Groggily, Jonathan pushed to a sitting position and blinked several times.“Bloody hell, ol’ boy.I’m not a sack of potatoes.Do be careful.”
“No, a sack of potatoes would be easier to handle,” Adam said matter-of-factly.“Here.Put your feet on the ground and Marvin will grab your other side so you don’t end up flat on your face.”
“I’m perfectly capable of walki—” Jonathan’s voice trailed off as he stumbled.The servant and Adam grabbed him.“On second thought, ol’ boy, some assistance would be most appreciated,” Jonathan joked as he draped his good arm around Adam’s neck.
Elizabeth was glad to hear Jonathan’s easy sense of humor return.“Do be careful, Adam,” Elizabeth pleaded, following them up the front steps.“He’s been wounded, after all.”
Adam turned his head a fraction to give his twin an incredulous look.“And I haven’t?”
Elizabeth felt the heat of a blush as she trailed behind them up the stairway to a room directly across from hers.By the time they got Jonathan into bed, he’d passed out.
Annie, Elizabeth and Adam’s old nanny and housekeeper, swept into the room.‘‘Adam, ye need tae be in bed.Have ye forgotten yer wounded?”
Annie was a plump little Scotswoman, small in size but with the feisty determination of a much bigger woman.Her brown hair was streaked with gray and pulled back into a loose bun; her apple cheeks always glowed with good cheer.
“No, I haven’t,” Adam said curtly.“But I think Elizabeth has.”
“Jonathan’s hurt, too.”Elizabeth touched Annie’s arm, ignoring her brother completely.
“Saints above!Have ye all lost yer ever-lovin’ minds?I should have locked all o’ ye in yer rooms.Then ye wouldn’t have these gapin’ holes in ye.”Annie clapped her hands and looked toward heaven, then back at them.“Now all o’ ye out!The lad needs his rest.”
“But Annie,” Elizabeth protested.
“Ye not be doin’ him any good if ye keel over from exhaustion.Now, shoo, all o’ ye.”
Reluctantly, Elizabeth left.She knew Annie was taking care of her, too, and Elizabeth had to admit she was exhausted.
When she entered her room, the bed looked very inviting with its fluffy pink goose down comforter and the eight white pillows piled up against the headboard.But she resisted the pull of the finely dressed four poster bed and tugged instead on the silken bell cord.
In a few minutes, Sally, her maid, appeared in the doorway.“Yes, ma’am.”
Sally was an older black woman who’d run the kitchen until she’d hurt her back.Then Elizabeth had suggested Sally might like to have the easier job of lady’s maid.
Sally had been so grateful that she took to caring for Elizabeth like a mother hen.Now Elizabeth had two mothers—Annie and Sally.
“Sally, can you help me with these hooks?I want to take a nap.”
“Yes’um.You’ve not been takin’ care of yourself, Miz Elizabeth.Just look at those dark circles under your eyes.Master Jonathan will be lookin’ elsewhere ifen you keep it up.”
Elizabeth swung around.“Do you really think so?”
Sally laughed.“Only if he’s a fool.Ain’t none to compare with you, Miz Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth smiled and then climbed under the fluffy pink comforters.“I’ll just sleep a little while,” she murmured.She heard the click of the door then Sally slid from the room and Elizabeth drifted to sleep.
The afternoon turned into night.
She slept peacefully until the wee hours of morning.
That’s when the demons slipped in....
Chapter 3
No matter how much Elizabeth tried to forget, the nightmare would find her.Not every night—not when she first slept—but in the wee hours of morning, when she was very tired, the horrors would slither in like a slimy snake and encompass her until she could no longer breathe, or think, or remember it was only a dream.
And so the dream began ...
She didn’t wantto be here!
