When Trent returned, he declared that Justin would no longer be welcome in the house. Indeed, until he apologized and set things right, he should not be admitted at all. Having divided the property in his will into three portions, Trent said he was prepared to go back to Charleston if necessary and divide it into portions only.
Such talk only made Gwen and me all the more anxious, and we had worries enought as it was. If Justin was cut out of the will completely, what might he do to us? The question I couldn't answer in my heart was who had set the fire. Did Izzy Green locked us in the root cellar to protect us from Justin or to make us the victims of a fire? If the gardener had not noticed the flames, and Chef breaking the door down, would the hand returned to let us out? Gwen and I had already agreed between us that we wouldn't tell Trent about the hand and upset him further. So one moment I worried about the hand, the next I found myself lost in a daydream of Duncan and his warm embrace, and the next I worried about Justin's returned, whether he would come again in the night; be waiting for me behind a closed door.
While I was wondering all of these things, the window opened and Duncan came in. "Princess, fancy meeting you here!" he exclaimed.
"This is my room," I replied as he came over.
He smirked at me while he sat down next to me.
I turned my head to look at him, "There has to be a reason why you are here?"
He feigned shock, "Can't I see how my princess is doing?" He didn't look at me through.
I rolled my eyes when I remember something, "Gwen and Trent are engaged."
He still didn't turn his head to look at me when he said, "Wow! How did Justin react?"
"He doesn't know. They will tell him when it's too late. What are you hiding from me?"
"I'm not hiding anything. What makes you think that princess?"
"You haven 't told me how you got the bruise and your not acting like yourself."
I'm guessing that Duncan heard the worriness in my voice for he finally looked at me, "I got in a fight, what more do you want?"
"I want to know how."
"Why?"
"Never mind," I said as I stood up. "I will find someone who will tell me."
He got up behind me, picked me up, and then sit down on my bed with me in his lap, "I don't want you to worry Princess."
I put my hand on his bruise and lightly rubbed it while saying, "How can I not worry?"
He closed his eyes, and I could hear him purr. I stopped and he opened his eyes which were full of sadness. "Why did you stop?"
"You were sounding like a cat."
He blushed at that statement before he asked, "An alley cat or a house cat?"
"A kitten."
He took a deep sigh, "I don't want you to get hurt. That's why I won't tell you."
I looked into his eyes, "You better get going."
"Why? I don't have nothing planned," he asked surprise.
"It's getting late and I don't want you to get hurt again."
"Princess ..." I noticed that his bruise had gone down a lot.
I tried to get out of his gasp but he just pulled me tighter to him. "What did I do wrong and who put that lock on your window?"
"What lock? You broke it off."
"Well, you have a new lock on it."
I looked at my window and I did notice a new lock on my window. "Strange, I didn't tell no one."
Duncan got himself repostion which also made him repostion me. I was underneath him while he was on top of me. He got off of me and went to the window. He left before I could say goodbye.
Rumor went about that it was Justin who had locked us in the root cellar and set the house up in flames, which did a lot of harm to his already damaged reputation. Katie even reported that he had drunkenly tried to embrace her one afternoon when she passed him on the street. He would have succeed if Sadie didn't do her kung-fu/judo moves on him.
It broke my heart to see the pain this causde my uncle, but when he spoke of going to Charleston to remove Justin's name from his will completely, I dissuaded him, reminding him that he was a prodigal son has returned home all the better for his experience.
So, after the workmen had come and gone. and the kitchen of the Sparrow house was in order once more, the tree of us -- Trent, Gwen, and me --- tried to settle down to an ordinary life; as ordinary as a life can be with Izzy Green about. Autumn was upon us, and days were spent at the hot shop helping women select their fall bonnets; evening found me playing the piano for Trent, engage in a game of checkers, or reading outloud to Gwen as she did her embroidery work in the parlor. When I could. I met Duncan at the back of the garden, or we kissed in the wagon ridding home. He was quiet as to the hand, however, more solemn that I had ever seen him.
"I can't explain it," he said to me, "but I know what we saw. You didn't imagine it Princess, I was mistaken. However, if people think we are crazy then we will by shut away together."
