by Paul Kater
Lily and the count
The door clicked shut. It was only a soft click, but Lily's sensitive ears picked it up as if a gun was fired outside. She leaned against the door, took off the wide-rimmed hat that she wore as the Masked Woman, and rested her head against the solid dark wood. The melting snow fell from her clothes, creating small, cold puddles on the stone floor.
She had just returned from a visit with this mysterious man in his wheelchair, Dr. Calgori. The other day she had found a note, on the floor in the centre of her small hall. Someone had somehow gotten it there, which initially had caused her to worry. After reading the invitation to visit this evening, she felt less troubled, but still she had seen it as a breaking into her house.
"Dear Miss, do accept my apologies for this," Dr. Calgori had said to her as she mentioned it. "I will see to it. This will not happen again."
Lily reached into a pocket of her sturdy coat and found the little box there, together with the note in precise writing. The Doctor had handed her these items with the words that he would be able to contact her through the box. "Inside the box is a small light. It can light up in three colours," Dr. Calgori had said. "The colour combined with the number of blinks means something. You can decypher the combination using the note." They had rehearsed a few combinations on the Doctor's request, but the procedure was very simple.
With a sigh Lily pushed herself away from the door. She hung away her thick coat in a niche near the backdoor, so it could dry without making wet spots in important parts of the house. Also the hat and her boots had to stay in the confines of the small passage, as they too had gathered plenty of snow. As one of the boots fell over and deposited its cold white layer on Lily's bare foot, she growled. "This is all your fault, Selma, and I can't even tell you off for it!"
Somehow Selma, Lily's best friend, had managed to make Lily agree to a dinner with Billy Masterson and his aunt and uncle. Of course this dinner was planned tonight, which was the reason she had hurried home after visiting the Doctor. "I should be more careful around her," Lily muttered as she walked into her bathroom. "Before I know it she has me standing in front of the altar with that... that... man."
-=-=-
Billy was at her door to pick her up at the designated time. Snow was all over him and his attempts to shake and slap that from his coat mostly failed. "You look very pretty, Lily," he said as he gave up his actions.
"Thank you, Billy." Lily forced herself to smile. "You look... like a snow man."
"I know," the young man grinned, "it is hard to avoid that in this weather." He held up her umbrella to keep most of the snow away from her as they walked and skidded to the waiting carriage.
Lily wished she could have worn her sturdy boots. The pretty shoes with the heels were impossible in this weather and probably would be ruined after this evening. Just before they reached the carriage, fate struck. Lily slipped and was forced to grab for Billy. The young man quickly threw his arms around her and kept her from falling into the snow.
"Oh... thank you," Lily mumbled as she allowed him to put her back on her feet. On the inside she fumed. This was so stupid. She never fell or slipped, and just now...
"My pleasure, Lily," Billy said, his face red. He helped her into the carriage, and soon they were on their way.
The conversation was somewhat forced and shallow. It went back and forth between the weather and the choir that Lily was a member of. "I heard from Selma that there is a special request for the choir," Billy knew.
"Is that so?" Lily's interest was slightly raised. Usually Agatha Henley, the leader of the choir, knew about things like those and shared them with the choir members. But then, Selma tended to know about things before they happened, Lily thought with a frown. "Would you happen to know what kind of request?"
Billy shook his head. "No, she didn't say."
The carriage stopped. Looking out the window, which was mostly covered with blobs of sticky snow, Lily saw that they had arrived. As quickly as they could, the two went into the house of Billy's uncle and aunt. Lily was forced to hold on to Billy's arm, as the feet of many passers-by here had polished the surface underneath the snow into mirror-like conditions.
"I'm so sorry, Billy," she apologised, "lady's footwear is not made for this weather."
"I'm not," Billy replied with a smile. "Not sorry that you hold on to me, I mean," he elaborated after a questioning look from Lily.
Once inside the house, where it was warm, they took some time to shake the quickly thawing snow from their coats and make themselves more presentable. Billy's family did not come out into the small vestibule, giving them ample time to prepare for a proper appearance.
