“Are you okay?” I asked worried.
“Me?” She blurted out, “I’ve spent the entire morning looking for you with Jack!” She seemed very angry.
“I’m sorry, I … wait … the entire morning?” I jumped up and Hawthorne whined moodily.
“Yes! Jack went to wake you up this morning. But you never responded, so he kept knocking. He was worried so he let himself in and found you weren’t there. He then came and woke me up and we went looking for you.”
I looked outside the window and the sun was rather high in the sky.
“Well wasn’t it obvious this was the second place to look?” I said brushing the straw from my uniform.
Camryn flinched, “Well we thought maybe-” She stopped and took a deep breath, changing her mind, “Look, it doesn’t matter. The point is you need to hurry up and get to work before Charles finds out you haven’t lit any of the fires yet!”
I cursed angrily, thanked Camryn for waking me up and rushed from the stables. I heard Hawthorne whine behind me. I was sorry to leave. I had been so comfortable with him.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur as I ran from room to room, thankfully not seeing any one important along the way. I bumped into a few people on staff that I didn’t know very well at all, but they ignored me. I dodged around maids cleaning, and carrying handfuls of linen from rooms, and they gave me strange looks. By the time I had lit every fire I was panting and sweating with a stitch in my side.
My stomach grumbling angrily I headed back down the stairs to get some lunch and try and find Jack to apologise.
I ate but didn’t know where Jack was. He wasn’t in his room, or anywhere else in the manor otherwise I would have run into him when I lit all the fires. I went and asked Camryn where he had gone, but she hadn’t seen him since this morning when they had split up and gone looking for me. I thought perhaps Jack had gone into the city on an errand for Charles.
When I was walking back from the stables, my boots crunching against the snow, I thought I heard a definite crackle of twigs in the nearby trees.
I squinted at the trees but couldn’t see anything in their thick mass. I was about to start walking again when more cracking came from the trees as though heavy boots were treading upon the twig strew floor. I spun around my hand outstretched, ready to defend myself if a wild animal were to attack. A nice burst of flame would scare anyone away.
Holding my breath, the footsteps got louder and louder, crunching against the bracken. A dark figure emerged from the trees and shook itself off.
“Jack?” I edged closer.
Jack smiled at me and came into proper view as I let my hands drop to my sides, relieved.
“I thought you were going to attack me!” I exclaimed, punching him in the arm when he got closer.
“Speak for yourself. Were you about to light me on fire?” He asked with a grin.
I pursed my lips, “Maybe. What were you doing in there?”
“Well I was originally on my way to the stables to see if Camryn had found you in there-”
“She did.” I confirmed.
“But then I saw something … someone in the trees.” Jack scowled.
My eyes widened, “And you went looking for them?” I jabbed him in the kidney as punishment and he winced, “They could have been dangerous!”
“Too right.” Jack said rubbing his side, “But he ran away pretty fast when he realised he’d been spotted.”
“The other week … we were walking to the stables…” I said slowly remembering the previous week.
“Yeah, I thought I saw someone then too.” Jack nodded, “But I wasn’t sure until today. Someone’s been standing in the trees, watching, or waiting for something.”
“Or someone.” I added.
Jack began walking with me towards the stables now. We were silent for a while, thinking.
“Why did you follow them? You must have been on it for a while.” I said breaking the silence.
“I followed whoever it was for about an hour, they really didn’t want to be seen or caught. I followed because, well, I didn’t know where you were at the time, and suddenly a suspicious character turns up in the grounds … I wasn’t about to let them get away.” Jack scowled.
“But they were in the trees last week too.” I reminded him.
Jack sighed, “Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re fine. So are you going to tell me why you were in the stables when you were supposed to be working?”
I flinched, “I visited Hawthorne last night. I was so tired I fell asleep in his stall. Quite comfy actually.”
“I’ll give it a try some time.” Jack rolled his eyes, then added, “By the way, you have straw in your hair.”
I jabbed him in the side again before picking at my hair and trying to keep it flat. I thought it was best to tell Jack what I had seen in the grounds over a week ago.