“What has that got to do with it? Why are ye so late, anyway? Ye should have been here hours ago!”
“The journey was more...eventful than I anticipated.” He turned to Anna. “Mother, this is Anna Webster. She ran afoul of the bog along the eastern border. I said she could stay for the night.”
Anna gave a sheepish smile. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Um. Sorry about all this.”
“Sorry?” Emeric’s mother said, sweeping over. “There’s naught to be sorry for, my dear. Those swamps can catch out even the most experienced of travelers. Of course ye shall stay here tonight, and for as long as ye need to. I’ll have someone show ye to a guest room and have hot water brought right away.”
“Thank you,” Anna managed to choke out. “I appreciate it, Mrs. Mackintosh.”
“Pah! It’s naught. And call me Hildie.” She turned and shouted, and a moment later, a yawning young woman dressed in a rough-spun brown dress came down the corridor, knuckling her eyes.
“Aye, mistress?”
“Show our guest to one of the best rooms and see she has fresh clothing and hot water to wash with, Maisie.”
The young woman nodded. “If ye would come with me, miss?”
Anna glanced at Emeric.
“Maisie will take good care of ye,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
Anna nodded. In the morning. That sounded good. She could sort everything out then. Right now, all she wanted was sleep.
She smiled at Maisie and followed the girl down the hallway. Maisie led her up a winding staircase that corkscrewed through the heart of the building. The narrow path was lit by flickering torches set into the wall, casting shadows that danced like ghostly specters. Reaching the top, Maisie ushered her through a heavy wooden door into a comfortably appointed bedroom.
A large four-poster bed took center stage, draped with heavy, velvet curtains of deepest blue. The sheets were of the finest linen, looking as soft as clouds and just as inviting.
Nowthiswas more like it. If Emeric’s family hadn’t turned this place into a hotel yet, then perhaps they should if this was an example of what they could offer. Tourists would snap their hands off to stay in a place like this.
“There are night clothes in the chest, miss,” Maisie said. “I’ll be back shortly with some hot water.”
She left, leaving Anna alone. She wanted nothing more than to sink into the sheets and sleep for a week, but she was still covered in mud and it had stiffened in the cold night air, becoming hard and uncomfortable.
Gingerly, she began stripping out of her sodden clothes, placing them in as neat a pile as she could manage so they didn’t get mud all over the floor. The door opened as Maisie returned. The young woman was carrying a large pottery jug with steam coming out of the top. She crossed to a bowl on a dresser in the corner of the room and poured the water into the bowl, putting two large folded cloths next to it.
“Would ye like me to help ye bathe?” she asked.
“What? Er...no, I’ll do just fine,” Anna replied. “Um. Thank you, by the way. You’ve been very kind.”
Maisie smiled. “Ye are most welcome, miss. Well, if there is naught else I can help ye with, I will leave ye. Sleep well, miss.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
Maisie smiled and let herself out. The door closed behind her with a click that sounded oddly final.
Anna crossed to the bowl. The water was steaming hot but there was a second jug full of cold water so she poured in some of this until the temperature was just about perfect, then dunked a cloth in and began eagerly wiping the mud and grime from her body. She would have preferred a shower of course—or even better, a nice long bath—but it was very late and she didn’t want to go looking for the bathroom. This would serve until morning.
Finally, she leaned over the bowl and used the jug to pour water over her hair, doing what she could to wash out the detritus that had taken up residence in it. When she was finished, the water was so dirty it looked like chocolate milkshake and had twigs and bits of leaves floating in it, but Anna was clean for the first time in hours.
It felt amazing. Leaving the dirty water in the basin as she had no way to get rid of it, she crossed to the large wooden chest in the corner. Inside, she found a nightgown along with some other folded clothes. She curled her lip at the nightdress. It was the kind of thing her grandma would wear! It was made of white linen, long enough to fall to her ankles and arms that reached all the way to her wrists. Still,she was beyond caring. Pulling it over her head, Anna blew out the candle Maisie had left—there seemed to be no light switches that Anna could see—climbed into bed, pulled the soft covers over her head, and closed her eyes.
She was asleep in seconds.
