Chapter 5

Lucy stayed with Cut. She was too weak to go anywhere, and the promise of shelter was too tempting. Every night Cut gathered the washing, and he'd drop it off the next night. It brought them barely enough food to live on, but Cut would go trap animals like beaver to add to the stew. Some Sundays Lucy would go to service, but by and large she preferred Cut's company. For the first time since the fire, someone was taking care of her. And for the first time since he'd left the castle, Cut felt accepted. He'd carved Lucy's branch into a beautiful walking stick. In return, Lucy took the furs from the animals he trapped and made him some boots that fit his huge feet.

"How are you so strong if he was hurting you so much?" asked Lucy one day when he had finished carrying home the washing.

"Some drink he kept giving me. It made me go half crazy, but it kept me strong. I'd always been big for my age," he turned away sadly. "I don't remember much about my life before Lord Bryan. An old woman in a meadow is the strongest memory. It's why I left the castle. I never could find her. She's probably dead. I did find the meadow. Lord Bryan's brother, Thomas I think, burned it the next day."

About 1 Year Earlier:

Lord Bryan had watched the castle for days. One day he had seen Cut and some of the others in the meadow. He looked around, but Thomas wasn't there. Loading his pistol he had charged them. He had almost caught them when one of them had lunged and almost took his head off. They would have killed him except his brother had come over the hill firing pistols and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Are you alright?" asked Thomas

"Yes. We were in time today," Teplied Lord Bryan

Thomas gulped. In time. He had burned the meadow. Whatever had drawn them to it was destroyed. Just as they had destroyed his life.

The others had blamed Cut. "This is your fault" spat Claw when he brought back Stumpy with a gunshot wound. They had all vowed to never leave the castle. Silence let Cut get out through a tower window, but Claw had it boarded up the next day. He was on his own now…Until he had found Lucy.

Cut would mention names in his stories, but he would never tell Lucy about them when she asked. He loved to talk, but he would never explain who Silence was. He would just give her a stony look like the one Lucy gave him when he asked about her family.

Every night Cut tucked Lucy into bed, and then sat outside her door. Some nights she would hear him crying. She'd get up and go hold him till he fell asleep. Other nights he'd hear her moaning in pain, and go hold her till she fell asleep. They never asked each other why. The days passed comfortably and slowly. One day blurred with the next, and slowly, Lucy began to let down her walls, and let Cut in.

Meanwhile, not too far away on the road:

This time, it was Lord Bryan who waited, but he did not sleep. His eyes flashed back and forth as he thought. They had searched everywhere. The monster was their best chance of getting back into the castle. They had unfinished business with the villains inside. Lord Bryan calmly wound his watch. He didn't need to look inside it. He knew what he was after. His idiot brother needed to hurry.

Finally, Thomas arrived.

"Any luck?" asked Lord Bryan.

Thomas shook his head. "It's useless Bryan. He's probably long gone. We'd stand a better chance by waiting at the castle. They'll have to come out sooner or later."

"You don't know them like I do Thomas. These were always the dangerous ones at your hospital. That's why we brought them to the castle."

"She wouldn't want this. The hospital, our lands, tenants, it's all suffering without us."

"It'll survive!" barked Bryan. "The stewards and other doctors can manage it. You've seen these horrors. What they can do. Are you willing to turn your back and let them be unleashed?"

Thomas hung his head. When he finally raised it his eyes were clear. "No."

Life had continued for Lucy and Cut. Lucy woke early one morning. She had slept better than ever before. She decided to fetch the wood and start breakfast so Cut could sleep in when he got back. While she was out gathering the wood, she heard Cut open the cabin door and go in. Scooping it all up, Lucy hurried around to the front of the house where she was stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Father Pierce next to the front door knocking. As he reached out for the doorknob, Lucy saw Cut in the very corner of the window. He was standing by the door with a heavy stick.

"Father Pierce, wait!"

