The Wizard's Misery The Chronicles of the Midlands Book One

Chapter Thirty Eight

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon with a hint of briskness in the air as Celine walked up the dirt drive heading to the Crossroads Inn to speak to Mrs. Horsley. While she had been doing her chores earlier that morning to distract herself from her negative thoughts, she had started thinking about the courier network and the offer that Brandon had made her. She realized that she'd been too rash by immediately disregarding it and now that she'd fully considered it, she decided to accept it because then she'd not only be able to see him more frequently, but she'd also make money while doing it. So, she'd hurried to finish her chores, telling Pa that she was going into town to visit Mrs .Horsley and then she left.

"It'll be nice to have my own money and help Pa out with the bills and if I'm in charge of the courier office, then whenever Brandon comes through, he'll stop in for the latest news so I'll get to see him," she thought happily. "Even if he doesn't feel the same way about me as I feel about him, I don't care. I've never liked anyone before and it's nice feeling this way," she realized as she remembered him holding her and how she had felt and a tremor went through her with the memory of it. "It's much better to think about this than that," she told herself trying to push down her memories of the man she had killed and what had happened so that she wouldn't think about it again.

But, she was beginning to fail in her efforts and she again replayed what had happened, seeing the look of shock on the man's face as he gripped the blade of her sword before she had released it and then she saw him crumpling down in a heap on the ground. The memory hurt and her eyes stung but the tears didn't fall and she tried to push the images away and instead tried to invoke the feelings and sensations she had felt when Brandon had held her.

She was struggling with all of these thoughts as she reached the entrance to the path that went through the Royal Pine Forest to Midtown and she was so lost in thought that she was caught off guard when someone pounced on her, placing a strong smelling cloth over her face. As she began to struggle to get away, she began to feel weak in the knees and very sleepy and suddenly she could no longer remain awake and she fell into a deep asleep.

When she awoke, she was in a carriage and hearing the sound of wheels on cobblestones, she knew that she was speeding down one of the main roads. She was bound and gagged, lying on one of the seats and in the darkness, she saw that the thick curtains were closed making it impossible to determine what time of day it was and she had no idea how long she had been asleep.

"I've been kidnapped again," she realized regretfully. "It must be Jackman. No one else would do this to me," she sadly concluded as she tried to make herself more comfortable on the seat."I wonder where he's taking me and what he's going to do," she pondered, not really afraid, just concerned. Thinking that Jackman wouldn't do anything to hurt her, she felt more worried about her Pa than anything else. "He's going to be worried sick once he realizes that I never made it to the Crossroads Inn," she thought regretfully. "If only I'd been paying attention then this would never have happened."

She struggled to sit up, finally managing to do so and then she tried to free her hands. The ropes were tied just tight enough to keep her from removing them without cutting off her circulation and the bindings on her feet were the same way. "This is the same way that Jackman tied me up," she realized, confirming in her mind that it was Jackman who had kidnapped her.

She scooted over to one of the windows and using her bound hands, she opened the thick curtains to see that it was fully dark outside and that it was a clear night with a myriad of stars in the sky. As they sped along, the landscape looked very familiar and once they passed the Western Ferry Dock, she knew that they were on Ferry Loop Road headed to Central City.

"I've been asleep for at least six hours since it takes about that long to get to the dock," she realized. "And it was around two when I left the house so it's around eight o'clock," she surmised. "So, we'll be in Central City at around two o'clock in the morning when no one will be around to help me," she thought sadly.