Chapter 4
****
"Come on!"
Edwin shouted in frustration. Dana gasped and took his hand.
"Pull yourself up."
He didn't give her a chance to respond, but pushed forward through the current. Dana relaxed her muscles and leaned into him.
"This way."
A moment later, they reached the shore. Edwin gasped for air as he stood on the rocky ledge, and Dana lay on her stomach, coughing and heaving.
"Are you okay, Edwin?"
"You could have been in trouble!"
The men rushed over. They looked at Edwin and Dana with a mixture of shock and relief.
Dana barely managed to lift her upper body, leaning on her hands on the stone floor.
"Are you okay?"
Master Edwin's voice came from behind her.
She was disoriented. The ground and sky were spinning before her eyes. Dana nodded slowly, knowing that if she opened her mouth now, she would vomit.
"Okay, thank God........"
Edwin sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair.
Dana slowly pushed herself to her feet. Through her dazed eyes, she recognized the long legs of someone. Even in her shocked daze, she could make out who it was. Her body staggered backwards.
“Ah, Teddy.......”
Brown riding boots trampled across the grass, coming to a halt.
"Marcus, he almost got us in trouble, didn't he?"
If Edwin hadn't spoken to him, Dana might have been in trouble. She glanced over Edwin's shoulder and noticed that the man was staring at her again.
"......Let's not make this kind of punishment a wager in the future. I'm going to have to get the servants to stop picking mushrooms, it's too dangerous.........."
Edwin's head snapped back to Dana.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes...."
Dana barely managed to answer, and she quickly made her way behind a tree.
She needed a place to hide. The man's insistent gaze was far more unbearable than the shock of being drowned.
Leaning against the tree, she squeezed the water out of her hair and clothes as if she didn't care. Edwin stared at Dana, a little surprised at her nonchalance. Someone patted him on the shoulder and laughed.
"Don't worry, man. The maids are much stronger than us."
"Yeah, it's the wimpy one you should really be worried about."
The men's murmurs became playful again.
"Uh-oh, you fool."
"If you're going to die, die alone."
Dana walked away from the commotion and toward the top of the falls. Her soaked clothes felt heavy as lead, clinging to her skin.
Still, she pushed herself up the steep slope.
Luckily, the basket was still intact. Dana grabbed two baskets from the water's edge and scooped up all the fallen mushrooms.
Now it was just a matter of getting back.
Her head slowly turned downward.
The men were still ranting about Marcus, and Edwin was pulling off his soaked shirt.
And right next to him, the tall man….
Dana looked away quickly, not daring to look at him.
A shiver ran down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself like a hug and headed for the bushes. There was a path, and from then on, it was just a frantic walk.
***
"...Dana?"
Dorothy's startled eyes darted frantically between the drenched Dana and the basket.
"What... happened?"
"Nothing, I just accidentally fell in the water."
Dorothy stared blankly at her reddened lips and shaking shoulders. Dana waved the basket in front of her unconcernedly.
"Here... take this."
"Huh? Ah......."
Dorothy fumbled and took the basket. To her surprise, it was full of mushrooms.
"Let's ..... go. It's been a while since the bell rang, and everyone will be worried."
"Huh? Uh... oh, yeah."
Dana started walking toward the cottage. Dorothy, who had been standing there dumbfounded, followed.
***
"Oh my God, Dana, are you okay?"
"How did this happen?"
Her coworkers' reactions were uniform. Dana was both grateful and annoyed by the concern.
"Your lips are so blue.”
"Your body is like ice!"
Dana parroted the same phrases over and over: she was fine, she was fine, she was fine. She frantically made her way to her bedroom, weaving through the worried faces.
All she could think about was one thing.
She wanted to lie down.
She felt completely paralyzed, her body shaking. Her shoulders were aching and her eyelids felt incredibly heavy.
Once in her room, Dana changed her clothes and frantically crawled under the covers.
So cold...
She pulled the covers up to her head.
It was strange. Her body was clearly ice cold, but she was sweating like she'd just stepped into a fire.
Her eyes kept closing. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She felt like she was being swept around like she was being hit from the front by a gust of wind.
A dark hole appeared out of nowhere, sucking her in like a swamp. No, on closer inspection, it wasn't a hole. It was water. Cold, flesh-crushing water, the Cologne Falls.
Help me...
Dana sobbed, but all that came back was the sound of men's laughter and the deafening roar of the waterfall.
Help me......
A hand reached out in front of her, pleading desperately.
"Hold on.”
A warm voice, accompanied by a bright light, gently enveloped Dana's body.
...Thank you.
Dana sobbed. Her whole body felt like it was collapsing with relief. But the peace was too short-lived. Suddenly, something dark appeared and began tugging roughly at her ankle.
NO!
Dana screamed. Her toes were being sucked rapidly into the dark shadows.
Let go!
Dana screamed and looked down, frozen in shock. In the center of the black shadow were turquoise eyes.
