The Grey Dawn

by Stacey DeMichael

  Without warning, Mistress Murray stormed into the dining room. “Well? What was broken?” she demanded.

  “Sorry?” Ellalee blinked. Behind Mistress Murray, a footman appeared in the doorway. Ellalee remembered that the dark-haired footman was Charlie. He was wringing his hands and trying to mouth some sort of message. Before she could make heads or tails out of the footman, Mistress Murray’s shrill voice snapped Ellalee’s attention back to the old housekeeper.

  “What broke, you daft girl? The staff has reported hearing glass crash, and I want to know what you broke!”

  The footman was shaking his head and lifted both hands palms up, and then buried his face in his hands. Ellalee improvised, “Oh! I heard that too. It came from that way. I didn’t know what that sound was.”

  “And you didn’t think to investigate?”

  “No, Mistress, you told me to clean.”

  Mistress Murray stormed past her out the other entrance. Charlie rushed past her and huffed, “Sorry, I didn’t think that one through. Goodness knows, I hope I don’t have to actually break something.” Then he was off following the housekeeper.

  Ellalee rolled her eyes and went back to her work. By the time the midday meal was announced to the staff, Ellalee had restored the dining room to its former glory. She began to realize that the manor was more ill-kept than ill-fortuned. The dining room was a lovely, stately room with claw and ball table and chairs and an ornately carved server. Beneath all the dust, the tapestries were glorious, and the dining room curtains were made of thick crimson velvet. The glass chandelier now gleamed and when lit would blaze magnificently instead of being dull and opaque with dust.

  Ellalee popped into the kitchen as her sister scurried past her pointing absently at a tray Daniella had already put together for Ellalee to take down to Christopher and Gladlia. Ellalee grabbed the tray and murmured a thank you to her sister as Daniella put last minute items into footmen’s hands to bring to the servants’ table.

  Daniella said over her shoulder as Ellalee was turning the corner out of the kitchen, “Please give Christopher a hug for me and tell him that I love him dearly and to get better quickly. I have missed him fiercely.”

  Ellalee leaned back around the corner and smiled at Daniella who gave a small smile in return. “Of course.”

  When Ellalee arrived in the dungeon, she was saddened to see that Christopher still slept. She ate her midday meal with Gladlia in silence and took the tray back upstairs where she found Mistress Murray waiting for her.

  “I’m sure you thought you were successful in hiding the evidence, but his lordship will get an answer from you. He’d like to see you. Now. In his study. I had Irwin bring the earl his crop,” Mistress Murray said with her hands on her hips and a gleam in her eye. Ellalee shook her head. The only thing that would make Mistress Murray happier than believing Ellalee was beaten, would be to have it displayed in front of all. Against her will, her mind drifted back to that morning in Bressott and the look of glee on Mistress Bane’s face. Ellalee shivered.

  It only mollified her a little that the footman looked completely abashed. Ellalee frowned at that idiot who put her in this position. Charlie shook his head apologetically and took her arm as she was passing by him. “I’m very sorry. I will confess.”

  “No, need. I’ve already got the reputation, and I might as well embrace it.” Ellalee patted his hand and gave him a half smile as she continued down the hallway and up the stairs. The maze-like layout of the top floors of the manor might still confuse her, but the route from the servants’ area to the lord’s study, Ellalee already knew by heart. When she arrived in the earl’s study, she found the earl perusing some schematic from which he barely looked up to register her arrival.

  “Shut the door behind you,” the earl said continuing to look at his schematic. After Ellalee had pushed the door closed, he continued, “Mistress Murray reports that you have broken something of great value, but have hidden the remains of this item, refusing to disclose it. Further, she states that both footmen have reported hearing something crash in the vicinity in which you were cleaning. Is this not so?”

  “You have been misinformed,” Ellalee said curtly. She felt hate for this man who had hurt Christopher. The memory of the way her brother had cried out this morning burned in her memory.

