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Chapter 58: Ella, embarking on a witch hunt
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 59: Charlotte, things lost and found
Even as the wound on my arm healed, I continued to scratch my skin. The angry red line itched and I worried at it, waiting for my pulse to slow and then stop as I became one of them. In the days that followed finding that horrid thing in the backyard, the scratch it had left?oozed.Lieutenant Bain?David?came every day to change the dressing. A noxious black substance stuck to the cotton as though my body repelled some poison. He never once showed any revulsion at the task he undertook or the foul odour that clung to the bandage.David's gentle friendship was so at odds with everything I knew that it did something mother's cruel words used to do. It drove me to tears. At night I sobbed into my pillow, trying to grasp that he might genuinely like me.From the day I was born, I knew only criticism. It was a constant disappointment to my mother that I wasn't as beautiful, poised, or talented as either her or Louise. Every single day of my life I had been judged and found wanting. Until now
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 60: Ella, weaving together the web
Lieutenant Bain excused himself to help Charlotte with the washing up. He stacked the laden trays and left the library humming ?It's a long way to Tipperary,?and I briefly wondered if he was thinking of the sweetest girl he knew. As the library door snicked shut, my mind returned to the issue of witches. I digested the new information and then grasped a tenuous strand of spun silk. The web began to make a pattern I could discern, and this particular fibre could hold the missing patch in a larger question.I turned to Reverend Mason, the idea still spinning in my head. "Are you able to trace genealogies?"His eyes lit up and he rubbed his hands together. "Of course. Nothing the clergy likes better than to keep records of births, marriages and deaths. Or hatched, matched, and dispatched, as we say. What did you have in mind?""Sarah Wynn and Anne Oakley, can you trace their maternal lines to the current generation?" A persistent niggle in my mind refused to go away. How did Elizabeth
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 61: Ella, the search continues
Seth dismissed the men for the evening and he suggested I freshen up in the room set aside for my use. I didn't even offer token resistance. Not when there was the lure of modern luxuries like hot running water and electric lights. I discarded the sixteenth century and embraced the twentieth. After shedding my dusty clothes, I filled the green tiled bathroom with steam, poured a little fragrant oil into the bath, and then sank into the water.I closed my eyes and let my mind unwind. We were so close to answers. Yes, I was disappointed not to find Millicent recumbent on her bed, awaiting a kiss from her demonic prince. But she was near. She chose this particular spot for the house for a reason. Fae paths and ley lines ran under our feet. The ancient catacombs criss-crossed this land. Events were set in motion hundreds of years before, but we would stop her from spreading her plague.An hour later I was freshly scrubbed, scented, and wearing a clean dress. I headed downstairs to the li
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 62: Charlotte, a day of revelations
I sat at the kitchen table with my feet up on the opposite chair, relaxing after another busy day. I had tackled preserving with the last of the autumn peaches. A half dozen glass jars sat on the bench, and I couldn't put them away in the larder just yet. The skinned fruit were like jewels, their rich golden colour contained by the juice that would keep them from spoiling over winter.I allowed myself a moment of pride at another task conquered. I basked in the sense of accomplishment, silly perhaps, but there had been so few such instances in my life. With the dishes done and the kitchen tidied away for another day, silence settled over the house as darkness fell. I idly flicked through a recipe book, considering my options for tomorrow's dinner, when the hall door swung open and Reverend Mason appeared."Ah, Charlotte," he said.I dropped my feet to the ground and sat a little taller in my chair. "Yes, Mr Mason, do you require something?"A kind smile crinkled the corners of his
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 63: Ella, a game of cat and mouse
An early start was nothing new to me, although once it meant labouring to ensure the house was perfect before step-mother's feet touched the bedroom rug. Today I crept out the kitchen door in the half-light to climb into Seth's motorcar for a strange journey. I would protect one step-sister and ensure the other stayed incarcerated. Let's hope the War Office didn't get the two confused.It was a short trip to our tiny train station. The dark green engine awaited us already, a steady plume spiralling up from its funnel. The train had two carriages hooked up behind it. One was for passengers, with large windows for watching the scenery chug by. The other looked like a metal box, devoid of any windows or source of light. Steel bands reinforced its sides and an armed guard stood at its single door.My curiosity was piqued. I frowned at Seth and indicated the armoured carriage with my head.He glanced at the secure carriage and then shrugged. "No doubt something the War Office wants to ke
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 64: Ella, poking the bear
Louise never even looked up or acknowledged our presence. She carried on filing her long, black nails. Charlotte hung back, standing by the door. I decided to make myself as comfortable as possible and pulled out a chair.I was staring at my short nails, wondering if they would ever be long enough to file, when Louise finally spoke. "Tardy again, Ella. I honestly think you'd be late to your own funeral, and I'm so looking forward to finding out.""On the contrary, Louise. I'm not late, I simply didn't care if you were waiting. It's not like you had anywhere else to be, is it? Seth and I, he's the duke in case you've forgotten, were in London on personal business so I had a few moments to fill in before we return to Serenity House." I held up my left hand and stared at my fingers as though I were imagining something large and sparkly on my ring finger. A petty thing to say, but there was something about being in Louise's presence that brought the crueller side of me to the surface. An
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 65: Ella, another explosive night
The words sounded silly as soon as they escaped my lips. How to explain the irrational fear that gripped me at the thought of Seth stepping outside the carriage?Seth stopped with his hand on the door.I tapped my head and tried to muster up a smile. "Ignore me. It's just seeing Louise has unsettled me.""No, don't apologise. You should always trust your instinct, and yours has proven rather reliable." His gaze roamed over the interior of our passenger carriage. He pointed up to a small flywheel in the middle of the ceiling. "I'll go via the roof, just in case."He stood on a table to turn the wheel that released a hatch to the roof of the carriage. Lieutenant Bain gave him a leg up, as though he hopped on a horse, and his form disappeared through the roof."Douse the lights," I said to the others. We circled the interior, cutting the gas to the lamps and plunging us into darkness.A clip clop came from above as Seth walked to the front to talk to the engine driver. A soft sob es
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 66: Charlotte, all alone
They left me all alone. In the dark. For what could I do to help in our current predicament? I could have walked down the track to investigate, but what if it was a ruse and I was taken hostage? Then my friends would risk their lives to free me. I had no skill with a weapon and therefore no value to add in any fight.Louise's words echoed in my mind?fat, useless cow.I wasn't fat. I had curves. Once, when I had said I couldn't eat a piece of cake because I was watching my waistline, David had whispered that he thought me voluptuous. He said that word with such a hungry look in his eyes, as though I was a piece of cake, and it quite stole the air from my lungs.I would never be tall and slim. Nature had made that determination before I was born. But my work in the garden at the manse had made me fitter. My body was stronger and for once, I was comfortable in my skin.I knelt on the leather seat and pressed my hands to the glass, peering into the dark. I could discern nothing in the
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