by Leen Elle
"Where are you?" he called, standing up and wading through the grass. It brushed his legs and pulled at his shirt.
She laughed happily.
There was a snap and a grumble to his left and the night noises began. A cawing cry, the clicking of some evil creature struck up in the patch of grass to his right. Somewhere far away he heard a deep, mournful howl followed by more snapping branches and the sound of quick feet over dried leaves.
She laughed again, carefree.
As the noises closed in on him, Derek began to run after the girl, calling out to her. She didn't seem to hear him. The sounds around him grew louder and louder until he thought he'd go crazy.
Suddenly the girl's laughing voice broke through the heavy prison of noise. "Derek."
"Where are you?"
"Find me."
Just as he was about to yell to her again, he burst through the edge of the night jungle and found himself standing in a wide, rolling meadow of thick, green grass. It squished under his bare feet and tickled him when it poked up between his toes. The blanket of green was dotted with purple and gold and the blue sky stretched on forever above him. There was no sun, but there didn't need to be. The very field itself radiated light.
It was in the middle of the field that a small bush of yellow flowers stood. Beside it was a tiny pond surrounded by rocks. On one of the rocks stood the girl. She had flowers in her hair. Pink apple blossoms. Her dress was as white as new-fallen snow and her green eyes sparkled with the mysteries of the heavens. Everything Derek could ever have hoped to know were in those eyes, shining out at him.
She smiled at him, lifting her finger to her lips. As before, she beckoned him towards her.
Walking as if by her command more than his own will, Derek moved farther into the meadow, his eyes on hers. His feet sank into the springy grass as he walked, tickling him. When he was a couple steps away from the girl, he stopped, still looking into her eyes.
She smiled again, her eyes shining more brightly. Her lips were smooth and pale, the tendrils of brown hair framing her face, curly.
"Derek," she whispered, leaning towards him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. She whispered, "Find me."
"Where are you?"
She just smiled, pressing her finger to his lips to silence him. Her eyes danced with a secret Derek ached to know.
Waking suddenly to the sound of the warbling birds and the merry clip clop of hooves on packed dirt, Derek lied still, staring up at the rafters. It was that dream again.
Who is she? he wondered yet again.
The merry hooves were joined by a lighthearted whinny. Blueberry...
The Smithfields!
Bolting upright, Derek jumped off his bed, tripping down the ladder and racing across the lawn towards the main house. As he crested the knoll, he saw Blueberry trotting happily up the drive. Ducking around behind the house, Derek managed to come out by the carriage house just as the carriage stopped at the porch. Straightening his shirt and smoothing down his hair quickly, he walked around the building as if he'd just walked out through the side door. He hoped the rooms were spotless.
Jogging over, he flipped the side step of the carriage down.
First out of the carriage was Jonathan. "Bring the bags into the foyer," he said flatly, turning back to help a tall woman with golden hair and a weary smile out of the carriage.
"That was a very bumpy ride."
"It was fun!" a voice from inside the carriage piped.
Undoing the strap over the luggage, Derek hauled the first bag off the boot and set it on the ground. What did they do? Bring their whole house? he thought, grabbing the second bag. As he turned to set it down, he came face to face with something small, blond, and bouncy.
"Hi!"
"Abigail," Jonathan said sharply, looking around the carriage.
The little girl looked over at him, her large eyes round. She looked like a little yellow owl wrapped in yards and yards of ruffled lace.
"Why don't you go in with Mommy?"
She shook her head. "I made a new friend and I want to talk to him."
"He's not a friend, he's a servant."
Planting her hands firmly on her hips, Abigail said, "He is my friend! Aren't you?"
"Oh, umm…" Derek looked at Jonathan's dark eyes. If for no other reason than to spite the man, he said, "Sure."
The little girl poked her little pink tongue out at Jonathan then looked back at Derek. "What's your name?"
"Derek."
"I'm Abigail."
"It's nice to meet you."