  The earl slammed down his fist, glaring up at her. “So my entire staff is lying? You must be mad.”

  Ellalee drew a long breath trying to control her emotions. “I am not lying.”

  “You are well known for lying!”

  “I have lied once, and once only, in your presence, and that, as you well know, was to try to save the lives of my brother and my sister as I took full responsibility for my actions, even knowing the desperate consequences that would come of those actions and my admission. Once. Would you have not done the same to save someone you cared for? Or is it that you have cared for no one but yourself for so long that you can’t recall that kind of love?”

  “You are out of line,” the earl roared launching to his feet, his fists upon his desk. “You gave me your word just yesterday that you would not go down to see Christopher, and the first chance you had to break it, you did so.”

  “You asked if we understood each other, and I answered yes sir. I understood you plainly. You never asked if I promised to obey nor did I agree to, so I could not have lied.”

  The earl sputtered, “Then explain why three members of my staff say that you have broken something, and you claim you didn’t. Are they all the liars now?”

  “It was all well intended, and so I shall not divulge the reasons. If you intend to beat me without evidence of something actually broken please go right ahead. You have not held your hand at innocence before, and I will hate you less for what you do to me now than what you have already done to my brother. He woke up hysterical today because of his leg, crying so hard that Gladlia thought he had done his leg harm. How could you hurt him like that? He is the gentlest creature on God’s creation. You are no man. You are a beast that preys on things weaker than yourself.” Ellalee’s fury brought tears to her eyes. She knew she had gone too far, and she would get what she deserved. The earl’s fiery countenance turned glacial.

  They glared at each other as the silence stretched until finally he flicked his fingers next to the horrific scars on his face and his melted ear and growled, “It is as you say. I am a beast. Beware, servant, for none can live long aside one such as me.”

  Ellalee tightened her lips as tears overflowed her lids. “It isn’t your scars that makes you beastly. It is your heart,” she gasped, and with that, she turned and fled his study.

  Chapter Eleven: The Picture Bird

  Ellalee scrubbed the salon and the music room in the fury of her emotions avoiding the earl and his study in fear of reprisal for her hasty and ill-spoken words. It was nearly supper when a darker fear crept into heart and wound its cold tentacles around her soul. What if the earl didn’t take out his righteous anger on Ellalee but instead, once more, on Christopher? Hadn’t he done so once already? She finished cleaning and packed up her broom, bucket, and rags and hurried to the kitchen where Daniella, with the help of the footmen, were getting the servants’ table prepared for their last meal of the day.

  Daniella looked at Ellalee with fear and concern, but Ellalee shook her head and saw Daniella breathe a sigh of relief.

  “There is a tray for you, Sister. Please tell Christopher that I continue to pray for him.”

  “I will, and wait up for me tonight. There are words that must be spoken,” Ellalee whispered. Daniella nodded and continued her meal preparations as Ellalee took the tray and bustled out of the kitchen.

  When Ellalee entered the dungeon, she basked in the glory of Christopher’s smile. He was daylight in the gloom and sunshine in her despair. She rushed to his side, putting down the tray, and grasping his hands in hers.

  “You are awake! How I have worried and prayed over you. Daniella sends her love as well. S
he would be here if she could,” Ellalee said.

  “I’ve been awake for hours waiting for you. Gladlia says I can’t move yet.” He looked around. “I’m glad not be alone here. This is a terrible place.”

  “Oh, Christopher, I will never forgive that foul earl for what he did to you. Even with your leg, you were perfect in my eyes and in God’s.”

  Gladlia frowned at her but said nothing, and Christopher looked upset as well.

  Ellalee continued in a rush, sorry that she had turned the mood so sharply, “But we won’t speak about that. How is your leg?”

  “It hurts, but not as much as it did. If I accidently twitch, it sends a shooting pain up my leg, but otherwise, I’m just uncomfortable sitting. Gladlia says I must be still for three more days and then they will move me upstairs, but I can’t walk on my leg for a whole month. How long can someone sit before their butt flattens?”

