Snow and the Wishing Well (Fallen Tales series)

Chapter 47

Chapter 47
Sarah
Memories float in and out of my head like trains. As soon as one left, another came. I thought about times from when my mother was still alive, from when she died, when Victoria came apart of our lives to right up to the day my father died.
Sarah
I shook my head trying to shake the voices out of my head.
"Sarah!"
I jumped, lifting my head from the pillow. I looked around the room, realizing that I wasn't in the hotel room. Light shined through a half closed curtain, making me have to squint my eyes. I turned my heard around, spying a chest-of-draws over filled with clothing, a wardrobe, a desk covered in books.
"Sorry," it was Justin.
I flipped around, realizing that he was crouching on top of me. I smiled when I looked at his surprisingly happy face peering down at me.
"Where are we?" I asked playing with the strings on his hoody.
"Home," he answered.
I frowned. We couldn't be.
"What? But I don't remember getting here."
It was true, I remember getting off the plane, getting through customs, but that's it.
"You slept the whole way here," he paused thinking, "What were you dreaming about?"
I shrugged, "It was two weeks before my father died. Victoria and him had been fighting nonstop. She wanted him to change his will."
"Oh Sarah," he said kissing my lips.
With his lips between mine, I was on the verge of forgetting everything. I would have given everything to forget everything. My past, just, everything. Only to share my present and my future with him.
Pulling away from me, Justin stop, "Oh and, um, my parents want to meet you."
"What?" I said in a panic, moving up to my elbows. It was only then till I realized that I was still wearing what I had on last night, "When?"
"Well now, their having breakfast. They're waiting for us."
My heart started to race at the thought. Breakfast with my boyfriend's parents. Not something that I was used to.
"Justin, I don't think I can do that," I told him.
"Of course you can."
I frowned realizing that he would have to have told them about me.
"What did you say to them, about me?" I asked.
"Not much. Just that you moved to London when your father died."
"You didn't mention anything about Victoria or Willow Tree Abby," he shook his head, "What about the men?"
I thought he would have frozen, wanting to hide from the truth. But he didn't. He simply said, "I didn't know if you wanted me to."
I frowned, "So you would have told you parents, if it was what I wanted?"
"Of course," he said moving a piece of hair out of my eyes, "when will you believe me that I'm not ashamed of that part of your life? Now come on," he said giving a little tough love, "Come be a part of my life."
I groaned giving in. I struggled off the bed, having a better look at the room. I now could clearly notice certain objects of the room that told me that I was in Justin bedroom. The books that covered the desk were all Ornithology books. Baby photos sat on a shelf above the chest-of-draws and the clothes were clearly his.
Was I ready to step back into that life? I had been trying to forget about for so long.
When I turned back to Justin's smiling face. What ever happened next, it had to be worth it. Right?
Justin took my hand and led me out of his room. His door opened to the gallery and I became speechless at the sight of the void. He walked slow, clearly knowing that I was looking at every little corner. Two large windows were on the walls while there were another two, half the size ones, on the roof. The void disappeared when we entered a hallway. Doors were on either side of us as we continued to walk. We turned a corner, leading us down another corridor. We followed the light towards the window, but before we could get to it, Justin opened a door. Light crawled out before we entered, but when we did, it truly felt like I had gone back to my other life. A man stood tall by a table where silver trays of food sat. One dome window was virtually a wall, not only letting in light but also looked out onto the estate. A large wooden, oval shaped table sat in the middle of the room, probably over hundred years old. Then finally my eyes landed on the two people sitting on both ends of the table.
"Sarah," Justin started, "These are my parents, Aaron and Gina Carter."
I clung to Justin's arms as my mind went into panic mode.
"Hi," I said quietly.
"And that's Harper, our butler," he said pointing to man by the table.
He nodded to say hello, but that was it. If he wanted to say anything he wouldn't have said it in front of Mr and Mrs Carter.
They both stood, greeting me. They seemed just as uneasy as I did.
"It's nice to meet you Sarah," Aaron said shaking my hand, "please take a seat, you must be hungry."
My hand seemed to move to my belly. I realized that I hadn't eaten since before the flight here. Justin smiled at me, leading me to a chair on one side of the table. He pulled it out for me, very charming like, then moved to the other side of the table and sat down.
"How was the flight?" Gina asked.
"Fine, long, but fine," Justin answered.
I frowned, "Was it?"
"Yeah well you slept the whole way so you wouldn't have known," he told me.
I sat there thinking as Harper sat a plate in front of me. My thoughts disappeared when I looked down at the plate of bacon and eggs. I felt my mouth start to water at the thought of eating it. I hadn't had a breakfast like this in two years.
"Everything okay, Sarah?" Gina asked.
I looked up to say something but was lost in thoughts of amazement.
"Yes," I finally said, "it's just –," I stopped not knowing what to say.
Somehow my eyes found Justin's. He had a smile on his face and a light in his eyes and he knew exactly what I wanted to say.
"It's nothing," I finally finished.
Gina and Aaron went into conversation, bringing Justin up to date on everything that had been going on here, but my mind was somewhere else. It was focused on the yolky taste of the eggs and the salty feel of bacon.
"Oh, I just remembered, I need to go down to the Beaker's farm. I thought that you two should come with me," Aaron asked.
My head shot up.
"Sarah, would you like that?" he asked.
"Pa, we had a long flight and –,"
"No I want to," I butted in before he finished.
Justin frown surprised but slowly he began to grin.
"Really?" he asked.
I shrugged, "Sure. What better way to see Locksley  Manner, then to see Locksley Manner."
"Justin," Gina started, "she has a point."


