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Chapter 66: Charlotte, all alone
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 67: Ella, formulating a battle plan
I climbed into bed completely exhausted but with my body still too restless to sleep. My mind raced faster than the train speeding away from Louise's ambush. She had revealed too much and in doing so, gave us a glimpse of Millicent's plans. Not only that, we now knew she had a large army hiding somewhere in plain sight. Or more likely, under our feet.It was conceivable that Millicent had amassed an army in the North Wessex Downs. The landscape there was remote, isolated, and hauntingly beautiful. It was also little visited, being popular mainly with archaeologists and bird watchers. I wondered about the vermin that had poured out of the alley in London. How many thousands of the undead waited in the sewers and forgotten tunnels of our capital?Despite thinking I had far too much to dwell on, sleep claimed me. I awoke as the pale wintry sunlight peeked around my drapes. I stretched my arms over my head and took a moment to enjoy the sense of peace that washed through my soul. This wa
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 68: Ella, a different kind of recipe
I chewed my lip as Seth left and self-doubt set in. I was used to riding Trusty and clutching my sword going into a fight. I had no experience to guide me in what we were about to attempt."Will the spell defeat Millicent?" I asked Reverend Mason as he lit the gas lamps around the room and then crossed to the tall window and pulled the drapes shut.His hand paused on the patterned fabric. "No, unfortunately. It will send you to where she exists. Once there, you will need to find a way to undo what she has done."Bother. I had hoped the spell would equip me with a celestial flaming sword that would send Millicent to Hell with a single blow. Before me stretched the prospect of being transported to an unknown realm where my enemy ruled, and I would need to forage for a weapon.A niggle of curiosity roused its head. "How did you come by such a spell?"Reverend Mason turned and smiled. "You cannot study witchcraft for a millennia without acquiring some knowledge along the way. This spe
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 69: Ella, in dreamworld
Every tread on the stairs worked dread a little deeper into my bones. I hadn't imagined it. I didn't have the breadth of experience to dream up the delicious things Seth did to me when my naked skin slid next to his. But what about the vermin? If there was no Grim War, then I had never encountered Seth, nor had I ever worked by his side. As much as it would be a relief to never see another Turned, I didn't want to contemplate a world where their absence resulted in Seth belonging to Louise.I swallowed a sob. I was stronger than that. All I needed was to clear the cobwebs out of my head and figure out what had happened. A good gallop across the fields would help. Once I had seen to them and Father.I pushed into the dining room and rocked back on my heels in the doorway. Hands on a clock spun backwards several months, or did time rush forward? My three step relatives were arrayed around the table. Two wearing dressing robes edged in soft fur. Only Charlotte was dressed in a plain and
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 70: Charlotte, making a choice
The bird drew my attention first. It uttered a caw as we walked into the darkened parlour. Despite the sun outside, inside was dim. The single window had glass so thick and wavy it was as though sunlight tried to penetrate through deep water. The shafts of light quivered, mimicking the movement of being rocked by an unseen tide. The walls were panelled in a dark wood, and even the tapestries depicted a night-time scene of people cavorting around a bonfire. The raven was perched upon the top of a high-backed chair that faced the window."Hush, Walter. Miss Jeffrey is a neighbour and soon to be part of our family," a rich, lyrical voice said."I was wanting a quick word about the wedding, Lady Leithfield. Mother wants to know how many people could fit in the garden because ever so many are expecting an invitation." I glanced at Ella, expecting her to do something, like leap at the duchess waving a sword."You are so very early to call, Charlotte, how uncouth of you. I was on my way to
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 71: Seth, did you hear that?
