by Carl Purcell
“Agreed. Rebecca will remain here with Ashley. She will be treated as Ashley’s guest, not her guardian.”
“Very well, my lord.” Benjamin turned and left.
From that point, a week passed without incident. A routine formed that Rebecca almost came to understand as normal – the word normal having taken on a new meaning. Lord Sebastian no longer met with Rebecca and Ashley in the mornings. A maid delivered breakfast to them in their room instead, coupled with the same letter of apology that pressing matters did not
...Permit me to dine with you this morning but, should fortune allow, I will enjoy breakfast with you tomorrow morning in the normal place.
Sincerely, as always,
Your host
Sebastian
Fortune never did allow, however, and each morning Rebecca and Ashley ate with each other before moving upstairs to meet with Benjamin. Mostly they didn't speak. Ashley was still withdrawn and only slowly warming to Rebecca. Rebecca, on the other hand, just did not know what to say to the little girl or what to talk about. For the first few days, Rebecca stood in on the lessons out of a sense of care for Ashley. Eventually she became comfortable in her new environment. She smiled a friendly smile at the maids who delivered her breakfast and was the first one to ask what Benjamin had planned for the day. She tried to call him Ben once but after a disapproving glare , she never tried that again. By the early afternoon she would move from his study into the library. She didn’t read though; she rarely ever did at home. She started to crave some TV but there were none in the entirety of the castle. So Rebecca spent most afternoons napping in the library, away from Benjamin’s magic lessons. While she did, Benjamin would occasionally take Ashley to other parts of the castle’s highest floor to teach her something and even down to the gardens and the greenhouse once or twice. He always spirited her back to the study before Rebecca woke up though. Benjamin knew that if Rebecca awoke and went to see Ashley and they were not there, the woman would panic and tear the castle apart in search for her.
Rebecca kept count of the days, even after the battery on her mobile phone went flat and she no longer had a calendar. On Saturday she woke up remembering that she would normally have coffee with her friend Tabitha at around ten o’clock. She would have to miss it that Saturday and she couldn’t even let Tabitha know.
When Tuesday came around, Rebecca didn’t take her regular nap in the library but decided to go explore the gardens. While she was walking, she remembered a phrase her mother used to use. Ducking around. Rebecca smiled as she circled a rose bed. Just ducking around. The phrase never made any sense to her. What was ‘ducking’ supposed to mean? It almost made her laugh.
"Maybe I'll ‘duck around’ the side of Lord Sebastian’s castle and see what's there." Rebecca did exactly that and found a sign post by the path. The sign read: Stables. Rebecca looked around but couldn’t see any horses or even anything that looked like a stable. Rebecca shrugged and decided she’d ‘duck’ back upstairs to the library.
Rebecca never forgot that afternoon in the gardens or, when Ashley came out of Benjamin’s study looking tired, she took the girl back to their rooms and met with a pair of maids carrying dinner and an apology letter from Lord Sebastian. The quiet, serene solitude of the gardens and the ensuing dinner had been the calm before a storm. The maids who were approaching their rooms had been twins. Twin maids carrying twin platters with twin dinners. That night the two ate separately but Ashley came into Rebecca’s room later in the night.
“Can’t sleep?” Rebecca asked her with the casual tone of talking to a friend but the concerned expression of looking at a daughter.
“No.” Ashley still spoke very little and her face barely showed any emotion. Occasionally she asked Benjamin a question but mostly listened. Occasionally she told Rebecca that breakfast was good but mostly she sat and ate while Rebecca tried to talk to her.
“Did your mum ever tell you a story when you couldn’t sleep?”
“I don’t have one.”
“What about your dad?” Ashley just shook her head. “Would you like me to tell you a story?” Rebecca asked. Just then she realised that the only stories she actually knew were movie plots. She hadn’t read a fairy tale in years.
“Yes, please,” Ashley muttered and climbed onto Rebecca’s bed.
