Alice watched as the love of her life slipped away from her; his broken body tumbling down the cliff, gravity pulling it down towards the forest where his body disappeared completely. She couldn't see him anymore and some part of her knew that she would never see him again. But she felt nothing. Her breath was still coming out in the same even rhythm and her heart wasn't beating faster than normal. Was that right? She thought not. All the books she'd read and the plays she'd seen hadn't shown the heroine as a calm steady figure when the hero just died. Instead the girl had been crying, screaming and tugging at her blond locks. Not like this.
Did she care for him? Yes. But did she love him? Alice bit her lip. She did. Of course, she did. Then why wasn't she feeling anything? Anguish, grief…Anything at all? She groped around in her mind, trying to find the answer.
Yes. It was so obvious now. Alice mentally kicked herself. She'd known all along what she was supposed to do, what role she was to play in the adventure that she and her sister had taken on. All the time being the helpless little girl who was a burden to everyone and not knowing that it wasn't her turn to be on the stage until the very end…
Alice's heart rate quickened. Her palms felt clammy and now a barrage of emotions came. Beads of sweat gathered together on her brow. Then she noticed the Indian who had killed him was looking at her. He had his hand out, as if offering her to come back. But she wasn't coming back; she had made her choice. Of course, some people would be left behind but they would be happy. Her sister, for one. Alice was brought up short by the mention of Cora. She knew that Cora would never stop grieving over her lost sister's memory but then she'd have Nathaniel to help her. Her sister would be happy again, Alice was sure.
The urge to jump, to see his face again was getting stronger by the minute. Don't worry, she thought, I'm coming. The calm mask her face had donned was still there, she checked to make sure. She wouldn't give the Indian any more satisfaction than need be.
Her heart was now thundering against her chest as if it was determined to escape from the body she was about to cast aside…She took another breath, filled her lungs with it. It didn't matter that he would probably be angry at her for killing herself just to see him. She smiled. His face was so cute when he was angry. She turned and surrendered herself to gravity.
She closed her eyes as she hurtled toward the end. Images flashed through her mind and she sighed. Cora, Nathaniel...and Unca. She smiled as his face blossomed in her mind.
I love you. I'll be with you soon.