“Or an angel?” He smirked, and I felt my face turn redder.
Hadn’t Jack and Camryn warned me not to find myself alone in a room with Noah Forsythe? Wasn’t this the one thing they seemed afraid of? But what was there to fear; this perfect gentleman? Even when he was intoxicated he was perfectly polite. They must have the wrong impression about him. Or maybe they had him confused with someone else. That must be it, wild rumours circulating staff.
Noah nodded to himself and turned to look out of the window.
“Can you please try and be discreet when you are disposing of the bottles?” He asked, his back to me.
“Yes, sir.” I gave a small bow, which I thought he may have seen by the reflection in the glass, and I turned to leave.
“Oh, and Avalon,” Noah said turning to face me at the same moment I paused to listen, “You apologise too much.”
I hid my smile, “Sorry, sir.”
I hurried from the room and snuck into the kitchens. They were almost completely empty now apart from a few stragglers. No one paid me any attention as I put them in the garbage along with the rest of the day’s rubbish.
As usual, at the end of the day when all my jobs were done, the Forsythe family was long asleep I would sneak into the stables. Sometimes Jack and Camryn would accompany me at this late hour but tonight neither of them was here. At first Camryn had been reluctant to let me enter the stables alone, but it seemed the Pegasi had taken a liking to me and Hawthorne, and brushed their noses up against me as I walked past. I walked through the stable intent on the last stall. I hadn’t managed to get away and see Hawthorne the last two days because I had been working harder what with another member of the Forsythe family in the manor. So of an evening I was so tired I had just collapsed into my bed and passed out. I felt bad that I hadn’t been able to say hello, but I knew Camryn had been keeping him company and feeding him. I stopped at the last stall and looked in on Hawthorne who was curled up in a corner with a large, furry grey blanket across him. He was gently snoring, his body rising up and down with each breath.
I narrowed my eyes and after a moment or two, I gasped. It was not a furry grey blanket as I had originally thought. Hawthorne was bigger still! He was a large mass of fur huddled in the corner.
I opened the stall door and stepped inside quietly so I wouldn’t wake him up, but of course the hinges creaked loudly and his ears and head pricked up instantly.
Hawthorne’s shining blue eyes beamed at me as he realised I had finally come to visit. His tail wagged excitedly. I was amazed that he had grown even bigger. He had far surpassed the size of any normal fox, dog, or canine for that matter. His wings were bigger still, yet, as usual, nowhere near big enough.
Hawthorne stood and I gasped. He was lean and muscular, with powerful looking legs and a strong chest. He sauntered towards me, much more elegantly than any time before. His head came up to my waist, and he could lick my elbow easily.
“Hawthorne.” I whispered, “I thought you’d stopped growing.”
His large eyes appraised me, his stare always too intelligent. His coat was still a dull grey. I sighed.
“I missed you too.” I scratched behind his ears. The new height was strange and he didn’t seem like a baby any more. Just over three weeks ago he had been a pup; playful and clumsy. Before me stood a large and rather frightening creature. I supposed that anyone who saw Hawthorne and didn’t know him would think of him that way at least.
I sat with Hawthorne in the stall for a long while. He lay beside me and rested his head in my lap, soon falling asleep, his coat white and fluffy now. I rested my back on the wall and fell deep into thought. I didn’t even notice when my thoughts soon became dreams. Strange dreams too.
I was riding on the back of a large winged creature. We were at a great height, but I wasn’t scared. I trusted the creature. We were flying towards a great mountain, high in the clouds. My sister was there, Helena. She was crying for help. But why was she here? She was supposed to be safe at home in Mortlock. I felt a pang of sadness as I dreamt about my family. The next thing I knew the creature I was riding was hurt, and we were falling towards the ground, fast. I could hear someone calling my name from a distance. Before I splattered across the ground I woke with a start.
“Avalon!” Someone was shaking me.
“What? Who?” I mumbled wiping the sleep from my eyes as daylight streamed in through the windows. Strange. My room wasn’t usually this bright in the morning. Nor did I have this many windows in my little room. What was that smell? With a lurch I realised I had fallen asleep in the stables. I was aware that I was curled in a ball on the floor using Hawthorne’s side as a pillow. He was quite comfy. I sat up abruptly looking around wildly. Camryn was in front of me, her eyes wide and panicked.