My mother used to tell me promises were like pennies. You took them for granted, forgot how many you made, and were left holding what was left of your pride long after the last one was spent. I thought my mother’s way of telling me not to trust empty vows was more relevant than ever.
Especially after Colonel Havelock broke his promise to his grandson and chased me through the house after supper. It was two days after the fact, and I felt well enough to don a gown and join the colonel in the dining room for a lovely roast turkey dinner.
With all the trimmings.
It was too bad about the chestnut dressing.
And the glazed yams.
Oh, and I really meant to savor those custard pies.
I don’t know quite how it happened. I was happily slicing through my succulent roast turkey, when out of nowhere, my host and former employer demanded I reveal where Anjuli was buried. “He told you where she is, didn’t he?” he needled, pointing his fork at me. “Didn’t he?” he shouted when I failed to respond. “Tell me, you—”
The knife slipped, slicing my thumb instead of the turkey. Blood spurted onto the snowy white tablecloth. As I attempted to stem the tide, the colonel plunged into a paranoid rant about how everyone was conspiring against him. He accused every family member of sticking him out in the middle of nowhere so they could plot his death. “Judases!” he thundered, slamming his fist down on the table and sending glassware to the floor. “All of you! Judases! Including my own grandson!”
“Jon wouldn’t—”
“Don’t give me that!” the colonel wailed. “Think I don’t know why they stashed me away like some crippled nag no one wants?” He slammed his fist down again, breaking a gravy bowl. “Where would any of them be without my money? And this is how you repay me? By leaving me in this mausoleum to rot with only a nurse and a manservant to tend my every need? It’s unforgiveable!” He then pitched into a coughing fit so brutal and obviously painful, I thought he must have left his lung on the floor.
“Colonel—”
“And you!” he railed, slowly rising from his seat. How could I have forgotten he did not require the use of a wheelchair and made it down the stairs without assistance? “You come into my home, accept my hospitality, and abscond with the only thing precious to me!” His hand fumbled for the carving knife left carelessly on the serving tray. “Tell me where she is!”
“Oh, God,” I muttered, knocking over my chair in my haste to flee. Still in a weakened state, I called for help. The nurse only stayed long enough to administer any medications the colonel needed and was usually in her bed by eight. As for the manservant, I still didn’t know his name and thought he might have been a former convict, judging from his salty speech and armful of tattoos. But that was just me. Who knows where one goes to find manservants desperate enough to care for a senile and possibly deranged former Army colonel?
“Come back here!” Colonel Havelock screamed. “I’m not through with you yet!”
“Can’t we discuss this over tea?” I yelled over my shoulder, wondering wildly if the suit of armor down the next hall still possessed his mace. “I know nothing! I swear!”
“You lie!”
His slippered feet thudded behind me as I hobbled through hallways lit feebly with whale oil lamps. It felt as though someone was urging me towards the closed-off wing of the house and I could do nothing but allow the faint tug of icy hands. They led me down an unfamiliar hallway, made me turn right, then left, and broke a padlock leading to the ruined part of the house. Before I could react, the colonel rounded the corner in a murderous rage.
And in one hand, he carried a broadsword.
Frantically, I slammed the gate shut and attempted to reattach the padlock. I was forced to hold it closed as he stabbed the blade through the bars. “Leave me alone!” I shrieked, using all my strength to keep the gate closed. “I’ll tell Jon!”
“Jon? Jon who?” he growled. “Think that sorry excuse of a man will protect you?” He stabbed at me again. “Tell me where she is!”
“Stop that!” I yelled, shouting for the manservant. Where was he? “If you kill me, he’ll never tell you!”
“So be it.” The blade caught the sleeve of my gown, shredding it to ribbons. More quick stabs and my hands resembled Swiss cheese. “Where is she? Is she nearby?”
My hands were so slippery with blood, I could no longer maintain a grip on the gate. I was fast losing my Waterloo. “Hasn’t she told you?”
“If she had, I wouldn’t have to cut it out of you,” he snarled, switching the sword to his left hand. Knowing he had been a champion fencer in his youth, I was outmatched. And he was growing impatient. “Well?” he demanded. “Where is my Anjuli?”
“Yours?” I scoffed. “Was she yours when you beat your firstborn out of her?”
His eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?” His face grew red. “They lie! I never struck her!”
“Oh…? Is that what you tell yourself when you’re sitting alone by the fireplace?”
“Why, you little—”
A pained cry broke from me as the blade impaled my arm and I watched, dumbfounded, as blood slowly dyed my evening gown red. I lost my grip on the gate and ran, hearing the hinges squeak ominously as the colonel broke through.