Gwen, however, was clearly upset, I knew what she was thinking when the breeze suddenly blew a curtain, or a paper slid from a chair across the floor. Any slight movement anywhere in the room made her turn quickly, and I noticed she was most careful to where she put her feet. We kept our fears from Trent, however, he had Justin on his mind, and that was enough.
A fortnight after the fire, my uncle stood at the window after dinner, gazing upward at the sky. "It's hurricane weather," he told me, "and the fishermen say it's a hurricane sky."
I had never been through a hurrican, of course, and found such talk full of adventure, but Gwen didn't share my excitement. "I have lived through several in my time, and would not like to go through one again," she said.
There was much talk in town of the coming storm, if indeed the fishermen were right, but it seemed so distant. The women of Whispers, in fact, were thinking ahead to Christmas, ordering their holiday bonnets. I frequently went to the window of the hat shop and glanced at the sky, not this time however.
"Oh, I wouldn't pay it much mind," Leshawan said while trying on a brown and yellow hat she had just made for a grand lady, Beth, in Savannah, who would have none other then Katie's Hat Shoppe make all her fine bonnets and send them down by carriage. "There's always talk, talk, talk, during the hurrican season, but one rarely strikes."
"I'm not looking at that today. Come here and take a look."
Outside the window was Duncan and the dude wearing the white cap was outside, dodging the attacks of Chirs and Justin.
Leshawna came up behind me and exclaimed, "WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT DID DJ DO TO MAKE THEM MAD?"
"You know the white cap dude?"
"Duh, he's my boyfriend. The one I told you about."
"Oh. What reason do you think they have of attacking Duncan and Dj?"
"Chirs and Justin are drunk and usually they are -- OW! That must hurt --- violent." Leshawna stated.
Duncan got hit in the stomach by Justin while Dj grabbed a bat out of no where and hit Chris up side the head.
I flinched when Justin hit Duncan and Leshawna noticed, "What's wrong girl?"
"Duncan has a bruise on his face and he won't tell how he got it."
"Now you know girl. You know how to fight?"
"Had to," I took a sigh. "Promise me you won't tell no one and you won't see me as my mother."
"I promise."
"My mother was a madwoman and they locked her up before she died. So I had to learn how to figth to survive."
"Girl, your secret is safe with me. Any thing else?"
"I am able to shoot a bow and arrow with ease and accuracy," I replied.
"Girl, you could not have another talent that is more suited for here."
Leshawna walked over to the cashier, grabbed a bow and arrow, "Follow me."
She lead me to the backroom and up the stairs I didn't notice until now. "The orginal builder of this house was a minutemen in WWI. His wife didn't like the idea so he made this area up here to shoot the British without being noticed."
"So, I can shoot the bow and arrow without getting caught?"
"Exactly. When Katie first brought this shop, her stupid crazy stalker, Cody kept annoying her. So Katie shot him in the foot and he never bugged her again."
"That's why she has the bow and arrow."
"Yep."
She handed me the bow and arrow and I went to the window. Put two arrows in the bow and shoot them at Chris and Justin. Both of the arrows hit their targets foot.
"Nice shot!" Leshawna said as she high-fived me.
Riding home in Duncan's wagon as he made is deliveries, I listened to him tell how the sea turned up in a storm, waves eighteen feet high. "It's the land farther up that gets it most," he said. "Especially Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, which stretches out into the sea."
I wasn't thinking of the sea just then, I was thinking of Duncan's back, his shoulders two round swells that rippled and rolled beneath his shirt, and I thought if I could but have Duncan to protect me always, what harm could possibly befalll me?
"Oh, Duncan. If I were you, I wouldn't eat much today. Not with the punch to the stomach you had gotten today," I said as I hopped off the wagon and walked inside.
It was the night when the fears unloosed themselves and roamed about within my mind. For as Justin was without the hosue, plotting against those who were within, and the hand, the ghostly hand, was hiding who knew where, how could I think of furture happiness?
There were even times, God please forgive me, in the darkest night when my wakefulness unleashed every fear within the human heart, and I trusted no one. Was it not possible, my mad mind would venture, that my uncle didn't go to Charleston at all, but was himself responisble for the hand, just to frighten me and drive me to the same fate my mother had suffered? Or that Gwen and Justin were in a plot together, and although it appeared he stolen our earnings, hers and mine, in truth they that had merely made it appear so, and would split my portion between them? Even, Duncan, at times, seemed suspect. What of, in spite of all his protestations, he was responsible for the hand, and after Gwen and I had returned to the root cellar, it was he himself who had locked the door?
