From Shadows to Starlight

The Cave

Chapter Six

Turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light--Erik

The Cave

Erik let go of the reins, reaching out with both his arms to catch Alana before she fell. With both arms around her waist, he steadied her back in her seat. He could feel her trembling. He’d lost it again and frightened her, and he hated himself for it.

“There, there, Raven,” he said, taking the reins again. “It’s all right. Walk on.” Raven stomped her foot, but began pulling the cart again.

There was silence for a while. Erik glanced over at Alana. Her face was pale and she looked like she was fighting back tears. Not only had he shouted at her like a lunatic, but he could have caused her to fall out of the cart and hurt herself. Then again, she had been irritating, asking all those questions and talking his ear off. He wasn’t used to making conversation. That didn’t keep him from feeling terrible about frightening her yet again.

“Forgive me,” he said. Alana turned to face him, eyes full of fear and sadness. He had upset her very much. He knew that was no way to treat a girl, especially who had been through as much as she had, with the situation with her father. If she only knew what he had been through. How could he ever act like a normal human being? He’d never been treated like one in his life. Still, as he looked at her, he felt extremely guilty, and knew there was no excuse for his behavior. “Forgive me,” he repeated. “I frightened you again. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.”

At his apologies Alana seemed to recover a little. “No, you shouldn’t have. I was only asking you a question.”

Erik nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed now.

“I’ll forgive you. But only if you promise not to shout at me again, and to carry on a decent conversation without losing your temper. I don’t want to sit in silence all the way to Paris.”

“All right.”

“Good. Now why don’t you start a new conversation?”

“Me?”

“Of course. You’re the gentleman after all.”

Erik was taken aback. He couldn’t remember being called a gentleman before. He tried his best to look the part, or even act the part, but he had never been entirely successful. Perhaps this girl was being sarcastic. He tried to think of something to say, but he couldn’t find any words worth saying.

“Oh, never mind.” Alana rolled her eyes. “I’ll start things. Monsieur Erik, we have been in each other’s company for a few days now, yet we know very little about each other.”

Oh no. The last thing Erik wanted to do was to tell Alana his life story. He bit his lip.

“So where are you from? You can’t have lived at the house in the woods your whole life.”

Erik tried to figure out what he should say to her. “I…traveled around Europe…a great deal…when I was younger, but I spent most of my life in Paris.”

“Oh, really? What part of Paris?”

He was sure she wouldn’t believe him if he said the underground part of Paris, so he just said. “Different parts. Here and there.”

“How did you end up in the house in the woods?”

Erik thought again. “I…thought I would be happier in the country than in the city.”

Alana nodded. “That’s how my mother felt too. Before she met my father, she was used to living in the country, and she thought Paris was beautiful, but she missed the country life. So when I was a little girl we left the city and moved to Détente.”