To Love A Myth - Book 1: Mr. Higgs and the Maid🎩✔️

3

Merida practically ran up the hill towards the manor and finally stopped after a bit. She sighed and sat down on a stone, fanning herself from having to run with a loaded basket and a child in her arms. She looked down at him and touched his hair.
"Alright, Mr. Higgs, they're gone now. Ye can let go of me."
Higgs didn't want to let go. Rather, he didn't want to literally face Merida. He didn't think he would have to do this now. He shook his head in her shoulder and she sighed.
"Ye're gonna have to explain what's going on anyway, so why not explain now?"
"Just take me home." He said softly. "Or just take me to my sister's. She can pay you and recommend you to another employer."
Merida struggled to get up and grab the basket.
"Another employer? Why would I want that?"
"How can you ask that? You're carrying me like a little child. I'm not a kid, I'm nineteen years old! If you leave now then at least you can serve someone normal. Things will just get weirder and weirder for you here."
"Ever ken that maybe I dinnae mind?"
"It's been one day, Ms. Dunbrough..."
"Aye, it has. In one day I realized that I like ye as my employer. So far, ye've become verra interesting."
Higgs laughed wetly, his tears finally coming down. Merida looked over her shoulder, although she couldn't see his face.
"Alright now, dinnae cry. Like I told ye before, ye're gonna have to tell me what's going on and what to expect from now on."
"Just take me to Fuscia's manor. She can tell you some of it while this wears off."
"That's fine."
Merida walked to Fuscia's manner as Higgs fell asleep on her shoulder.