Of course, none of this made sense, why would my uncle or Gwen, or Duncan wish me harm? Then I would be rocked by the worst fear of all, that everything I thought had happened had, in truth, not happen at all, and that only by the kindness of others was this lunatic girl allowed to live in Whispers, protected by her uncle and his cook.
"Ugh!" a voice said from outside my window.
I went over it and saw Duncan grabbing onto his stomach. I opened the window and let him come in. "You didn't take my advice did you?"
He climbed in and nodded his head yes. I lead him over to my bed and helped him sit down. "How... how did you know that I gained a punch in the stomach?"
I rolled my eyes, "Leshawna and I saw it. If you plan on getting into fights, don't let them happen in front of Katie's Hat Shoppe. Want me to get you a cold towel?" I asked.
"Sure and you saw it?"
"Stop asking question until I come back," I replied.
When I came back he was asleep on my bed. I put the towel on his forehead and I went down to the parlor. I softly played some songs.
"Courtney why are up?" Trent asked as he and Gwen came down.
"I'm sorry but I can't sleep. Sometimes, if I play the piano I will get tired easily."
"Oh, okay," Trent said as he started back up with Gwen behind him.
I started playing ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY and sang along with it. When I got done I heard someone clapping behind me. "I don't think I can talk you into doing it again, can I princess?"
"Nope," I said as I turned around and stand up. "How are you feeling?"
"Sick. How much did you see?"
"Leshawna and both saw you get punched in the stomach and Dj hit Chris."
"So, how did those arrows come out of no where?" He asked after he picked me (bridal style)
"Nope!"
"Princess, you said that too fast. Your lying. Now tell." He said as he carried me up to my room.
"Are you sure you should be doing this? You didn't take my advice and you are feeling sick."
"Princess, you should be asleep but your still up taking care of me. I'm sure your arm is feeling kind of sore."
"Why would my arm hurt?" I asked.
My arm is used to the pain by shooting a bow and arrow.
"If I didn't know any better, you was the one who shot the bow and arrow. In fact, I know you was the one who did shoot it." he smirked.
I opened his mouth but he said, "Geoff told me you had a talent for bows and arrows."
"It was the only thing that my mother and I had in common." I replied.
He kissed me on the forehead, "Goodnight Princess. I'm sorry that I didn't say goodnight to you the other night. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I can but how are you going to get home with your stomach?"
"I walk and I lied to you. I did take your advice, I just wanted to see what you would do. You did more then what I thought you would."
With that he climbed out the window.
In the mornings, however, with the autumn sun shining through my window, my worries seemed so unreasonable that I faced the day with new confidence, eager to drink my morning tea with Gwen, to chatter about the events that had happen yesterday with Leshawna at lunchtime, and ride home, if I was lucky, with Duncan.
This particular Saturday I awoke to such a wind that all the shutters on the Sparrow house rattled and shook.
"It's a blow, all right!" Gwen told me. "You won't be going to the hat shop today, my dead. In fact, Katie and Sadie stopped by to say that all the shops were closed."
Trent didn't go to his place of business, either, but put on his mackintosh and boots and walked down the street to the barbershop where the men had gathered, to determine the course of the storm. It was generally predicted that the hurricane, although close, would largely pass us by.
By two o'clock, there was a sudden shift in the wind, and it was evident that the storm was bearing down upon us. Whether the m ajor damage would be here or elsewhere was of little consequence, for what could be seen with the naked eye was frightening enough.
Trent came back from the barbershop instruction us to close the shutters. He regretted that he didn't buy special shutters made to cover the stained glass windows as wll as the door. When Duncan came by to see if help was needed, Trent sent him off at once to fetch wood planks to secure over the stained glass.
Gwen and I was told to pack up the most valuable breakables and Trent would drive us inland to Gwen and her suitcase, however, there was scarcely room for Trent, much less for me.
"We will leave some of the valuables behind, Courtney," he said. "We will not go off without you."
"I will come if Duncan, if he doesn't mind?"
"I don't mind at all," Duncan said.
"I can help him nail the wood over the windows, Trent. Do go on and be quick!"
