Clockwork Looking Glass (Heart of Bronze Book 1)

by Michael Rigg

  The room gradually came into focus. I could see walls and corner, everything the same stark porcelain white, even the floor. The man and the woman stepped around from behind me and peered down at me. Both wore black Victorian clothes, he a wide lapel frock jacket with tails, her a whispering skirt and corset. Both looked at me with coal black eyes from pale eye sockets, their matching silver hair groomed perfectly. In the brightness of the room and the lightness of their skin and hair all I could see were their eyes, their dark, threatening eyes. I looked away.

  I reached behind my back and touched the sore throbbing spot where they tortured me. The skin there was hot and bumpy but my fingers came back without any blood. "What did you do to me!?"

  The man said, "We prepared you."

  "Yes. We prepared you."

  "Prepared me for what?" I yelled, my voice echoing off the walls. "Where's Ray? What have you done with Ray?"

  The woman licked her lips and glanced to the man. Her look was lascivious. "He has already been prepared."

  "We re-purposed him."

  I tried to stand, but couldn't, so I wrapped my arms around my nakedness and lowered my head. I lifted my feet off the floor and brought my legs together. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

  "We're not doing this," the woman said with the same tone she'd use on a child, like she was scolding me softly.

  The man said, "You are doing this. You came to us, remember?" He glanced at the woman. “Oh, isn't it sweet. She really doesn't remember.”

  “Good. She's not supposed to.”

  "Yes. You came to us,” the man said to me, his black eyes softening slightly, “You wanted to be the solution."

  "Solution to what? Tell me!"

  The woman laughed. It was a cold sound. “She truly doesn't know!”

  "The re-purposing has begun."

  Nothing was making sense. I started to feel my mind go, my memories. It seemed the longer I sat talking to these silver haired strangers, the more my memories faded. I forgot how I got here. I forgot my own name. I was starting to forget ...Ray?

  I dug my knuckles into my temples, snarled at the absence I was feeling. "Wh-What's happening to me? Why can't I remember?"

  "You are being re-purposed."

  "Re-purposed, yes. You will be the solution."

  "As you requested,” the man sneered, “You asked for this. Don't you remember?” he mocked.

  I felt myself getting weaker, my strength draining away and my body becoming heavier and heavier.

  "But who... who are you?"

  The man touched a long-fingered hand to his chest and smiled. He said, "My name is Alpha."

  "I guess that makes me Omega," the woman smiled and raised her thin eyebrows at me. Then she looked at the man and smiled. “Oh. Alpha and Omega. I like that one.”

  My eyelids felt weighted down. I could barely maintain a focus on them. "And... who...

  Who am... Who am I?"

  "You are—"

  "Alice!"

  I woke from the nightmare with a jolt, pawing at the comforter knotted around my legs. The bright white light was all around me, but it quickly faded, softened, formed a frame around a wide window, flowers in a garden beyond, four posts of a tall bed.

  I remembered. Addy's room. I shouted in surprise when my eyes fell upon a blond girl in a white dress standing at the foot of the bed. She stood with the netting pulled around her shoulders and stared at me with a wide smile, two of her front teeth missing, freckles dotting her nose and cheeks.

  "Sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to scare ya 'wake."

  "Who are you?" I said as I pulled the comforter up around me and scooted back against the bed's enormous headboard. "How did you get in here?"

  The little girl held up a skeleton key. "Roddy made it for me. Long time ago. But it's hush-hush, 'kay?"

  The girl's accent was a miniature of Adeline Landry's. She had a lot of Bryce's features in her face but the soft roundness of Adeline. Then, as awareness flowed slowly back to me, I began to separate the dream from the real. Well... whatever real this was supposed to be. "You're Savannah?"

  She nodded and somehow her smile became brighter. "I heard you was a witch and come to visit us."

  I shook my head. "No... No, Savannah, I'm not a witch. I'm just lost."

  "Got no memories?"

  I shook my head.

  "Don't know where yer from?"

  I smiled softly, pouting my lip in what I figured was a pitiable expression. "No. No, sweetheart, I don't."

  "You sound like a Northerner. You a Yankee?"

  I shrugged. "I don't know, but I suppose I am if I sound like one."

  "Not necessarily."

