'I'm A Perfect Devil' (LDL)

Preface

     The night's air was thick and wet. Slick cobblestone streets allowed heavy noise to echo about into open windows. The summer's humidity was harsh as well as throat clenching to young Daphne. The small child had been struggling for hours to breathe clearly. Snot blocking her nose and tears draining from all the loose pollen.  

     She had been put to bed by her favorite nanny, Agatha, who only comes on Mondays from the fields. So she knew there would be a tall glass of water resting on the bedside table for her. Recently she'd wake to an extremely dry throat and suffer from the lack of water. 

     That sweet lullaby about the harbor visited by frequent storms was sung to her a little while ago. It was a harsh story to understand but Daphne got every word of it. She even wanted to dream about the hurricane that took out the pirate's ship in one blow. 

     Sleep had almost taken her down when the clatter of horseshoes echoed off the stone streets and into the cracked window. At first, she didn't move to the sounds. But they grew closer than she wanted.

     Daphne was no stranger to the noisy nightlife of New Orleans. But even a child at her age would like peaceful sleep every once in a while. The horses and the carriage they were pulling approached their house fiercely. 

     The urge to get up and complain to her father who would be in the dining room going over plantation plans is far too great to ignore. The child dragged herself out of the massive bed in a foul huff. 

     Quickly, Daphne pushed the thick heavy quilts off her pale delicate legs and brushed her heavy and long bright red braid out of view.

Those small feet found a pair of slippers by the foot of a dark brown bedframe. The shoes allowed her feet to be swaddled in softness. 

   She rushed to drape herself in a pink evening robe. Worry fills her chest as the horses stopped right outside the front gates that open up to the thin stone path. Daphne let her curiosity fill her little chest up till she could hardly breathe. 

   "Papa!" She screamed while running down the magnificent staircase. Each step was massive for her small feet. But of course, she lifted her nightgown enough not to trip and slip on the smooth steps leading her down to the large foyer.

  "Papa, what's happening?" She was out of breath once meeting the bottom of the stairs. Daphne leaned on the magnificently carved railing in order to calm her racing heart. 

   Daphne didn't bother to go to her mother for comfort since she wasn't even there. So she truly feared nothing at this moment. Her green eyes were wide and full of wonder. 

   Her mother had volunteered to stay with a dear friend of theirs because word had come to the town and brought terrible news about the poor woman's husband. She wasn't sure what was going on but knew her mother would offer grand comfort. Some call Daphne's mother a truly pure soul in these parts of the new world. 

  Little Daphne knew her mother wasn't due home until early light. Her father would send an escort to retrieve her. Oh, how excited Daphne had been while thinking of her mother's matching hair to go along with hers.

  "Stay there Red!" Her father's voice was rough and full of concern. He only used the name her mother called her when something was terribly wrong. This alarmed her quickly.

   "But what is it, Papa?" Daphne's voice was small. The tiny heart in her chest was beating so fast it might just burst. She reached a hand up to rub her heavy chest to ease the ache it brought. 

  She watched as her father rushed out of the front door to confront a messenger covered in dark dried blood. She knows that very man. Tears swelled in her large eyes at the sight of his tired being.