  “Christopher!” Ellalee said in mock horror. “Your job is to sit still young man.”

  “Yes, well, I only hope that Gladlia doesn’t run out of stories.”

  “Or Christopher,” Gladlia said kindly. “He has regaled me with some pretty entertaining stories himself. I must admit it is hard to picture you in boy’s clothes, Miss Ellalee.”

  Ellalee’s lips parted, and she felt her face go red. She hoped it wasn’t as obvious in the candlelight. “Christopher, you should think of other stories to tell Gladlia.”

  “Oh, I did,” Christopher went on, oblivious to her embarrassment. “I told her how you outran the baker and the fish monger and about the time you managed to get a half a dozen apples right down your…”

  “Christopher!” Ellalee interrupted. “Stories about someone other than me!” She glanced at Gladlia whose eyes danced.

  “Well,” Christopher’s face scrunched, “there’s hardly anyone as interesting as you. Do you remember when you told the miller’s wife…”

  “Christopher, if you don’t stop talking this minute, I will leave and not come back for two whole days.”

  The boy only laughed. “Oh, all right.”

  Ellalee looked at Gladlia, “There is an explanation.” She didn’t add anything else because she wasn’t entirely sure how to finish the thought.

  “Oh, there always is,” Gladlia said with her usual warmth. “Now, how about some dinner?”

  They ate together. Ellalee filled Christopher in on everything that was happening upstairs and entertained them both with the ways the footmen were conspiring to keep Mistress Murray out of the kitchen lest she destroy any other meals for the earl or more importantly, the staff. Christopher and Gladlia laughed especially as she told them about the mysterious, never-to-be-found cat. Christopher promised to think of new plans for the footmen while he convalesced, other than counterfeited plots of broken glassware, and Gladlia rocked in her chair simply enjoying the banter.

  “I’ve hardly left this chair for two days, Miss Ellalee. Would you mind if I went upstairs for just a moment. A stretch of this old hip of mine would do wonders, and I know you will make sure that this young man doesn’t move.” Gladlia playfully swiped Christopher’s nose with one long wrinkled finger, and he laughed.

  “Of course. Take your time,” Ellalee said.

  After she left, Christopher’s brow drew down, and the boy grew serious. He whispered, “Ellalee, can you keep a secret?”

  “Yes,” Ellalee replied. Fear played on her nerves at the thought of what secret her brother needed keeping.

  “I mean a really big secret. One you can’t tell anyone, not even Daniella?” Christopher whispered.

  Ellalee nodded and scooted her chair closer to Christopher, leaning in to listen.

  “Go make sure no one is outside the door,” Christopher said quietly.

  Ellalee nodded and got up to check the door. She looked up and down the long corridor, but there was no one in sight. She closed the heavy door fully and came back, pulling her chair closer to Christopher once more.

  “What is it? You know you can tell me anything,” Ellalee whispered leaning in towards her brother.

  “Remember when we first came, and you went charging off to the servants’ door leaving me and Daniella in the courtyard?”

  Ellalee blushed, but nodded. She hadn’t realized what an awkward position she’d left her siblings in until this very moment.

  “Well, Daniella apologized for you and followed you, but I stayed with the earl for a few more moments,” Christopher grew silent as he reflected. “He said he knew someone who might be able to straighten my leg. That he’d seen it done before. He said there was no way around his wounds, but there may be a way for me. He said it would hurt, and I would have to choose it. He wouldn’t choose it for me.”

  “Christopher, you shouldn’t have….” Ellalee began but Christopher interrupted her.

  “I wanted him to try. I didn’t want to live my whole life that way, Ellalee,” Christopher choked up, “I thought I’d die that way, a cripple and unloved.” Then he began to choke on his sobs.

  “Shh, shh. Hush now, Christopher. I’ve always loved you. Shh. Come on now. You don’t want to jostle your leg,” Ellalee crooned.

