by Jill Cooper
She had nearly completed her mission.
As the visions faded from her mind, Evelyn gasped and teetered on her feet. She reached out and grabbed Creighton’s arm without meaning to.
Now you understand? Creighton asked her. Even though he had no eyes, Evelyn could feel him watching her.
“Yes,” Evelyn’s voice shook. “I think now I understand everything.”
Chapter: Homestead
Life wasn’t the same since her sons had gone missing. Clair nursed her newborn son, but felt no real joy. Even when the baby smiled at her and Clair stroked his face, as she had done with her three other children, her heart just wasn’t in it.
Her mind was elsewhere and had been for over a month. Fearing for her children, the boys and girl alike. They were gone and not only that, for days Henry hid it from her. Worried about her hard labor, he hid it.
“I could’ve done something. I could’ve been praying for their safe return.” Clair shouted at him in their kitchen even as the baby napped in the next room, laying in the bassinet.
“Clair,” Henry held up his hands, red faced. “You lost a lot of blood. You were hurting and barely conscious for days. It was all I could do to get you to nurse Abraham. If I thought you were strong enough—.”
“I knew something was wrong,” Clair’s anger wasn’t diminished but she spoke in a hushed voice, feeling the rise of tears. “I knew you’d bring them to see me and Abe. I should’ve listened to that voice in my head. I should’ve listened.”
“I know how angry you are with me. I know it won’t diminish anytime soon, but Tarnish Rose, the curator, and Sebastian, our friend, have gone to rescue the children. They won’t fail.”
“Unless our children are already dead. I never second guessed our devotion to the resistance, to helping the rebellion. I still don’t, but I expect my husband to tell me the truth. I expect him to keep our children, all of our children safe.”
Her last scream was too shrill, too loud. Abe, in the next room, woke up shrieking and Clair sighed, putting her hand to her forehead, trying to catch her breath and settle the anger in her chest.
“We all did the best we could. The crops were burning, I thought you were dying. I did what I thought was best. I’m sorry you can’t see it my way.” Henry picked up his jacket from the back of a dining chair and stormed out of the house, slamming the door.
Clair sobbed, barely able to see as she hurried into the living room to fetch the baby. When she got there, she saw dear Penny already soothing the baby back to sleep by rocking him back and forth.
“Thanks, Penny.” Clair blinked back her tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Such a sweet young woman, Penny had a gentle beauty and two U shaped braids on either side of her head. She smiled at Clair. “Happy to be of service to you and the school here. I’ll do whatever necessary to aid your suffering.”
Clair stroked Abe’s face as Penny slid the sleeping baby back into the bassinet. “You must think I’m a horrible mother for not comforting my own baby. My heart is so broken. I… I want to hold him, so he knows I’m here.”
“He knows, Clair. You nurse him and keep him warm at night. He knows your voice and your arms. Abe knows you and Henry both love him.”
Oh, Henry. “I don’t know if my marriage will survive if our sons don’t return.” Her lip quivered and Clair peered out the window because she wasn’t sure where else to look. Looking at Penny felt awkward and painful.
Penny squeezed Clair’s hand. “Then I pray for their return. I know Sebastian. He won’t rest until he finds them and brings them home.”
“They’ve been gone so long already.” Clair dotted at her eyes with the hem from her apron. “My arms miss them every moment of the day. I need my sons back.”
“I know, but the journey might be long. Just because they aren’t here, doesn’t mean you should give up. You and Henry can’t forget how important your family is. You both are the pillars. When the children return, they’re going to need you.”
Clair sucked her tears back and bit her lip. “I know,” her voice quivered. “I just don’t know how to look at him right now. I don’t know if I can forgive him.”
“You have to try. Maybe you’re not as mad at him as you are scared for your children.” Penny meekly nodded to take her leave and left Clair behind.
Clair sat on the edge of the sofa, watching her baby boy sleep, wondering how she could go on if her children were never returned home in the first place.
