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He registered my confused expression, and his grin widened.
“Oh, so he didn’t tell you?”
My silence answered his question, and he laughed.
“Well, girl, you’re in for quite a surprise. Yes, just you wait and see.”
Wait and see? Wait and seewhat?
He eyed me from head to toe, and I felt like a piece of meat. I spit at him, and he snarled.
“How dare you!”
Suddenly, the blindfold was being tied around my eyes again. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but they had nowhere to fall. I resigned myself to silence, scheming of ways I could try to escape… once we arrived at this estate.
Wherever that was.
Afterwhatfeltlikehours, we finally arrived at the estate. It was already nighttime, and the sky was clear and full of stars. Turley pulled me out of the carriage and removed my blindfold.
For a second, I thought I could make a run for it. But then a large man who must have worked for Turley grabbed my shoulders and forced me towards the house. I knew there was no use trying to escape.
Before us was a moderately-sized country estate. It looked old and poorly kept, but I could imagine that it had once been beautiful. Large trees lined the cobblestone pathway to the front door, and the sound of crickets chirped from the overgrown hedges.
We entered the house, and a few servants scuttered about, terrified looks on their faces. The furniture inside was old and out of fashion, but obviously expensive and finely made. Portraits lined the walls, but everything looked untouched. A few other large men loomed in the shadows, sending shivers down my spine.
Turley led us down a grand hallway, up a flight of stairs, and then down another hallway, this one only dimly lit. Our bodies cast dark shadows up the walls, and I felt as if I was in the plot of a gothic novel… but this was real.
Finally, we entered a dark room. The air was thick, as if there was a dense fog consuming the space. A smell that I couldn’t place burned my nostrils, and I found myself feeling suddenly dizzy. I struggled to make out the shapes of curved furniture, a fireplace, and thick curtains covering the windows in the dark, foggy space.
The large man escorting me pushed me down, and I found myself falling onto a plush sofa. In the darkness, I saw him pull a rope from the side of the sofa and tie it to the rope around my wrists, effectively chaining me to the piece of furniture.
From across the room, Turley blew out his candle, leaving me in the dark smoke. The men retreated and I heard the door shut behind them. A slow fear began to creep up my spine, followed by a strange feeling of dizziness and nausea. I let my eyes adjust to the room, straining around, trying to see anything.
And then I heard it.
In a corner of the room, somewhere maybe a dozen feet away, someone was breathing. The breaths were slow, but steady.
I was not alone.
Through the darkness and the fog, the figure of a person emerged. They were reclined on a long divan that could have been a bed, and in the haze, it was impossible to make out their features. But somehow, I knew it was a woman.
She hadn’t stirred at my entrance, and she didn’t appear to know that I was here at all. She just slept, her breaths slow and methodical, amidst the dark haze.
Chapter Eighteen
Will
TheridetoBedhamHouse by carriage was long, nearly 8 hours with stops to freshen the horses. But I couldn’t wait that long.
On horseback by myself, I could get there in nearly half the time.
I just hoped that was enough.
The ride was long and arduous, but I barely noticed the pain in my muscles or the early autumn wind biting my face. I rode until my horse was exhausted, then I replaced her with another, and rode again. This repeated until the sunset and darkness fell upon the countryside, leaving me galloping along the highway in the dark.
Finally, I arrived outside of my mother’s country estate with the full moon high above me. It was nearly midnight, and the countryside was silent except for the faint chirping of crickets in the grass.
My mind was focused on one thing, and one thing only: saving Amelia.
