her legs, pushing slowly against the dull pain.

  She straightened out her belly dancing outfit, relieved to be away from the depravity of Abdullah’s seedy penthouse. Free from slavery and the torture of twenty-four hour Arabic soap operas. A year ago, she was a naive, giggly ten year old Sheffield school girl. Now, she’d crossed the desert; she was alert and astute, ready to take on anything life or death threw in her way.

  It’s no good just standing here, let’s get moving!

  Heading off through the long grass of the meadow, Emily rejoiced in the cold and the pain, feeling happy to be alive. As she walked, a bright star rose up high into the sky. Familiar but larger than normal, she was sure that it was Jupiter, the gas giant, with its moons, Io and Europa. She’d studied it in science, and peered into the grey skies trying to see it through a telescope she’d made from toilet rolls.

  She reached a gurgling stream that glowed phosphorescent green as it splashed over rocks, under dark trees. Following it down, Emily passed though thickly scented groves of orange and lemon trees, the smell of the blossom in the still night air was so strong, it was overpowering. As the sky lightened pearly-blue ahead, she stopped and thought. Something odd was happening: she was approaching dawn, not dawn approaching her like it usually did. The world she was on was so small that she was walking around it.

  Feeling thirsty, she cupped her hands, scooping up luminous water, and taking a big slurp as it flowed out though her fingers. It tasted beautiful, like liquid satin.

  Splashing her way down the stream until it flowed into the ocean; she sat on a rock and gazed out to sea. The sun rose bright and crisp over the curved horizon warming her and drying her wet clothes, stream rising into the cool morning air. Like a lizard, she soaked up the sunshine, feeling strength surging back into her aching bones.