Diamonds Fall

by Rebecca Gibson

  Finally able to rest after the physically and emotionally exhausting day Annabel smiled, resting her head back against the straw. The bed was so narrow that all three of them had to lie incredibly close. At first Annabel stiffened, having been brought up to shun all kinds of touch. However, Daniel and Patsy's warmth was irresistible and once her teeth had finally stopped chattering, she quickly relaxed, drifting off into a restful sleep, lulled by Daniel's gentle humming beside her.

  She thought she would never be able to sleep on her own again now she knew what it meant to sleep next to someone. Daniel's heartbeat, so close to her skin, sent a strange thrill through her blood that she didn't understand. She woke up a few hours later something close to content, having slept on a surface that seemed not to have created any new bruises.

  The wind howled outside while the rain once more pounded on the roof. Daniel left at some point during the day to go about his daily chores, not willing to risk his family's wrath should he slack in his duties when everyone was already on the edge.

  Patsy and Annabel passed the time easily, in constant conversation. Patsy fired endless questions at Annabel regarding her upbringing, still in awe of every detail, often asking for the same tales to be repeated multiple times. She asked about everything...the servants, the horses, the rooms in her house, even about Annabel's normal routines.

  "How'd ya curl your hair? Why's it no' curly now?" Patsy asked, interrupting Annabel who was explaining her elaborate evening ritual.

  "Put it in rags, don't you do that?"

  "What? No!"

  "I'll show you."

  Sliding out from under the blanket, groaning as her stiff muscles complained at the movement, Annabel sliced the bottom few inches off of her moth eaten nightgown, with a knife Daniel had produced a few hours earlier from his boot. She shredded the fabric into thin strips before placing herself behind Patsy. Taking up a small section of hair she wrapped it tightly around a piece of the battered material, tying it into place at Patsy's scalp. She was unsure whether it would work on Patsy's frizzy strands but she was enjoying the process none the less.

  "Of course, the rags I used weren't rags at all, they were custom made from velvet but the principle is the same." Annabel worked in silence for a while, her cheeks hot at how thoughtless that previous statement had been. "There you are...I think I've done it right. I'm not sure because a maid usually does it for me. Leave them in until the morning and we'll see if it's worked."

  It was as she was performing this familiar task that Annabel realised just how little she had actually done for herself back at home. This almost felt like a merging of her former and present self, whilst being a mere shadow of them both. Once Annabel had finished wrapping Patsy's hair, Patsy jumped up. Ripping some of her own apron, she insisted on doing the same thing to Annabel's hair.

  Daniel reappeared just as Patsy took up the first section of Annabel's hair; he laughed at the sight. "I'd be in for it if Papa saw me hanging `round with girls, doing hair no less."

  Yet he stayed sat at the end of the bed, humming softly, a slight sparkle in his eyes. Whilst Patsy fiddled with Annabel's hair, ravelling and unravelling it again as she made mistakes, Annabel took her first proper look at Daniel. He was stretched out with his ankles crossed, leaning against the wall. His hands were clasped behind his head in a picture of ease. His skin was slightly tanned. Freckles dotted his wonky nose in a way that Annabel thought entirely pleasant, although knowing he was the exact opposite to what she was supposed to find beautiful. She couldn't understand why she had been so afraid of freckles before, they added so much character to a person's skin.

  Unlike the men Annabel had seen at the various functions in high society, Daniel had thin lines between his eyes and his sinewy muscles were more defined from a lifetime of hard work.

  Perhaps the most pleasant thing about Daniel was that he looked nothing like his father or Tom, instead sharing his blonde hair and hazel eyes with Billy.

  After a while Daniel's humming turned quieter and eventually stopped as his breathing regulated, betraying the fact he had drifted off to sleep. He looked incredibly peaceful. The lines had relaxed on his head, showing his face in a more youthful light...he was, after all, only a year or so older than Annabel. Patsy must have seen the direction of Annabel's gaze. She finished securing the last rag in her hair. It felt a lot looser than when her maids did it.

