Chapter 3
The Lady and the Hermit
Amelia could feel warm sunlight tickling her nose. She buried deeper into the pillow and burrowed under the blanket. Being nestled and safe in her bed was the one place Amelia desired to be.
Her mind halted. Her bed? Why was she in a bed? She'd been sleeping on rocks and dirt for the last few nights!
Groggily, Amelia willed herself to awake. The surrounding was fuzzy, but her vision cleared in a moment.
She sat up, but too fast for her body's liking. Amelia felt dizzy and swayed back down.
"I shouldn't try that again." Her eyes wandered about the room.
A large oak desk stood against the far wall. Stacks of paper cluttered the surface, with a typewriter in the midst of it. A jug of water and a basin were placed on a small table, along with a folded towel and a man's razor.
Amelia noticed her reflection in the mirror nailed above the bed and saw, for the first time, the bandages neatly tied around her head.
More gingerly, she sat up again and pulled back the moth eaten curtains. A black stallion was grazing freely not far from the window. The horse raised its' head as it chewed, as if it was acknowledging the girl's presence.
Amelia smiled at the horse and gave a small wave. The horse's ears twitched in reply, then it moved to the flowing stream for a drink.
Amelia thought the horse might be wild, but she could see the horse's shoes nailed to its' hooves. "I wonder who lives here?"
Suddenly, footsteps coming into the house forced Amelia to divert her attention back inside.
There were a series of grumbles and mutters as the door opened. A young man entered, carrying a bucket.
Amelia's heart skipped a beat as his icy blue eyes turned to her. His shirt was partly opened, due to the stray buttons missing near the top. Mud clung to his boots and the bottom of his trousers.
Amelia tried to fight the urge to blush that was taking shape.
The man stared at her. "So you're awake I see."
"Uh...yes." Amelia replied, waking from her daze. "Good morning."
The man put his bucket down. "Try afternoon."
Amelia blinked. "Did I sleep that long?"
The man seemed to ignore her as he washed his face and hands in the basin.
Amelia said nothing and waited patiently as the man dried with his towel.
"So do you mind telling me what you were doing here last night?" He turned sharply. "It's not everyday I hear gunshots and then find a girl rolling onto my property."
A bit perturbed by his bluntness, Amelia regained her senses. "I was running from some men that were planning to murder me."
She couldn't help but gain pleasure in seeing the man almost choke. He tossed the expression aside, and raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"Are you serious?"
"Does it look like I'm joking!" she snapped.
The man let out a sigh. "Sorry. Truth be told, I thought it might had been something along those lines, but I was hoping it wasn't the case. It's not something I desire to get involve in ...um..."
The girl smiled. "Amelia and who are you?"
"Zelgadis Greywords." He leaned against the wall with his arms folded. "So why did they want to kill you?"
Amelia shrugged. "They mentioned it being part of some sort of plan, but that's all I know."
Zelgadis solemnly nodded, reaching for the water jug. He poured a glass and gave it to Amelia. "Here. Drink this."
Gratefully, Amelia accepted it and drank the water quickly.
As she did, Zelgadis pulled up the desk's chair and sat.
"By the way, thank you for saving me last night." Amelia said, as she licked her lips.
Zelgadis glanced up. "It's not really something you need to thank me for. The one you should be thanking is Rocky."
Amelia blinked. "Rocky?"
He pointed to the window. "My horse. I was blissfully asleep and then before I knew it, Rocky was going crazy and trying to kick the door down to wake me up."
Zel poured himself a glass. "I got up and heard gunshots, so I grabbed my rifle, got on Rocky and the rest is history."
Amelia took a quick glance back at the still grazing horse. "He's beautiful. You're lucky to own him."
A laugh rippled from Zel's throat. "If you mean 'own' as in I bought him and feed him, then yes. If you mean own as in he does what I say, that's a another story."
He sipped his water. "That animal has a mind of his own and will do what he wants and not the other way around."
Amelia frowned puzzling about what that meant, but decided to leave it alone. "I must say, I didn't expect to run into another person all the way out here. Do you live here all alone?"
"That's how a hermit normally lives."
"You're a hermit?" said, slightly surprised. "Aren't you a little young to be one?" He couldn't be that much older than herself.
Zelgadis appeared irked. "I didn't realize there was an age limit for being a hermit."
In spite of herself, Amelia blushed. "Sorry...but I've always imagined hermits to be cranky old men with long beards, like in fairy tales."
"Well life isn't a fairy tale." he mused.
Amelia hugged her knees to her chest. "I guess I should start to plan my way home."
"And where would that be?"
"Seyrune."
Zelgadis choked. "Seyrune! That's miles away! It takes days to get there by horse."
Amelia simply nodded. "I was traveling by train, but then those men ambushed the whole car and kidnapped me."
Amelia searched the pockets of her dress and found her change purse. Remarkably, it was one of her possessions that wasn't stolen by the men.
Dumping the money in her palm, she counted. "I don't have enough for another ticket, but I may have just enough for a carriage."
