The girls were standing there, one a mirror image of the other, rain draining down their determined faces. He knew there would be no budging. It was as if the girls were tied to the ground beneath their feet with invisible ropes and the knots were tied by several experienced sailors. However, one word could easily untie them.
“Madeline Spencer, you leave that dog immediately!” Edmund tried his sternest voice, but it had long lost its gravity due to the rain and exhaustion that had accompanied this search. He could feel his own chest heavy and straining to take a breath. The stump was painfully aware of its abrupt end and lack of a limb. It throbbed in rhythm with the thunder.
“No!” Madeline shook her head, her thin little lips pursed tightly together, her little foot stomping once more for good measure. The puppy whimpered in her arms. The other one wailed.
Seconds ticked by. The wind would occasionally howl more loudly, reminding them where they were. Edmund knew this was no time to be teaching the girls lessons. They would all be fortunate if they hadn’t caught a cold out here or something even more serious. And, deep down, he was overjoyed that he had found them, safe and sound. But, showing that would mean they might think they would get away with this.
He would probably need to fetch Mr. Higgins the following day, just to make sure the girls were healthy, which might not be the case if they remained there much longer. Teeth clenched together, feeling the rain on his lips, he sighed heavily.
“Fine!” he growled, waving a metaphorical white flag. “We shall discuss this again later. Now, head back to the house this instant!”
Madeline did exactly as she was instructed, and Cecilia followed. He watched them as they rushed, strangely exalted by their midnight adventure. In front of them, Torrance and Bellows carried the mysterious woman, whose feet dragged along the muddy ground. She had lost one shoe, and that foot glowed in all its paleness, among the mud and muck.
He tried not to look at her, but her curious visage lay illuminant before him, even when he closed his eyes. As they approached the house, he could see that his mother, together with Miss Montgomery, stood in the doorway, with their arms outstretched, waiting.
Upon seeing the girls, relief washed over their faces, but when they laid their eyes on the half-dead woman Torrance and Bellows were carrying, his mother gasped. Another bolt of lightning spread through the sky. It illuminated the house, like a forest on fire.
Edmund took another glance at the woman. Now, more so than ever, she resembled a fallen angel. Her face pale, her lips red and blue, her hair like ash. He wondered what she was being punished for.
Chapter 4
Torrance and Bellows walked inside with the woman, and everyone seemed to shy away from them, as if they had been carrying some unknown entity in their arms. The housekeeper, on the other hand, immediately rushed over to the girls with a blanket, wrapping it around them. She whispered something inaudible into their ears, and they just smiled.
“Oh, my sweet girls, you had us so worried!” the Countess exclaimed with relief. “And, who on Earth is this unfortunate soul?” the Countess wondered more aloud than at any one in particular. “My word! Look how pale she is, the poor thing! She must have been out in that horrid weather for hours!”
“We found her by the brook,” Madeline answered first, as it was customary for the girls.
“And, what pray, were you two young ladies doing there in this weather?” The Countess tried her stern voice, but it was obvious to everyone that she was overcome by relief at finding them safe and sound, and any semblance of ire she once had was now gone. “You had us worried sick! And, you could have gotten seriously hurt!”
Instead of a reply, the girls opened up their coats, and revealed two slumbering puppies. Some caked mud still stuck to the bottom of their little paws, and their curled-up tails rested around their bottoms.
“My word!” The Countess shook her head in disbelief. “The ideas that come to your heads!” But joy took over, and she went over to them to hug them. Edmund knew this was exactly what these two thirteen-year-old girls were expecting to happen. He was the last line of defense, to teach them that such behavior would not go unpunished.
“All right then,” Edmund took over, seeing that this conversation could go on indefinitely. “I’m too upset to come up with a suitable punishment now. But rest assured, one is to follow swiftly.”
The girls were already half asleep, their heads leaning to the side, their eyes down to slits on their half-slumbering faces. This adventure had taken a toll on them, one which would be paid off only through a good night’s rest.
He was well aware of the fact that even if he did start shouting at them, listing all the rules they had broken with their little escapade, he was certain they would not be listening. It would go in one ear, and out the other, like so many other orders and pieces of advice he had provided them with. He made a mental note to give them a piece of his mind first thing in the morning and let them rest now.
“Miss Montgomery take the girls to bed, and make sure they remain there this time,” he nodded at the governess.
“Come along, girls.” She gently wrapped her arms around Madeline and Cecilia and urged them to walk down the same dark corridor; however, neither of the girls budged.
“But Uncle, what about the lady we found?” Madeline wondered. “What is going to happen to her?”
Edmund realized only then that Torrance and Bellows waited for his instructions regarding the woman.
“She can have shelter for the night.” He pointed at the still slumbering silhouette, resting in the hands of his servants.
She still lay, limp and motionless. For a moment, he was frightened that she was already dead. However, he could see the occasional rising of her chest and back, which assured him this woman was still with them.
“But, tomorrow, I want to see her out. This is not a common house. We do not take beggars off the streets.”
“Edmund, how can you be certain she is a beggar?” the Countess interfered. “Look at her hands.”
They all glanced in the direction of the Countess’ words. One of the woman’s hands lay open for inspection, and they all curiously did so. Those were indeed not the hands of someone who had spent their lives living in the streets. She had not a single callous. Her hands bore no marks of physical labor. If nothing, her hands were those of a lady. However, the rest of her was certainly not. Her muddied dress. Her one bare foot and one soled.
“Uncle, why does she have such white hair?” Cecilia took a step closer, her little hand reaching out to touch the woman’s hair, but Miss Montgomery pulled her back in time, shaking her head. It seemed that everyone was a little taken aback by her, because of many things – how she got there, even the way she looked.