The hardest thing I ever did was walk away from Ella, leaving her to do battle on her own. While on an intellectual level I understood the reverend's approach, that we needed to combat Millicent in this world and the one beyond, on an emotional level I rebelled. I would do what had to be done, but I wouldn't like it.I had my foot on the accelerator and hard to the floor in the motorcar, racing back to Serenity House. Shingle spun under the tyres on each corner and Bain's fingers gripped the dash until his knuckles turned white. I stomped hard on the brake outside the front door and we both jumped from the car and ran up the steps.Warrens pulled the door open a second before I ran into it."Cellars, bring lanterns," I yelled as I pounded down the long hall and headed for the original part of the house and the area that had once contained the kitchens.It was easy to see why the old cellars had been long forgotten. The stairway had been bricked up and the wall plastered. Only the t
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 72
Part FOUR BONUS: Henry, the GaolerSomerset. September, 1918HenryThe recruitment posters lied. I went to war, but doing my duty for King and country didn't make me a man.War shattered me.The death and horror seeped into my soul and each and every day it tore a sliver from me. Days mounted into months and then years, until only an empty husk remained. Now death shadowed my every step. Like loose hay down the back of my shirt, no matter how much I wriggled or squirmed, I could not free myself of its constant presence.Even in this truck, death surrounded me. It wheezed in the chest of the man slumped over his knees on the bench next to me. It reflected in the blank gaze of the soldier opposite me. It reeked in the foetid rot coming from the bandages on the man stretched out on the floor at our feet.One man I avoided looking at; one place my gaze could not settle. An officer on the stretcher with the best spot, lengthways behind the cab. Straps kept him secure and stopped him
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 73
Whistles. It always starts with whistles. The high-pitched noise slices through the trenches and cuts away whispered prayers and shared jokes. I close my eyes, but you can't block out the whistle.It only took a matter of days to realise war was not as glamorous or exciting as the posters made it out. Some soldiers, unable to cope, deserted. If caught, they were executed for their cowardice. I lacked even the courage to run and so found my own way to cope.Over the first desperate months, I built a castle in my mind. A strange construction with leaning towers and stairways that ran straight into ceilings and doors that opened onto empty space. Memories filled the many rooms. Some were complex and exotic, evoking all my senses. One lavish room held my first day in Egypt, the walls tiled in vibrant bursts of colour. We stood in the bazaar in wonder, convinced we had been transported to another world and no longer walked the earth. Heavy spices danced on the air and swirled around befor
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 74: October, 1918
I thought that now I had returned, life would revert to normal. Perhaps my mind would heal, my frozen vocal cords would relinquish their grip on words, and I would speak. I was wrong. Again. Events didn't even allow me time to settle back into my old life. War followed us home.Magda fell ill first. Lady Jeffrey's high-pitched screams reached my room out in the barn. She accused the cook of being lazy and threatened to throw her out if dinner wasn't served exactly at six pm. Then the sickness claimed Charlotte.By the time we saw the news in the paper, the pandemic had swept across Europe and crashed into England. If the farm had possessed a moat, Lady Jeffrey would have pulled up the drawbridge and shut out the world. And us. Leaving us to starve and rot in the dirt.From September 1918 the pandemic first reached out for the soldiers and then followed their path home, but the government kept it quiet so as not to spark a panic. I didn't need Lady Jeffrey to point an accusing finger
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 90
Hazel followed my line of sight and glanced down at her mother's leg. Then she looked up to meet my horrified gaze. She shook her head, silencing me, not that there was anything to say, assuming I could say anything. My vocal cords had managed only two words in the past two years, and that rusty sound was only for Hazel's ears.I gestured to the trapped creatures and drew a line across my throat and then mimed lifting the head off. The vermin would keep struggling to free themselves and we needed to deal with them while they were still trapped."Father, Henry says you must remove the heads of these things to silence them forever." Hazel placed the fallen walking stick in her mother's hand, but kept an arm around the woman's shoulders.Mr Morris' eyes widened as he looked from the vermin stuck in a tree, one pinned to the roots through the side, and another back by the front door. That one was still trying to swim across the grass. I had a strong urge to go check on Phelps; with my l
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 89
I reached out and grasped Hazel by the shoulders. I gave a gentle shake to break the staring contest but she tried to swat me away. There were some advantages to being taller, and spending all day engaged in manual farm chores had finally put some muscle on my frame. I turned her and pointed out the window.At that point Mr Morris remembered why he had ran up the stairs. "You don't understand, love. Those things are outside the gate."Hazel and I kneeled on the window ledge and looked out. Below, in the approaching dusk, shuffled at least four of them. They stared at the thick door as though trying to remember how they worked. Push or pull?If they figured it out, they would swarm into the enclosure. We all stared at each other, realising there was one other person down there who didn't know what waited outside. Someone who couldn't ascend the steep tower stairs or run.Mrs Morris."Rachel!" Mr Morris screamed and ran for the door at the same time. His heavy boots and weight shook
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 88