"I wouldn't advise it." Zelgadis spoke.
"Why not?"
A deep frown formed as Zelgadis stood up. He paced back and forth, one hand on his hip and the other hand stroking his chin. "Those men were willing to stop a train so they could kill you." He stared at her in a way that gave Amelia flashbacks of when her teachers were instructing.
"If they went tp all of that trouble just to murder you, they're most likely willing to do it again."
The girl's eyes widened in fear. "You mean...they'll come after me again.."
"Exactly."
Amelia rubbed her arms to shake the chill off.
"So going by yourself isn't an option, especially in a train or carriage."
She sighed. "Then how do I get home?"
Zelgadis froze. He tensed like a cornered cat.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
He gave a tired sigh. "No...but..the best way of making sure you get home safely...is if I take you there on Rocky myself."
Amelia pressed her lips. The thought has crossed her mind, but she felt it was too much to ask. Zelgadis had done so much for her already. Although, she would feel safer if he were to escort her, even though he was a complete stranger.
"Would you really do that for me?" she asked. "If it's too much trouble, I'll understand and I can find someone else to come and..."
He held up his hands to hush her. "I'll take you." he said in a tired voice. "If I didn't, and I learned you were killed, I would feel too guilty for my liking."
Amelia was unsure if the last part of the comment was a joke or if he was serious, but she smiled anyway. "In that case, we can go now."
"Not today." The hermit marched over to Amelia's bedside. He bent down.
Amelia blushed. She could see how clear and blue his eyes were. Despite the fact that he was young, his eyes told a different story. They were older and wiser than a lot of men twice his age.
So caught up in the entrapment, she didn't realize when Zelgadis gently forced her to lay down.
"I may not be a doctor, but you did hit your head last night."
He leaned on the bed frame and loomed over Amelia like she was a small child.
"Stay in bed and get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll make plans."
Amelia was red from ear to ear, but nodded.
Zelgadis headed out. "I'll bring you some food to eat later." he called as his footsteps faded.
Amelia draped herself with the blankets, still red. "What's wrong with me! I'm acting like a school girl who's never seen a man before!"
She buried her face into her pillow. She lectured herself for acting so foolish, but the last image she saw before drifting to sleep was Zelgadis's intense blue eyes.
The train ride had been smooth so far. Lina had actually managed to catch some sleep. It was early morning and she and Gourry were wide awake.
They had just finished their third course of breakfast in the dining car. The waiter had almost fainted dead away at the tall order they had demanded.
Lina just told him to send the bill to Alfred Seyrune. He had agreed to pay for the train ride and all the expenses that came with it and Lina planned to push the man's wallet to its' limits.
Happily, Lina patted her stomach. "That hit the spot!"
Gourry enthusiastically nodded in agreement, as he finished munching. "Do you think that Salt and Pepper will be alright? You know they don't like trains."
Lina planted her feet on the table. "I'm sure they're fine! They're tough, and they would have hated us more for leaving them behind. Besides, since they're horses, they don't get much say in the matter."
The gunman seemed satisfied with the reply and eased back in his chair.
Lina watched him for a moment, while drumming her fingers on the table top.
"Say Gourry, what do you think of Alfred?"
Gourry paused. "He seems like a nice guy..."
Lina titled her head. She knew that look. "But?"
Gourry frowned. "There's something suspicious about him."
"Like how this whole rescue operation is just a little too simple?"
"Exactly."
The girl sighed, letting her gaze wander to the window.
In the past, even though Gourry wasn't the brightest candle and he acted like he had no clue what was going on around him, Gourry had proven to be quite perceptive.
In truth, he was a real good judge of character and Lina had learned to take her partner's opinions seriously, no matter how strange or unlikely they appeared.
If Gourry said Alfred was not to be trusted, then he probably had good reasons.
Lina folded her hands and leaned over the table. "That's how I've been feeling since this job started."
"So...why did you agree to take it then?" Gourry inquired.
"Well...the pay is good and it has been awhile since we had a decent job offer. Still, this whole rescue operation is a little too good to be true."
Gourry nodded. "There's something else bothering me. If Alfred is so worried about Amelia, why did he only sent us? Wouldn't it have made more sense to send a whole bunch of people to look for her?"
"Good question. It may have been that Alfred didn't want to attract unwanted attention, but that doesn't seem likely to me."
Lina stroked her chin as her brain went into thinking mode. "When you consider that Amelia is the heir to a huge fortune, plus her father was a well known politician, you'd think Alfred would have wanted to send more people to ensure her safety. There is definitely something fishy about this."
"So..what should we do Lina?"
The girl pondered. "Until we get more information, we'll just have to go along with it and keep our eyes peeled."
"Ew...That's sounds messy. Why would we want to peel our eyes?"
"It's a figure of speech!"
"Oh" was the reply and Gourry began to quietly polish his gun.
Lina resumed looking out the window, as if hoping to find the clues she desired.
