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My eyes fluttered open to the sound of horses galloping in along the stone roads outside. I stretched and licked my lips, still tasting the man I had killed. I placed my hand over my tummy, thankful I was still full. I wouldn't need to eat until after lunch with Henry, or at least I hoped. Henry. I sat up and quickly washed myself in the luke water basin. Time was escaping me as I watched the hands roll on over the face of the grandmaster clock in my bedroom. I let Ruby and watered her, asking her for luck as I fixed my hair and placed a few pieces of jewelry on. I loved my jewels.
"You're seeing Henry I assume?" She asked as I nodded to her question with a smile. "We're having lunch. He will be here soon." I said looking again at the time. "Oh young love. How joyous." She said as she coughed. Her usually Halle self was now tamed. She was quiet and soft as she softly sipped at her tea cup. "Can I get you anything Mrs. Hart?" I asked feeling her pain, the deep sickness that plagued her. She would've have so many years left. "I'm just fine dear." She said as she patted my hand on the table. "Maybe just handing me that blanket over the stove?" She asked as I quickly jumped at her request. "Oh of course ma'am." I said wrapping it around her shoulders. I noticed she wasn't eating. "Anything to eat?" I asked. She shook her head. "Not today." She said smiling weakly. "Go on now, enjoy yourself." She said looking towards the door. "I don't want to leave you like this." I said meaning it wholeheartedly. She smiled at me, I knew it would be at any moment now. "You've been as good to me as if you were my own daughter. I know this place will do just fine with you. As will him." She said looking outside. I felt my heart skip as I saw Henry across the road, waiting to cross over. "When you come back I'll be waiting for you." I looked at her curiously. "Waiting for what ma'am?" I asked holding her hand now. "To take me to that next place." She said with a chuckle. It was that look in her eyes that told me she knew what I was. I tried to smile but she could see the sadness and pain in my eyes. "Oh my dear." She said as she sniffed and nodded to the door. "Go now, tend your gentleman. I'll be here for you later." She said gesturing me off as I heard a knock on the door and then heard it open. "Hello?" Henry called out as I grabbed my shawl from the pin and placed it over my shoulders. I looked back at Mrs. Hart and then front to see He ray by the door of the shop waiting for me. "Beg my pardon miss. It said closed, I wasn't certain." He said looking at the sign. It had dawned on me Mrs. Hart hadn't even opened the store. She knew. "It's quite alright, we're taking a rest day." I said smiling at him widely. I tried my best to push the heartache from my mind as I linked my arm in his.
"Are you alright?" He asked as we walked arm and arm down the narrow paths of the town towards his home. His voice was heavily as I walked next to him. It fulfilled my daydreams of us bonding together on the beach, our toes digging into the grainy sands as we picked up seashells. "Hmm? Yes I'm fine, thank you." I said giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded and smiled back, his hand clasping over mine as we walked. "The land is centuries old, been in the family since anyone can remember." He said as we walked along the chilly hills. I pondered the scene, imaging what the countryside would look like in the spring time and summer. The wild flowers that would grow along the grassy mounds and the trees that would blow their hands up into the warm inviting skies. "I bet it's breathtaking during every season." I said now picturing it in the fall with the crimson leaves. "It certainly is."