  I felt my shoulders dip as I relaxed a bit. "You're a very smart young lady."

  She curtsied. "Thank ya kindly."

  Wincing against the fading nightmare and realization that I'd slept pretty hard; my neck ached and I felt stiff all over, I said, "What time is it?"

  "Somewheres after lunch, I reckon. Adeline's been busy helpin' mother, so I thought I'd come stir ya for somethin' to eat."

  As if almost on cue, my stomach rumbled softly. I ran my hand over my face and my fingers through my hair. "Oh, then I suppose I should get up and get dressed, huh?"

  Savannah came around to the side of the bed and pulled open the accordion doors to Adeline's wide walk-in closet. "You can pick somethin' from here. Addy won't mind."

  "You sure?" I smiled.

  She nodded and skipped to the door. "I'll leave ya to sort it out. When yer ready, just come n' see me in the hall n' I'll take you to the kitchen."

  I gave her a tiny wave, wiggling my fingers.

  After Savannah was gone, I got up and made the bed. I stepped into the closet. Moving up and down the rows and sifting through the bright colored items on wooden hangars, I didn't find much beyond dresses and gowns. Then I found a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt and pulled them on after removing the bedclothes and folding them politely on the bed. Out in the parlor room I found the canvas shoes Pandora had picked out for me and slipped them back on. My hair had dried somewhat, but remained an auburn tangled mess, so I found a brush on the bureau in Adeline's bedroom and began to brush out the tangles.

  That's when Addy and Savannah came in.

  "Well, you look rested," Addy smiled.

  "Thank you. I am," I smiled at her, waved at Savannah who bounded into the room and jumped up on the bed.

  "I knew she weren't no witch," Savannah giggled. "She's too perty!"

  Addy smiled. "Yeah, she cleaned up nice didn't she?" She parked her weight on one hip and looked me over. "Oh, but that outfit will never do, no ma'am. You look like you're ready to go out and work the fields, Alice."

  "Work the fields," Savannah repeated with a giggle.

  "Oh," I stammered. "Sorry. I didn't know, I..."

  "No worries." Addy moved to her closet and shuffled through some things. I turned back to the mirror as I heard the hangers making 'shicking' sounds across their bar. By the time I'd worked my hair into a presentable ponytail, Addy and Savannah appeared with a sky blue dress with a white bodice and a pair of white shoes with a slight heel.

  "I don't much care for the bodice, but I think you've got bosom enough to fill it out. You're a bit bigger than me in that department. And I'm sure I have a matching blue ribbon for your hair."

  Savannah giggled at the mention of my "bosom."

  I looked at the dress, which was admittedly beautiful, but then I glanced back at myself in the bureau's mirror and said, "I know I don't remember much, Addy, but I somehow don't think I was much of a dress person where I'm from."

  "Nonsense," she said. "All the finer ladies wear dresses these days. It's only proper." Then she came closer and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “But I hear ya. I'm somethin' of a tomboy m'self.”

  "Proper," her little sister echoed.

  I motioned with the hairbrush toward Addy's attire. "But you're not—"

  "Oh, fixin' sticks, I'm go
nna change, Alice, just as soon as we get you all settled up." She parked her fists on her hips and said, "I only dressed in dungarees because I had chores to tend to this mornin', but Bryce and Daddy will be back in a couple hours or so, so you need to look all presentable like."

  "Presentable like," Savannah echoed.

  "Presentable... like," I smiled slowly, then shot a wink to Savannah.

  A short time later Addy, Savannah and I, all dressed up like Victorian Age Southern Belles, made our way through the wide marble halls of the Landry estate to the east kitchen. There, we ran into a couple of servants dressed in crisp white kitchen smocks and Mrs. Landry, who was nothing like I'd expected. She was about Adeline's height, maybe a tad shorter, and her long blond hair was held back with a double French braid rolled into a bun. Her clear skin and bright blue eyes made her look more like Addy's older sister than her mother. Only a close inspection revealed crows-feet and smile lines. "My goodness," she smiled at me. "You are certainly nothin' like the monster Jefferson made you out to be. You come on over here and give me a proper greetin'."

