“On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…eight maids a milking”
As it turned out, the castle in the distance was a heck of a lot further away than Sadie had first thought. Her teeth had stopped chattering about an hour ago because they, along with her face, were so frozen they couldn’t make any movement at all. She was numb - beyond a Popsicle at this point. The cloak was working well to keep the chill away until she had fallen face first in a snow bank. In the distance, she could see another home, it was not the castle she had spotted earlier, but at the moment she would take a barn if it kept the pelting snow from hitting her. The snow had turned from nice floating flurries into frozen chunks of ice that stung her face when it hit.
“Come on Sadie, you can do it,” she told her protesting limbs. It took a lot longer to make it to the house then she thought it would, but once she was there she saw it was more of a mansion than a mere house. It looked Greek revival in architecture. Large columns supported a weighty balcony from above. Dragging herself up the stairs, she lifted her arm and hit the door. It made a dull thump. “Come on, Sadie,” she cried, frustrated, swinging her numb arm to get the momentum up and hit the door again. Thump.
At least the ice chunks falling from the sky were blocked by the overhang, but she was too cold, too tired. She didn’t think she could take much more. “Please answer the damn door.” She swung her frozen arm back and hit the door again. Thump.
“Hello… someone… anyone…please, answer the door.” Not able to keep standing, she slid down the hard surface of the door to the mat placed in front. She scratched the wood with her nails, too frozen to do more at the moment. “Please…”
Devlin was losing his mind, or so he thought. He kept hearing things. He was sure it was his just-do for the wrongs he committed in his life thus far, but he had thought, no, he had hoped, he was finally on the right path; someone kept tossing obstacles in his way. First his mother and then his supposed father…
“Now what?” he asked and looked upward, half expecting something to drop on the top of him and put him out of his misery once and for all. But nothing happened. Surely, this was a test of some sort. He had a feeling he was failing though.
“This would be my just dessert, I suppose.” He shook his head and walked in the front hall. Eerie shadows clung to the corners of the dimly lit room; the scratching he had heard earlier was only a small sound now.
Standing in the front of his door, he waited to see if someone would walk through the wood. After a moment or two and no one appeared, he grabbed the handle. It was cold to the touch. Bracing himself for the monster he was sure was on the other side, he jerked open the door.
Something tumbled in the door.
“Bloody Hell!” he yelled. Jumping away, he nearly fell over.
Sadie barely heard the voice…it sounded so far away. The warmth revived her somewhat and she crawled forward trying to get inside.
Devlin eyes boggled. Warily he stood back, not sure what was moving toward him. It was a big lump of red covered in a dusting of snow.
“Please… help me…” A small hand reached outward.
“Oh good Lord,” he said with a goodly amount of relief seeing it was a mere girl and not something terrible. He reached down. “Come on,” he said, lifting up the girl.
Sadie looked up into the most penetrating black gaze she had ever seen. She trembled in his arms. “Thank you.”
His heart skipped an entire beat. “Ah, not a problem,” he said, recovering, adjusting his hold. A strange feeling coursed through him, down to his gullet. “Let’s get you warmed up, shall we?”
“Ye—yeah,” she chattered.
Devlin helped her inside the study and set her in one of the chairs, the one his father had been in; noticing the box was still there, he did a double take. Was this another visitor from the hereafter? He had to wonder.
Taking this third unexpected visit in stride, he walked over to the sideboard, poured an ample amount of Brandy in a glass, and brought it to the girl.
“Here, drink this.” He held out the glass. “It will warm you up faster.”
Sadie took the glass and was surprised she could hold onto it. The glass even felt warm to her frigid fingers. “Thank Yo…u,” she chattered, holding the glass in both hands and drank greedily. “Whoa,” she breathed, her eyes tearing up. “This is ….” she coughed, “stroong.”
“Yes.” It was the only word he could manage. Her hood had come down and her light brown hair spilled down to her shoulders, matted to her head; it looked frozen in spots. When she lifted her eyes to his, his breath caught in his throat. Her eyes captivated him…they were the palest shade of blue, he felt as though he was looking up into the sky. His heart thumped a little faster.
