Anastasia

Molloy Park - Part Three

Robert and Anastasia found Charlotte, Mlle. Dubois and a sobbing Clarissa further downstream than where they had left them. All three were in hysterics on the banks of the river, screaming at something in the water. The river was wide and deep here, approaching the weir and soon after, a waterfall.

"What is it? What's happened?" Robert asked hurriedly, looking around. Before any of them could reply, Anastasia spotted a figure in the water, struggling to stay up.

"Sammy!" she cried in horror, already slipping out of her skirt and kicking off her shoes. She waded in as far as she could, then dived beneath the rapidly moving river. The water was freezing on her heated skin, but Anastasia ground her teeth and swam on with long, powerful strokes, easily going against the current. Within seconds she had reached him.

Samuel's arms were flailing about wildly, desperately trying to grasp the air. "Help! Anna! Help me!" He was in a state of panic and confusion and Anastasia had to take both his arms firmly, forcefully pinning them to his sides. He whimpered a little, but did not protest when Robert, who had been only a few paces behind his cousin, took charge of the young boy and hauled him back to shore.

Anastasia allowed herself to relax slightly and calm her breathing before following them. Her panic passed. How could Clarissa have let Samuel swim out so far? If she and Robert had not arrived in time - oh, she didn't like to think of it.

 Anastasia kicked off, but hit a rock and a searing pain tore through her calf. She cried out. The current had caused her to drift downstream so she was closer to the weir than she had anticipated. She tried to swim forward again, but her leg screamed in agony and she found herself tiring. She could see her blood beginning to colour the water around her. She called out again, hoping Robert would come to her aid. She couldn't see whether he would for her vision was blurred by tears and the dizziness the pain was causing. Anastasia ground her teeth, trying to stay above the water, but could feel her energy seeping away quickly. The water here was even cooler and she began shivering uncontrollably. Her teeth chattered and her muscles were cold and tight, which didn't help her injury.

She went under once...twice...a third time.  She swallowed a great mouthful of the water which left her coughing and gasping as she slipped under the surface again. Just as she was beginning to despair, feeling the last of her energy leave her now frail body, a pair of strong arms hooked beneath her shoulders and pulled her up. They heaved her along water, and eventually they reached the shore.

Anastasia lay on the river bank, shaking and coughing up water. She kept her eyes closed, too exhausted to lift her lids. In the distance she could hear a male voice calling for help, Mlle. Dubois crying out and hurried footsteps approaching her.

"Anna?" Robert's voice came from beside her.

"Thank you, Robert," Anastasia mumbled, feeling sick in her stomach.

"What for?" He was next to her, covering her freezing body with his coat.

Anastasia moaned, clutching her aching head. She felt extremely faint. "For- you mean to say it wasn't you who saved me?"

"Well, seeing as you put it that way, let us say yes, if was I who saved you. Robert, the fearless hero, saving damsels in distress - "

She rolled over as best she could, coughing again as more water was regurgitated.

"Robert! Leave poor Anastasia alone, she is not well." Anastasia heard her governess by her other side. Mlle. Dubois began examining her leg. Anastasia inhaled sharply each time her leg brushed off anything. Tears sprang to her eyes. Mlle. Dubois clicked her tongue.

"Robert, what happened? Tell me, please," Anastasia managed to say weakly.

"Oh, Anna!" A rather high-pitched voice cried, instead of Robert's lower tones. Charlotte. "Are you well? Robert's gone to see to Clarissa; she fainted in all the commotion." Anastasia rolled her eyes under their lids. Charlotte continued, "Oh, it was all such muddle! After Robert swam back with poor Sammy - he's perfectly fine now - James, Gregory, Frederick and St Clair returned from the paddock, for that's where they'd been. We didn't notice you weren't there amidst all the confusion, until James asked Robert if he'd seen you. And, Anna, that's when we all realised you were still in the river!" Charlotte paused for breath, and when she continued, her voice was even more hysterical. "I got such a fright! But James jumped right in before the rest of us could even grasp what was happening. And then he brought you back here. Isn't he so brave?"

Anastasia would have pointed out that she and Robert had done exactly the same thing for Samuel while Charlotte and Clarissa panicked on the river bank, but found she did not have the energy. "That was very good of him," she murmured. "Where is Campbell now?"

"Oh, I believe he went to fetch the chauffeurs."

Mlle Dubois, who had finished examining the injury, said, "You 'ave a deep cut along your calf. It could be quite serious; it will 'ave to be seen to soon."

"Nothing Dr. Burnley cannot fix, I'm sure," Anastasia said, though she gritted her teeth. Mlle. Dubois didn't say anything.

"Oh, goodness, you are injured!" Charlotte exclaimed. "I did not even notice." Anastasia opened her eyes just long enough to see Charlotte look at the wound, which was slowly staining her white under-garments a deep crimson, then turn away quickly, looking ill and deathly pale.

Anastasia could hear people arguing in the distance, but could not make out what was being said. Her eyes closed and she fell out of conciousness, though not before she felt a pair of strong arms lifting her gently off the ground.

***

Author's Note:

I thought this chapter would be longer, but I struggled to find the words. I've decided just to plough on, but I'll definitely come back and give this one a good lot of editing once I have a fresh mind. I hated to have James saving Anastasia, but everything else I tried just didn't work. I do plan for Anastasia to be quite annoyed at having to be 'rescued', but then again, it was James...