Silence surrounded us like a heavy cloak as we traveled the bumpy, snow-covered road. The discomfort of the journey was matched only by the awkward silence within the carriage. He sat with his arms crossed, peering out the small window with an irritated expression etched on his face.
How could he be so perturbed by the mission to save the woman's life who had helped save his and his mother’s lives all those years ago? It wasn’t as if she were some destitute peasant he was helping. Gran had been his mother’s trusted midwife for years. She had crafted countless remedies upon request for illnesses and other ailments for his family. The more I thought of it, the more my blood boiled; it was painfully obvious that he seemed indifferent to whether she lived or died. The woman at the ball was right: he was certainly tiresomely self-important, with not a care for anyone but himself.
I seethed at the thought. As my anger grew, so did the snowstorm outside. Out the carriage window, the sky darkened even further as the sun began to set, and the world appeared shrouded in a white veil. The inside of the carriage grew colder, and I watched as James pulled his scarf higher up around his neck. Frost licked the small window leaving veins of ice that looked like delicate lace creeping out from the window’s edges. The wind began to howl, and the carriage slowed.
“Will the storm be a problem for the carriage?”I asked.
“Of course, as these carriages are not built to travel in weather likethis. Must I remind you that if I were on this mission alone, it would be on horseback and much faster. We will be lucky to make it there and back in a week at this pace,”he scoffed.
A sinking sensation crept over me at his words. It can’t take a week, I thought. We only had three days for Gran to take the antidote for the spell, or it would not work. At that moment I began to doubt myself, wondering if I should have just told James how to procure the water and berries.
“Is there anything we can do to quicken this trip? The doctor said that she may not even live three more days.”
“Then you should have stayed with her,”he snapped.
Anger rose in me, and I coiled back but did not strike him with the harsh words dashing through my head. Instead, I pushed them down, crossing my arms and digging my fingernails into the fabric of the mittens on my hands. A large gust of wind thrashed the carriage as the sky continued to dim, and my icy demeanor added a new depth of cold to the inside of the carriage.
After traveling for a short while longer, the carriage came to a stop. The footman opened the door to inform us that we needed to find shelter before nightfall. The snow had become unmanageable to ride in, and he feared that the carriage would not be able to push on much farther. I knew that with the storm raging, we could not continue on, but I worried that stopping so soon for the night would set us back too far. We only had a limited amount of time, and the clock was ticking, but the weather was beyond my control.
“One of my father’s tenants lives just up the road, another half mile or so. They have a barn for the horses and will let us bed down for the night,”James explained.
As the carriage resumed its journey, the chill from the open door left me shivering, so I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying to warm up.
“Here,”James said, unfolding a wool blanket that sat next to him. He leaned forward and handed it to me. I was taken aback by the small gesture of kindness, and I hesitated for a moment before wrapping it around my shoulders.
“Thank you,”I said, offering him my most genuine smile but he turned away from me, his gaze fixated on the window once again.
Within minutes, the carriage stopped again, and James stepped out. Peering through the window, I saw a large man approaching with a lantern. James reached out and shook the man’s hand.
“Do you and Addie have room to host us for the night? We couldn’t go on much farther in this weather,”James asked the man.
“We?”the man questioned, looking toward the carriage.
“My father has sent me on a mission with the healer’s granddaughter. We need to go to Letterfearn, then to Loch Ness, in search of medicine,”James yelled over the biting wind.
“Of course. You know you are always welcome,”the man said, patting him on the shoulder.
James motioned for me to join him, and I stepped out of the carriage into the raging storm. We quickly followed the man into the humble house while the footman took the horses and carriage into the large barn.
“This is Malcolm Turner and his wife, Addie,”James said as a woman with long red hair stepped out from another room to greet us.
“Good day, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Cora,”I said, as James had neglected to introduce us.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,”Addie said just as a little girl with bright red curls came rushing into the room.
“James, James!”she called out, wrapping herself around his legs.
“Well, hello there, Alice,”James responded, lifting the little girl up and twirling her around in the air. She squealed in delight.“And this is Alice. She is a rabbit.”
I watched as he lovingly set her down, genuine warmth gracing his smile, and for a moment I barelyrecognized the man before me. Below the callous exterior, there seemed to be a softer side to the duke’s son.
“I’m not a rabbit. I’m a girl!”she laughed, jumping down and running away to the other room.
Addie and Malcolm watched the banter between James and their daughter, smiling as if it were a regular occurrence.
“I just made some stew and fresh bread. Come, come,”Addie invited us.
I stripped off my cape, coated in a layer of snow, and set it on a peg next to the door. James followed suit, and I followed him into the modest kitchen where we sat on opposite sides of a large oak table. James had not glanced in my direction once since we entered the house, and I wondered if Malcolm and Addie perceived the unease between us.