She grinned at him. "It's nice to meet you, too."
Jonathan smirked at him, his usually dull eyes sparkling with something resembling deep malice. "I tried to save you."
"Jonathan?"
Looking over, Derek saw another child.
It was a boy who looked about six years old. His wavy brown hair fell in his face. He looked shy, one of his pudgy hands gripping the carriage wheel.
Looking back at Derek, Jonathan said, "Abigail, why don't you help your friend bring the bags in?" He scooped the boy up easily. "And we'll go inside and see Catherine."
At her sister's name, Abigail looked at him. "Is she still sick?"
"She's sleeping right now. She'll be awake in a few minutes. But she's very tired so be as quiet as you can when you go in the house, all right?"
"I'll be so quiet no one will even know I'm there." Shrugging up her shoulders and looking around, her huge eyes even rounder with bewilderment, she said, "Abigail? There's no Abigail here."
Derek couldn't help but chuckle.
With a final, knowing smirk at Derek, Jonathan carried the small boy up the stairs and into the house.
As he was pulling the third bag off the boot, a rich, deep voice asked, "Need help with those?" The man was tall with dark, wavy hair just like the boy's. He had bright green eyes and an open, friendly smile.
"It's all right, Mr. Smithfield," Derek said.
"Yeah, Daddy," Abigail squeaked, obviously forgetting that she wasn't supposed to be there. "I'm going to help him."
Mr. Smithfield smiled indulgently. "And as helpful as you are, it will go even faster with three of us, won't it?"
"I guess."
"Here you go," Mr. Smithfield said, taking the smallest bag off the boot and handing it to her. "Now that has very important things in it, so be very, very careful when you bring it in."
"I will!" Turning and running up the steps, her black boots thumping loudly on the white boards, Abigail called, "Mommy! I'm helping Daddy bring the luggage in!"
Chuckling again, Derek picked up two of the bags.
"She seems to like you." The man hefted the largest of the bags.
Derek took two others. "She's cute."
Mr. Smithfield nodded. "She'll wear you out if you let her, though. If she does start to get in your way don't mind too much about telling her to leave you alone. I'm sure you have work to be doing and tripping over a little girl isn't going to help it go any faster."
Nodding a little, Derek led the way into the house and up the stairs to the rooms that had been cleaned out for the Smithfield's. He was glad to see the beds were already made and everything was dusted.
When the bags were put away, Mr. Smithfield looked down the hall, concern creasing his brow. "Is Catherine's room up here?"
"Yes. Do you want to see her? She sleeps a lot, but she might be awake now."
"Yes, please."
Walking down the hall to Beth's old bedroom, Derek knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in." Her voice was stronger than it had been the previous day. When Derek opened the door, Catherine was sitting up, smiling. She was ghostly pale, but Atty must have been up to see her because her hair was combed and braided.
"Cathy." Crossing the narrow room with two long strides, Mr. Smithfield embraced his daughter.
She kissed his cheek. "I missed you, Daddy."
Feeling as if he was invadin
g a moment that he was not part of, Derek backed out of the room and went back down the stairs to get the other bags that were waiting in the foyer. When everything was brought up, Derek walked through the hall quietly, not wanting to bother the lively conversation going on in the parlor. As he passed, he glanced in the room.
"Then there was one man who was sitting in front of us and he was making these really loud noises! I thought he was choking! It was the whole way!"
Abigail was practically sitting on top of Jonathan, who also had the boy on his lap. He was smiling a little, his features still strained from lack of sleep and worry. The small boy's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.
Sitting on the couch against the far wall, next to Mrs. Worthington, Mrs. Smithfield was still smiling. She looked very tired and like she just wanted something warm to eat and a comfortable bed.
As Derek left through the side door, he found himself feeling a little jealous that he couldn't stay in the house. He liked the Smithfield's already. They seemed warm and kind. Mr. Smithfield reminded him eerily of Mr. Worthington. Thinking of the man who'd cared for him, there was a sharp pain in his chest. He pushed the thought away and turned his mind to other matters.