  “I didn’t love me, Ellalee.” Christopher tried to choke back his tears and finally got control over his emotions, wiping his face with the backs of his hands and sniffing loudly. “Just before you came in, the earl said he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t hurt me. Gladlia said she didn’t have the strength, and if he wouldn’t do it and follow through with enough force to break the bone and yet not enough to shatter it, it simply wouldn’t be done. I reached out to him and held his hand. He looked at me long and hard. I think he truly wanted me to tell him not to, but I held his hand. I said please. That is when you came in. You should forgive him, Ellalee. God would want you to. I have a chance at being whole, and it is because of him, because he can never be whole. He understood.”

  “Oh, Christopher,” Ellalee wept and held his hand bending her head over. “I said terrible things to the earl today.”

  “But now you know, right? He said people would think he was cruel to me, and he wanted them to. That’s why he shouted about me not being whole. He said, I was to not only let people believe he was a horrible man but encourage it for my safety and yours and Daniella’s as well. He said I must never tell anyone, especially you, but I knew you needed to know. You won’t tell, will you?”

  “Of course not,” Ellalee said and crossed her heart. “Never.”

  “Good, because the earl said you were a hot-head who could never keep her fool mouth shut,” Christopher smiled.

  “He did not,” Ellalee said in mock outrage.

  “He surely did, and you know he is right,” Christopher added with a gleam in his eye.

  “You’re lucky you can’t be moved. Otherwise, you would be tickled until the cows came home,” Ellalee said.

  Just then the door scraped open, and Gladlia came in. “No tickling for four more weeks, but when that time is over, I shall help you. Never have I seen a boy more in need of tickling that this one.”

  Ellalee kissed Christopher’s forehead and promised to see him in the morning and picked up the tray. As she passed the old healer she whispered, “Thank you, Gladlia. For everything.”

  By the time that Ellalee got the tray back to the kitchen and the dishes washed up, there was no one around. In the silence, the manor seemed more malevolent. Though the shadows danced on the kitchen walls from the banked hearth fire, Ellalee shivered. She remembered her experiences from the night before and glanced around nervously, trying to assure herself she suffered merely an overactive imagination. She finished quickly, dried her hands, and taking a lamp from the kitchen, began the trek back to her room.

  Just as she reached the back stairs, a sharp, high keening broke the silence like the saddest song sung only with raw emotion rather than words. The keening impaled the walls and reverberating across the ceiling above, surrounding her. She turned around trying to locate the source of the sound, but
it seemed to come from the stone itself. Ellalee was panicked now. The sound evoked the memory from her drug-induced sleep of that same keening, and she began to run up the stairs, breathing hard. She reached the women’s hall when the keening abruptly stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. Two doors down from the room she shared with Daniella a door popped open. Elise, the other maid, lunged out into the hallway, clutching herself and moaning. Ellalee rushed to her side.

  “Are you okay?” Ellalee asked the young girl. She was a thin, homely thing, with stringy mouse-brown hair and missing teeth.

  “Oh, I believe the spirits are after me, mum,” the girl moaned again, wrapping her arms around herself tighter. “That sound is for me. I will be next,” she said through sobs wiping her running nose on her sleeve.

  “Just because you cleaned upstairs? Stuff and nonsense,” Ellalee responded though the sound had stopped, just the memory of the sound brought back goosebumps.

  “You have na’ been here long a’nuff. People die here, and I’m sure, I’m next,” the girl began to wail.

  “All right. That’s enough now. Would you feel better if you brought your blankets and slept between my sister and me?”

  “Do ya’ mean it?” Elise said, drying her tears on the insides of her sleeves. “You’re not afraid it’ll come for you?”

  “Not at all, and you will be safe as well,” Ellalee assured the young maid.

  “All right, but will ya’ come with me, t’get my things?” Elise said, her eyes still wide and tearful.