Trent started to protest, but Duncan cut in: "I will have her on the way within an hour. My wagon is sturdy, and I know the road to White Hall."
When Trent made to unload his carriage further so that I might ride, I said, "Think of your beautiful stained glass windows, Trent! It takes two to board them up -- one to hammer and one to hold the wood steady. There is no one else to help -- everyone is taking care of their property."
"Promise me you will deliever her safely," Trent said, grasping Duncan's arm, which in truth, was more sturdy then his own.
"You have my word," Duncan said.
So Trent and Gwen departed, the horse splashing through water that was already rushing down the street, and Duncan and I set to workin nailing the boards over the red and green glass that adorned ech window overlooking the front porch. The wind was howling so hard, we could barely hear our own voices, and the rain blew sideways, almost knocking me off my feet. ALMOST.
When we was nailing the last panel, Duncan yelled, "I can finish this myself, Princess. Go pack your bag and be sure that the house is locked up. We must be on your way before the water gets higher."
Hurrying to my room, I heard the door close and thought it was the wind. I pulled out my smallest pack and in it I placed my shawl and linens, my stockings and brush.
There were footsteps on the stairs, and I thought it was Duncan but when I turned around, I chocked back a cry as I saw my cousin advancing toward me, with a lecherous look that I had seen on him.
With a scream, I dashed towards my bed and noticed that my window was locked. Justin turned around and locked the door.
"Get out!" I said, noting his drunken stare, yet my eyes were riverted on him, for they are not the eyes of a man in a stupor so much as a man driven by lust and rage. Indeed, as I challenged him, he merely laughed, and was already taking his shirt off.
I flung across the bed to reach the other side and yanking open the drawer of my bedside table, retieved the knife I had once hidden there.
As I stood, the knife raised, it seemed only to excite him more, and he laughed evilly as he approached in a half circle, hands out in front of him like a wrestler.
"If you touch me, Justin, this knife will stab you!" I told him, but his eyes only glowed with the challenge.
"That's wht she said, only she had a cleaver," he laughed.
"Izzy Green?" I gasped, thinking of her hiding on the attic stairs, thinking about poor Owen. Not for a moment did I take my eyes off of Justin, or my hand from the knife. With the other hand, I tried to unlock the window, in hopes of escaping that way if there were no other.
"What I asked of her was so little," Justin went on. "The same I asked of you. A kiss. Only you wouldn't give it to me, would you? So I think I will take that kiss now, Orphan, and maybe more."
"Don't you dare!" I cried out. "Duncan is here! He will come and if he doesn't, I know exactly where to step."
"He would have to break in first, for I have locked all the doors," Justin said, with that, he lunged for me, grabbing my wrist and forcing me down onto the bed.
Again I screamed, but he pressed one hand over my mouth. Desperately I held on to the knife, though my strength was no match for his, I kicked his foot where my arrow hit.
That only led him to press me down harder, "Don't be stupid Orphan," he said, his whiskey breath in my face. "You knife me and I'll do the same to you I did to Izzy. You will stab yourself with your own hand, only I will be leading it towards your heart."
With that he was upon me, pinning my arms to the bed and forcing the knife from my fingers.
Was it over, then? I wondered. By the time Duncan broke in, if he does, would I be ravished, losing not only my honor but possibly my life?
And then I saw it ... the hand. It was climbing swiftly up the bedpost noa and onto my pillow. Justin pressed me down with one knee in my stomach as he began to unfasten his pants, then startled suddenly as he glimpsed the hand.
He let out a cry, reeling backward as it leaped from my pillow and grasped his throat. For some reason, I went over to the hand and asked, "Do you want me to tell Owen what happen?"
"Izzy would like that," a voice said from behind me.
A beautiful girl with red frizzy hair, and a green dress showed up behind me.
"Izzy is sorry for scaring you and Gwen but ..."
She was cut off short when Duncan was pounding on the front door. "Princess! COURTNEY!"
In shock, I went downstairs and opened it and pulled Duncan inside, speaking incoherently.
He clutched my shoulders. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you lock the front door? We have to leave now!"
He picked me and carried me over to the wagon, I looked behind and me saw the hand going into the swirling water and disappeared.
Forever.
Read and Review. This is the last chapter (T_T) Now I will work on Total Digimon Island. XD