Chapter Four – Tourist Town

Two pairs of feet splashed through the wet streets as Cecilia and Kichiko ran from the inn to the De Sainte Conquille Manor.

Once inside and out of the rain Cecilia asked Kichiko to wait in the entrance while she went to fetch Rosalind. As she stood alone the small girl couldn't help but let her eyes wander across the elegantly embellished door that lay in front of her. Her gaze moved from the door and up the two long staircases of which she could not see the end. She had never been inside a place so beautiful before; they certainly didn't have homes like this where she was from.

As Kichiko stood there listening only to the sound of water dripping from the hem of her dress to the marbled floor a feeling of displacement fell over her. What was she doing allowing such people to dote over her, she should have refused them and continued on her way.

Before she got up the nerve to turn and run out of the door of which she had just entered. Two exquisitely dressed individuals descended from one of the staircases with Cecilia in toe.

"What is the deal with all the new visitors coming to our little town? Have we become magnetic I wonder?" One of the two, a handsome boy with long golden hair questioned. His eyes showed a glint of good humor.

"I-I'm sorry!" Kichiko burst, her face turning pink.

"Oh you poor girl! Please excuse my brothers rudeness. Lets get you out of those wet clothes."

Kichiko nodded slightly, not sure how else to react. She didn't want any more hospitality but the last thing she hoped for was to be rude.

"Come up to my room. We'll find you something nice."

"I'll get breakfast started." Cecilia offered and disappeared through what must have been the door to the kitchen.

Kichiko walked forward with her head down, aware of the boys' curious eyes watching her. Rosalind led her into a room positioned in the far back of the house.

"Please go behind there and take those soggy things off." Rosalind pointed to a tall purple screen set up in one corner of her room. "Let's see what I can dig out."

She hummed a relaxing tune as she pushed through a wood carved wardrobe, full of pretty dresses.

As she waited Kichiko tried not to shiver. She took to ringing the wetness from her hair and drapping her old clothes over the top of the screen.

"Ah! Perfect!" Rosalind finally exclaimed. "This will look so nice on you." She handed over a long flowing dress, the same light blue as Kichiko's eyes. She slipped it on over her head and enjoyed the cool feel of the silk sliding across her skin. The hem of the dress reached only to her knees and the neck was cut square against her chest.

"This is so beautiful." She whispered. It was slightly plain looking and for this reason Kichiko felt that it suited her.

"You look great! I'm so glad you like it. You can have it. Think of it as a welcoming gift." Rosalind said when Kichiko stepped out into the open.

"Oh no… I couldn't possibly."

"It's not polite to reject a present." Rosalind laughed, filling the room with a musical sound.

Kichiko turned red, and tried to hide her face with her nearly dry brown hair.

"It's okay, I'm only kidding. But please do accept the dress, you look so much prettier in it than I do." She touched Kichiko's shoulder lightly.

Just then the door opened and Cecilia peaked in, "Breakfast is served. Are you tow ready to eat?"

"Yes, we are, thank you Cecilia. Is my father back yet? I haven't seen him all morning."

"I'm afraid not."

"That's strange, it's not like him to miss a meal, perhaps he decided to eat somewhere else."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but I think I would like to go to my room and rest a bit." Kichiko spoke softly, surprising the other two girls.

"Ah, yes, I understand. You must be tired from your travels. Please come and join us for another meal while you're in town. If you don't I might have to come and find you myself." Rosalind giggled again.

Kichiko nodded and hurried out the door. As she left she could smell the feast Cecilia had prepared. It made her stomach growl and reminded her of how hungry she was. Maybe she would go back to that forest and steal a few more of the plump red juicy strawberries- she licked her lips just thinking about them and almost ran to get some right then and there.

She managed to hold herself back and wandered away, back toward her room.

While looking for the three large letters spelling gout the word I-N-N she came across a large fountain. "I don't remember seeing this on the way to the manor…" She thought to herself. But decided to continue forward, maybe she'd been running so fast she hadn't noticed.

Kichiko passed the fountain and came to another long strip of buildings, one of which had the mark of a cross displayed where the store title would be. "This can't be right… I've gone much too far." She said aloud this time. "Oh darn." As she was about to give up hope she spotted a boy walking in her direction further down the street.

"Excuse me!" She called out, as loud as her voice would allow. "I'm lost, can you help me?"

As the boy came closer she could see the annoyance on his face. "This is not a tourist town." He nearly growled. "Why do people keep coming here?"

"Oh… I'm really sorry! I… I need to find the inn, please? I promise I'll leave tomorrow. I don't mean to disrupt you." Kichiko spoke quietly, not expecting such a harsh response.

The boy sighed making the small amount of brown hair, that wasn't covered by his red head band, fly up and back down onto his face. "It's in the opposite direction, go straight back that way." He answered, pointing behind Kichiko. Then he pushed past her and continued on his way.

"T-thank you very much!" She called after him hoping that he heard.