Sadie felt his eyes on her and gulped the rest of her drink down. The drink was doing a fine job of warming her up but his unrelenting gaze made her feel…strangely warmer… “Might I bother you for another?”
Devlin blinked coming back to his senses and took her glass. “Of course,” he said. Walking over to the sideboard, he repeated his earlier ritual and filled her glass once more. Looking over his shoulder, he cast a wary glance in her direction and instantly decided he had better make one as well. The sadness he had felt earlier was fading away and being replaced by something different, something not quite explainable. He did not know what it was exactly but he welcomed it just the same. Suddenly he hoped she was real and not some figment conjured from his mind.
Careful not to spill the drinks, he walked slowly back across the room and handed the glass to her once more. This time when she took it, their fingers touched and he felt a jolt shoot up his arm.
“Oooh… sorry,” she said, feeling the snap of electricity.
“What are you sorry for?” he asked startled.
“I shocked you.”
“Oh.” He blinked. “It is quite all right.” He cleared his throat. “I am just going to…ah…” Turning away, he set his glass on the mantle and bent down to toss another log in the fire, trying to control his rampant emotions. “Are you warmer now?”
“Yes, I am feeling much better. It was touch and go for a while though.” She laughed nervously.
“How long were you outside?” He turned toward her, standing up once more.
“Gosh, I am not sure.” She flustered. “When I fell through the …” she trailed off. Good grief, she couldn’t tell him she just popped out of thin air. He would think she was crazy. Heck, she thought she was pretty crazy right now too.
“When you fell…” he prodded.
“Yeah, I fell from my… ah…”
“Horse,” he supplied helpfully.
Horse? What the heck! “Sure, yes, ah…” she swallowed hard, “my…horse.”
“Where were you going?”
“Um, I can’t ah…seem to recall,” she lied.
“You must have hit your head.” He looked concerned.
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Her cheeks bloomed with color like they always did when she lied. It was her tell. Some people get a twitch or dart their eyes around but she turned a bright shade of red. That is why she was no good at poker. Everyone could tell if she was bluffing.
“Do you feel sleepy?”
Sadie thought about that. “Yeah,” she said, suddenly feeling sleepy. It had to be the Brandy. On cue, her eyes drifted closed.
“Don’t go to sleep!” he snapped.
Her eyes popped open. “What did you do that for?” she snapped back and put her hand over her racing heart.
“If you have a concussion,” he said trying to explain. “You are not supposed to go to sleep.”
“Oh,” she said, giving him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, for …well …you startled me.”
“I understand.” He sat down in the chair opposite her and crossed his legs.
“Nice place you got here.” She looked around the room for the first time. It was done in a light pale yellow color with lots of floral paintings. It looked very feminine. She looked back at him…taking in his tight fitting pants and his extremely shiny tall boots. The collar to his bright white shirt was tall, and he wore a tight fitting jacket. “Strange,” she muttered and took another drink.
“It was ah…” he stopped in mid-sentence. He was going to say his ex-wife owned it but suddenly didn’t want to reveal more than necessary.
“Are you gay?” she blurted suddenly and then covered her mouth, appalled. “Oh gosh…that is none of my business.” She shoved her glass back to her mouth and took a large drink.
Was he happy? Why yes, yes he was. “I wasn’t but I find now that you are here, I am…”
She spluttered. “What?”
“Happy…” he finished, giving her an odd look.
“Oh right, of course.” She brushed her spilled drink off her cloak. “So stupid,” she muttered.
“Are you warm enough,” he asked standing once more. “I can take your cloak and hang it up.”
She pulled the fabric closer to her body. “No, I’m good,” she lied once again, her cheeks flaming giving away her blatant lie. Actually, she was starting to sweat.
“All right,” he said and sat back down, and lifted up his drink once more. He frowned. “Were you going someplace close or did you get lost in the storm?” He noticed her cloak was finely made so she was not a pauper or a vagrant, perhaps she had fallen on hard times. He understood that all too well.