“Alright.” Rebecca smiled with some hesitation and tried her hardest to think of a story she could tell Ashley. The only story she could think of clearly was the plot to a bad horror movie she'd seen as a teenager. It was hardly appropriate. Ashley looked at her expectantly and Rebecca began her story even though she had yet to think of one. “Once upon a time there was this princess. She was a very beautiful princess named Leia who lived in a big castle and was tended to by her butler, Alfred. Then one day when she was walking in the garden she found this magic golden ring. She put it on and suddenly she was taken away from her castle to this big maze filled with goblins. The princess was very sad but she knew that if she could just reach the Holy Grail at the centre of the maze then she could drink from it and then say the magic words ‘there’s no place like home’ and be taken back to her castle.” Rebecca stumbled awkwardly through her story for a while until Ashley looked as if she’d fallen asleep.
Rebecca gave a sigh of relief and stood up. Ashley could sleep there tonight and she would take Ashley’s room. She moved quietly to the door and stepped out into the hallway. Rebecca had no idea what time it was but it was dark outside and a thick silence hung over the castle. She started towards Ashley’s room, her feet making a slight ruffling noise on the carpet, the only noise there was.
Her hand was just on the door handle when there was a sound like thunder from beneath her. Following came the unmistakable sound of battle. Rebecca ran to the stairs and looked down onto the entrance hall. She saw men in long coats and shaved heads coming through a hole in the wall where there used to be a door. Flames licked at the windows from outside. Lord Sebastian’s knights had engaged their enemy. Rebecca started to back away from the balcony. More knights were coming down the stairs. They brushed against her as they passed. Each drew his weapons and engaged the enemy. Rebecca spun around and ran back to her bedroom.
“Ashley!” She cried and opened the door. The little girl was already awake. She sat up in the bed, petrified. “Ashley, we have to go.” Rebecca took her by the hand and bolted from the room.
“There she is!” A voice called from down the hall. A bullet zipped past and hit the door frame. “Don’t move!” Rebecca never saw who it was shooting at her. She ran immediately for the stair case leading to the next floor.
Ashley couldn’t keep up with Rebecca. Rebecca stopped only a second to take Ashley into her arms. Their pursuer was shouting from behind them. He called out to his allies to chase after Rebecca. Another group of knights went by. Rebecca kept going up. There was another explosion and something wet splashed against Rebecca’s back. She didn’t want to know what it was. The Thralls had come prepared and they had come in force. A bullet hit the ground just behind her feet. Their pursuer would be on them any second now. Rebecca entered the library. She slammed the door behind her and begun weaving through the shelves. She pulled open a door and fled through it. Suddenly she was outside and she could feel the heat of flames behind her. She paused, awe struck and confused. A few feet away from her was the sign pointing towards the stables.
“Don’t waste any time!” Rebecca turned and saw Benjamin standing beside her. Flames were crawling up the vines that clung to the house. “Go straight for the stables and leave.”
“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked but she was afraid she already knew the answer.
“Lord Sebastian is leading the knights against the Thralls. I was told to make sure you can escape.” Rebecca had been right but she wished she wasn’t.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Go to the stables and get out of here. You can drive, can’t you?”
“Of course. But—”
&nbs
p; “Go! And remember that there’s always a short sword under the passenger seat.” Benjamin gave her a push and then suddenly he had disappeared. There was another explosion from somewhere up in the mansion and she heard glass shattering. That was all the pushing she needed. Rebecca started running along the path, Ashley still in her arms. Lord Sebastian Halford’s castle was burning away behind her.
