WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (22 page)

Ma, as the old
lady waiting on them insisted on being called, asked if anybody wanted dessert
as she cleared the plates off the table.
 
Everybody, including Raven, ordered blueberry pie.

“And wrap up one
to go, please!”
 
Raven shouted at the
woman’s retreating back before turning to Bekah.
 
“I need to go powder my nose.
 
You coming, Sis?”

Bekah pushed her
chair back from the table and accompanied Raven.
 
A moment later Sarah got up and followed but
when she got to the bathroom it was empty.
 
Being only two stalls big, it wasn’t hard to check.

After finishing,
Sarah noticed that Raven and Bekah weren’t sitting at the table despite dessert
having been delivered.
 
Confused, and
slightly frightened about what those two were conspiring, she asked Ma if she
had seen them.

“Those two are
probably hiding money and refilling the battery again.”
 
The old woman smiled.
 
The cragged lines suggested Ma was about
mid-60s but there was a youthful energy in her eyes.

“What do you
mean?”
 
Sarah was more confused but less worried
now.

The woman pointed
to a picture hanging on the wall behind her.
 
It showed an average looking man wearing a Valentria Royal Guard’s
uniform.
 
He had jet black hair and was
smiling through the years.

“That’s my
youngest boy, Tommy.”
 
Ma reached out and
brushed the picture lovingly.
 
“He was so
proud the day he joined the guard, and we were too.”

The story promised
to be long but Sarah waited patiently.
 
There was sadness in the old woman’s eyes but also a fierce pride.
 
“Tommy was given the duty to watch over
Ladies Raven and Bekah that day.
 
It was
supposed to be an easy assignment because he had a family of his own and
Valentria wasn’t at war.
 
It came as a
shock, and still is truth be told.”

Ma looked like she
was going to start crying and Sarah instinctively patted her reassuringly on
the shoulder.
 
“You don’t have to tell
me, if you don’t want to.”

The old woman
shook her head, “No, that’d make it sound like I’m ashamed of him.”
 
She collected herself, “They, Ladies Raven
and Bekah, were out exploring when something attacked.
 
He died protecting them from whatever it
was.”

“Those poor little
girls though, it terrified them.
 
Rumor
has it that they locked themselves away for a week, only came out for the
funeral.
 
They’d always been tight but
that just made ‘em all the tighter.
 
Can’t nobody get a word out of ‘em about what happened that day.”

“Anyhow, they did
come out of hiding and one day they showed up here.
 
When they left I found a thousand gullions on
the table.
 
I made ‘em take it back
because I’m not a beggar.
 
But then they
showed up again and this time there was money stuffed into the register.
 
They swore up and down it wasn’t them that
done it and eventually they just wore me down.
 
Now they come in every so often, leave enough money for taxes and a
little extra then fill the batteries in back.
 
They hide it so I don’t say nothing to ‘em.
 
Sweetest girls ever, helping me out though I
never did blame ‘em for what happened.”

“Nobody ever told
you what killed your son?”
 
Sarah
silently reproached herself for such a rude question.

“No.
 
The official report was that it was a wild
dog what killed my Tommy but I’ve never seen a dog that could kill a man who
had a sword.
 
And it tore him up so bad
we had to have a closed casket.
 
I didn’t
get to say goodbye to my baby.”

Tears trickled
through the latticework of wrinkles and her hand shook as she reached for the
picture again.
 
Raven and Bekah appeared
as if by magic and wrapped her in a tight hug.
 
Sarah stepped back.

“We’re so sorry,
Ma.”
 
They said as one.

Ma hugged back
just as hard and told them in a voice cracking with emotions, “Nothing for you
two to be sorry for.
 
I’m proud of him
and I’m proud of both of you.”

The three women
huddled together as Sarah snuck unnoticed back to the table where Brian was
busy boasting that he was the best swordsman ever.
 
Liz gently reminded him about Stephen.

“Nah, he was once
but now he’s too old.”
 
Brian laughed
while Mandy poked him playfully.

“I’ll just tell
him you said that.”
 
Sarah said then
grinned into her plate.
 
Already the
depressing conversation with Ma was fading in the pleasure of fun company.

Mandy nodded
enthusiastically, “I’ll back her up!”

“Yeah, me
too!”
 
Liz supported the idea. Mandy gave
her a high five.

“If you want to
get him hurt, then you just tell him that.”
 
Brian’s chest puffed out and the girls dissolved into giggles.
 
Sarah liked Brian.
 
