“You’re a real jerk!” I blurted out. I couldn’t help it.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Sorry,” I said. “You don’t know what that means.”
Lady Catherine pointed a finger at me. “I understand the intent of your speech well enough.”
She took an imposing step closer to me. I took a step back.
“Now, understand mine,” she said, still pointing her finger. “Do not forget about my previous warning. The activities of this house are none of your concern. Your unruly actions will not be tolerated. One more outburst from you will result in the loss of another week’s salary for all of the servants.”
I clamped my mouth shut. Threatening me was one thing, but threatening innocent servants was another.
Lady Catherine turned to Miss Brenda. “The dinner party for today will remain as scheduled. Will another trip to town be needed, or will you be able to prepare the meal with the food remaining in the pantry?”
“I think we’ll be all right if I change the menu a little,” Miss Brenda answered.
“Very well,” Lady Catherine said. “See that it is done.”
Miss Brenda bowed her head and curtsied. “Yes, milady.”
“As for the rest of you, the priority above every other chore will be preparing the meal for this afternoon. Is that understood?”
Katie and Amanda curtsied. “Yes, milady.”
Lady Catherine lifted her skirts and moved back to stand by her two daughters, who were silent spectators. Lady Catherine gave one last reproach, “Let this be a warning to all of you. I will not tolerate foolishness in my household. Next time, the consequence will be termination.”
Still lifting her skirts, she exited the room. Rose trailed close behind her mother, and Fanny turned up her nose before following.
The quiet peace was short lived when Miss Brenda practically shouted at Katie, “You and your family are useless! We will all suffer the consequence of your mistake.”
“Leave her alone!” I said, feeling tears in my eyes again.
This is all going so very wrong.
Miss Brenda shook her thin, pointed head. “I don’t have time for this. What’s done is done. We will have to work quickly to fix this.” She looked directly at me. “Without any further interruptions.”
“Oh, right. I’ll get out of your way.”
“Katie, fetch a chicken for cleaning,” Miss Brenda ordered.
I followed Katie outside. “Katie, I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s all right,” she said softly, not looking at me.
“Katie, your family is not useless!”
When she turned, I saw the tears on her face. “Thank you, Miss Brinlee.”
I embraced the trembling girl. “I shouldn’t have let you take the blame for me.”
Katie wiped at her tears. “No, it was necessary. Lady Catherine would have been even angrier at you.”
“But now all of the servants will suffer because of my mistake. I can’t believe she would take away everyone’s wages.”
Katie looked toward the horse stables. I knew she was thinking of Krys. “Yes, it is an outcome that will affect everyone, including those who weren’t even involved.”
“Katie, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
She smiled weakly. “Could you be the one to tell Krys that his earnings for the week will be gone because of me?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “If you want me to tell him, I will.”
Katie inhaled deeply. “No, I should be the one to tell him.”
“Let me explain to him what happened and how you helped me,” I said.
“No, he needs to believe what everyone else believes. Lady Catherine cannot discover that my confession was false.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Katie paused. “I need to do it.”
She walked toward the horse stable.
This isn’t fair! I screamed inside my head.
The tears began to trickle down my face. I couldn’t endure watching Katie walk toward the end of her love story, especially since it was my fault. So, I did what I always did best when I was faced with a trial—I turned and ran.
I followed the path around the house and then hurried down the road. Unlike the first time I ran away, when I was conveniently wearing my sweatpants and slippers, I now wore a corset and long dress. I got as far as the end of the gravel path when I felt faint.
As I stopped to catch my breath, I remembered the pond and its inviting waters. With a new objective, I headed in that direction.
Soon, I slowed to a jog. But the corset around my chest seemed to tighten with each desperate inhale, and my lungs began to burn. I simply couldn’t draw a deep breath. Starting to panic, I leaned against a tree near the pond. “I’m going to faint,” I said, stating the obvious. This was what happened when someone was about to faint—lightheadedness, shortness of breath, hallucinations. Yes, thinking I'm in Cinderella’s world MUST be a hallucination.
I needed to loosen my corset so I could breathe. My fingers fumbled with the ties of my dress. I desperately ripped off the apron and neckerchief, and then the dress. Finally, with most of my clothing on the ground, I reached back and yanked on the strings to release the corset. When the terrible thing went loose, I took great gulps of air. I leaned back against the tree, inhaling the fresh air. My head still buzzed, but my vision soon grew steady.
Why am I here? I thought. Everything about my situation was getting worse. How was I supposed to make it through another day when I kept messing everything up?
After several more deep breaths, I slipped off my stockings and shoes. Then I unfastened my petticoats and let them fall to the ground next to my dress. What I needed was to feel like myself.
