Lupita huddles inside her worn cloak for what little warmth it provides as she travels down the road in the pouring rain on top of the horse she took from her uncle’s stalls. It’s been a week since she ran away from her uncle’s house hold. The man had been raping her since she was eight years old. She’s already had one miscarriage when she was just ten years old from him punching her in the belly and causing her to lose the baby. She didn’t want the child in the first place, but she didn’t like it when he punched her and called her all the mean names he had. It was his fault that she became pregnant. He always wanted her in his bed. She had been forced to sleep with him since the death of her father. That had been five years ago and now she was tired of it. She made sure he would never be able to hurt another girl at all.

She shifts her weight some in the saddle. It still hurt when she moved a lot or rode all day long. The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been when she left, but she was still losing blood. The rags she used were soaked and she had to change them at least four times a day. She had been weak and feverish after she left, but kept moving onward away from her uncle’s estate. She wanted to put as much distance between her and the town her uncle’s estate was near. She knew she wouldn’t get any justice there. Women weren’t treated as equals there. It wasn’t like she could explain anything to them in the first place. She could no longer speak and had bruised finger marks on her throat. Ever since her uncle choked her, he damaged something in her throat and now she couldn’t speak any more.

Lupita leans closer to her horse, hoping to spot somewhere to stop for the night. She raises her hand up to shield her sight from the rain. She sees a lot of lights off in the distance. She knew she had enough coin for a week or more at an Inn. She had taken her uncle’s coin bag, along with his sword and knife. Lupita urges her horse on-ward toward the lights, hoping that there will be room at the inn.

When she rides up to the inn, the place was loud and it seemed like a celebration or something was going on inside. She stables her horse and as she heads into the Inn, the heat and noise hits her full force into the face. She gets a room for three days and orders up a bath as well. She even asks for some food to be sent up to her room as well. Lupita follows the maid up to her room and waits while the tub is filled up for her. She slowly removes her boots that had once belonged to her aunt. Most of her clothes were a mismatch of things she had managed to put together before she left her uncle’s estate. There was a knock on her door and the maid informs her that the tub is ready for her.

Lupita heads down to the bathing room and takes a bath to scrub away the filth she had on her. She waits while the maid changes it for her and soaks for a while. She even asks the maid if there is a healer nearby and is inform there is one. Lupita ask if the maid would ask her to come and have a look at her. Lupita looks at her body and notices every inch of her is covered in different color bruises. Once the healer comes and looks at her, she feels better. The healer gives her some medicine to take and tells her to be careful.

Lupita stays curled up in bed that night and doesn’t go anywhere. She was feeling so tired that she just wanted to be left alone. She falls into a deep sleep and allows herself to finally dream. She couldn’t believe she was finally free from her Uncle’s control. She hope’s no one comes looking for her, since she was the one responsible for killing her Uncle.

When morning comes, she wakes and just lies in bed. She was feeling a little better and after about an hour the maid comes with some food the healer had told her she could eat. The maid helps her sit upright on the bed and leaves after settling her. Lupita gives the maid a tip for her help. She had plenty of money for now. After the maid leaves Lupita eats her breakfast and relaxes under the covers. She had given the maid permission to come in her room to get her dirty dishes. This was the first time in twelve years, which she has slept in a clean bed and had a hot meal. Lupita snuggles deep under the heavy blankets that have been placed upon her and falls back to sleep again. She doesn’t hear the maid as she slips in and retrieves the tray with the dirty dishes on it.

When Lupita wakes up the following day she felt a little bit better than she did yesterday. She still felt sore as she gets up and move around. She pulls out a dark blue dress that was her aunt’s and heads downstairs to see the Inn keeper about staying another two weeks. She pays the Inn keeper for two additional weeks, plus meals. She should go out and check on her horse, but it was taking everything she had to withstand the pain she already had. Lupita sits at the table nearest to the fireplace in the main dining hall. She orders a hot cup of tea filled with honey. The inn keeper wife sends over a chicken broth soup for her. They know the only way she can speak is with her hands.

Lupita stays downstairs for a while, before heading back up to her room and lying back down. As she lies down on the bed, she double checks between her legs to see if she’s been bleeding again, but there wasn’t much blood. The healer she hired did a good job of healing her.