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Up the stairs
took them to the first door, which the woman unlocked and opened.
"This is the first room. Second is this way." she said, then led
them all the way down the long hallway, until reaching the last door,
which that too she unlocked.
"Would you be liking any food this
evening?" The woman asked before leaving.
"Yes please."
Christine replied.
"We'll be eating in here." Erik added,
then led Christine hurriedly into the room. Once in, he shut the door
and locked it again. As he was breathing hard from relief, Christine
was too, holding her stomach.
"Did I hurt you? Forgive me, I
did not know." Erik said, his eyes lowered.
"No, no, I'm
fine. Hungry, but fine." Christine said with a sweet smile. Erik
looked relieved as he put his cane near the door and walked over to
the table that was in the middle of the room. He sat so that his mask
was away from the door, and kept the lights low just in case.
Within
a few minutes, the door opened, and Christine rushed to get the food.
She thanked the woman, then gently kicked the door closed as she
carried a large silver tray to the table.
To Christine's hungry
eyes, what she held looked like a royal feast, when, in reality, it
was nothing more than slug-looking stew, bread and butter, and a few
slabs of salted pork for each. A small bottle of cheap wine
accompanied this.
Erik poured out the wine into wineglasses as
Christine handed him his soup and platter. They ate in silence for a
few minutes, just staring at each other. There was little to say, it
seemed, now that they had gotten so much off of their minds. But
finally, Erik found something to small talk over.
"Downstairs
seemed a success - no one noticed. I suppose I'm lucky I have
someone with such a full head of hair to ride with me. Although, you
realize, this is how it will have to be for possibly the rest of our
lives. I don't blend in very easily, you could say."
Christine
gave him a weak grin. "Well, I suppose it's good then, that I'll
be with you for the rest of my life." She said, pulling her hair
back over her shoulders.
Erik looked up at her, clearly
surprised. Was he still so not used to such talk? Talk of commitment;
loyalty; love?
"When shall we leave tomorrow?" Christine
asked, hoping for conversation he would not shy away from.
"Early,
at dawn."
"Will we be able to buy more food?"
"With
luck we shall. If it's not busy downstairs."
"If it
is?"
"We'll find somewhere else."
Christine looked
away, biting her lip, her fingers playing in a lock of her hair.
Timidly, she looked into his eyes and said, "Erik...where are we
going?"
He bowed his head and put more food into his mouth, as
if he didn't hear her. Something had told her he'd do that - she
had overstepped her boundaries. Some things just needed their own
time to be asked; others need to be told, not questioned. What she
just said was of the latter - if Erik ever decided to tell
her.
Christine was startled awake by
knocking. Looking out her window, she saw the sky a misty grey, not
yet dawn. Sleepily, yawning and rubbing her eyes, she managed to drag
herself to the door and open it slightly to reveal Erik standing
there, his hand over his mask.
"Get ready to leave. I'll come
back in a few minutes so we can get started. We'll eat along the
way."
True to his word, Erik was knocking only a few minutes
later. Christine only had time to quickly brush out her mass of curls
and try to wash some of the dirt spots on her dress. Grabbing her
boots and shoving her feet in them, she hobbled to the door.
"I'm
ready." Christine said, tying up the last boot.
"Good, because
it's going to start getting busy now. Come along." Erik said,
putting her in front of him as they walked slowly and carefully down
the stairs. It was crowded in the little room, so they kept going.
"Where will we get food now?" Christine asked him once they
were on their horse and riding away.
"We have left overs from
last night, and breakfast was served early this morning. I brought it
with, do not worry. I wont let you starve, Christine - even if it
means I must."
She was quiet for a few minutes, but then started
back up. "Where are we headed?'
" Another small town is not
very far from here. My hopes are to make it there by
nightfall."
"Where will we go after that?"
"To more
small towns to refill our food supply until we reach our
destination."
"And what is our destination, Erik?"
But
still he refused to say. Biting her lip, Christine refrained from
saying more.
They
sat by a stream, surrounded by high grass and beautiful country. Erik
had taken out an apple for each of them, as well as the left over
salted pork that he had packaged so it would stay fresh while in the
leather pouches. Christine stared over at the horse, peacefully
grazing, not aware of any danger that may have been following. So
far, the pair had been extremely lucky - not even a sight of any
officers. Christine could only pray that their luck would hold out
long enough to get...well, to where ever they were going.
Her
gaze moved from the horse and settled on Erik. He was lost in thought
as he slowly ate his apple, staring into the stream as it shimmered
in the noon sun. Desperate to strike up a conversation and to learn
more about him, Christine said, "Madame Giry once told me that she
brought you to the Opera House when you were only twelve. Said you
lived there ever since. Is that true?"
Erik didn't look at
her, but took a deep breath, seeming as if he was silently cursing
the old woman.
"It is." He replied simply.
"Well...what
about before that? Where did you come from? How did she find you? How
did you live?" Christine asked, encouraged now that he had answered
a question. But these words fell on deaf ears. He kept looking into
the river, eating his apple more quickly now, acting as if he hadn't
heard her. Well, it wasn't the first time he had done that.
As
soon as he finished, he threw the core of the fruit as far as he
could, then went to ready the horse.
"Hurry and finish - we
have a long way to go if we are to reach that town by tonight." He
said over his shoulder.
Christine sat, slowly picking at his
food. When would he open up to her? Had she not shown that he could
trust her enough? When could he find that he could confide in her?
For his sake as well as hers, she hoped it would be
soon.
