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Chapter 27
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 28
I spent a restless night tossing and turning in a bed that felt too big, isolated in a cavernous room that threw unfamiliar shadows. As a young child I loved that room, but as an adult, it seemed overwhelming. I missed the cramped space I shared with Alice, but she practically chased me back down the stairs when I tried to follow her.I awoke to birdsong as the sparrows rose from the hedges and set out to pluck worms from the damp ground. Normally I would jump from bed, don my uniform and rub the sleep from my eyes while I started an endless round of meaningless chores. But today there were no fires to set, no coal to polish, no step-sisters to wait upon, and no tightrope to walk as I waited for someone to pull it out from under my feet.Instead, I stretched my arms and wiggled my toes, and then stared at the wallpaper. Perhaps a change would help me re-settle into my own room? I couldn't help thinking of it as Louise's room and I expected her to burst in, scream, and chase me out wi
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 29
Over the course of the week, our farmhouse settled into a new routine, one that was more relaxed and involved more laughter. The telephone hardly rang as the soldiers under Seth's command undertook the bulk of the slaying that the village once looked to me to perform.When Friday arrived, I busied myself all morning and tried not to think what would happen that evening. Seth had sent a note asking me to arrive early, to discuss War Office issues first. After luncheon, I packed a saddlebag, and then wheeled Trusty out of the barn and started the engine."Don't come home early!" Alice waved, wearing a cheeky grin as she stood by the kitchen door. For the first time, we wouldn't trade secrets as we lay in bed tonight, but I hoped she would curl up in my room to hear about my evening with Seth.After a quick wave, it was two hands on the handlebars as I opened the throttle and we shot along the road. I still wore trousers, but I had tucked one of Louise's old dresses and a pair of shoes
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 30
That night, even as I settled under the blankets safe in my room, Millicent deMage's black gaze was etched into my mind. Whenever I closed my eyes she was there, staring, often with Elizabeth at her side. Two evil women whispered of secrets only they knew and taunted me with their superior knowledge. The idea of Millicent being a witch layered over my troubled thoughts as I tried to discern meaning in the war we fought.At least I had plenty to occupy my daylight hours. The grandfather clock marked off the hours that turned into days as I worked at Seth's side at Serenity House, while Henry and Alice kept the farm running. Father improved daily and now joined us for meals. I worked my way through the mountain of information being sent in from around Southeast England. Every small town, village, and parish had bundled up their sad history and sent it to us.But eating at me every day was the constant waiting, and inactivity seemed to have consumed my life.We waited for Elizabeth to
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 31
I marked the days off the calendar as one week turned into two, and it was now three weeks since I had wrapped the rag around step-mother's arm. Elizabeth would definitely have changed. I pushed that thought aside for something far more cheerful, as Henry's twentieth birthday arrived and Hazel came for dinner.I liked Hazel. She was a woman who knew what she wanted from life. Henry still didn't talk much, but he smiled and laughed on occasion, and I would be eternally grateful to her for bringing that change to him. Hazel pulled Henry from the nightmare that had consumed him for so long and gave him new dreams.Alice and I decorated our little dining room with strings of tinsel we found in the Christmas decorations box. Father was well enough to sit at the head of the table, and I couldn't imagine a better evening. Well, apart from intimate dinners in libraries. We gave Henry a box of oils and canvases, but Hazel had the best present?an application form for the Royal Academy of Arts
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 32: Alice dreaming of the future
With Lady Jeffrey and her horrid daughters gone, life returned to a semblance of what it had once been. Not just how it was before the Great War, but before her invasion of our home. A time when I undertook honest labour for my wage and wasn't treated like servant scum.I had only been ten years old when I kissed my mother goodbye and went to work for Sir Jeffrey. Children like Henry and me were expected to go into service young and work our fingers to the bone for our masters. But Sir Jeffrey let us be children first and domestics second.Days exploring the forest and swimming by the old mill after chores cemented the friendship between me, Henry, and Ella. That dormant sense of family returned to the Jeffrey farm in Lady Jeffrey's wake. We pulled together to get the work done. While this would never truly be my home, it was the only family I had known for most of my life.When one is born a servant, that is all one can expect of life?to serve. Friendship with Ella opened my eyes t
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 33: Ella and a friend in need
I trotted down the drive and headed the mare for home. Dusk would fall soon, and I wanted to be home before the light faded. The surrounding embrace of the trees cut the light back further, and soon I rode through a shadowland, lit only by the occasional brave shaft of receding light that breached the foliage.The weight of the sword at my back lent me comfort, even though we seemed to have greatly reduced our vermin numbers. It still only took one vermin and one scratch to end one's breathing days.Up ahead a figure stumbled along the road. Shoulders hunched over, head bowed, and the odd shudder worked through her body. Who would be out on their own with the approach of dusk and with no obvious means of protection? As I rode closer, the shape became one I well recognised.Alice.I searched my mind, trying to recollect her plans for the day. She and Frank had planned an outing in the motorcar and she had packed a picnic. Had the motorcar broken down? I put my leg to Molly so she tr
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 34
I froze, my mind numb as though I had thrust it into frigid water during winter. I simply couldn't comprehend a world without Alice. She was my best friend. We had worked, slept, and played next to each other for nearly ten years. What would I do without her big amber eyes flashing as she cajoled me into a hare-brained scheme?Frank raged. He howled at the sky while he dug his fists into the dirt as though he could find Alice under the grass. I understood his need to find her; I had nearly torn the countryside apart in the dark looking, myself. Now I would forever wish I had. While my friend had crazy powers of persuasion, they only worked on the living. No matter how hard she may have batted her eyelashes, I hadn't seen anyone wheedle their way out of a vermin's clutches.I dropped to the ground, trying to comprehend that Alice was gone. We had all wanted her to return safe and sound, but we had to confront the evidence?scuff marks on the ground, a discharged rifle, and a finger.S
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 35
Someone blew out the candle in my head. One puff and everything went black. I couldn't think, speak, or react. I existed, blind, in a dark void where those five little words repeated in my mind. Over and over, I heard her haughty tone.Come save her if you dare."Bloody Hell," someone muttered.I shook my head to clear Elizabeth's voice. Air returned to my lungs, the coughs and rustles of soldiers rushed over my ears, and my vision returned to normal. Apparently my pigeons had come home to roost. I almost wished Alice were dead rather than in Elizabeth's clutches. Poor girl. I would bet she was chained up and being made to scrub some cave clean."Well, that answers our question about whether or not Elizabeth has established a hive," Seth said."She has Alice. I knew she was alive." Frank's gaze turned hard and he ground his jaw."Is she?" In a quiet tone, Seth gave voice to my nightmare. "What if this is all a cruel trick by Elizabeth? We have no proof that Alice has not been bitten or
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