  I looked at Addy who smiled and nodded the okay. Savannah gave me a shove on the rump. I felt like a character out of an old historical romance, a regular Scarlett O'Hara, but completely out of my element as I approached Bryce's mother who waited for me with arms spread open.

  When I was within reach, she took me into her arms and hugged me. "Oh, my dear sweet Alice, welcome to Seven Orchards."

  I returned the hug gently and said, "Thank you, ma'am. Your daughter—"

  "Oh, please, you call me Mother Landry, dear."

  I nodded against her shoulder before she released me and pinched my cheek lightly. "You appear to be a sweet, well-mannered girl despite your obvious Yankee heritage and dubious appearance in our midst. But, I promise no one in this home will hold that against ya."

  "'Cept maybe Clayton," Savannah piped up. Addy gave her little sister a shove.

  Mother Landry waved that off, "Oh, you all come on out on the veranda and we'll enjoy some sandwiches and lemonade."

  Which we did. In the time I'd been here I'd never felt so out-of-time as I did sitting in the shade with Mother Landry, Adeline and Savannah, all of us nibbling on triangles of turkey and chicken sandwiches made with fresh tomatoes and lettuce (I didn't mind the tomatoes so much because the chicken was so thick). Savannah never took her smiling eyes off of me, even while Addy and Mother Landry phased me out—or welcomed me in—by talking about anything and everything but me. While they talked about sky traffic over Shreveport, the atrocious dresses Mrs. Pedigrove wears, fabric prices in Baton Rouge, and saving for the family vacation to England next fall, I let my eyes wander to the garden and movement within the greenhouses beyond. I expected there were servants working in the houses, but a flash of white caught my attention. I thought it was a dress. I couldn't imagine who it might be since all the Landry women were accounted for with me. I thought about my nightmare, but the pale strangers—Alpha and Omega—wore black every time I'd seen them, or thought I'd seen them.

  After lunch, Mother Landry asked Addy to take Savannah in for her piano lesson, a request met with a healthy cascade of whining and moaning from the young Landry. "I need to tend to plans for dinner this evenin'," Mother Landry smiled at me. "Perhaps, Alice, you'd like to explore the grounds while Addy is occupied?"

  I glanced to Adeline who smirked and said, "Savannah's lessons won't take long. I can meet ya in the garden if ya like."

  I shrugged and nodded before we all stood up, Savannah complaining that she wanted to "go with Alice in Wanderland," and Mother Landry smiling at me apologetically.

  Once they had all gone back inside, I turned my face toward the sun and smiled. A servant came out to clear our plates and glasses. When I tried to help, the young man grinned and said, "It's all right, Miss. I got this," in an accent similar to mine. Huh, I thought, Yankee servants. So, I headed into the garden, toward the greenhouses and the flash of dress I'd seen earlier.

  The gardens of the vast Landry estate were as colorful and impressive as the orchards that surrounded the mansion. Everywhere I looked I saw flowers of every size and shape, each perfectly fitted to blossom in patterns that showed their brilliance in the sun. Even the flowers bred for shade were bright. As I strolled around the maze of blooms, I read the small hinged signs hanging by each collection of flora. Guara, cannas, curry plants, Chinese fan palms, dwarf cypress trees, irises, marigolds, daylilies, begonias were all present and filling the air with a strange, almost mystical, fragrance as they combined with rose and lavender. The sound of exotic birds and the grinding of cicadas filled the air. Each time I rounded a corner or passed under a wide shade tree with weeping creeper hanging from its branches, I found another batch of flowers I'd never seen before. I was so spellbound that I nearly forgot my destination until I heard voices echoing from the glass enclosure around the leafy corner from where I stood. To my right was an enormous cypress tree with low hanging branches that shielded me somewhat from the greenhouse which appeared to be built against a tall cinder block wall. I glanced over my shoulder and found that I was quite a distance from the house.

  I couldn't get too close to the mossy windows without flashing like a strobe at midnight in this bright blue and white dress, but I risked a move to a low hedge and crouched down, straining to listen inside.

  The voices were low, and though there were soft feminine giggles here and there, and a man's deep voice, I couldn't specifically identify who it was, though I had a feeling I knew. Then I heard Lady McFerran's lilting voice call out a name.