Rebecca reached the stable. Somewhere down the path behind her there was another explosion and she heard glass shattering again. The Thralls weren't holding anything back in their search for Ashley. She could only assume the house was burning up on the inside now as well. There were three stables in all and she went into the first. A row of cars stood waiting in the dim light. Directly next to the entrance was an office room. Through the door, Rebecca could see keys hanging from the wall with numbers above them. Rebecca set Ashley down and told her:
“Go find car number three and wait for me.” Ashley looked up at her, full of uncertainty. Rebecca didn’t notice and went into the office to get the keys. Ashley watched her silently and then hesitantly ran off to find the car. She ducked down and saw a number painted under the first car. It was number six. She checked the next one along. Number seven. Ashley stood up and looked back at the office. Through a window she saw Rebecca with her head down, searching for something else. Rebecca wasn't giving up. Ashley got her little legs moving again, faster this time. The next car she checked was number four. She turned her head the opposite way.
“I found it!” Ashley called out. Rebecca came over to her with the keys and unlocked the car.
“Good girl. Get in and put your seat belt on.” Ashley didn’t need to be told twice; she climbed in. A switch in the office had started opening the large doors on the front of the stable. Rebecca started the car and put her seat belt on. The doors opened and Rebecca saw the shaved heads of two Thralls waiting for her. They said something but she couldn’t hear them. At that moment adrenaline hit her and smothered her panic. Rebecca thought quickly and switched on the car’s high beam lights. Blinded and dazed, the Thralls lifted their arms to shield their eyes but stayed exactly where they stood. Rebecca shifted the car into drive and floored the pedal. They only saw one of the Thralls roll over the front of the car. They felt the other go under the wheels and then they didn’t see anyone at all. There was only the road and Rebecca sped down the hill, away from Lord Sebastian’s burning castle. Rebecca heard one more explosion from behind. Rebecca knew that was the sound of her life shattering for the second time in a week.
When they pulled onto the highway and Rebecca didn’t see anyone following her, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“You hit them.” Ashley said softly.
“Yeah.” There was a heavy silence for a minute. “Oh God, I did,” Rebecca finally said. Ashley didn’t say a word. Rebecca wanted to tell herself that they deserved it and a part of her believed it. She wanted to tell herself that there was no other option and a part of her believed it. But the biggest feeling welling up inside Rebecca was uncertainty, though. Whatever she thought she knew about the world didn’t seem to make sense any more and so why should the same morals she had always held to still make sense? People killed each other left and right in the old days. Men duelled to the death with pistols and way back before that you were a noble, honourable person if you killed others. That was the life of being a knight. She found it difficult to swallow but a sense of urgency told her that now was not the time to get stuck on an ethical debate with herself. There was a more pressing question that needed answering: where did she go from here?
Rebecca just kept driving. She knew that she had to get as far away from the battle as she could before they realised where she’d gone. Benjamin hadn’t given her any instructions about where to go or what to do. She suddenly remembered what Lord Sebastian had said. The order had separated themselves from the Sorceress’ family a long time ago so that no one could find them. Was that what was going on now? Had Lord Sebastian and Benjamin just shoved them out on their own and hoped for the best? Rebecca didn’t have an answer. Rebecca just kept driving.
After an hour, neither of them felt tired.
“Ashley, reach under the seat and tell me if you find anything.” Ashley did as she was told without a word. She felt around under her seat until her hand touched something cool and solid. Something metallic was strapped to the bottom of her seat.
“There’s something stuck there.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.” Ashley took a firm hold on it and tugged it a few times as hard as she could. Something clicked and the thing came loose. “Got it.” Ashley withdrew her hand and showed Rebecca what she’d found. The silver pistol Ashley held looked a little smaller than Rebecca’s hand. Benjamin wasn’t kidding when he said short. Rebecca was a little confused that he’d called it a sword but the world she was in now wasn’t the world she was in a week ago. In this world garages were called stables, mansions were castles and now guns were called swords.
“Is it loaded?” Ashley began to examine the weapon. “Careful.”.
“How do I tell?”