He was overly arrogant and cocky but funny
and it was obvious he was a big softy.
 
All one had to do was watch him with Mandy; he couldn’t keep his eyes
off of her.

It must be nice to
be that in love, Sarah thought as Raven sat down beside her.
 
She glanced at the redhead whose eyes were
still swollen but the familiar grin was back in place.
 
Sarah gave Raven’s hand a reassuring squeeze
which Raven returned warmly.
 
Liz noticed
the two of them but didn’t say anything.
 
Instead she asked Brian exactly why he thought he was the greatest thing
ever.

“I’ve got the
richest and most beautiful women in the world hanging on my every word.
 
Obviously I am the greatest thing ever or you
wouldn’t be here.”
 
Brian haughtily
presented his profile.

Bekah sipped her
coffee, “We’re not ‘hanging’ on your every word.
 
We’re laughing at you, not with you.”

“Oh poo.”
 
Mandy snickered, “You’re just jealous because
I got him first.”

“It’s not jealousy,
little sister.”
 
Raven mumbled around a
mouthful of pie.
 
Sarah just knew a smart
remark was coming, “More of a pity thing really.”
 

“I’ve got a great
man!”
 
Mandy was playfully pouting now
and turned to the oldest sister for help.
 
“Tell them Liz.”

“She has a great
man everybody.
 
She just better hope
Brian doesn’t find out about him.”

The merriment
continued through out the night.

Sarah finished
getting ready for bed and her hair hung in damp ringlets down to her
shoulders.
 
She knocked on the doorway to
Raven’s room. “Can I ask you two something?”
 
Bekah was spending the night since she didn’t have to work in the
morning.

“What is it,
Lil’bit?”
 
Raven sat on the floor beside
the bed.
 
Bekah leaned over her shoulder
looking at a clothes catalog.
 
They were
laughing and mimicking the expressions of the models.

Sarah decided that
the direct approach was the best option.
 
“It was Malleus that killed Ma’s son, wasn’t it?”

The warm and
cheerful atmosphere died with the question, replaced by a frigid silence.
 
Raven stood and marched to the door, staring Sarah
directly in the eye for a tense moment, breathing deeply through her nose.
 

Sarah shivered
under the stern gaze.
 
There was a jagged
wound hidden beneath Raven’s bluster and laughter.
 
The shimmering emeralds that she had grown
accustomed to were dark and guarded.

“Yes.”
 
As the door shut in her face, for the first
time Sarah truly felt the wall Raven and Bekah constructed to keep people out
of their world.
 
It might not have been
physical but it was as cold and hard as any steel.

CHAPTER
19: PUMPKINS AT A PARTY

           
One
month of healing later and Sarah didn’t even have any scars to remember her
imprisonment; at least not any visible scars.
 

Two weeks ago,
letters arrived from Kelly Masterson.
 
She was having a birthday party and they were both invited.
 
Sarah was surprised that Kelly remembered her
from their brief meeting and asked Raven what she was getting.
 
Raven, in true annoying fashion, just grinned
and said it was a secret.
 
Still, Sarah
managed to find something Kelly might like.

           
So
here Sarah was, a passenger on a train that rolled smoothly over the twisting
tracks, heading south-east.
 
The late
autumn sun cast its golden light over the farmlands they were travelling
through.
 
Herds of cattle and sheep
grazed serenely, barely twitching their ears as the locomotive rattled by.
 
Here and there small houses dotted the
landscape.
 
It was a beautiful scene and
Sarah gazed out the window with a sigh of contentment.

           
They
departed Valentria station two days ago and would be arriving in Calliburg
sometime early the next afternoon.
 
Sarah
fondled the letter absentmindedly in her pocket.
 
Everyone had been invited, even Duchess
Chandlish and Stephen.
 
After much
pleading Daniel agreed to travel with the family and Sarah was more than happy
to have the strapping young doctor along since it meant he was paying her nearly
constant attention.
 
As if reading her
mind, Daniel asked if she wanted anything to drink.
 
Sarah beamed, knowing all she needed to do
was ring the silver bell beside her and one of the servants would bring
anything she needed.
 
But it was so much
fun to have a true gentleman fuss over her.

           
As
Daniel left for the diner car, Sarah turned her gaze back to the vast, open
fields that stretched to the horizon.
 
Growing up in a city, she never dreamed she would get to see something
like this.
 
In Vestavia, the horizons
ended one block over and grass was corralled into fence bordered squares behind
rich people’s homes.
 