Dana gasped. She felt like she was going to die. She couldn't breathe with fear.
Let me go, please...
She struggled frantically. And then,
"Dana!"
A strong voice cut through her dizzying consciousness.
"Wake up, Dana!"
Her eyes fluttered open to a hand tapping her cheek.
"Are you awake?"
Dana blinked rapidly. As her focus returned, the faces staring down at her became clear. Lou, the head maid, and the other maids who shared her room.
It was a dream...
Dana forced the corners of her mouth to curl up.
"I'm sorry......."
"Ugh, don't apologize."
Lou grumbled, helping Dana to her feet.
"You said you were drowning, so I suggest you do nothing tonight and get some rest."
"Yeah, you can't push yourself too hard on a day like this. You might get sick."
Dana nodded weakly and relaxed into the gentle touch.
***
An after-dinner smoke was a gentleman's dessert, especially in the Belvida's smokehouse, which was not just for drinking and smoking.
It was a room of fine leather sofas, marble tables, billiard and card tables, chess boards, paintings and antiques.
It was an extravagant amusement park, the fulfillment of every man's desires.
More than anything else, it was the rare liquors and tobacco that Lord Hastings had collected from all over the continent that drew the men in. So much so that the host, Edwin Hastings, had recently been forced to entertain almost daily.
"Did you hear? They're opening a train from Peron to Dodge?"
"Ha! It's coming, after all."
"It'll make Archduke Anderson's selling his fifteen-year-old daughter to a perverted old man all worth it."
"The world has gone mad, that the noble blood of the Grand Duke's family should mix with such a lowly minion."
The young men continued their gossip and political talk.
"By the way, what about the Continental Exposition next month? Are you all going to attend?"
"Of course. The Duchy of Fitz is participating this year. Have you seen any women there?"
The men's eyes took on a coy look.
"I know what you mean, they're full of them, even the maids who do the menial tasks."
Unlike some of the chuckling men, Edwin had a different take on the previous statement: the word 'maid' reminded him of someone he'd forgotten.
"Edwin, what about you, are you going to the fair?"
Before Edwin could answer, the twin brothers, Rob and Pearson, interrupted.
"Can't you let us off the hook just this once? The girls won't even look at us when you're there."
"Yeah, please."
Someone else chimed in with a smirk.
"Edwin is one thing, but he's the real problem."
The men's eyes turned in unison to one spot.
"That freak. He's a woman-sucking swamp."
"Yeah, he's selfish........."
"No, no, no, he's not selfish, he's just a personality disorder."
A few eyes widened at the harsh language, but the party remained silent.
"You all know what he did in the last match. He destroyed eight tournament horses and their trainers because he lost to Prince Harrison once."
"He even gave the cat, a precious Havarsan, a gift from the crown prince, a noble cat from the imperial family, reduced to a stray."
Some giggled, others shook their heads in disbelief.
"Dr. Stanley said that even the most virulent competitive spirit is a form of mental illness, worthy of study."
"Not just competitive, though? What about picky, sensitive, clingy... extreme moodiness?"
"And yet, why do women fall for that weirdo?"
Another glare, and the other man remained unmoved. He sat cross-legged in his cream-colored suit, his face bored, his glass twirling in his hand.
"You bastard, you heard everything and you pretend you didn't...."
Someone grumbled.
There was a knock on the door and servants appeared with fresh liquor and cigarettes.
"Come on, everyone, let's drink. We shouldn't be talking about that guy."
"Yeah, don't forget, we're about to have some fun."
The young men toasted and swished their drinks into their mouths.
The servants moved diligently. The footman set fresh liquor on the table, the maids changed the ashtrays and cleared the table.
No one paid them any attention, but Edwin was different.
The maid's hands, moving with mechanical calm and precision, reminded him of the small, white hands that had picked the mushrooms.
"Wait."
The servant who had been pouring the wine rushed to his side.
"Will you find one of the maids and bring her to me, right now?"
***
In the nearly three years since she had become an official maid, Dana had never ventured up to the second floor of the manor's main building.
It was strictly a place for the nobility, especially the male owners.
The management was also largely in the hands of men. If a maid was needed at all, it was only a carefully selected and tested maid, a head maid.
And to be sent there, to see Master Edwin...
Dana pressed a hand to her pounding chest. It had been a few days since the incident at the waterfall. She'd thought she'd be sick for a few days, but the next day she was as good as new.
Nothing had changed.
The mushroom hunt went off without a hitch, much to Maid Rosi’s satisfaction. Life went on as usual, uneventful and, as usual, Dana was busy.
Suddenly, she wondered if Master Edwin was all right, but she couldn't bring herself to go and check on him or ask anyone else.
And then he beat her to it...
Dana wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt.
The servant ahead of her stopped walking. Before she knew it, they were on the second floor, in front of the smoking room.
"Enter."
Before she had time to prepare herself, the door swung open.
****
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Write a comment