“I don’t know. Here, put it in the glove box.” Ashley did as she was told and shut it away tight. Rebecca kept on driving a while and slowly Ashley began to drift off to sleep. When her only company had fallen asleep and the road stretched out endlessly in front of her, Rebecca began to feel her eyelids getting heavy. The road was becoming blurry. The street lights became hazy and their little bursts of light began to fuse together and become one long tunnel of light. Her head rolled to one side and she yawned, her cheeks pushing her eyes closed for a second too long and the car swerved. Rebecca felt it move and suddenly tightened her grip and took control of it again. Ashley rubbed her eyes and looked around wearily, not quite awake.
Rebecca pulled off to the side of the road and turned the engine off.
“What’s going on?” Ashley asked.
“We’re just stopping for a while. I need to rest.” Rebecca sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. Ashley let her head fall gently against the window and let herself be taken by unconsciousness. A visit to the Land of Nod. Rebecca soon followed suit.
Dawn came at an early hour the next day. The sun rose over the empty horizon and spread its light over an uninteresting little silver sedan, parked at a rest stop along the highway. It was the sort of car you could easily go by without ever really seeing it. Rebecca awoke to the first rays of the sun striking her eyes and piercing her sleep, pulling her from a bleak, dreamless rest. When Ashley woke a full half hour later, Rebecca was sitting outside on the front of the car. Her face was thoughtful but her mind was drifting through a random collection of concepts, giving each less than a second at the front of her thoughts and then passing on. She could think of as many things as she wanted like that without ever having to think about a thing. Mostly she just didn’t want to think about what she was going to do today. Ashley stared at her with the disorientation of having just woken up and for a second she didn’t know who Rebecca was or where she was. Then it all came back to her, much the way horrible realisations always do: she gave a heavy sigh, breathing out all hope of happiness. Rebecca noticed that Ashley was awake and looking at her. She slid off the car and opened her door.
“Morning,” Rebecca said. She didn’t bother to offer the patronisation of a feigned smile to the little girl. She didn’t even go the measure of saying it was a good morning. That morning wasn’t a good morning. Ashley nodded.
“No cars have passed us,” Rebecca started. She waited for a response but when she got none, she went on. “None at all. That means if they’re looking for us, they’re looking the wrong way. We’re safe.” There was a distinct lack of optimism in her voice.
Neither of them had a smile in them and silence had started to flood the air between them. Ashley had no words for anyone and Rebecca didn’t want to say what she was thinking. The silence grew thick and awkward and the longer it remained between them the more Rebe
cca wanted to make any noise at all to break it. A scream would have been better than that quiet.
“We should tell your parents that you’re okay.” Rebecca finally let it out but it didn’t seem to take any weight off her shoulders.
“I don’t have any parents,” Ashley responded and it sounded all too familiar.
“Ashley, you must have parents. Everyone has parents and I’m sure yours are worried sick about you.”
“No, they’re not, because I don’t have any.”
“Well, where do you live?”
“In a house.”
“Then where’s your house? We’ll go there and not tell your parents.”
“No, we won’t.”
“Then where do we go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ashley!” Rebecca’s cry was full of frustration and she glared at the little girl. Ashley glared straight back with equal measure of frustration. Rebecca wanted to believe it was simple, childish stubbornness. The same sort of stubbornness you get when a child doesn’t want to go to bed or finish her vegetables. But there was something so grown up about Ashley that she just couldn’t shrug it off like that. It was in her eyes. Ashley wasn’t glaring at Rebecca with the wide innocent eyes of a child. They were different. They were a cynic’s eyes. The hard, narrow eyes of someone who had seen too much of the world through a bleak, selfish, bitter tint. Ashley wasn’t just being a stubborn brat. She genuinely didn’t want Rebecca to take her home or to tell her parents. Maybe she really didn’t have any parents either. Stranger things had happened in the past week alone. Rebecca started the car.
“Forward, then.”
“What about your home?”
“Maybe I don’t have one either.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. Sort of. We’re better off not going back that way. If the Thralls haven’t come this way looking for you then they must have gone that way.”
“So where are we going?”