Doctor Abbott

Untitled Part 22

For a few days Mâvis left Jocelyn in Ben's care as he sought work to bide his time. Ben kept watch diligently over the girl most of the day and found additional task in cleaning and repairing miscellaneous items in the house. He even managed to get an antique, pedal style sewing machine up and running with a new belt and some bear grease.

He sat and tutored Beatrice on how to use the contraption both forwards."If you need more needles than that let me know I may have a solution." Her face lit up with delight as she worked at the machine.

She got up after a few minutes and retrieved a jar of honey from the backroom, "Here, go up the hill to a cottage with three windows and get some thread for me. Black if they have it. Give them this and tell them it is from Bea." Her smile was magnificent as she went right to the table and set about to laying a new pattern for the machine.

It took him a while to find the cottage as a lot of them had three windows, he realized now that she meant on the thatched roof. Knocking on the door, he found a couple of elderly women answering and they were a little too grateful for his appearance there. They drew him in quickly and tore off his hat to check the curliness of his hair. One even tried to peer into the open button on his shirt to see if he had more hair and if it matched.

He snatched his shirt closed feeling violated, "Excuse me ladies, I'm to return with thread that's all...or should I return this honey to its owner?"

They both scowled snatching the honey from his grasp and shoving him back out the door with the thread in hand. One waived bye bashfully while the second one slammed the door in his face.

As he turned to leave, he caught his own breath and held it in. There she was not more than a few yards from him. Lúta hadn't even noticed him yet. But he noticed her, taking in the sight of her in the damp midevening air. Her dress was heavy enough to hang off her shoulders a bit. Her full breasts did a fine job holding it up though. She had her long wavy hair down and covering her face, but it did little to hide her pouty, pink lips and long dark lashes. She was so beautiful.

His jaw hung open as she caught his eyes, the basket in her hands dropped and he now realized she saw him too. He dashed to her feet throwing everything that fell back into her basket before she could even kneel to retrieve the goods. "I beg your pardon, ma'am that was all my fault, will you forgive me?" His words were short but his eyes said so much more.

A few people had stopped to stare at what was happening and her own jaw hung open for a moment before she realized what he was trying to do, "Yes," She swallowed hard, "Yes you, you should be more careful." Her eyes started to water and her breathing changed pace as she stood. "Please, go and do not let it happen again." She gave him one last look of sorrow before her face washed completely into anger and sadness as she took her basket and stormed off.

He stood watching helplessly as she walked away, knowing full well that any move he made would draw danger and pain to both of them. He wanted so badly to run after her and pull her into his arms. He wanted to follow her and see where she went, he wanted to steal her in the night and take her back to King William's village and devote himself to her for the rest of his life. Instead, he stood and watched her walk away...watched helplessly as she disappeared into a crowd of beasts and from his life again. He tucked the thread into his coat and walked back to Beatrice's feeling like his heart had been ripped from his chest.

Mâvis had stepped into a doorway unnoticed as Ben crossed Lúta in the street. He stood quietly watching their encounter. He shook his head as the two of them parted unable to even hold eye contact without drawing attention. He sliced an apple in two and tossed the first half into his mouth chewing it slowly as Lúta walked right past him noticing nothing. As soon as Ben was out of sight, he stepped out of the doorway and made his way towards the direction she went. His long legs made for a quick pace across the village and he found himself passing her alley in time to see her make it into her door.