action. I know it's taken a while in getting there, but PLEASE stay with me. Action is
on the way. Oh yes, and don't ask me where the lamb stew came from. I've had the
stuff only a few times in my life and suddenly it becomes a major character in my story!
Chapter 7
Torrents of rain fell around
Piper, soaking her to the bone. She shivered and pulled
her heavy cloak around her. She took the Sheriff's
orders to be at the training field to
heart. So, when she woke in the middle of the night
to a loud peal of thunder, and the
humming of rain on the Manor roof, she didn't consider
that training might be canceled.
Now however, with the storm thrashing the English countryside,
the thought occurred to her.
She looked back in the direction
of the Manor, a considerable distance in this weather.
The rain was growing more violent, and a strong wind
was biting into her face. She chose
to take shelter in the guard house. It was dry,
if not comfortable. They stored some of
the less expensive weapons there, and it wouldn't do
at all to have them rust because of
a leaky roof. The floor was lined with hay, so
Piper made a small pile and settled down.
Nearly an hour later the storm
still hadn't let up, and Piper had curled into a tight ball.
She was shaking with cold, and sweating with heat. She was certain she was getting a fever.
She wondered if she should try to walk back to the Manor. The fires would be lit, and
Milly would have water boiling in the kitchen. The thought of dry clothes and warm food
made Piper tired. She was far too exhausted to
make the long trip back. She burrowed
under the hay as best as she could, and found herself
drifting off, dreaming about a large
bowl of Milly's bland but steaming Lamb stew.
It was an odd dream. At
first she sat in front of the bowl, but for some reason, she
couldn't move to eat any. The bowl was right in
front of her, and the spoon was in her
hand, but she was frozen. Then the bowl began to
grow larger. Piper watched in
confusion as the bowl became unusually vast. Far
too much stew for one person.>
She thought. Soon it took up the entire surface
of the table, but still, it didn't stop growing.
The Sheriff's not going to
be pleased with this! > She thought. She was now
standing in front of a lake of lamb stew. She watched
the steam rise off of the thick
brown surface. From somewhere far away, she heard
a voice yelling at her. "Piper,
what are you doing here? Pig headed girl!"
Funny,> Piper's thoughts
were becoming sluggish. That sounds like Bear's
voice. Doesn't he hate lamb stew?> She walked right up to the edge of the lake
and looked in. She saw her face reflected back,
but it was gray and lifeless. What is
going on?>
Suddenly, something pulled her
into the lake. She struggled against it and splashed
about. Whatever it was, was trying to drag her
under. She fought as best she could,
but the thickness of the stew made her limbs slow and
the heat drew all of her strength
out of her. She was up to her neck in stew and
sinking fast. She drew a deep breath
just before she was completely submerged.
Underneath the surface, it was
even hotter. She renewed her fighting. It felt as
though her skin were boiling. She had to get out
of the stew! She kicked wildly,
her lungs burning and her skin blistering. Things
were brushing up against her in
the dark and there was a hissing in her ear. She
was pulled deeper, and deeper,
until she finally hit the bottom of the bowl.
**********
Piper woke up with a start. She tried to sit up before it registered that she
was no longer in a lake of stew, but hands pushed her
down.
"I'm glad yer awake dear, but lets try to take things
a little more slowly."
Piper let the hands push her
down and then let her eyes adjust to the light. She
was in her bed at the Manor, and Milly was standing over
her. "How did I get
here?" Piper asked. "The last thing I remember
was..." She was going to say
stew, but realized before she said it, how ridiculous
it sounded. "...the guard house."
"Well, that's where the guards
found yeh, half dead under a pile of hay."
Milly applied a cool cloth to her forehead.
"I went to training, but it started
raining. I hid in the guard house." She was
starting to remember everything now. "I'm fine
now."
Milly looked at her, dubiously. "Yeh've been asleep and feverish since the guards
found yeh yesterday morning; almost two days ago. Why don't yeh let me decide when
yer fine."
Piper was too tired to argue,
so she laid back on the bed and let Milly fuss. "Did
anyone visit me?" She asked as Milly pulled the
blankets up around her. She knew
that it was unlikely that Much even knew that she was
ill, but she still hoped somehow
that he had come. Milly looked at her out of the
corner of her eye. "No. Why would
yeh think that?"
"I..." She wanted to tell
Milly about Much. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. She
wanted to talk about Much, Milly just happened to be
the only one in the room. No one
from the Manor knew about him, mostly because no one
bothered to ask. And although
she desperately wanted someone to talk to and get advice
from, she remained silent. "I
don't know. I'm just tired, I suppose." Something
always kept her from mentioning it.
Milly seemed satisfied with Piper's
answer. "Well, rest now. Yeh'll be out of bed and
causing trouble by morning, no doubt. Would yeh
like me to bring yeh in some food?
I've made lamb stew."
Piper's face blanched at the
mention. "Uh, no thank you. I'm not very hungry.
I...uh...think I'll just rest now." She shut her
eyes tight and waited, motionless, until she
heard Milly walk out of the room, muttering angrily about
Piper's lack of sanity.