Dave and the Painter
"What's the problem?" Came the voice of David Rossi, as the dogs continued barking up a storm. "What's got the dogs so upset? I know it's not just the lightning and the thunder, as they are well used to the sounds of a bad storm."
The dogs were well used to bad storms so they didn't react to them and just lay quietly somewhere. Usually the dogs were over by the fireplace in his office so long as he was in there doing some work and if he was in the den they were too.
"There is a strange boat on the beach. Its not one I recognize sir. It looks like maybe the storm got hold of it and tossed it onto the beach with whoever was in it. It would've been quite the ride but at least the boat didn't land upside down."
The man didn't say that if it had landed on top of whoever was in it they might be even more injured then they were, as if being tossed onto a beach by a violent storm wasn't bad enough. The boat was pretty heavy to land on someone, though it probably wouldn't have killed them, just put them in the hospital.
"Nobody with any sense should be out in this weather," said Dave listening to the thunder, lightning and pounding rain. It had started storming late afternoon and hadn't let up since. This was not the kind of weather anyone needed to be out in unless they absolutely had to be. "We are going out there and seeing who this storm tossed up on our shore. The least we can do is offer them shelter for the duration. Besides, the tides going to be coming in, in a few hours and they'll likely drown if we don't help them."
"Yes, sir," Rusty responded.
Rusty was the big guy and several inches taller than Dave. He was also much broader in the shoulders then Dave was. He was the leader of Dave's security team and also a good friend.
The two old friends came back in their rain gear, galoshes, raincoats, hats and flashlights as the storm was still going strong. The rain was pounding down hard and you would be taking your life into your hands. If you had to be out in it for any reason you would be drenched in seconds.
The 2 made their way out the front door and down the steps, being careful not to slip, before they came to a pathway off to the side that led to the beach.
"It's a woman sir," Rusty finally said, as they approached the prone figure and Rusty used his flashlight to see a woman unconscious laying beside the boat.
"She has a bump on the back of her head," Dave said feeling the goose egg through her hair. "I would say she hit her head on something hard a seashell or a rock. Let's take her inside and get her warmed up. I won't be surprised if she ends up with at least a cold considering she's been out in the rain for awhile."
"She'll be lucky if she doesn't get pneumonia," Rusty said, as he lifted the female gently into his arms, easily carrying her towards the house.
"We'll call the doctor first thing in the morning, unless it's an emergency and she needs one tonight," Dave said. "I would hate to have Ducky come out in this weather, unless it's absolutely necessary."
"It is rather nasty out," Rusty agreed. "This is no night to be out. I wonder what her story is?"
"Maybe we'll find out once she's conscious," Dave said, as he looked at the young woman that was in Rusty arms. She was as pale as a ghost Dave noticed, with long dark hair, though he couldn't tell if it was brown or black, not with the way it was so wet it was saturated. "Luckily, Miss Mina is much the same size and one of her nightgowns should do for tonight. It might be a little long on her, but that hardly matters right now."
The pair of them finally reached the front door and headed inside where the housekeeper was waiting.
"Oh the poor thing," Mina fretted, as she saw the young lady that was in Rusty's arms.
"We found her on the shore," Dave explained taking off his rain gear and putting it back up where the rain gear was stored until needed. Despite the rain gear his hair was still soaked and dripping with water. The back of his shirt was also soaked as the rain had gone down the back of the rain coat. "Her boat apparently was carried by the waves as the wind is quite fierce."
"I know, everyone has heard the pounding and the thunder and lightning outside since late afternoon. It is certainly no night to be out," Mina agreed. "We'll put her in one of the guestrooms tonight and I'll loan her one of my nightgowns," Mina added practically. "Should we call the doctor?"
"I was just telling Rusty that I hated to disturb, Ducky and have him make the trip out to the island in this weather. Unless she develops a high fever I'll contact him in the morning, once this storm has passed. He'd have to get out here by boat and the waves are quite high right now. I wouldn't want to risk his life unless it's truly an emergency."
Mina nodded and headed upstairs with Rusty following with the young woman in his arms.
"Here you can put her here for tonight," Mina said once she entered one of the guestrooms.
"I'll redress her in one of my nightgowns."
Rusty put her gently down on the bed where Mina had already turned down the covers.
"If you'll watch her for a minute I'll go get one done my nightgowns and be right back."
"Of course, Ms Mina, I'll be happy to watch her for a few minutes," Rusty said.
