Much Ado about Something

Chapter 2 - Abigail

"You stupid hag!"

I sighed as Cook raged at Betty, my fellow scullery maid, for breaking a bowl. Betty's shakes were getting worse as she aged, and the constant dishwashing aged ladies so fast, but Betty had no husband, with three children and a horse to feed, and a falling-down farm to keep up, not to mention a landlord to pay. She couldn't afford to leave this job.

Coming to her rescue, I bumped into Cook as I swept up the mess the shattered bowl had made, along with the rest of the floor. The tyrannical woman rounded on me, her temper bursting, and swung blindly with the wooden spoon she always carried in her apron pocket. I ducked, then dodged the next swipe, and the third, before Cook realized I was evading her blows. Her little, piggish eyes blazed with hatred, and her already red complexion flushed scarlet with fury.

"How dare you!" She screeched, bringing the spoon down harder at my head. I leaped to the side, avoiding that, too, and she swung again.

"Stop!" The order wasn't a shout, but it was so commanding that Cook froze for a moment before backhanding me so powerfully that I saw stars.

A tall man I couldn't see much of laid into her with a fury, shouting in her face. I couldn't hear his words through my ringing ears, but his voice was a low-pitched song against the clatter and bang of the kitchen. Dazed, I leaned against a cupboard, trying not to stagger around like a drunkard.

Apparently finished relieving his anger on Cook, the man came over to me and took my arm in a gentle but firm grip.

He supported me all the way outside, and we stopped at the water barrel, where he wetted my forehead gently, soothing the sting from Cook's slap.

"...okay?" He was asking as my hearing cleared, but I couldn't answer because I was too busy staring at his face in awe. His eyes were the color of the sky, a lazerlight blue that dug into my very soul, and his hair was sable, with little glints of blue where the light hit it. Because I have an obsession with things being perfectly in their place, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Your nose is crooked."

We stared at each other for two interminably long seconds, then he threw back his head and laughed.

As I realized what I'd just said, my face burned with humiliation.

"I'm so sor-"

"It's fine," He waved it off, still chuckling. "My brother broke it when we got into a fight a few years ago, right after I'd frozen into my immortality, and it healed before anyone could put it straight. But a lot of girls find it attractive." He smirked, and I got the feeling that he was the type of guy who never lacked female attention.

"What's your name?" His eyes were abruptly serious and focused on me again.

"Ab-Abigail," I stuttered, then bit my lip. When he didn't say anything, I continued in a strangely breathless voice. "What's yours?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm Eddie. I live here."

"In the... stable yard?" I asked, confused.

"No, in the stables. There are apartments above the stables and barn," He explained.

"Ah. Eddie..." I mused. "Short for... Edmund?"

"Nope. Edgar. My mum thought I was ugly when I was born," He grinned crookedly and I couldn't help smiling back. His humor was immature, but it was contagious.

"Wanna go see the inside of the stables?" He suggested suddenly.

"I- ah..." I wanted to go, but I needed to get back inside and help Betty, and who knew what Cook was going to do or say if she found out how long a break I'd had, just to hang out with a stable hand.