In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

was threatening to overflow its banks. Lewys and Owen pulled out a large tarp, which they anchored overhead between two wagons to provide shelter from the rain and wind. The unicorns were bunched under the trees close to the wagons. The two stallions seemed to declare a truce during the storm, or at any rate, they refrained from attacking each other. The three kittens complained bitterly at getting wet, and stayed in the wagon used by the girls for sleeping.

A break in the rain allowed Andre and Rebecca to go down to the swiftly flowing creek for water to be heated for the dishes. Near the edge of the stream, Rebecca spotted the shivering girl at the foot of a tree. She now wore the pendant she had skryed with constantly, and it had retained a small glow getting brighter as they reached Buttersea. When she saw the girl, it lit up a bright blue through her shirt. Rebecca gasped and pulled it out, looking at the girl in shock.

"What is it?" Andre asked sharply.

"We've found her!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Found who?" he demanded.

"Our sister. We were told she was born after our mother was taken by the Proctors and smuggled out of their compound. I'll explain more after we get her back to camp."

The girl was clad only in a too-small shift and trousers, and she was barefoot. Her black hair clung wetly to her face.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Rebecca exclaimed going to kneel beside her. "Whatever are you doing out here by yourself?"

The girl raised drenched gray eyes to hers. "Don’t let them find me!" she begged.

When Rebecca touched her, the stone cooled, returning to its original bronze color. She tried to lift the child to her feet, but the girl fainted and would have fallen back down if Andre hadn’t caught her. He handed the still empty bucket to Rebecca and lifted the child in his arms.

"We need to get her back and dry her off," he said practically.

"Put her in our wagon," Catrin said when they arrived back at the camp. "I’ll bring some hot water. You get her out of those wet clothes."

Rebecca hissed in anger when she stripped off the sopping clothes and found the child’s thin, pale-skinned body covered in welts and bruises from a recent whipping.

"Get some salve and bandages out of Grandmother’s medicine box," she told Catrin. "This will sting when I clean these cuts. It’s a good thing she’s still out."

Silently, Catrin handed her the things she’d asked for and opened their grandmother’s trunk. "What do you suppose happened to her? Where are her parents?" she asked, taking out a thick soft nightgown.

"Catrin, I think she might be our sister; Grandmother's pendant identified her. Some animal has used a lash on her," her sister said. "If her guardians allowed this—"

"You don’t know," Catrin pointed out." Maybe they did it."

She handed the nightgown to Rebecca, helping her pull it over the child’s head just as she was regaining consciousness. While Rebecca helped the child into the bed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, Catrin leaned out of the wagon door and asked Owen to bring a bowl of the stew from dinner and some of the hot tea in the pot sitting on the fire. The kittens converged on the child; one of them lying across her feet, while the other two snuggled up against her legs.

Rebecca unfolded a lap tray and spread it across the girl’s knees, carefully setting the bowl and cup down on it. When she saw the bowl and cup, the child’s eyes grew round. Hesitantly she cupped the bowl between her cold hands.

"Can you feed yourself, or shall I help you?" Rebecca asked.

"Is—is this for me?" the girl asked, hardly daring to hope.

"Of course it is," Catrin said holding out the spoon.

"You need to eat and warm up the inside as well as the outside," Rebecca said, lighting the burner on the small warming oven.

They waited patiently until the child had finished the stew.

"What is your name?" Rebecca asked.

The girl looked frightened. "Selene. Please don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me. He’ll be looking for me."

"Who will be looking for you, Selene? The man who beat you?"

The girl nodded jerkily. One of the kittens, sensing distress, climbed further into the child's lap, purring loudly. The girl reached out a tentative hand to stroke her back.

"Is he your guardian?"

"No," Selene whispered. "It was the Magi Proctor’s man, Leroys Torrigan."

"I see," Rebecca said grimly. She exchanged a glance with her sister.

"Are you going to send me back?" Selene asked fearfully.

"No, child, we are not," Rebecca’s voice was calm. "But if we are to protect you, we need to know everything you can tell us. Why were you with him instead of being sent on to the Shahen’s school?"

Selene shuddered. "Torrigan almost never sends anyone there. He keeps the young magi for a while before they are sold off to another place. At least that’s what the girl who was there before me said."

"Is she still there?"

Selene shook her head. "No, they took her out a week ago. That’s when Torrigan started training me."

"With a whip?" Catrin asked, incredously.

"No, he whipped me because I wouldn’t do what he wanted."

"What did he want you to do?"

Catrin gave her sister a sharp glance. From her tone, she knew Rebecca had a good idea what the child was about to tell them.

Selene swallowed. "He took off his clothes and he wanted me to—to—"

Rebecca stroked the child’s forehead. "It’s alright, darling. I know." She smiled down at the girl. "You have family now, and we will protect you and teach you how to use your gifts to protect yourself." She settled the girl back down on the bed and tucked her into the blankets. "Catrin will sit here with you, and the kittens will keep you company. I will be in soon to join you. I need to get the dishes cleaned up first. Sleep now."

Going to the door, she slipped on her rain slicker