Cimmerian Shade

Preview of following story

A/N - Not sure when I will start posting this one..I'm not very good at juggling 3 stories, as you guys probably saw. I'll be speedy with this one depending on the feedback. Don't hate me after you read this. lol.

1822-Liverpool, England

Crabtree Residence-

Breanne tossed and turned in her bed until finally, her eyes suddenly popped open.Shivering, she snuggled further into the covers, and turned towards her bedroom window. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to place my bed right under the window when I have no hearth in the room, she thought. Still, the idea of looking at the moon every night appealed to her. To think, the moon shone on everyone. She wished that she could travel the world, discover new things, and new people.

Even now, the moonlight graced her face and she found herself staring up at the starry night sky, smiling. It was as if someone had thrown a pocketful of diamonds up into the air and they had been caught in an invisible net. Was her husband also looking up at the night sky at that very moment? Breanne smiled again; her husband. The idea of being a married woman was still quite foreign to her, a fact that shouldn’t be surprising since she’d only been so for two days. It was very inconvenient that he had to travel to Scotland again, and before their honeymoon at that. The good news was that he would be home by the end of the week, and she would move all of her possessions to his residence. Such matters should have been taken care of before the wedding, but there simply wasn’t time. So, when Torrington told her that he had to go away for a while and that she should stay at her parents, since most of her belongings were still there, she reluctantly agreed. Though in truth, she wished with all of her heart that she was back at his residence, turning it into the home that she wanted it to be. An instant frown appeared on her face; he left before I could even ask him why he was leaving to begin with.

Perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed in confusion when a loud voice was heard below stairs. Her mother and father had gone to bed hours ago, so what was going on? More voices followed, traveling to her small bedroom, pricking her curiosity. Was this what woke her up? Shooting an irritated glare over her shoulder, and at her bedroom door, she quickly grabbed a pillow, placing it firmly over her head. She wanted to sleep! The stubborn voices penetrated through her feather pillow to eventually find access to her ears.

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Breanne grumpily flung her covers and pillow aside, sucking in a breath when her bare feet hit the cold floor. Although she tip-toed to the door, her floor still made an irritating tell-tale squeak under her weight. She froze for a second, and when the voices continued, let out a small sigh of relief.

She placed her hand on her bedroom door and slowly opened it. After stepping over the threshold, she saw that there was a faint light coming out of the drawing room. Holding her breath, she tip-toed down the narrow staircase; hoping that the squeaky stairs would not give her away. When she reached the bottom floor, her mother’s voice, or rather her words, made Breanne pause.

“Poor Breanne!” her mama wailed. “Whatever shall become of her?”

“Come, Mrs. Crabtree,” her father soothed. “You must calm yourself. It is a sad turn of events but—“

He abruptly closed his mouth when Breanne finally stepped into the room. She could no longer pretend as if she were not listening in; something was not right, and she wanted to know what it was. Unable to meet her daughter’s steady gaze, Mrs. Crabtree immediately buried her tear-streaked face into a handkerchief.

Foreboding filled Breanne; her mother never cried. Realizing that she would be of no use, she looked at her father, before her eyes snapped to the darkness behind him. Did something move in the shadows of the room? Yes, she was certain that someone else was present. Why is a visitor here so late? She self-consciously folded her arms across her chest and cursed herself for leaving her bedroom without her dressing gown. Whoever the person was, they rudely sat there in the dark, not bothering to get up and greet her. She tore her gaze away from the shadows and returned her gaze to her father, who currently had his arm around her mother.

Chest pounding, she tried to mentally bury the million different possibilities of things that could go wrong as she asked one simple question. “What has happened?”

“Torrington!” Her mother burst out the single word as if it were a bullet.

Breanne’s eyes widened. “What?” she hastily inquired. Her eyes began to mist, though she did not know why. “What is it? Tell me!” she all but yelled at her father.

Mr. Crabtree released his grip on her mother and took a step towards his daughter. He fiddled anxiously with the nightcap he held in his hands, and sent a nervous glance back to the stranger on the couch. Returning his attention to his daughter, he stepped directly in front of her, meeting her fearful blue eyes.

“Your husband… Torrington,” he began. Sighing, he briefly averted his eyes from hers, before gathering the courage to meet them again. “There has been an accident.”