March 22nd, 1919 was an important date in my mental diary. Things happened on this day far more than the signs of new life pushing up through frigid ground as the earth threw off winter and embraced spring. It was Hazel's eighteenth birthday. Not even the threat of Mr Morris tearing me limb from limb could make me miss her birthday.Sadness and regret formed a swamp in my gut. That day she would leave her tower forever, having agreed to stay only until she reached this milestone. This would most likely be our last day together. I had promised to take her to the village, where she would be safe from roving vermin, until she decided on her course of action.It was early afternoon by the time I had finished my chores and then penned a note to Magda asking for hot water to wash. All the while, Ella and Alice twittered and laughed. Honestly, what was wrong with a fellow wanting to wash the sweat and dirt off before he visited a girl on her birthday?As I rode out, the other women stood b
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 87
February 1919 and work never stopped, despite the solid ground that showed no sign of spring. An unexpected cold snap saw a light snowfall blanket the ground. It meant we either bundled up and continued on regardless, or undertook one of the endless inside jobs. Due to the weather, I decided to clean tack and dragged a chair to the end of the barn aisle. With the doors open to the frigid air, I sat with a pile of bridles in a box next to me. On my other side, a bucket of warm water and a cloth for working in the saddle soap and cleaning off sweat and dirt.The horses were quiet in their stalls and a sense of peace suffused the world. As though the drop in temperature had frozen time itself and allowed us all a chance to draw a deep breath and recover from events of the last few weeks.I should be cleaning the leather, but my mind couldn't concentrate in the quiet. I picked at my worries, pushed to the front by the voice that whispered from the back of my skull. Muttering about sins
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 86
The dawning of 1919 was a subdued affair, with little to celebrate as the new horror unfolded across the country. Father Mason's deceased wife turned up in his kitchen one night and the encounter shattered the last of his fragile confidence. Over at Serenity House, the former duke escaped the mausoleum and was dispatched by the capable butler, Warrens.Winter deepened and created a frozen tableau, which bought us some time. It's much harder to climb from your grave when the topsoil is frozen solid. We all wondered if the victims would sprout up with the warmer temperatures like daffodils.As January unfurled, Lady Jeffrey grew tired of us all peeking around the parlour door and moved the wireless to the kitchen. She deemed news of the Turned, as they were now called, far too unsavoury for her girls anyway and only suitable for our lowborn ears. That included Ella.The square wooden box crackled and chirped all day long. It seemed the horror would never end, as reports emerged that t
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 85
All through November and December, at every opportunity, I braved the frigid night time temperatures and waited in sight of the tower for Hazel to drop the ladder. I would spend an hour or two in her company. She would read and I would sketch her profile as the moonlight caressed the planes of her face.Christmas 1918 arrived and I was determined to be with the girl who held my heart. In double layers and with a wool cap shoved down hard on my head, Cossimo and I rode out to our familiar lookout point. I carried a bribe to console the gelding while we stood the lonely watch, a feedbag with oats. His eyes lit up as I carried it over to him and he dropped his nose into the canvas. That made it easier to slip the strap over his head. Quiet munching came from behind as I leaned against a barren tree and stared at the tower.A puff of smoke spiralled skyward from her tower chimney. At least she would be warm as the fire threw out a good heat in the circular room. To pass the time, I imagi
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 84
The household bombarded Ella with questions as soon as we returned. The poor girl barely made it over the threshold into the kitchen. Alice squealed and hugged her friend so tight it looked like she might never let go."I was so worried," she said. "What happened?""They let me go." Ella's gaze met mine. How much would she tell the others? Would she mention the price of her freedom?decapitating four other people?"I'd love a cup of tea and a bath. I don't think I will ever be warm again." Ella turned to me. "Thank you, Henry."I?d done nothing. How did she stand tall and brave when so many grown men showed themselves to be cowards? But then I shouldn't be surprised. I served under Sir Jeffrey, and his daughter had the same iron backbone.I left her to the care of Alice and Magda and busied myself with the farm chores. My next rescue mission wouldn't be so public. I waited until the approach of dusk before saddling up Cossimo. The horse looked at me and I swear gave a low snort and
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 83
As though Lady Jeffrey read my mind, she discovered a job that had to be done immediately and kept me from riding to see Ella the next day. Instead Stewart and I had to dig out a ditch by the end of the driveway. She wanted it deeper in case of winter rain. I swear she wanted a moat. By evening we both had blisters on top of our callouses and to my shame, I was too tired to spare much of a thought for either Ella or Hazel.Three days had passed since Alice ran home screaming and Ella was arrested. Dawn still hadn't made the horizon as I sat in the kitchen, warming myself in the chair closest to the coal range while I chewed my toast. My gaze fixed at a point on the far wall, but my vision turned inward as I sorted through my plans.Firstly there was the issue of Ella, no doubt freezing in the cold cell. Then there was the girl trapped in another type of gaol. Mr Morris would skin me for gaiters if he caught me around the tower, but I?d risk it for Hazel. My chances of sneaking over t
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 82
I screamed until my voice gave out and still I ran. My vocal cords might not have stamina, but my legs did. Blindly, I didn't care what direction or what obstacle stood before me, I ran away. I would surmount anything to leave the horror behind me. But no matter how fast I moved my feet or how hard my lungs worked, it stayed at my back. Death was stitched to me; it formed part of my fabric and rippled over my skin.And it laughed.The black shadow chuckled and mocked my feeble attempts to slip its clutches until, exhausted, I fell to the ground. Then I curled up in a ball, clasped my hands over my head, and sobbed. Why didn't the Grim Reaper cut me down? Then, at least the nightmare would end. An eternity in Hell would not be any worse than living.In the secret room in my mind, I pulled the blanket up and everything went dark.***August 1914. I had turned fifteen a few days earlier when I crept down the barn stairs early one morning. I slipped a bridle over Cossimo's head, jumpe