  "D'ya have a man waitin' for you at `ome?" Patsy asked. An image of the giant ring Annabel had locked in her armoire filled her mind.

  "Yes, a fiancé."

  "You're getting' married?" Patsy sounded incredulous.

  "I think so, if he still wants to." Annabel doubted that anyone would want to marry her now, especially not the most eligible bachelor in the country. He would have women falling at his feet. No doubt he was already engaged or married to someone else by now. Their engagement had not even been announced, it had only ever been rumour.

  "Is he good lookin'?"

  "So I'm told."

  "You mean you never even met `im?"

  "No that's not really how it works. It's more...a transaction. Father spoke to his father and they mutually agreed that our union will be good, for the advancement of both families. He's the richest man in the entire country and I was the richest woman." She shrugged, feeling as if she needed to justify herself.

  "Oh, so that's what betrothed means! You mentioned it by the stream tha' first time, but I wasn't sure. Anyway, I know I dunno a lot `bout marriage but ain't it good to love `em first?"

  "That is all good for the first year at most but when the love fades, you're left powerless and impoverished. Love is a good fairytale to tell little girls, it is not reality. Marrying Theodore Brogan will be best for my future."

  "I don' think I'll ever get married," Patsy muttered almost inaudibly. Annabel was shocked, everyone got married, it was just how things were done.

  "What? Never?"

  "If love's jus' a story, why would I? I've never seen it end happily, so why'd I wanna make myself miserable?" Annabel laughed at this.

  "You're so melancholy, of course you'll marry, you must!" Patsy looked a little angry at this presumption so Annabel adopted a more tender expression and tried again. "Not all men are like your father Patsy, when you leave here you will understand."

  The younger girl just nodded. "I'll leave soon as the boys are big enough to come with me."

  "What boys?"

  "Hetty's boys! Tom takes `em with him everywhere, they don' stand a chance. I gotta take `em with me. It's why I've stayed so long...that an' until you came, I never knew a better world existed."

  Annabel felt a strange mixture of emotions; she was both sad and happy at the same time. She had made a difference in a positive way to someone's life and it felt exhilarating, yet she didn't hold the power to truly do anything about it.

  "I gotta take Billy wi' me too," Patsy continued. "And Jen and Daniel...none of them belong here either. Now Hetty's gone there ain't nothin' to stay for once I got `er boys. We gotta wait for the right moment."

  "It will come soon Patsy, I promise. And when it does I will help you in every way I can."

  She let this new information sink in, wrapping a consoling arm around Patsy's shoulder. She was going home, although when still remained unknown. It could be years for all she knew and she could still end up prey to Tom and Trevor's anger or desire before then.

  The door downstairs flew open, banging against the wall. The sound reverberated around the stable. Both Patsy and Annabel stiffened, Daniel stirred in his sleep. After several moments of silence, filled only with the howling of the bitter wind, Patsy peeked downstairs.

  "It was just the wind."

  Annabel sighed in relief. The dread it had been Tom or Trevor subsided and she relaxed against the straw. In his sleep Daniel wrapped a protective arm around her waist. Annabel flinched at first, sour memories flooded back into her mind and her heart rate sped up dramatically. However the warmth of Daniel's ar
m seeped through to her skin and she began to drift slowly off into sleep beside him.

  Chapter Twelve

  The wind continued to howl well into the night, the door banging open so often they eventually just left it to swing on its hinges. The thuds of it bashing against the wall startled them awake every few minutes. Genevieve's cries, mixed with the ferocious weather, left any hope of sleep nothing more than a distant day dream.

  Just before dawn, when the wind had died down to a low whistle and the door was once more closed (even the horses hadn't braved the weather and were still huddled in the corner of the stable), the baby finally fell asleep, allowing the others a small window of opportunity. This opportunity was destroyed when another bang flew through the air, followed by a shrill scream.