"Boy."
"Yeah, Devon?" he said, looking back towards the carriage house.
"Take Blueberry over and git him put away. And don' fergit to feed them."
Taking the lead, Derek said, "When are you going to stop reminding me to feed them? I've been doing it for what? A month now? I know when I have to feed them."
Squinting at him, Devon scowled darkly. "Don' git wise, boy. Just do as you're told."
"You and Jonathan." He rolled his eyes. "I won't ever be smart, or wise. I promise. I'll just go through life doing exactly what everyone tells me to do. How's that?"
"Now you're startin' to understand how things work in this world."
Snorting with laughter, Derek walked Blueberry back to the stables. As he dumped the oats in their troths, he felt a pang of guilt with Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth's glare. He'd slept through her exercise time, leaving the old mare locked up all day.
"I'll bring you out twice as long tomorrow. How's that sound?"
She snorted at him, her nostrils flaring angrily.
He nodded. "I thought you would say that."
Chapter Eleven
"What are you doing?"
Looking over his shoulder, Derek almost laughed at what he saw. Abigail was peering around the edge of the stable door, her arm wrapped securely around her younger brother's throat. Stuck under her weight, the boy looked half-frightened, half-choked. His round cheeks were tinged red and his eyes were watery with suppressed tears.
"I was just going to take Lady out for her exercise."
"Is that the horse?"
"Yes. This one, here." Trying to look like he knew more than he did, Derek tried to pet the mare.
Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth shook her head at him, glaring down her long nose.
"I don't think she likes you." She tightened her grip on her brother, leaning farther around the corner. "Are you mean to her?"
"No. She's the one who's mean to me."
"She looks mean. I bet she eats little kids, huh?"
The boy looked terrified.
Laughing at the look on the boy's face, Derek said, "She doesn't eat kids. She eats oats and sugar."
Her eyes glowing with excitement, Abigail squeaked, "Like cookies?"
"Um, not really. Do you want to feed her?"
She nodded so hard she almost fell on her brother from dizziness. "Can I?"
"Sure. I'll get you a sugar cube." Opening a box on one of the shelves, he took out several squares of white sugar.
Abigail ran around her brother and took one from Derek.
Looking at the boy, Derek asked, "Do you want to give her one?"
Grabbing the door frame as though for protection, the boy shook his head furiously.
"He doesn't do anything." Climbing on the gate fearlessly, the little girl leaned forward, shoving her hand under Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth's mouth. She looked like she was trying to put the sugar cube up her nose.
"No, like this. You hold your hand flat and let her take it."
Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth seemed skeptical about putting her nose too close to the girl's hand, but when the smell of sugar became too tempting, she licked up the treat.
"Eww!"
Laughing, Derek gave one to Blueberry.
"It spit on my hand!" Turning around, she looked passed Derek. "Jonathan, I have horse spit on my hand!" She ran to him as he walked through the door, holding her hand out for him to see.
Squatting quickly, he put his hands on her shoulders and held her at arm's length before she could grab him. Jonathan smiled and said, "Do you? Wow."
"I gave the mean horse a sugar cube."
"Did you get to feed the horses, Bartholomew?"
The boy shook his head again.
Letting go of Abigail, Jonathan stood and picked Bartholomew up. He took a sugar cube from the open box and walked over to Blueberry. "This is a nice horse. Here you go." He put the sugar in Bartholomew's fat, little hand and held his wrist, gently pulling his hand out towards the horse's mouth.
His eyes growing wide in his pudgy face, Bartholomew froze as Blueberry's nose moved closer and closer to his hand. As soon as Blueberry took the sugar, he pulled his hand away and looked up at Jonathan.
"Did it spit on you?" Abigail asked, wrinkling her nose at him.
"Yeah," he answered softly.
"Eww!" she shrieked.
"All right, you two. You've fed the horses and now it's time to go in for your own lunch."