I ran and ran, my lungs near to bursting as I felt a stabbing pain in my side that made me scream. The colonel’s thudding footfalls echoed behind me, and I knew he was getting closer. “Someone help me!” I cried, clutching my side. In my mind, I heard instructions to turn right, then make for the door at the end of the hall.
I was hemorrhaging and growing lightheaded. The door was too far away. “An-another,” I gasped, knowing I was on the verge of losing consciousness. “Too… far…”
“There you are!” the colonel cried in triumph, slashing at the air with his sword. “I’ll carve you up like those mutinous bastards in Delhi!”
“Please…”
Just when I thought I wouldn’t make it, a flash of light shot out from beneath a door to my left. I limped toward it, relieved to find it open, and quickly slipped inside. I slammed the door in the colonel's face and locked it, sinking to the floor in an excess of shock and nervous exhaustion.
“Open this door!” the colonel roared, kicking and hitting the door. I was too tired to move, feeling every vibration as he slammed his body against the rotted oak. “Think you can keep me out? I’ll show you!”
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
And that’s all I heard as I slumped over, my blood soaking the rug beneath me. Before I passed out, I thought I saw a shadowy figure crouch before me. I felt the soft brush of their fingers against my cheek and then I was gone.
* * *
“Wake up!” a voice hissed in my ear. I shook my head and winced, the simple act of moving my skull too much to bear. “Anne!”
“Go… ’way,” I mumbled, going into shock from the massive blood loss. “Tired…”
“You’re dying,” they warned.
“Good.”
I felt myself vacating my body and gazed down at my slumped form. I could hear nothing, feeling oddly calm and wondered vaguely where Colonel Havelock was, uncaring if he broke through the door. My apathy increased when I realized I was finally free of this earth. I floated until I reached the ceiling, panicking when I could not return to the floor. “What—”
“Come with me,” the voice said, taking hold of my hand and leading me through the casement windows. We slid through the panes as easily as if they were water, floating above the garden below and landing gently on soft, green grass. I peered up at my companion and gasped.
“Joshua!”
“Hello, owl,” he said, grinning. “Long time, no see.”
“What are you—”
He placed a finger to his lips, urging me to follow him. “We haven’t much time,” he said, leading me across the estate. “It’s easier if you don’t think about it.”
I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing. “How—? Where’s Papa? And Mama?”
“They couldn’t make it, owl. Keep lively.” His steps were quick and light. I struggled to match his pace.
“Oh, but…” I was clad in a simple nightgown with soft leather slippers on my feet. “Where are we going?”
“All will be revealed.” He slowed long enough for me to catch up. Once we made our way to the entry gate, he held out his hand. “You must see, Anne. They asked me if I would show you.”
I placed my hand in his, wishing I could feel it. “Show me? Show me what?”
He did not answer, but inquired about the seance. “You know better, Anne. Such things are forbidden, not to mention dangerous.”
“I wasn’t going to attend,” I said. It was the truth. “They want to ask Anjuli what happened.”
“As if she would ever tell those over-privileged fools,” he snorted, rising an inch from the ground. He took me with him and warned the trip would be rough. “Best to close your eyes, owl.”
“Oh!” I squeezed them shut, my heart in my throat. There was the sudden feeling of weightlessness and then… we were in the air. “Tell me when to open them!”
Joshua laughed as we flew past barns and fog-covered bridges. “Who’s the stork?” he called over, gripping my hand as we moved over land and sea. “Is he a good man?”
“He wants to marry me,” I called back, afraid to open my eyes.
“And do you wish to marry him?”
“I thought I did.”
Now, I wasn’t so certain. Jon had left me alone with his grandfather, thinking a simple threat would be enough to protect me. “What should I do?”
“Don’t ask me. I was never one for the sport.”
“Um… could you please tell me where we’re going?”
“Not yet. Just enjoy the ride.”
Enjoy the ride? Not a simple task when you were hundreds of feet in the air and afraid of falling. But since I was already dead, I pried open one eye and decided it wasn’t so bad. Flying might even be preferable to steam engines.
Onward we flew over tiny chapels and acres of farmland that resembled a patch quilt. Past fleecy herds of sheep guarded by dozing sheepdogs and lighthouses guiding ships to safety. I saw moonlight reflected upon tranquil surfaces of distant lakes and gazed in awe at millions of stars winking overhead. I felt as though I could reach and capture them all.
“Are we almost there?” I shouted, fighting the air current for control.
“Not far now,” Joshua shouted back. “You worry too much!”
Soon, water gave way to rocky shorelines and land undisturbed by man. I felt the rising crests of an ancient sea and knew exactly where Joshua was taking me.
Dublin…