  Daniel woke up instantly. His eyes snapped open as he leapt to his feet with amazing agility. Not having the patience to lower the ladder back into position, he jumped down to the ground floor. He swore loudly when his landing was not as smooth as he had planned, in his haste to intervene with whatever injustice was taking place to, and at the hand of, his kin. All this took place before Annabel had even rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

  Patsy sat up quickly once Daniel's bulk had left their side. The rags in her hair bobbed absurdly on top of her head. She slid off the bed, dragging the ladder across the floor and down into place on the ground before making her own descent. Clouded with anxiety, she missed the bottom rung and slipped, with a thud, onto her bottom. Still half asleep, Annabel fumbled down the ladder and with Patsy, rushed across to the house.

  They flew through the door just in time to see Daniel throw his father across the room, away from his mother who was lying in the exact place Hetty had laid just days previously. Daniel rounded back on his father, a fierce anger in his hazel eyes. Seizing the elder man's collar he drew back his fist and thrust it square into his mouth. Blood sprayed onto Daniel's face making him look wild. Trevor only smiled. It was a terrifying smile. Blood coated his few remaining teeth as his cracked lips stretched upwards grotesquely.

  Annabel, standing shocked just inside the doorway, lost her balance as Tom barged past her, pushing her to the ground like a rag doll on his quest to assist his father. With one swift, practiced movement, he grabbed the fire poker and smashed it across the back of Daniel's knees. Annabel cried out a shrieked version of Daniel's name, in a desperate attempt to warn him, but Tom was too fast. A gasp of pain left Daniel's lips and he folded to the floor.

  He looked up, seemingly determined not to show the suffering in his eyes. Annabel had been looked at with hatred and disgust before, but the look Daniel gave to his father in that moment was so strong it made her very bones turn cold.

  Trevor kicked out his leather booted foot, pummelling it into Daniel's stomach. He curled into a tight ball, as his brother continued to hit him with the poker. The metal clanged as Tom frequently missed in his drunken state and hit the floor beside him. The occasional thwap of the poker hitting flesh made Annabel wince as Daniel cried out. His body turned slowly black and blue. Blood seeped from his many wounds yet his eyes never shifted from his father's face. The look inside those eyes grew colder with every second, even as the strength was leaking out of him.

  All of this happened in a matter of seconds.

  Amidst the horror surrounding them, Patsy had sunk down to the floor to hold her frozen mother, who seemed even more distressed at the nearness of her youngest child. The haggard woman looked on with an impassive expression as her son was beaten, without uttering a single word in protest. Unable to reach the metal jug to repeat her previous attack strategy, Annabel grabbed a bucket full of ice cold water from near the door and poured the lot over the three men. Daniel spluttered and coughed, rolling onto his other side so he could breathe, finally breaking the eye contact with his father. Almost in slow motion his attackers stopped and turned towards the young girl at the door, who had been so submissive upon her first arrival but was now beginning to harden to this wretched way of life.

  "You want some of this do you?" growled Tom, raising his poker once more. His grotesquely large muscles bulged with hate as his body swayed in his drunkenness.

  "Think o' the money m'boy. We can't ruin her yet."

  "You ruined `er in the forest."

  Trevor laughed, a rasping sound that rattled a large quantity of phlegm in his throat. It was a sound that took Annabel back to that day, filling her with fear. Tom smiled as well at Trevor's amusement. The bond between the two men was almost sick. Tom seemed always out for his father's approval, whilst his father lived to give it to him.

  "I can take you to the point o' death with this poker and then jus' leave ya in the filth wi' the idiot and the animals until you're healed. The reward'd be so big by then that your folks would `ave no choice but to sell me your fancy house."

  Tom had stepped over Daniel, careful to tread on his fingers as he went. Daniel groaned and tried to grab his brother's ankle but he just shook him off. Tom stopped so close to Annabel that their noses were almost touching. His rancid breath and unwashed body filled her nostrils so strongly, she had to fight with every ounce of will power she had not to be sick. Tom, another evil grin lighting up his features, turned around and planted a hard kick to Daniel's stomach. Patsy screeched as Tom pushed past Annabel laughing. Trevor followed his favourite son like an obedient dog.