****
Clair tended to the crops outside, wrapping a sweater tight around her and baby Abe, who she wore in a sling. The air was colder than normal for the time of year it was. Winter was coming early and most of their food storage they had been saving was lost in the blaze the night she gave birth—the night her children were taken.
Maybe it was for the best. Clair lost the will to fight. Everything had been taken from her except for Abe. Henry barely came home anymore and why would he? All she did was yell and accuse him of things that weren’t his fault.
She didn’t know how to apologize.
People passed by on their way to the school house, the barn, and Clair barely saw them. Even when they talked to her, she responded in a haze. A quick hello or a ‘yes, he is getting big fast, isn’t he?’ But all of it a reminder of the months that had passed. Clair thought she was even beginning to forget their voices, their faces, but at night they came back when she dreamed about them.
Some days she wished she never woke up at all.
Clair bent down to pluck a weed when she saw a vibrant red flower growing among the plants. The color almost matched the color of her hair. When she touched it, Clair realized it wasn’t a flower at all. It was some sort of fruit. Maybe a berry. Something of that color must’ve been sweet, juicy, she couldn’t wait to taste it.
The bell gonged out loud and strong.
Clair straightened up, supporting Abe with one arm as he stretched awake. “Hush now,” she whispered to him, as she walked toward the front of the homestead. She heard the squeal of the wheel as the door was drawn open, but too many people blocked her way to see who had come to visit.
Was it Sebastian? Did he bring news? Or maybe ill tidings.
Clair’s stomach cramped as she stepped forward and the crowd of people began to part. A woman gripped her elbow. “Clair,” she whispered, with tears shining in her eyes.
Oh God no, it was bad news, wasn’t it?
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Their voices rang out and Clair’s lip trembled. “My sons! Darlings! Babies!” She ran toward their voices and bent on her knees as she came in front of them. They charged her with outstretched arms and she protected Abe from their hugs.
Stroking their cheeks and brushing back their hair, she took in their dirty faces and frantic smiles. The girl collapsed on Clair’s lap and the boys hugged her hard and she wouldn’t let them go. They were back. Sebastian and Tarnish had done what they promised they would.
Oh, it was the best feeling, the absolute best feeling. Her babies were home.
“Kids!” Henry’s voice called out as he collapsed beside them, wrapping his arms around his family and sobbing. Absolute sobbing.
Clair sobbed, too, not just for the children, but for her husband and their marriage.
“She sent us home, Momma. She sent us home. The evil woman in red sent us home.”
Clair closed her eyes and thanked God for the return of her sons, but now her prayers of protection weren’t aimed at just her children. They went out to Tarnish and Sebastian.
A storm was coming.
Chapter: Tarnish Rose
The tower was red inside with ivory stairs. Glass windows and mirrors, curved and stretched as far as the eye could see. I meandered up the steps behind Ella, trying to get my hand into the bag, but every time I got close, she yanked the rope she had tied around my throat. That last time sent me tumbling down the stairs, and I had to rush back up to my feet to avoid bei
ng dragged up like an animal.
Ella cast me a cool gaze. “You think I was born yesterday? Keep moving, Tarnish Rose.”
I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to do this. It wasn’t too late. She could switch sides, but I knew my words would fall on deaf ears, just as they had this whole time. I just thought I had been making progress. I thought maybe we had been friends.
Ella led me up to the top level of the tower and as I climbed the last step, my heart rattled in my chest.
Up three steps, Temptress sat on her ivory throne with two ravengers on either side of her. She held her golden staff in her hand. Eyes widening, Temptress stood to attention and raced down the steps, her two ravengers drifting down and following her.
“Well, well, interesting to see which of you has become victorious. Funny, I had my money on the curator.” Up close, Temptress’s beauty was alluring, and I found myself swaying under her spell. Her ruby lips shined perfectly and her raven dark mane seemed to flow back, even though there was no wind.
