Swapped Fate

9: ...Stay Put and Keep Alert.

Madam Felicity was quite thorough, I ‘ll give her that. Seeing as she had given directions to the security guards to not let me in particular leave the premises meant she had anticipated I would try. I had been right – behind that cheerful and bright attitude was something frightening.

That I had been blocked twice from making my escape didn’t dent my determination. I proceeded to ask Adolf if there were any other more secretive exits, to which he reluctantly said yes.

By now, he probably knew that my secret mission was a lie, and that something else was going on. He probably suspected me to be a criminal, seeing as how I’d been imprisoned in the Devereux compound. He must also have suspected my crime to be of high degree, seeing as I had to lie to him to seek a way out.

Nonetheless, he refrained from asking me any questions, which is why I still considered him an ally in my plans, and appreciated him for it.

“It’s in the orchard,” Good Ol’ Adolf said as we marched across the back gardens once more. “It’s only guarded at night, so there shouldn’t be security posted there at this time.”

“Splendid.”

“It’s where the kennel is, you see, so the dogs attack any strangers that might pass through there.”

My stomach churned. “Not so splendid.”

“Not to worry, Miss Mavis. I’ll be with you so they won’t do you any harm.”

I smiled victoriously to myself. Adolf would be the perfect accomplice. No asking questions – only assisting till the very end.

We soon approached the other side of the house, and walked into a courtyard amidst which stood a hunched over rabbit statue in its own bed of shrubs and flowers. The courtyard stood between the main house and outside kitchen. It was a house of its own, and reminded me of my own bungalow back in the village.

Adolf informed me that the orchard was behind the outside kitchen, and that we needed to access it from a route across the courtyard.

As we approached the rabbit statue, I noticed a maid servant seated on a chair on the kitchen veranda. Her attention was on the basket she weaved on her lap, but in a second, her head rose and she noticed us. “Oh hello, Adolf!”

“Meredith.” Adolf grinned as we stopped our urgent march. “Lovely morning. Just on our way to the orchard.”

Meredith nodded, smiling. “Yes, you may continue on your way, Adolf.” Her gaze fell on me. “But this young lady needs to stay here.”

I almost choked on my tongue. Adolf and I exchanged surprised glances. He cleared his throat. “She only wishes to visit the orchard. You see, she’s a friend to Lady Azalea--”

Poor Adolf was silenced by a single wave of Meredith’s hand. She spoke directly to me, “Miss, I’m afraid I cannot let you into the orchard.”

I rolled my tongue in my mouth, sensing a pattern here. “Let me guess. Orders from above?”

She merely smiled at me.

Blast! That Madam Felicity was really thorough. The dogs weren’t enough, she had to enforce another layer of humans too!

Of course, I thought of making a run for it, but my eye didn’t fail to catch the other maids busying themselves in the kitchen, and the curious if not watchful gaze they cast my way. I preferred not to get mauled by a horde of loyal maids.

Was I frustrated by my consistent failure at escaping this prison? Absolutely. Down to every fibre of my being. Was I about to give up on my seemingly worthless attempts to escape? Absolutely not. Every fibre of my being also burned with a hot passion to bring this cursed mansion to its knees. I would verse it tirelessly until all creative options were wrung dry out of my system.