Transformed [W&W Book 1]

Chapter 15

Theresa eventually found her way back to Wildwood's tower. The door at the base of the tower was open, so she climbed the stairs up to the door to his study. The door was tightly shut.

She wanted to scratch at it to see if he was inside and would let her in but Theresa felt that it would be all too catlike to do so. Also it might be too forward to come to his study uninvited.

Instead she turned around and began to walk back down the stairs.

When she got back to the bottom, she wondered what she should do next. She was relatively certain that she had already been through the entire building, at least the parts that were accessible without hands.

Theresa decided to take another walk around the castle. Perhaps she would find one of the myriad previously closed doors had been opened since she had last checked.

Perhaps she would be a way outside, an open window or something that she could sneak through. Theresa wondered briefly how she would get back inside again if she did get out.

Surely someone such as her sister would look for her. Eventually someone would open the door. She would just have to be patient.

Theresa scoured the castle two more times before she finally found a new opening. She just happened to be walking by when the same maid who had unknowingly let her out of the bed chambers came out of another door.

Theresa was certain it was the kitchen because her sensitive nose detected the odors of several foods being boiled and roasted. Without a second thought Theresa darted inside.

The kitchens would be a busy place; it would be unlikely for her to get trapped inside permanently. The door swung shut behind her.

The kitchen was unsurprisingly filled with a multitude of wonderful smells.

Theresa wanted to walk in as if she owned the place because after all, Wildwood had told her to go where she pleased. Still something, perhaps her cat side felt more comfortable sliding into a busy new place along the wall slowly.

She found herself in a standard castle kitchen. A large, hearty fireplace, work stations for the kitchen staff's tasks, a small table surrounded by chairs out of the way of the work, a door to a large panty with various ingredients on neat shelves, and next to that a door which surely would have led her outside if only Theresa had hands to work it open.

Well, if wishes were horses beggars would ride, she thought wistfully.

She observed that there were only three people working on different counters here, which seemed odd because it had to be close to the noon meal. In Waldwick there were usually far more people working at any given time.

She supposed that it was because Francine had liked to have guests visiting so that she could cultivate rich and powerful allies and at the same time showcase her healthy and happy nieces. How well mannered they were. How obedient they were in her tender care.

Theresa felt horror and nausea well up in her.

They had no choice but to do as Francine had commanded for so long. She could not bear to go back to that life of nothing. It had been hard to remember through the clouds of Francine's magic, but it seemed her memories of those years were gradually coming back.

She knew Francine had never hurt them physically. They had always had food and clothes and servants to tend to their every need. Francine had even usually treated them kindly if distant and had occasionally acted as if she loved them. But at the same time she had dominated their minds.

So many people had come through the castle and none of them had ever suspected the truth, or helped them if they had.

But it was likely no one had known. Theresa had not even been able to tell what Francine was doing to her and she did not know when it had begun. Even when she had finally begun to realize the truth she had not even been certain she was not just imagining it.