"Oh, Lucy, how are you my daughter?"

"I'm fine Father. What brings you up here?"

"I didn't see you at service last Sunday. How are things with the arrangement?"

"Just fine Father, but-"

"Oh here child," said the priest as he lifted the wood from Lucy's arms, "let me help you carry that in."

Lucy turned to the window and gave a confused Cut a worried look. Nodding, he hurried away from the door and into the extra room. Lucy opened the door and showed the priest where to set it while she quickly lit a fire and started their breakfast broth.

"Well Lucy, I understand that you're brother has reasons not to come with you to church, but I hoped he'd be willing to let me see him."

"He's not here right now father."

Father Pierce gave Lucy a long look. "It is a sin to lie Lucy."

Lucy gulped. "Father, you seeing him, would not be a good idea."

"I've seen horrible burns in the past my child."

"Cut doesn't want to be seen. He's sensitive about it, and I won't have him uncomfortable. You don't need to worry about us Father. Cut and I are doing just fine."

Father Pierce nodded and sipped the broth Lucy put in front of him.

"An interesting name, Cut."

"It's short for Cutler. We gave him the nickname because he is so good at carving," said Lucy proudly showing the Father her walking stick. Father Pierce looked thoughtfully at the beautiful and intricate carvings. "Cutler made this?"

"Yes." Lucy could hear Cut pacing in the other room, and just prayed the Father would continue ignoring it.

"I haven't seen workmanship like this for a long time. It's so smooth, and delicate, but strong." Father Pierce looked up at Lucy. "Lucy my dear, you may have noticed that the town has been working to remodel the church in our parish. Make it like new. Do you think that Cutler would be willing to contribute his carvings to the pulpit and the wall behind it?"

Cut stopped pacing.

"I'll ask him Father."

"Thank you. I best be going now. Thank you for the broth."

Once the priest was well gone, Lucy hurried and threw open the door.

"You lie fast," said Cut.

Lucy gave him a glare. "Well I had to, how dare you think of striking a priest!"

"I'll strike anyone who's a threat."

"Oh, really. Then why didn't you 'strike' me when I ran?"

Cut frowned and looked down at the walking stick in Lucy's hand. "That's not why I'm called Cut."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I wasn't about to tell him you were cut up by Lord Bryan now was I. Besides, I think Cutler suits you," she whispered with a smile.

Cut smiled back. "I would like to carve more," he said wistfully. "Then we'll find a way for you to do it," promised Lucy.

From then on, Cut would go to the Church late at night where the priest had left a lantern, and he would carve away. At first he started with a border of vines. Every day he carved more and more leaves. One day he decided to add flowers. He tried adding a texture to them, trying to make the vines look rougher, and the petals softer. Each morning Father Pierce would wake up and see the pulpit slowly progress. One day, Cut finally decided exactly what shape to give the flowers. He didn't know the name, but their image was burned in his mind. It was the flowers he loved most from the meadow.

That same afternoon Lucy had taken a rare trip to the town to visit Mrs. Tori and gather any news. As she was leaving Mrs. Tori's home, her blood ran cold. It was a rich carriage. She recognized the symbol. It was one of the brother's. Staying in the shadows, she watched as two strong men lifted a small bell from inside the carriage and carry it to the open doors of the church. The priest and one of the brothers was walking out. It was the doctor. Thomas. Lucy ran behind the houses till she was closer to hear what was being said. "Thank you again Doctor Thomas for the bell. Our last one broke years ago. Most of the young children have never heard the sweet sound. It will be a Merry Christmas this year."

"Well, my brother and I are just happy to help," replied Thomas as he pulled on his gloves. He paused for a moment as if lost in thought, and then prepared to step in his carriage.

"Well, bless you all the same. I feel you need it. Something weighs heavily on you."

"Just, responsibility. I feel responsible for the murderer who escaped my asylum."

"My son, I know when a soul is not telling the whole truth."