Mina nodded and left on her mission.
~~~Dave and Gemma~~~
Mina returned quickly and shooed Rusty out of the room saying it wasn't proper for a man to see a young lady naked especially since she was unconscious.
Rusty left and Mina shut the door.
"You poor thing," Mina mumbled, as she started efficiently stripping the young woman of her still wet clothes. Mina pulled the nightgown over her head, then inserted one of her arms into the sleeve and then the other. The young women never stirred. When Mina was done dressing her pulled up the covers, pulling them up to her chin.
"There you go, sweetie, you're all warm and comfortable. The young woman was a beauty with her dark hair, refined cheekbones and lithe body. As for the color of her eyes, Mina suspected they were brown, or at least that was the highest probability that went with the brown hair.
Mina smoothed out the covers of the bed and then turned off the light as she he left the room.
"How is she?" asked Dave, as Mina exited the guestroom.
"She seems okay and doesn't have a fever," Mina reported. "She didn't stir as I was putting her into bed, but then, she has quite the bump on the back of the head. She'll probably wake with a concussion at the very least."
"I would say that's likely and she still might catch a fever or at least a cold considering she was out in the middle of a very bad storm," Dave said. "We'll just have to wait for her to wake up before we can ask her name and what she was doing out in such bad weather."
"We should probably wake her up every hour if she does have a concussion just to make sure she wakes up," Mina said.
"I hate to do that because we've never met her before and she'll be likely frightened when she wakes up in a strange environment, especially if she has a concussion and isn't fully awake. She might for instant sock whoever is watching her in the eye or the nose because she doesn't realize what's she's doing."
"Still, I'd feel better if I knew she could be woken up," Mina said.
"I would as well," Dave admitted. "Alright, you can wake her up every couple of hours and you have tomorrow off, so that you can get caught up on your sleep. However, she landed here, she will be our guest for as long as she wants to stay. Make sure she knows that when she wakes."
"I will," Mina promised, as she went back into the guest's room and closed the door behind her.
~~~Dave and Gemma~~~
Mina opened her eyes to a light groan and realized she had fallen asleep sometime ago. She sat for a minute trying to clear her head, which felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
"Not enough sleep," Mina muttered rubbing a hand across her eyes.
The figure on the bed blinked and looked around.
"Where am I?" asked the young woman not seeming scared. At least she seemed coherent.
"You're on Devil's Island home to the Rossi family. Your boat washed up on the beach doing the very bad storm last night. The dogs alerted us and Rusty leader of our security team as well as the current owner David Rossi went out into the storm to check it out and brought you back here. Mr. Rossi told me to tell you that you're welcome to stay here as long as you like as his guest. I'm Mina, the housekeeper here."
"It's very nice to meet you Miss Mina. I'm Gemma Birdwhistle. A rather unusual surname I know."
"If you feel up to it you can use the shower that's just through that doorway to the right," Mina said. "I'll loan you some of my clothes that they'll be a bit long on you until you can get some of your own. Mr. Rossi would like to see you right after breakfast, if you feel up to it."
"Thank you very much Miss Mina for being so kind," Gemma said.
"You're quite welcome my dear. You needed the help and it would have been inhumane just to leave you lying on the beach in the middle of a very fierce and dangerous storm. It's the worst one we've had in at least a couple of years."
Gemma got up and tested her legs before she headed to the bathroom and gasped at the elegance, as soon as she opened the door.
"Yes, it is rather fancy isn't it," Mina chuckled at Gemma's reaction.
"If this is the guest bathroom I would love to see the master," Gemma said the shock wearing off quickly. The bathroom was at least three times the size of your normal one. It was done or up in a blue-and-white, blue and white tile was on the floor. The counter had several sinks and was done in blue and white marble. There was a huge mirror over both sinks, with a vase of flowers between them soon up against the wall. There was a huge modern tub as well as a shower, that were separate from each other. Everything including the toilet was pristine.
In a lot of ways, it reminded her of the home she had come from in England, as she had come from a wealthy family herself that she had left as soon as she was 18.
"You go and get a shower dear. Take as long as you like. Breakfast will be ready by the time you are finished with your shower," Mina urged, gently. "I'll go get you those clothes until we can go shopping probably today, possibly tomorrow."
"Oh no, I have plenty of clothes at my apartment in the village," Gemma protested.