“Both,” she lied. She didn’t really know why she was continuing this giant gob of a lie but her gut told her she shouldn’t tell him how she really found herself to be here. Everything seemed a bit too…off…
“Oh,” he said, and then remembered Katherine had said Grayson’s niece was coming to visit. Why wasn’t she in a carriage though? Perhaps she had already arrived and was out for a ride…in a storm. All right, so some things didn’t add up. “You are Grayson’s niece, are you not?”
Niece? Grayson? “Sure.”
“You were out riding and got caught in the storm…” he added.
“Yes,” she nearly yelled. “That is exactly what happened.”
He chuckled at her sudden enthusiasm. “Well luckily you were able to make it here.” He smoothed his hand through his hair, leaning back and re-crossing his legs. “I should attend to your horse.” He stood again.
“No!” She reached out and grabbed his jacket.
He looked down at her hand.
“The… ah… horse, yeah, he ran off.” She made a face and dropped her hand. “Bad horsey.” Her eyes boggled and she took another drink to cover her flaming face.
“Oh I am sure he will make it back to his home. Horses, they have a way of finding their home, no matter what the weather.”
“I wish I could,” she muttered into her glass.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” she said.
“Earlier, I was out in the elements...” he waved his hand animatedly, “and I am familiar with my surroundings and barely made it back in one piece. I cannot imagine what it was like for you.”
“Not good.” She nodded, not for any particular reason but it seemed like the thing to do.
“I swear my horse will throw me right off his back if I try to ride him again without a sweet to smooth his ruffled feathers.” He laughed nervously and pulled on his cravat.
“Why’s that?”
“I made him pull a tree in the snow and he was not happy.”
For the first time she noticed the tree. “How pretty,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“It is a big tree…” she said. “ I can sympathize with your poor horse.”
“Poor me!” he exclaimed. “I had to chop the bloody thing down with a dull ax.” He made a big show of shivering.
“You look like you survived.” She lifted her brow.
“Just barely,” he said theatrically and then smiled.
“You’re funny.” Sadie giggled and shook her head.
“I am.” Was he funny?
It was nice talking with him, whoever he was. Stifling a yawn, she leaned back in the chair further.
“My goodness, where are my manners,” he said, and stood, adjusting his jacket. “Here I am prattling away and you must be exhausted.”
“I am fine, really,” she lied. Another flash of color flooded her cheeks. The problem was she was too warm now and that combined with all the Brandy she drank made her want nothing more than to shut her eyes. Instead she shifted in the chair, trying to get some feeling back in her butt from sitting in one position too long.
“No, you must get your rest.” Devlin was not sure what to do. He was nervous.
“I thought you didn’t want me to go to sleep?”
“Oh, right.” He sat back down and rubbed his hands on his thighs.
“I was kidding. I am sure I am fine.” She rubbed her hands through her hair. “See no bumps.”
“If you are sure,” he said, and stood once more. “Perhaps I should check to make sure.”
“All right,” she said.
Walking forward, Devlin rubbed his hands together and then placed them on her head. “Does this hurt?” he asked, tentatively pushing.
“No.” He was so close she could smell the outdoors on his clothing combined with the wood smoke from the fire and a touch of Brandy as well. They were comforting scents and she felt strangely at ease around him. Actually she felt like hugging him…really bad and maybe even kissing him, which was ridiculous because she did not even know him.
“How about now?” he asked, sliding his fingers around to the nape of her neck.
His fingers felt wonderful sliding through her hair. Her eyes slid shut and she leaned forward against his hardened stomach.
“Ah,” he coughed.
Sadie’s eyes snapped open and she jerked her head back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“I think you are all right.” He adjusted his jacket. “Let me show you to the room you will be staying in.” He stepped away from her. Thankfully, he always had a room made up just in case
Flustered she stood. “All right,” she said, keeping her gaze averted. How embarrassing.
She followed him from the room telling herself that after she slept for a bit she would sneak out before he awoke and with some luck find a way back home. The thought of going back home depressed her suddenly. She didn’t even really have a home, not anymore. And there was a big problem with her grandiose plan too… she didn’t even know where the she was.