The scenery wasn’t
the most surprising thing she had seen since opening up a shop with Raven but
it was one of the most beautiful.
 

She studied the
parlor car, as Liz had called it, and smiled, thinking of how far she had come
in such a short amount of time.
 
Even the
mode of travel was more exquisite than her old home.
 
Richly upholstered couches sat against the
sides in the back and a bit further up Elspeth and her daughters were playing a
card game at the table.

           
Sarah
turned down their offer to play; content to view more of the country and listen
to the sounds of family fun, a little disappointed Raven wasn’t there.
 
The strange girl had mentioned something
about Sis smelling bad.
 
Then there was
an explosion and the general mayhem that always seemed to follow the two middle
sisters.
 
Liz hinted, after the few
smattering fires were extinguished, that Raven never rode the train because she
got bored easily and in cramped spaces that just wasn’t a good thing.
 
Of course Bryson offered Sarah a lift to the
party but she wanted to ride the train, both as way to get to know the other
sisters better and, maybe, spend some quality time with Daniel.
 
But she missed her hyper active business partner
more than she cared to admit.

           
The
handsome doctor reappeared, holding a drink out to her.
 
She took it and started to say thank you but
Mandy playfully pushed him out of the way.

           
“Come
on.”
 
The girl good-naturedly demanded,
dragging Sarah to her feet, “Mom has to see Daniel about some top secret
medicine stuff, so we need a fourth.”

           
Sarah
tried to apologize, but Daniel bowed graciously and insisted upon escorting her
to dinner as a rain check.
 
Since
everyone ate together in the dining car, there really was no need.
 
On the other hand, Sarah’s mind argued, she
could probably convince herself that this would count as their fourth date.

           
She
sat down across from Liz.
 
The cards were
dealt and Liz proclaimed a thousand gullion ante.

           
Sarah
blanched.
 
She started to protest she
didn’t have that kind of money before noticing the others grinning.

“Liz is just
picking on you.
 
We’re playing spades and
the winners get bragging rights.”
 
Mandy
giggled.

           
Bekah
nodded, “And the loser has to share an apartment with Sis.
 
Oh, wait.
 
Sorry Sarah.”

           
Sarah
calmly studied her hand.
 
“That’s alright
Bekah.”
 
She sniffed while pulling all
the spades to the front, “I just hope you can find someone to live with eventually.
 
Preferably someone without a sense of smell.”

 
          
Liz
and Mandy hooted their approval.
 
Bekah
rubbed a tongue over her teeth.
 
“See,
that’s why I didn’t want anybody living with Sis.
 
She’s a bad influence.”

           
The
rest of the game passed with more laughter than serious card playing, although
Liz was quick to point out that she and Sarah won easily by a score of seven
hundred to four-fifty.
 
As the finals
were being bickered over, Daniel came and asked Sarah if she were ready.
 
The blonde smiled demurely, batting her eyes
twice to show she was slightly embarrassed then took his offered hand.
 
The other girls followed, giggling and
laughing but Sarah chose to ignore them.
 

After supper
everyone else went to sleep, leaving Daniel and Sarah alone in the parlor
car.
 
Sarah sat down on one of the
couches with her legs crossed and indicated with her eyes that Daniel should
join her.

           
“It
was a very delicious supper.
 
Thank you
for taking me.”
 
Sarah’s coy smile was in
full effect.

           
Daniel
reached over and held her hand.
 
“Again I
find myself thanking you for you lovely company.”
 
Slowly, his eyes never leaving hers, Daniel
brought the hand to his lips and pressed them softly against the velvety
flesh.
 
When Sarah didn’t resist, he kissed
her forearm.

           
Sarah
grew tired of waiting.
 
She pulled Daniel
by the collar of his shirt and their lips met.
 
They kissed and Daniel’s hand found its way to Sarah’s slim waist.
 
Sarah’s arms locked around Daniel’s
neck.
 

Reluctantly Daniel
broke the embrace.
 
“As much as I would
love to continue, we really should wait until we have more privacy.”

Damn it, Sarah
fumed to herself, but knew he was right.
 
As comfortable as the rooms on the train were, the walls were very
thin.
 
With a small good night peck on
the cheek, the two entered their separate rooms alone.
 
Before slumber took her, Sarah thought she
heard something heavy shuffling on the roof but weariness won over worry and
she was soon dreaming peacefully.

The next morning,
Sarah basked in the warmth of the window again.
 