*******************

It was a more tiresome walk to the Northumberly Manor but she finally got to the door and knocked on it. It took a moment but the door opened and a woman who looked a little like Fuscia opened the door. Merida smiled a little.
"Evening, ma'am. I'm Merida Dunbrough-"
"I'm sorry but we don't need anything washed or any type of maid."
"No, wait! I work for Mr. Higgs!"
The woman opened the door again and stared at her. She narrowed her eyes at the young Scot and then saw that she was holding something under her cloak.
"What's that?"
"It's Mr. Higgs, ma'am. He told me to bring him here."
The woman opened the door more and Merida walked in. The woman ordered the butler to take her basket and coat and then grabbed a maid.
"Please go tell Huxley that Higgs is here and to go get Jamison."
"Yes, ma'am." The maid said, bobbing.
The woman grabbed another maid. "You, girl, take Higgs to his room." She turned back to Merida. "She will take him to his room, so if you'll hand him to her."
"How can I trust ye?" Merida growled, pulling Higgs away from the girl's arms.
"I'm his mother and I know what's happening." The woman said.
Merida was still a little leery but she let the maid take him and he mumbled something in his sleep as the maid settle him on her shoulder and walked up the stairs. The woman claiming to be Higgs' mother then turned to Merida.
"You may go now."
"Why?" she asked, looking confused.
"Did you not just bring him here to drop him off and leave? I'll have Fuscia give you money and we will write a-"
"I'm not here to just drop him off. He told me to bring him here but I never said I was leaving. I just want answers."
The women looked at her in confusion. "You... want to stay his maid?"
"Aye, I do. It's like I've been about for a while now... I just want to understand what's going on."
The woman looked around for a moment and then motioned Merida to come further into the house.
"My name is Margaret Saxon, by the way. I didn't catch your name."
"Merida Dunbrough."
"You come from Scotland then?"
"Aye; I actually tried to be a maid here but yer daughter told me to check up the hill where Mr. Higgs lived and be his maid. I only started yesterday, technically, and I've already failed."
Margaret turned to her. "How is that?"
"He made me a bath, gave me the things to fix up my room and provided me with clothing. Then I couldnae even make him breakfast this morning because I slept in. So far he's been serving me. Then, at the market today, I couldnae even protect him from the way that people stared at him and made fun of him. All I could do was grab hold of him and run away."
"The fact that you even did that is proof enough that you did your job."
"I dinnae ken what happened at all... the whole thing was a bit of a blur and strange. A fire broke out and he just walked into the flames like it was nothing."
"That explains it then..." Margaret said, sitting in the tea room. "His father will be coming shortly to check up on him and he can shed a little more light than I can. I know the basics but the intricacies of this is... well, intricate."
Margaret ordered tea to be served as Merida looked around at the elaborate house.
"Is he yer son? Or is he a bastard?" Merida said out loud.
Margaret blinked a little. "It's complicated."
Merida jumped. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I dinnae mean to say that out loud. I'm so used to bein on the road by myself that I talk out loud in social settings now too apparently."
"It's a valid question, though."
"One that should be thought, not said aloud."
Margaret laughed as the maid brought tea and scones.
"My son is not normal, as you can see. He is... cursed."
"Cursed?"
"A long time ago, his ancestors got cursed by a gypsy woman after he had made a fool out of the gypsy's daughter, making her a laughing stock as well as pregnant. The gypsy cursed the first Northumberly by making him turn into a werewolf one month out of the year. He didn't believe her and so she added another creature to the list: a vampire. Still not believing her, he mocked her ways and mocked her abilities and so she added a third creature: a mermaid. Realizing that the lesson would not be learned until he saw it for himself, she went away. The next month, he realized that the gypsy-woman wasn't a joke and that her magic was real."
Merida sipped her tea, enthralled. "But I dinnae ever hear of a vampire, werewolf, or a mermaid turning into a child in the flames."
"That's because there was a stipulation that went along with the curse. Something about finding love... That's something that Jamison will have to explain because the mermaid thing is... where it gets quite complicated. You seem to believe this a little more than I thought you would."
"Ah, well, I've seen a will-o'-the-wisp a time or two up in Scotland and rumors of bear changers are there as well. Plus, if I hadnae seen him turn into a wee lad, I probably would have thought ye were crazy... but it seems like other women have seen this happen too."
"They have. That's why I thought you were just coming to collect a reward for keeping your mouth shut and we are actually highly regarded, at least my name as a Saxon is, and we write out recommendation letters for everyone who brings Higgs back."
"How many people have brought him back?"
"Many... but it's not just him. His father has some of the same issues and sometimes he's out and about when they take place, so we have to pay for the ones who find him to keep quiet also."
"That seems like a lot of money."
"This family is... a lot of work."
"Mother, I heard that Higgs was here." Fuscia said as she walked into the tea room.
"Yes, Ms. Dunbrough brought him back here. It seems he got caught in the flames and was reduced to a child."
Fuscia sighed as she poured some tea for herself.
"Are you abandoning Higgs too?"
"No, I'm just waiting for him to wake up and waiting for a more in depth explanation of what's going on."
"We got Huxley to go get your father."
Fuscia brightened. "Papa's coming? I haven't seen him in such a long time!"
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Margaret said with a sad smile.
"Ma'am." Margaret looked up. "It appears that Lord Northumberly is here but he's uh..." The butler whispered into her ear and she nodded.
"That's quite alright. Just make sure he wipes his... feet and tell him to come to the tea room."
"Yes, ma'am."
The butler left and Margaret sighed.
"Well, it seems you are in for a treat, Ms. Dunbrough."
Merida was very confused when she heard something like horse hooves on the floor and someone mumbling about being 'perfectly fine' and 'getting someone's hands off of them'. In the corner of her eye, Merida barely registered the horse until she turned and yelped, practically falling off the chaise. The man crossed his arms and looked at Margaret.
"Was I called for entertainment?" he grumbled.
"No, Jami, this is Higgs' new maid, Merida."
"Yer- Yer- Ye're half horse!!!" she blubbered, pointing at the back half of Jamison, where a very fit dark brown stallion's body was connected to his torso.
"Yes, I'm a centaur. It comes with the territory, I'm afraid."
"Higgs is upstairs in bed but I thought you might want to explain to Merida about the curse." Margaret explained.
Jamison looked at the red haired woman and lifted a bushy eyebrow.
"Why would I want to tell her the deepest parts of that secret? Isn't she just here to get her pay off and go?"
"No, she's different. She wants to stay with Higgs even after... the fire incident."
Jamison furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Merida again as she still stared at his torso, although her mouth was closed now.
"He changed?" he asked her.
"Uh, um, aye, yes. To a wee lad... Lady Saxon told me about the curse but I'm a wee bit confused as to how a centaur and turning into small children got into the mix of a vampire, werewolf, and a mermaid."
Jamison sighed and then looked over at Fuscia, who was staring at him in awe.
"Hello, sweetheart."
"Hello, Papa. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too. I'm sorry that I haven't been to visit but some of my more... unpleasant changes have been going on for the past couple of months."
"It's alright, Papa." She said with a genuine smile.
Merida could tell that whatever the curse was was sadly keeping Fuscia from her father and vice versa. It wasn't something they wanted; she could tell by the pain on Jamison's face when he saw her, like he wished he could be with her. He turned back to Merida. "Walk with me around the estate. We don't want another... accident, to occur."
Merida didn't know what that meant but she got up and followed him outside.

