The Beast's Ward

Chapter Two: Faceless

Christopher Thorn, the bachelor distant cousin that was soon to be my legal guardian, replied promptly to Mr. Bindley's letter. He was glad that I had chosen to come stay with him and was looking forward to meeting me.

Today, I was to leave my childhood home in departure for a home I'd never seen, to live with a man I had yet to meet, a man I hadn't even known existed until recently. Leaving the house and all the wealth within wasn't very hard. It was leaving behind the memories that bothered me most. I was born in my father's house. My mother died there. All the happy memories I carried with me were made there. As I closed the door for the final time, I felt my childhood take it's final breaths and die within my heart. That part of my life was over and even if I came back to the house one day, I'd never have it back.

Out of all my worldly possessions, I took only what I truly needed. The expensive imported dresses that my father had given me were left behind in favor of the cheap and patched one's I wore when playing outside with the animals. I left all the jewelry I owned, save for my mother's wedding ring, which I wore about my neck on a golden chain. Out of a house filled to the brim with stuff, I came out with only one small suitcase of things and a fluffy golden dog. I'd given away all my other pets. My pony, Persephone, my cats Romeo and Juliet, my father's fox hounds, even the pair of silly goats I'd saved from the butcher's knives, had been sent to better homes in the countryside. It was only Foxy that I refused to part with. Father had given her to me as a Christmas present and she'd been faithfully at my side ever since. She seemed to understand the sorrow in my heart. She let me cry into her fur for hours without complaint and licked the fallen tears from my cheek. Without her, I feared that I'd fall apart. I wasn't sure if Mr. Thorn would approve of her presence, but I simply had to keep her.

"Hurry now, Miss Craft." Mr. Bindley scolded shrewdly from within his fine black carriage. "You mustn't dawdle. Mr. Thorn is expecting you within the next few hours."

With a discreet sigh and role of my eyes, I passed my suitcase to a young coachman. "This all you have, Miss?" He asked, looking at the modest bag and the grand home it came from with a look of utter befuddlement.

"Yes it is." I answered. "That is all that I need." I smiled slightly at him, before I moved away to climb into the carriage.

"You're bringing that dog?" Asked Mr. Bindley, glaring at poor Foxy with disapproval. "Couldn't you have given it away like your other pets?"

"I couldn't bare to part with her." I replied softly, trying my best to keep my boiling rage out of my voice. "Besides, I'm sure Mr. Thorn won't mind me keeping a little lap dog."

"Take her if you like, but don't be surprised if he asks you to get rid of it." He said sourly.

I tightened my arms around Foxy, holding her ever closer to my heart. It? Foxy wasn't an it! Mr. Bindley was an it! When I looked at him I felt like I was looking at a corpse, rather than a live person. He was ugly inside and out. I'd be glad when I was rid of him. Why father chose him to be the executor of his will was beyond me. Still, his words put a grain of worry in my thoughts. What if Mr. Thorn didn't let me keep her? Would I soon lose the only friend I had left?

I forced the thought from my head. I turned my body more towards the window, forcing myself to watch the scenery and forget that there was even the possibility of losing the friend in my arms. I wouldn't face it, not until I had no other choice.

The tall buildings of London, slowly faded away into long expanses of forest and fields filled with crops. From time to time, small farm houses would appear beyond the fields. The countryside was much quieter than the city, I could see, for we rarely passed another living soul on the road. The only sound that came to my ear was the rhythmic pounding of the horses' hooves on the dirt road. I closed my eyes for what I thought would only be a moment.