Thomas paused. "Someone got hurt. When he got away. Someone close to me. An innocent. We didn't arrive in time to help her."

Father Pierce nodded. "For this, you are forgiven my son." Thomas smiled sadly and hurried into the carriage. "By the way Father," he said turning, "excellent workmanship on your pulpit. Who do you have doing it?"

"A young man in the village."

"Well, tell him if he would ever like to work for a noble family, we would be happy to have his help preparing our ancestral home when all this is done with.

Father Pierce shook his head. "I doubt that. He's not one for travel."

"Well, tell him just the same," said Thomas as his carriage drove off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a girl approaching the priest. There was something familiar about her, but he brushed it off. There was another girl he was thinking about.

That night Cut asked Lucy about her family again. "Why won't you talk about them?" he asked.

"Why won't you tell me about the people in the castle" she replied.

"There's too much to tell."

"Then that's my answer." Lucy tried to get back to work sewing, but she kept remembering Dr. Thomas' words about an innocent dying.

"Silence was the smallest." Lucy started at the sound and turned towards Cut.

"The others thought her an idiot, but she was smart," he said fondly. "The smartest I think. She saw everything. That's how she was able to steal Lord Bryan's keys."

About 1 year earlier:

Lord Bryan had just finished "working with" Claw. He had headed out of the dungeons/hospital without noticing the slight figure slipping through the door before he locked it. He had stopped checking the patients' cells along time ago. He was careful to check the door. His family was visiting and he didn't want them disturbed. At the staircase Thomas came down to ask him about a ride they all planned to take into the village that next morning. Neither of them saw the hand reach out and slip one key off of the ring. As they headed up the stairs, they didn't see the pale blue eyes staring out from below the staircase. Silence unlocked the door and let them all out. She was also the one who would later find all the passageways for them to board up, but that would come much later.

"Who is Claw?"

Cut just stared at Lucy.

"I had one brother. He was younger than me. He was named Clarence. He was good at whistling. He could copy any tune he ever heard," whispered Lucy.

Cut nodded. "Claw sort of was our leader. She took charge after the night we escaped."

"Cut, what happened that night?"

"We chased them off."

"No, I mean, why do they hunt you so? I saw the Doctor, Thomas, at the parish today donating a bell. He said an innocent was hurt. Was it Silence?"

Cut shook his head. He closed his eyes. Lucy could almost see a tear trickling down.

From then on, every night, Lucy and Cut shared one thing with each other about their past, but Cut never talked about the night they escaped again. Lucy asked Cut about what they did for fun instead.

"We didn't have fun a lot, but we often had contests. To see who was the fastest or strongest. I liked reading some of the books in the library. Wolf taught me how. He was very educated. He had ended up there because he had a rare condition. He grew fur all over his body. Sometimes though, he had trouble breathing."

Cut turned expectantly to Lucy.

"We'd sing songs or watch Ma and Pa dance at night."

"How do you dance? I saw it once."

Lucy shook her head. "I couldn't show you."

"Course you could."

Cut pulled Lucy to her feet. He put his hands around her waist, and they started slowly stepping around the room. Lucy winced and tripped, but Cut caught her. Then he lifted her up and spun her around. Lucy laughed as he set her down again. They kept dancing, but at one point when Cut put her back down, she stumbled and fell very close to him. Cut put his hand under her chin. He tilted her head up. Lucy leaned closer. They kissed. At first it made Lucy feel dizzy, and then warm, but then she pulled away. Cut just stared at her. She gathered her things and went to bed. Cut didn't tuck her in that night.

He blew out the lantern and headed out to the church where he finished carving a sea on the back wall, like the one Lucy had told him a man had walked on once. He carved a single figure on the water. Impossible didn't seem so far away.

What Cut didn't see as he left the cabin that night was Father Pierce standing around the corner of their house, having backed away from the window just as Cut had come out.