"Mr. Rossi insisted that we provide everything you need while you are our guest," Mina told her firmly.
"Well, that's really generous of him," Gemma said with astonishment coloring her voice.
This David Rossi's attitude was so different from her own parents she couldn't help but be amazed. Her parents were selfish, tight fisted with their money, who wanted her to get married to someone in the wealthy set. They were hoping she'd marry somebody in her own class and give them grandchildren, which was no better than slavery in Gemma's opinion. You couldn't just force someone to fall in love, as it either happened naturally or it didn't. They had never understood her dream to become an artist and had wanted her to have no interest outside of those fit for a lady of her breeding and station in life. She didn't want to be glorified and put on a pedestal as a pretty object but useless for anything other than looking after the children when they came. That was no kind of life.
"You'll find that David Rossi is a very generous person," Mina told her. "He pays all his employees very well and he would do no less for a guest even though you showed up unannounced. Mr. Rossi knows that it is not your fault, as you were probably just out when the storm hit."
"No it wasn't, as I was sketching the sky and the ocean. I was just shading it in when the storm hit. I checked the weather before I rented that speedboat and it didn't say anything about a storm. It came up rather suddenly and I tried to get back to shore and wouldn't you know it the engine wouldn't turn over," Gemma said.
"Well, it really was an unfortunate set of circumstances," Mina said shaking her head. "I'm sorry all your hard work was lost, swept overboard or at least soaked to where all your work would have been destroyed. You go get that shower now and I'll have some clothes laid out for you by the time you get it out."
Gemma nodded and headed for the shower shedding the borrowed clothes as soon as she closed the bathroom door locking it just in case. This David Rossi seemed a little too good to be true, but on the other hand, he could just genuinely be a good guy one, with a lot of money. While he had heard of David Rossi she had never actually met him. She knew that rich people could look down on you like you were nothing if you weren't in their circle. She ought to know because her parents were the same way. She had come from money, big boatloads of it, but all the politics, the lying, all the dressing up as if you were going to some fancy party or event even when you were staying home had driven her insane. She had never been allowed to wear casual clothes, even when they saw no one. Her parents were all about keeping up appearances and they hadn't cared how miserable they had made their daughter. She had saved up money from her quite substantial allowance and by the time she left she had quite the sum. Getting away from her parents had always been her plan once she was of age. A few thousand dollars wouldn't go far, so she had to be very careful until she had started making some of her own. She had always been a talented artist. She was always drawing things as a child. Her parents hadn't approved though and hadn't considered it very girl like. They had tried to discourage the interest. Her parents were stuck so far back in the past that it was ridiculous. This was nearly the 24rd century, not the 18th. It totally escaped their attention that girls didn't have to obey their parents in everything once past their 18th birthdays. She knew very well that the English were traditional, but her parents views were so far from the late 23rd century it was insane. Traditional was all well and good, but not if it made someone miserable. At least they hadn't tried to arrange a marriage for her because she never would've agreed to it. They couldn't marry her off without her agreement so that was one good thing at least.
Her parents had cut her off when she told them she was leaving and while that upset her, as it showed her parents never really loved her and that she had been an investment, she was now free of all expectations, which had felt great.
Gemma luxuriated in a long, hot shower and when she finally got out about half an hour later she had not only given her body a good scrub, she had also washed her long hair twice to make sure she got the sea water and the sand out of it. She felt a lot better and a little guilty for using the shampoo and soap that had been in the shower on an inbuilt shelf. Surely such an expensive brand name of shampoo and soap belonged to someone. Surely it couldn't be there just for guests?
She knew that particular brand of soap and shampoo that ran at least 75 for both of them, as she had gone into a place that sold them and wanted the soap so badly. The soap in particular was all natural products, and that made it very high priced. Each individually wrapped soap was like a little jewel, red, gold, blue, purple, pink, green or pearly white. While she made some money with her art, she certainly didn't make enough to pay $50 soap, or a $25 bottle of shampoo. Also, something she hadn't told anyone about, was she had gone to the doctor who had discovered she had a very aggressive form of cancer. She had less than a year to live. She couldn't afford cancer treatments, as she was just making it by as it was, as New York was an expensive city to live in. She wasn't about to get involved in any sort of relationship, as that would be unfair to any man.
She was rather sad she'd never have a chance to get married or have children, but that's just the way it was and she had accepted her fate some time ago.
She had no idea that was about to change
~~~Dave and Gemma~~~