So, with my attire piled on the ground and dressed in only my white nightgown, I walked to the pond. I sat down next to it and let my feet slip beneath the cool surface.
Ah, that’s nice, I thought with a sigh. I leaned back and rested on the grass. I closed my eyes. It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay, I repeated in my mind.
Suddenly, I felt someone watching me. I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. There, standing next to my tree, was a man—a tall, dark, masked man.
Black Rider.
Chapter 10
Boyfriend Number Two: Kade Tyler
Kade was handsome—a blond, blue-eyed hunk. I initially crushed on his best friend, Rodney, but after my friend hooked up with him, I went for Kade. We were actually a good match, with our similar interests and friends. Meaning, his friend liked my friend, and mine liked his. I was only fifteen and not officially allowed to date, but Kade and I always hung out with Rodney and my friend at parties and school dances. The four of us got along perfectly. Kade would hold my hand, and I would giggle like a schoolgirl—which I was.
I’d like to say Kade was my first kiss, but we never kissed. We never really spent time alone, since his best friend and mine were always around. I don’t think Kade and I ever existed as just Kade and me. So, when my friend dumped Rodney for a senior guy on the basketball team, it was a given that my relationship with Kade was over. We never spoke again.
Encounter at the Pond
Black Rider’s arms were folded across his massive chest, his half-buttoned shirt revealing his bronze skin. “Good morning, Miss Brinlee. Did a gypsy steal your clothes?”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I clutched the neck of my nightgown and promptly stood up.
“Don’t get up on my account.” Humor played on his face.
“Um . . . I need to go back to the house.” I looked at the ground to avoid his beautiful eyes.
“You just got here,” he said. “Why do you need to get back already?”
Still staring
at the grass under my bare feet, I said, “They’ll be expecting me.”
“What’s the real reason you need to go, Miss Brinlee?”
The sound of my name on his voice made my stomach flutter like hummingbird wings.
Stop it, Brinlee!
“Is it because of me?” he asked.
I raised my head to glance at him. His eyes were the darkest brown, shaded by thick, black lashes, and a lock of his chin-length hair had fallen across his mask.
My hand itched to push the mask away. It’s a pity to hide such a pretty face.
I forced myself to pay attention to the conversation. “Just because I’ve met you a couple of times does not mean you know me,” I said. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you well enough to know I make you uncomfortable.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I mumbled.
Black Rider’s deep chuckle caused my stomach to drop. “You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met,” he said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Where do I begin? Let’s see . . . your choice of dress, or lack thereof—”
“Hey!” I interrupted.
“Don’t get me wrong—your lack of clothing interests me. It’s just that I’ve seen you twice now dressed in anything but proper attire.”
He had a point. The first time we met I was wearing pants, running unchaperoned in the woods, and now I was dressed even more scandalously in my shift that resembled my nana’s tattered old nightgown. And I was still unchaperoned.
“You seem like an animal trapped in a cage, waiting to be freed,” he said.
I was impressed but played along. “So, what was it then? Was it the way I threw my clothes on the ground without hesitating, or the way I dipped my feet in the water as if I hadn’t a care in the world—assuming, of course, that I was alone? Without spectators. Without someone spying on me. Which of those things did you notice?” Cough, cough.
Black Rider’s eyes twinkled. “It was more of the latter, I suppose. You seemed to be in your element when you were next to the pond. It was as if a peace suddenly came over you.”
He straightened, no longer leaning against the tree. When he spoke again, I was drawn to his lovely mouth. “Girls around here are only in their element when they are confined indoors and in pretty dresses. You contradict the norm.”
“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not.”
His lips lifted into a full grin. “Take it as a compliment. It’s refreshing to see something different.”
I blushed again. “I really should go.”
Black Rider took a step closer but stumbled. He grasped the tree and leaned over as if in serious pain.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
Without thinking, I approached him and leaned over to grasp his forearm. He let out a groan and jerked his arm away. Shocked, I tried to step back and nearly fell, but his hand reached out for mine. The warmth of his touch sent shivers up my arm.
“Don’t go,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.
I loved the way my hand felt in his and was happy when he didn’t let go.
As his labored breathing continued, I blurted, “What is your name?”
He slowly straightened and stood. “I still can’t tell you that.”
“Well, you’ve got to give me something. You know my name, but I have nothing on you.”
“My job is my identity,” he said. “No one can know who I am.”
“I’m not from here,” I reminded him. “I know no one. Therefore, I will not know you.”
At his silence, I assumed he was tempted to tell me his name. But when he reached his free hand behind his head and untied the cloth from his face, I could not have been more surprised. And believe me, I had never been more pleased in all my life.
This man, with his high cheekbones, chocolate-colored eyes, and stubble growing across his chin, was nothing like the boys I had dated before. This man was all grown up—an adult male specimen.