"Are you coming?"
Derek, who'd been opening Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth's gate, looked over at the little girl. "Me? Oh, no. I have work to do."
"I'll wait and eat with you."
"That's all right. I'm not going to eat for a while."
"I'm not hungry anyway." Crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest, she looked up at Jonathan. "You can go ahead. I'll go back when Derek does."
"Derek isn't going to the house."
"Why?"
"He lives out here, with the horses," Jonathan explained flatly. "He has his lunch out here, too."
"Oh." Abigail thought very hard for a moment. "Does he eat sugar cubes?"
Smirking, Jonathan said, "I don't think so, but it wouldn't surprise me."
Glaring at him, Derek went back to getting Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth ready to go out to the corral. He needed to find the longer exercise rope. It normally would have been by the door, but its hook was empty.
Looking at Derek, Abigail said loudly, "I like sugar, too."
Derek was unsure of what he should say to that, so he just smiled a little. "Well, I have to bring her out now, so you should probably go with Jonathan anyway."
"Can I ride her?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why?"
Derek sighed. Glancing at Jonathan, he would have sworn the man was enjoying watching him trying to get her to leave. It wasn't that he didn't like the little girl, he just had things he needed to do. And having her saying odd things to him in front of Jonathan was embarrassing him, though he couldn't say why.
After several, long seconds, Jonathan seemed to take pity on Derek and said, "Abby, let's go eat."
Dejected, Abigail sighed heavily. "All right. But can I come back out later?"
"We'll see. Right now we need to eat. Catherine came down for lunch and we don't want to keep her waiting."
"Catherine? Yay! Let's go!" Taking his free hand, she began trying to pulling Jonathan out of the stable.
As the three left, Bartholomew clinging to his neck and Abigail hanging off his arm, Jonathan suddenly looked very different. He'd make a good father, Derek thought. "He'd be a lot like his father, I bet. At least with his own kids."
No amount of touching family moments shared with his wife's siblings could convince Derek that Jonathan would show kindness to a
stranger or anyone he wasn't directly responsible for in the first place. He could never live up to his father, Derek decided, after rethinking his statement.
Walking Lady Sarah Mary-Ruth out to the corral, he locked the gate, double-checking the latch, then walked back to the stable. Gathering the breakfast basket and plates, Derek left for the house. If everyone was eating he could easily sneak into the kitchen to get himself something for lunch.
Opening the door slowly and making sure no one was in the hall, Derek slipped inside and down the kitchen stairs. "I brought the dishes back."
Beth and Atty were sitting at the table, each looking distinctly worse for the wear.
"Are you all right?"
Standing up and taking the basket from him, Beth walked quickly across the room and set it by the basin. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just been a very busy week and then we had a large breakfast and lunch to make. That woman needs to send you in to help with meals."
Smirking, Derek said, "You mean that kind, generous, good woman?"
With a withering glare, Beth sank back into her chair by the hearth.
All Derek could do was laugh. "If you want I'll do the dishes for you when you bring them down. Just remember, I'm not here."
"You're sneaking around again?"
"Not sneaking. Cleaning. She's the one who keeps telling me to clean things. Well, she never told me to stop, did she?" When the woman was silent for a moment, he smiled at her.
Sighing and leaning back more, Atty looked towards the wall. Her hair was in an even worse state, her eyes dull. She looked like she needed sleep as much as Jonathan did. There were stains on her apron, and her dress was wrinkled and covered with small spots of dough and puffs of flour. The lines around her eyes stood out even more, making her age very obvious.
"Is there anything else you want me to do?"
"No, no. I'm sure you've been just as busy as we have."
"Not really. Not today, at least. Just the usual work with the horses." He suddenly thought of the clouds that were gathering in the sky as he'd walked across the yard. "Speaking of, I need to get Lady in before it rains."
"You left her out by herself?"
"She's fine."
"She'll be throwing a fit! You know how she is."