  "Oh, Clayton!" Lady McFerran exclaimed as if responding to an off-color joke. What was she doing in the greenhouse with Bryce's broth—?

  "Just one," said Clayton's voice as he stepped closer to her, which brought him closer to my end of the greenhouse. If either of them looked my way, I'd be seen. Slowly, I lifted my head and peaked over the top of the hedge into the moss-smeared greenhouse a few feet away. I could see them as clear as if they were standing in front of me. They were facing each other,

  Clayton Landry, with his hands on Lady McFerran's arms, said "No one is about. Just one kiss."

  "Clayton, how dare you approach a lady with such effrontery!"

  "My heart has longed for you, Lydia, I ache to be with you again." His voice lowered, “Inside you again.”

  I pressed my palm to my mouth to avoid releasing a loud gasp and ducked down so I wouldn't be seen. My eyes burned they were so wide.

  "I'll not be spoken to in that manner. I am engaged to your brother!"

  "It riles me when you say that," he said with a low, but playful, growl.

  "Clayton Landry." But then her voice lowered. I heard fabric moving. Her dress? “Ooh, I feel the soldier has come to war.”

  My eyes grew wide as I peered over the top of the hedge again.

  Her leg was exposed, up to a frilly garter, and wrapped around Clayton's thigh. Her hand was pressed down between them rubbing his front.

  "I love you, Lydia," he growled low. “I want you. Here. Now, in this greenhouse.”

  As I watched in shock, She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

  "Y—" was all I could manage of "You've got to be kidding!" before I ducked back below the hedge and bit into thumb to silence myself.

  They hadn't heard me. After the kiss, which must have lasted a full minute, Clayton Landry said, "I've missed holding you in my arms, missed your flesh against mine, so soft, so warm."

  "I've missed our moments, my darling."

  I gasped in my mind because I was holding my breath. I heard the rustling of fabric, I'm sure it was her long hooped dress, undoubtedly lifting up and over her head, and glanced back for a clear passage back to the house. There was no way I could get up and run now. They were too close. They'd hear me or see me try to escape under the shade of the cypress.

  "Oh, Lydia, it's been so long since we've made love. Let me take you now."

  "Her
e?" she asked with a playful lilt.

  "Of course! Imagine the scandal, the passion."

  I covered my face with my hands and winced, then I peeked again for an escape route. No magical portal opened up to allow me to escape. The early afternoon heat started to melt my skin. Sweat dotted my brow from the perfect storm of nerves and humidity.

  Lady McFerran released something between a moan and a whine as I imagined she was toying with him, maybe dancing her fingers up the front of his vest. "I'll need some persuasion, Lord Clayton."

  “And I'll need you to make that request on bended knee.”

  Oh, God.

  “Oh, Clayton, you are so predictable.”

  Then I heard the scuffling of her shoes as Lady McFerran, so erudite, so lady like, got down on her knees in front of Clayton Landry in a greenhouse.

  "Alice, there you are! I didn't know we were playin' hide-and-go-seek!"

  The shout of Savannah Landry behind me almost made me cry out. Her voice had to have been heard inside the greenhouse. I turned and saw her big blue eyes lock on me, then start to drift up above the hedge line.

  Jumping up, I stepped in front of her to shield her view of the greenhouse and wrapped my arms around her head as if playfully wrestling with her. "Aha! Gotcha! Why'd you run out on your lessons?"

  She pushed at me, giggling. "Addy went to the powder room, so I skipped out t' find you in Wanderland!"

  "I tagged you. You're it!"

  It had the desired effect. Savannah squealed with laughter before prying out of my arms and running back toward the house.

  I turned and looked back at the greenhouse.

  Lady McFerran was gone, probably hiding behind a shelf of plants, but Clayton Landry stood at the squares of mossy glass, his red face framed in a clear pane, staring at me with the intensity of a murderer.

  I held his gaze for a long time, unable to break away and feeling like the fly who just noticed the spider was watching.

  "Come on, Alice in Wanderland! Find me!" Savannah called from somewhere deep within the garden.

  Just before I turned to find the girl, I saw Lady McFerran reappear. She stepped behind Clayton and placed her hands on his shoulders. Our eyes met. I couldn't read her expression, but she made me feel pitied.