Ella held the remnant up. “I have what you want. Her and her books, this remnant.”
Temptress reached for it and I screamed out. “Ella, no!” As I did, Ella’s scoundrel guard placed his dagger to my back and his hand tightened around my neck. I stiffened, barely able to breathe as he applied just the right amount of pressure to show me who was boss.
Ella pulled the remnant back. “No way. Not until you go through with your end of the bargain. You’ll leave me alone forever. That was the deal.”
“As it should be, Ella. On this, you have my word.”
“Like your word has ever meant anything before?” Ella’s lip curled up. “Break the blood hold you have over me and release the children.”
“The children were never part of the deal.” Temptress raged, swinging her golden staff around and pointing it at Ella’s chest. When she did that, the remnant started to pulsate and glow, omitting a high pitched squeal. I grimaced, the shrill sound hurting my ears.
It wanted to be with the staff and could sense its magic. All the pieces I needed were so close, if only I could find a way to get my hands on them.
“It’s part of the deal now or I smash this thing. Let the children go and feed on Tarnish Rose instead.” Ella grabbed me by the collar of my robe and ripped me away from her scoundrel guard, flinging me on the ground at Temptress’s boots.
They shined so black, I could see my reflection in them and also I saw Ella’s pinky finger sticking straight up by her leg.
That was peculiar. I turned my head toward her and she gave me a wink. Was it possible…
Was she on my side? Could this all be a ruse to get us close to Temptress?
Laying on the ground beside Temptress, my hand slid under my robe and I gripped the handle of the steel pointed dagger on my hip. Still hidden, I waited for my moment to strike.
“Done then,” Temptress said and lifted me up. “The children have been freed and returned to their home, such as it is.”
Ella took a step forward. “You’ll leave them alone now. The homestead, the farm, all the children in the land. They’ll be free of you.”
Temptress laughed. “And you think you can make me do this how?” She placed her fingers against my scalp and I pulled my dagger free, pushing it into her arm. Hissing, Temptress turned her face away from me and the ravengers swarmed toward me.
“Tarnish!” Ella screamed.
I pivoted and moved back. She tossed the remnant toward me. I caught it with both hands and it immediately began to glow, a blue light emmitting from it so intense it ripped through the ravengers and destroyed them where they stood.
Temptress screamed and stood up as the light of the orb in my hands grew brighter. It encompassed all of her as she strained and pushed against it. Stronger than Nemesis, her force pushed me back. I couldn’t hold my ground and slid backward toward the stairs.
I would lose. “Ella!” I screamed and tossed my head back to see Ella battling her own man. Blow for blow she was losing until she punted him out the window of the tower.
“You’re no match for me,” Temptress hissed. “I’ve been waiting for this for six hundred—.”
Ella joined the fight, swinging out both hands as an intense glow came from them, as well. It bonded with my power, braiding around the beam of light from the remnant and forced Temptress down to her knees.
“No! She’s not supposed to know. She’s not supposed to understand. No!” Temptress screamed. She collapsed on the ground, arms splayed outward. A black mist in the form of a wolf emerged from her body and was sucked toward Ella. It swirled around her and the remnant’s light faded.
When the mist entered Ella, this time it was different. She screamed and the mist growled like that of a wolf, disappearing and reappearing inside her body. Ella’s eyes squeezed shut and she emitted a sound that didn’t sound entirely human. Her body quaked and she fell over, her body seizing as if at war with something else.
I ran over to her and slipped the remnant back into the messenger bag she held. “Ella!” I screamed and steadied her shoulders with light pressure. “Hang in there, Ella.”
Her body stilled and her lips moved like she was trying to speak. Slowly her eyes opened. “I’d never betray you again. I’m… sorry.” Her eyes closed again and I felt a rush of tears in mine.
I had thought Ella had. I hadn’t realized she had a plan. I wish I had.
“Ella?” I whispered and leaned over to make sure she was still breathing. She was, thank the workmen, she was alive and breathing. I wanted to tell her I was sorry I hadn’t seen through her game. Had she felt betrayed? How could I make that up to her?