Sometime in the night the train had climbed into a narrow mountain
path.
 
Up in this altitude snow already
covered the ground in thick blankets, and the earth gleamed pristinely
white.
 
She was trying to see if she
could spot the bottom of the gorge they were passing over when something popped
into view.
 
Sarah shrieked and fell
heavily to the floor, not believing her own eyes.
 
Daniel and Stephen rushed to her side, asking
what happened.
 
Bekah followed to make
sure everything was alright.
 
Forgetting
how to speak, Sarah just kept point at the window.
 
Then Raven’s beaming, upside down face
reappeared and plastered against the glass.
 
Both hands were waving wildly as flaming red hair swished back and
forth.
 
There was frozen saliva on the
window where she licked it.

Cheerfully Bekah
lowered the glass letting cold air and Raven in.
 
The two sisters embraced like they hadn’t
seen each other in years, rather than days.

“Why are you
here?”
 
Sarah tried interrupting the
reunion.

Raven refused to
let Bekah go but managed to answer, “I was bored and needed to get dressed
before the party.”

Sarah shook her
head.
 
“I was bored”, was Raven’s stock
answer for everything.

“Where’s
Bryson?”
 
Daniel wondered, looking out
the window for the flying lizard.

“I sent him home
last night after he dropped me off.”
 

By this time, the
commotion had brought Elspeth, Mandy and Liz to the car.
 
Mandy told everyone she heard Raven coming in
last night and Raven assumed that was the end of the conversation.
 
Sarah held up her hands to stop her from
walking away.
 

“You mean to tell
us that you spent the night on top of the train?”
 
Sarah demanded, cocking her head to one side.

“It’s way to cold
to do something like that.
 
I slept in my
compartment.”
 
Raven stared at Sarah as
if she’d gone daft.

I know I shouldn’t
ask this, but I’m going to anyway, Sarah thought and knew there wasn’t a good
explanation coming.
 
“Raven,” She spoke
slowly as if addressing a bomb that might go off, “why, if you were already
inside the train, would you climb back onto the roof?”

“I wanted to see
if I could jump from car to car.”
 
Raven
seriously began to wonder if the thin air at this altitude was affecting
Sarah’s head.
 
It should be perfectly
obvious why someone would want to be on top of a moving train.

Instead of
scolding her like any sane person would, Bekah squealed excitedly.
 
“Did you make it over all of them?”

Raven held up
right arm already showing signs of a heavy bruise.
 
“Almost.
 
I missed the last one and had to catch myself.”

Sarah walked away,
shaking her head in disbelief.

The party was in
honor of Kelly Masterson’s twenty-first
birthday and her parents
spared no expense.
 
Huge streamers hung
from gaily decorated poles and ruffled in the wind.
 
There was an open bar, which many people were
taking full advantage of, occupying one corner of the Masterson estate.
 
On a raised dais, a live band was rocking a
small crowd of people who danced in front of the stage.
 
They were really good and the music made her feet
tap.
 
Daniel sidled up and asked her to
dance, to which Sarah happily agreed.
 
The couple strolled into the throng of people and lost themselves to the
music.
 

After the second
song they took a break.
 
The timing
couldn’t have been worse.

“Daniel!”
 
A shrill voice pierced Sarah’s ears.
 
She didn’t want to turn around but Daniel’s
arm was still entwined with hers.
 
With a
sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Sarah pivoted and smiled
painfully.
 
Sure enough, the voice
belonged to the flamingo she had met at the ball.
 
Except this time, instead of pink, the pudgy
girl was wearing a dark orange pantsuit with a green necklace and
earrings.
 
Sarah considered the outfit
and decided the girl looked like a large, mobile pumpkin.
 

The Pumpkin hugged
Daniel.
 
“This is my cousin, Patricia
Lewis.
 
Patty, this is my close friend,
Sarah Petty.”
 
He introduced the girls,
both wearing fake smiles and trying to murder each other with glares.

“We met at the
ball in Vestavia.”
 
Sarah reached out her
hand and shook the Pumpkin’s, making sure to apply a bit more pressure than
necessary.

Completely
misreading the situation, Daniel excused himself, leaving Sarah and Patricia
standing toe-to-toe.
 
The girl in orange
looked Sarah up and down, not trying to hide her disdain.

“I guess Daniel
has decided to go slumming with a commoner.
 
What a sad day for our family.”
 
Patricia put extra emphasis on ‘commoner’ but Sarah wasn’t bothered in
the least.