Chapter 2, part 5

The door was opened almost immediately. A large, elderly woman with an angry face stared at them, one after the other.

“Yes?” She demanded.

“I'm sorry to disturb you, Madame,” Catherine said, already feeling her cheeks grow red. “I was wondering if you are looking for any help?”

“What kind of help?”

“Oh, well, I … Maybe some help in the kitchen? Or with cleaning?” She had not expected the obvious question.

“Have you done it before?”

“Well, I've been helping out at home, so I guess I have.”

“And how were you planning to help us with that?” The woman nodded towards Catherine's arm. She looked down at the grey bandages and wondered why she had not thought about that.

“Oh, no, I … That is not going to stay there … I mean, I'm sure it will be healed soon.” Tears began to burn in her eyes, and she felt like an idiot for ever letting Gabrielle talk her into it. Gabrielle must have read her mind, as she jumped in to save the conversation.

“Madame, I don't mean to be rude, but we would like to talk to whoever is responsible for hiring staff,” she said, in a tone of voice that almost matched that of the woman in the door. The woman did not seem impressed. Taking a step forward while squeezing the door shut behind her, she stared at  Gabrielle.

“What makes you think you can make demands like that, young lady? How did the pair of you even get in here? The gates are supposed to stay locked, and you are hardly the kind of people usually allowed into the castle to seek employment.”

Both girls paled at this.

“Gates?” Gabrielle asked.

“We're at the castle?” was Catherine's astonished answer. A moment of quiet passed between the three of them.

“Get out of here before I call the guards on you,” the woman said, and disappeared behind the door, slamming it shut.

The girls looked at each other, then began to run back the way they had come. Gabrielle was faster, and disappeared behind the row of bushes again. By the time Catherine reached them, she was horrified to see that two roads led to the bushes, and that she had no idea which one they had come from before. She could not recall crossing a road, so she turned up the one closest to the bushes and started running again.

The houses looked slightly familiar and she tried her best to catch up with Gabrielle who seemed to have gone far enough ahead to be hidden behind the slight bend in the road. A man came walking urgently out of a house in front of her, and she stopped, terrified. He was tall and clad in black, elegant clothes that seemed slightly crumpled. His face was contorted in pain and he was striding towards her. Her breathing grew erratic and she did not know what to do, choosing to remain frozen to the spot.

“It's you!” the man gasped, when he came closer to her. “Who are you? Why are you here?” He started wheezing and she finally managed to step backwards. Gabrielle must have taken the other road out or she surely would have come back and looked for her.

“How are you doing that,” the man demanded. Catherine looked down at herself but saw nothing that could explain his question.

“I'm sorry,” she squeaked. “We didn't mean to go here, it was a mistake. The gate was open, I think, and we didn't know, sir.”

The man stared at her, then walked closer. He seemed to breathe more easily, but Catherine still tried to hold her breath, afraid that he had some infection that would spread to her.

“What is your name, girl?”

“Ca- Catherine, sir.”

He looked at her disgustedly. She was afraid she might faint if he kept coming closer to her, from fear more than her superficial breathing.

“You entire name, if you'd please.”

Catherine could not help it. She started to cry. Small, restrained sobs escaping her lips as she tried to explain.

“I'm so sorry, sir, I promise it was a mistake. I didn't even want to go here, I was trying to get out, and I couldn't remember where the gate was-”

The man in front of her made an impatient sound and drew his sword on her, catching her wrist and holding it tight.

“If you tell me who you are I'll let you go and nothing will happen. You haven't done anything illegal just yet.”

“Emerson, sir, I'm Catherine Emerson. We live in the second row before the walls, my father is a merchant, sir,” she sobbed.

He nodded.

“Catherine Emerson, please hand me that scarf you're wearing, then, and I'll show you the way out.”

She quickly took off her shawl and handed it to him, not asking any questions or making any more explanations. If her shawl was all this mistake would cost her, she would count herself lucky.

The man shoved her the way back to the row of bushes and told her to go straight ahead.

“Don't mention this to anyone, Catherine Emerson. You will regret it if you do, you hear me?”

Catherine nodded and ran away from him as soon as he released her wrist. Heeding his warning, she wiped the tears off her face and did her best to look as if she had merely lost her way, Gabrielle came running towards her, her face full of worry and relief.

“Catherine, I thought you were gone! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you weren't with me.” She took her hand and they went outside. Back on the main street, it was more than obvious that two, large metal gates were meant to cover the entrance to the small street.

“We must have missed them,” Catherine mumbled and smiled a little. “Do you want to go back home?”
“Are you mad? Now we know why it was so difficult, let's go ask at some actual houses,” Gabrielle said, yet again leading the way. Catherine suppressed another sob and went after her, anxious not to get lost again.



Next page