Behind me, I heard the sound of boots smacking the ground. With fear, I swung around still kneeling on the ground. Temptress was on her feet and bent over to pick up her golden staff. My chest tightened as she pointed it at me.
“This, I believe, is yours, Curator. Last in our line.”
I rose up to my feet. “Everyone calls me Tarnish Rose now, but my real name is Abbigail. Abbigail Taylor.” I gripped the golden staff and the Temptress resisted letting me have it, but finally her arm fell away.
She nodded her head and raised an eyebrow. “I’m Magenta. If I have a last name, I no longer know what it is . I thank you, Abbigail, for finally freeing me. Everything is finally clear. I remember it all without the haze of that beast Temptress placed inside of me. All six hundred years of it.” Her face fell with grief. “My friends, children. Everything I once knew…” She gazed out the window.
“Were you alive when the world fell?”
Magenta nodded. “A small child, but I remember. I can tell you whatever you wish to know, but I’m hungry for real food. It’s been several lifetimes…Will your friend be all right?”
I glanced down at Ella. “She will, but she needs to rest and sleep for a while to regain her strength.”
Magenta nodded. “Then we’ll move her to a comfortable bed. We’ll get food and we’ll prepare to save the world from the Dark Lord Creighton.”
“First there’s someone you have that I desperately need to see. Then we can catch up and fill in all the holes we both have. There’s so much I need to know.” The truth of those words, I felt quickening in my chest, like a long buried anxiety rushing to the top.
Magenta’s face fell. “I’m sorry to say… he won’t be in the same condition that you remember him. If I could fix him for you, I would. I wasn’t in control. I…” Her eyes fell to the ground and while I couldn’t blame her for what the Temptress had done, I burned with rage.
I snarled. “What’s happened to George?”
****
I hooked my new staff to my back as Magenta opened the prison cell George sat in. After it was opened, she stepped off to the side as if the guilt drove her away. I bit my lip and walked into the room, afraid to go in and talk to him, afraid to see how bad the damage was.
I took a step inside and George trembled. He pulled his knees in tight to his chest a
nd wrapped his arms around them, hiding his face in the darkness.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I whispered as I walked closer and extended my hand toward him.
“Go away! Please, no more, mistress. Please!” George wailed with fear and pain and it gutted me.
In front of him, I bent down to my knees. “George, I’m not a mistress. It’s me. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me?”
He lifted his head, his face badly bruised and cut. His left eye shined an unnatural blue as if something grew over top of it that hid his view of the world, but his right eye was completely gone and in its place an empty cavern.
Oh, my George…
I gasped to see it, my fingers trembling as I touched his face. He gasped as if in pain and recoiled back as if I were the enemy.
“I won’t hurt you,” I whispered, unable to keep the rising sob from my voice. “Oh, George… my beloved.”
I slid my fingers against his cheeks and then his jaw.
His head moved as if he wished to see me, but he looked slightly past me. “Abby?” he whispered, his lips quivering. “Is that really you?”
Tears slipped down my cheek and I kissed him softly on the lips. “It’s me.”
“Oh, Abby. I’ve been waiting for you. It… took so long.”
Grief pulverized me to hear the pain in his voice. “I’m sorry. I did the best I could. Can you forgive me for what she did to you? I couldn’t get here any sooner than I did.”
“I will always forgive you. Oh Abby, I wish I could really see you again.” His arms unfolded and I gripped his hands, showing them where my body was. He took me by the waist as he leaned in to kiss me.
I had to meet his lips rather than the other way around. I pledged to myself that I’d take care of him, somehow, some way, I’d make sure we were together. After the battle, after Lord Creighton was defeated, somehow, I’d find a way.
I stroked his cheek, unable to see him as the glow from the remnant and my books lit up his face. His eyes widened as the bruises began to fade where I touched his face.