  Annabel dropped beside Daniel. The sight of his limp body filled her with a sense of panic. Her heart was beating so quickly it felt as if it were in her mouth. The sound of Patsy and her mother's shrill voices were drowned out by the blood pumping rapidly through Annabel's veins and pounding inside her head. She shook Daniel's shoulder, softly at first but with increased urgency as his body remained motionless. A small drop of blood was now trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

  "Daniel!" she screamed over and over again, watching his swollen, unconscious face for any signs of life. Patsy was at their side in a matter of moments, calling his name as well. In a state of utter desperation Patsy drew back her hand, slapping Daniel over the face.

  "Patsy!"

  But Annabel's scorn was drowned out by another loud screech from Patsy as Daniel's eyes fluttered and a bubble of blood bloomed between his lips, signalling that he was breathing. He coughed as the air rushed back through his body.

  "Daniel," Annabel whispered again. Her hands fluttered uselessly over his battered body, wanting to soothe but afraid to touch him in the risk of hurting him further.

  He groaned, his eyelids pressed tightly together as if he refused to open them and return to the pain of real life. Annabel let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.

  "You're going to be alright Daniel. I'll take care of you."

  His fingers twitched and, without thinking, she covered them with her own. She squeezed them lightly and he squeezed hers back, flinching as the movement caused fresh hurt. His breathing was still slightly laboured from the agony of his wounds. The strength he had put up for his father and brother collapsed in an instant.

  Daniel's mother was now talking, insulting her younger son's stupidity, but Annabel had no time for her and gently stroked Daniel's hair away from his face, exactly as Billy had done to her when she had first arrived. She watched with a stirring in her breast as his features softened at her touch.

  The two girls sat there for a short while watching Daniel breathe, until Patsy got back up and went over to her mother. She had turned to face the wall, her face wrinkled up in disgust.

  "Why'd I produce only idiots?" she screamed at her son, breaking the heavy silence. "Why'd ya `av to be my child?"

  With these words Daniel's last ounce of composure fell away as his entire body sagged under the weight of his mother's disappointment. Giving himself over to the emotional and physical hurt of the past week, tears started to ooze from his tightly closed eyes.

  "You deserve so much more than this Daniel," Annabel whispered right next to his ear. Surprising even herself she planted a l
ight kiss on his forehead, feeling a small spark of happiness when he shifted ever so slightly closer to her.

  At her mother's scorn-filled words Patsy staggered away from her. With a final, scornful glance she turned on her heel and rushed across to the stable, returning with a frantic Billy in her wake.

  "Dani," he gasped as he caught sight of his younger brother sprawled out on the floor, broken and bleeding. Annabel looked at the sibling's mother, who had turned away as if ashamed when her eldest child entered the room.

  Annabel felt sick with anger.

  Billy bent down without hesitation - he had come to terms with his parent's hatred before he could even walk - and scooped Daniel up with ease. He was a lot stronger than Annabel had thought. She hadn't noticed before the muscles that ran up his arms too, larger even than Tom's although Billy would never have thought to use them to inflict hurt on anyone. Daniel screamed in pain as the movement jostled his bruised flesh. When Billy had disappeared back into the stable next door, Patsy picked up the empty bucket and disappeared to fill it up. Thus, Annabel found herself alone with the woman who was supposed to care for and love her three best friends. She saw red. She was angrier than she had ever been in her life. Her blood boiled up in her veins until it reached a feverish heat.

  Taking three deliberate steps towards the old woman she drew back her hand and struck it across her frail cheek so hard a prickling pain radiated up her arm. Almost instantly a red mark appeared upon her victim's face. Leaning in close to her she whispered; "this is the beginning of the end for you. I will be found soon and when I am back amongst my power and my riches I will drag you down so much further than you've taken me. That's a promise."

  Snatching up a deformed loaf of bread and a few shirts from a toppling pile, Annabel turned and fled back to the stable in the wake of her friends. It was a mark of how much she had changed that she didn't run away. This was the first time she had been unsupervised, she could have done it. Yet, her heart wouldn't let her. She was too invested now. She cared too deeply.