My eyes examined every feature of his beautiful face. There was a small scar just below his right eyebrow, but the imperfection only added to his masculine beauty.
His square jaw twitched as he watched my reaction. “No one can know who I am,” he said.
I nodded, unable to speak.
“My name is Dennan.”
Dennan! What an unusual, wonderful name, I swooned silently.
“Do I have your word that you won’t tell anyone who I am?”
I let out a feeble yes.
“You look stunned.” He tilted his head.
I tried to shake off my dazed stare. “Just shocked. I guess I thought you were hiding something gruesome under that mask.”
He smiled, and I noticed a small dimple in his left cheek. “Is this not gruesome enough for you?”
Hardly! “I just figured you had a larger scar than the one above your eye.” My hand involuntarily reached up to touch his eyebrow.
Have you ever had one of those out-of-body experiences when you watched your body do something you had no control over? Like when you’re on happy gas at the dentist’s office and you watch your hand float in the sky and feel your body spinning? Well, this was one of those experiences.
Taking control of my body, I retracted my fingers from Dennan’s face. Then I pulled my other hand out of his grip and took a step backward.
The next moment happened so fast. My foot landed on a small rock and I lost my balance. With lightning-quick reflexes, Dennan grabbed me by my waist to stop my fall. I heard him groan and felt his body tense, but he didn’t release me until I was standing upright.
“Sorry,” I said.
He crouched down again, this time favoring his forearm—the same one he used to save me from my graceful fall.
“I’m so sorry,” I muttered. I couldn’t believe I’d injured Fenmore Falls’ highwayman. Chalk it up to my clumsiness.
“Don’t be sorry,” Dennan finally said. “It wasn’t you.”
I gently placed my fingers on his shoulder. “Is it bad? Can I help?”
He looked up through his dark lashes. “It is nothing,” he said as he straightened, but I could tell he was faking it.
“Let me look at your wound.” I reached out for his arm.
“It’s fine.” He moved it out of my reach. “It’s just a little sore.”
“Whatever. Let me see it.” I grabbed his hand, and this time he didn’t object.
I pulled up his sleeve. Oh. My. Goodness. The entire inside of his arm was filled with splinters. No wonder he flinched every time something touched his arm.
“What happened?” I asked.
He gasped as I turned his arm around to find more splinters on the underside. “I was climbing a tree.”
“How did you get splinters from climbing a tree?”
“Well, I fell out of the tree?”
Frowning, I cocked my head. “How did you do that?”
“Someone was following me, and I tried to lose his trail by climbing a tree. The man examined my track longer than I had anticipated, and by the time he left, my legs were numb from holding onto the tree. I had no choice but to slide down.”
“Do you have splinters on the other arm too?”
When Dennan didn’t respond, I knew the answer.
“How were you going to get these out?” I asked.
“One at a time.”
“Funny.” I couldn’t hold back a smile. “You’re going to need someone to help you.”
I attempted to remove one of the splinters with the fingernails of my thumb and finger, but the tiny piece of wood only seemed to dive deeper into his skin.
“I’m sorry,” I said as he fidgeted from th
e pain. “Let me go back and get something to help get those splinters out.” I wondered if Sherwood Manor had any tweezers. Then, I remembered something my nana used when my sister and I got splinters on the farm. It was a nasty-smelling mixture of herbs and roots that loosened the skin.
“I just need to get some elder root and Jamestown weed. They will lift the splinters away from your skin,” I said. “I’m sure Sherwood Manor will have some in their herb garden.”
“Miss Brinlee, I’ll be fine.”
Would I ever get used to hearing him say my name? “Don’t be silly. You’ll never get these out on your own.”
“You really don’t need to help me.”
“I want to,” I said.
Dennan’s eyes showed his gratitude. I wondered if his plan had been to just wait until the splinters worked their way out or until the infection spread.
“It will only take me a few minutes,” I said.
He placed his fingers on my hand as I touched his injured arm. Sparks shot through my arm and into my chest.
“Thank you,” he said. He bowed before releasing my hand.
Wondering if he could hear the pounding of my heart, I folded my arms across my chest. “I’ll hurry as fast as I can.” I turned to walk toward my pile of clothes.
I could hear his footsteps as he followed me. Eager to fetch the supplies I needed to remove the splinters, I wasted no time in slipping into my corset and pulling it up to my waist. However, I soon realized I would not be able to tighten the corset on my own, with the ties in the back. Higher-class women showed off their wealth and only wore clothing that required the aid of a servant or housemaid.
Plan B: Maybe I could just wear the dress without the corset. Nobody would notice. Right?
“May I assist you?” Dennan stepped close behind me.
“I can do it myself.”
I'm Not Cinderella (The Princess Chronicles) Page 9