Justin
The sun shone bright as the fresh air blew. Pa walked ahead of us letting us talking a little. Sarah had both her arms wrapped around mine as we walked down the hill.
"It's beautiful out here," she stated something that I already knew.
"Yeah, a few paddocks that way, is the river," I said pointing over a few hills to the east, "and over there is the village, and the village farms."
"It's so big," Sarah stated again.
"How big is your estate?" I muttered so that Pa wouldn't hear.
She shrugged, "Big enough, I don't really know."
I smiled, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. I guess she never felt she ever needed to know. If she did, I guess she always thought that her father would teach her.
As we continued to walk, I thought about how much I had missed my home. The large clumps of trees by the house, the opened hilly paddocks, the smell of fresh air. Though I didn't regrate going to London, I sure did miss home.
It wasn't long till we came to a stone wall fence with a little wire gate. Pa opened it first, flicking the larch, letting us follow him through. The landscape changed to a small farm with a stone hut shed and a house a couple of feet from it. Over another fence were the pig pen and another fence over from that were the chickens. I tried to ignore the smell, as did Sarah by burying her nose in my shoulder.
"There you are, Melville," Pa said turning my attention to the man coming towards us wearing jeans, a low brim hat and a trench coat even though it was warm and the sun was out.
"I was beginning to think that you weren't coming, my Lord," Melville said shaking Aaron's hand.
"Sorry, let's see what the problem is."
Melville led us through another gate, which was a lane way between two pig pens.
"I see you have helpers," Melville stated looking back to Sarah and me as we continued behind him and Pa.
"Yes, Justin just got back from London and this is Sarah. I thought she should have a look at the place."
"Nice to meet you," Melville said lifting his hat a little, is lower class accent coming out.
We came to another gate. Melville went through first followed by Pa then us. The ground was all mud, clearly was a pig pen. But the pen was empty with only a little tin as shelter and a water trough that was turn on to its side.
"Hold up, what do we have here?" Pa said walking straight up to it and kneeling down to the ground to expect it better.
"A hole?" he asked Melville.
He shrugged, "I've checked it, twice. No leak. But I can't put any pigs in here till there's running water.
I nuzzled at Sarah's cheek, only interested in her. But clearly she wasn't.
"It could be the pipes, is it connected to any bores or dams?" she asked surprising me.
"To the river," Melville answered.
"You might have rusting pipes, or there could be a leak in the pipes," she suggested.
"Did you grow up on a farm?" Pa asked.
Sarah froze and I couldn't help her. What do we say, what do we –?
"Not really, my father just taught me a lot about, pipes and stuff," she lied.
I was surprised, I had to say that. She could lie faster than I could and probably better.
"Well, Justin, this one's a keeper."