Once the evening was underway, Lily tried hard to relax and feel comfortable. She had never met these people before, but they did all they could to make her feel welcome. Dinner had gone very well, the food was excellent and Lily had even dared a little wine. She did not want to drink too much. Her head had to remain clear, to avoid any giving away too much about herself.
Norman Masterson, Billy's uncle, was a very successful designer and creator of exquisite time pieces and beautifully crafted jewellery. Lily had already heard that from Billy, some time ago, but nodded politely and asked a few things about his work. Mr. Masterson also vaguely mentioned fullfilling 'specific requests' by 'certain esteemed customers'. Lily remembered how Billy had left a box at Master Wilfred's shop, which then had been taken to Dr. Calgori's fabrication hall. Norman Masterson knew the Doctor, it could not be otherwise.
Bella Masterson, Mr. Masterson's wife, tended the house and tried to make a young gentleman of Billy, as she expressed it.
"And of course," Bella smiled, "it is about time for him to think of a family of his own." The woman's eyes conveyed her meaning far too well. Lily was not planning on becoming the female head of a family, and certainly not with Billy Masterson! Billy, she noticed, did not react very much to his aunt's words. Perhaps he was not so eager regarding her plan as well.
Lily suspected that a plan was slowly being forged between Bella Masterson and her friend Selma, but if they were doing that, they had not counted on the Masked Woman. She would put a stop to that!
Despite her subtle attempts to make Mr. Masterson tell more about his 'special customers', she learnt nothing new. Her curiosity unsatisfied, the evening came to an end and Billy insisted on taking her home again, which Lily could not refuse as she had also allowed him pick her up...
-=-=-
"Lily! Lily!"
The loud words and more than those the pounding on the front door made Lily look up from her book. She recognised the voice. It was still early morning, so why would Selma be trying to take down the door of her little house?
Lily hurried through the hall and let her friend in. Selma was half covered in snow, which was still falling.
"You took your dear time, Lily," Selma muttered. Then she grinned. "Have I got news for you, dear friend!"
After Selma's coat and hat had been stored in a place where the melting snow could not do harm, the two women repaired to the tiny sitting room. Lily provided tea and cookies and then sat down to listen to Selma's news.
"It's about the choir," Selma said, trying to be mysterious about it. "One of my friends knows a few high ranking people, and one of them is a Count." Selma paused for a moment, building the suspense. Mostly for herself, Lily assumed. "The choir is asked to perform for them."
Lily stared at her friend as question upon question begged for attention. How did Selma know that? What would she wear? Would she be going with the choir at all? Why their small choir? Next to these questions, immediately her desire to do something like that started to disagree with her intention to stay in the background because she was the withdrawn one, with her strange dark secret. Instead of letting that flow of wonder and doubt appear, she calmly said: "That sounds very interesting, Selma."
"Oh, do you ever change, Lily? Interesting? Aren't you ever so curious to learn more? I for one am dying to k
now what is in that letter that was sent to the old hag!"
"Selma!" Lily looked shocked. Her friend was not always on the best of terms with Agatha Henley, leader of the ladies' choir, but calling her an old hag was really quite rude. "What letter?" she then could not help to ask.
"Ah, see? You are curious too! I know that the Count, his name is Skender Selezeanu by the way, had a letter sent to uhm Mrs. Henley. I guess it contains the specifics on the performance." Selma looked dreamy-eyed for a moment. "Wish I could come along. That would be so special. A castle, and a count, and servants and large luxurious rooms... That is so romantic."
The rest of the visit, Selma kept fantasising and guessing about the upcoming performance, and when she left, she had Lily promise to detail everything as soon as she knew.
-=-=-
Only a few days later Lily knew all the details. After a practice session of the choir, Agatha Henley officially announced that their ladies' choir had been invited for a performance at a genuine castle, in three weeks time.
"We have been invited by count - ehm - Skender Selezeanu, to add luster to an evening of dance and music." Mrs. Henley all but spelled out the foreign surname. "The count is an esteemed guest from Romania, and the audience will consist of more nobility." She put the paper on the small mahogany table next to her. "This means we have to work very hard, ladies. And