****************

Once outside, Jamison cantered slowly beside Merida as Merida tried to figure out what to say. She was standing side by side with a mythical creature from story books she had seen but never thought she would ever meet.
"You must have a lot of questions." He asked.
"Tons."
"Well, you already know the gist of the issue. Margaret says you want to stay with Higgs, is that true?"
"Aye... There's no reason for me to leave."
"Yet."
Merida looked up at him as he looked down at her.
"This is just one stage of the many things he is."
"Does he turn into a centaur too?"
"I believe at some point he does..."
"Weel, I'd like to ken what I'm getting myself into. No reason to quit after something strange happens just like that."
"All the others did."
"All the others are bloody idiots and hair brained self absorbed corbies." Merida growled into the wind. "I saw that other lass, Gretchen, or whatever her bloody name was. What a piece of work she was! Little carp had the audacity to try and make me run away like a scared mouse. I spit on her ugly dresses..."
Jamison laughed. "I can see that you might be a little different than the rest of them."
"A little? If those lasses were afeart of a wee bit of magic then to hell with them. If ye cannae be strong then what use are ye?"
"You're right, there... I will tell you a bit more about this curse but the rest of it will have to come from Higgs himself. If he wants to divulge the rest of the information to you, then that's his will, not mine. To each their own."
"I ken ye."
Jamison stopped in the middle of the clearing and his back legs sat down but his height didn't really change. Merida just stayed standing.
"The creatures we turn into last for a month. Usually it happens at night, although there are a couple that last the whole day and some that are activated by certain things. It's very hard to figure each one out as an outsider until you've been in contact with them all. Margaret, for example, knows the ones that are all day, nightly, or activated. Which one I am is the tricky part but when she sees me, she knows how it will work. It only happens to the males of my family since it was the man who was cursed. There is a cure but... like I said, Higgs will have to go into detail with you on that. But, that being said, after a certain amount of time, if the curse hasn't been cured, whenever the next male is born, it will gain every creature his father turned into and one more."
"Ye lost me there."
"Well, the first Northumberly who was cursed was cursed with three creatures: the vampire, the werewolf, and the mermaid. Since his curse was not broken, when his first son was born, he gained those three creatures, plus one more and so on and so forth."
"And... where is Higgs on this added monster transformation list?"
"Ten. He is a different creature ten months out of the year, a full man only two... That was a fluke on my part though because it was only supposed to be nine. Again, it has to do with the cure."
"I wish ye'd just tell me what the cure was."
Jamison shook his head. "It's quite delicate. I know it sounds a little strange but Higgs has to be the one to tell that part of the curse to you. It's very, very delicate and meticulous. The concept may seem simple but it's best to find out all of the creatures before going headlong into it."
"May I ask how many creatures other maids have gone through with Higgs before they tucked tail and ran?"
"So far, two. Usually this stage –which by the way, he's a phoenix- and the werewolf, I believe. Higgs doesn't really discuss these things with me. He's convinced he'll live alone."
"Well he's got another thing comin."
"Not to say you aren't going to live up to your decree but, many maids have said the same thing. Ever since the phoenix was brought to the fore, all the maids who have encountered it think that they can handle the other nine creatures, but you can't pick and choose which creature you will contend with. Higgs didn't get to decide what type of creatures he became and the added one at that. He has to live with this every year but the maids don't. They can, as you said, tuck tail and run if they choose. Higgs doesn't have that option."
"Then I dinnae have that option either." Jamison looked at Merida with a soft expression as she looked up at the low moon. "It's not fair that Mr. Higgs has to suffer through these creatures because of his ancestor. If he hadn't been such a cad about the gypsy, none of this would have happened. I asked what I could do for Mr. Higgs to serve him and I had wondered why there always seemed to be an emptiness in his slight demands. I know what I have to do to serve him." She looked up at Jamison. "I have to stay by his side through everything."
Jamison smiled and put his hand on Merida's shoulder.
"If you can do that, then you will gain not only Higgs' trust, but my trust as well. I really believe in you, Ms. Dunbrough; you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders and are quick in a bind. If you can truly get past all the creatures, then there may just be hope for our line."
Merida grinned. "Ye can count on me, then."