Love is a funny word.

Chapter one

“I will not!” shouted Abigail hotly, her blue eyes sparkling in the candlelight. “I will not make that toad happy! I will not let that man touch me with his bony fingers and greasy hair, neither will I be pleasant for him and satisfy him! That man is anything but a man and I shall never, ever, marry!” She said throwing the ornate ivory hairclip at a painting on the wall. It was stuck fast in the middle of an old picture of her great grandfather who was dressed in a black coat and holding a wooden cane. The clip stuck in his forehead, giving the impression that that was what he was scowling about. The picture swayed slightly from the impact against the cream coloured wallpaper.
  Abigail turned around sharply, her fair blond hair whipping behind her as she turned to leave the drawing room. “Oh but my dear,” Came the cold smooth voice of her stepmother. “That is where I think,” She said taking a step forwards towards Abigail, a vice like grip taking hold of her shoulder. “You are very much mistaken.”
  Abigail turned to Mrs. Reed, her face flushed red against her blue velvet dress. Her hand slipped weakly from the door handle and her face held an expression of despair, quite different from Mrs. Reed’s. Her grip loosened on Abigail’s shoulder, and she stood smirking, hands on her hips, hair in a tight bun and in a black dress. Cold dark eyes fixed Abigail to the spot.
  “You will marry him if you value the comfort of this life. If you want me not to kill that vile lizard next time I see it and if you still love that brother of yours. Besides, nineteen years old. You should be delighted at the opportunity for a husband”
  Abigail turned on her angrily; ready to shout something to change her cruel stepmother’s mind. She would have shouted what she thought of her and her wishes until she wished she had never forced Abigail to marry, but no words came. She slid down against the wall and put her head in her hands.
  Mrs. Reed revelled in her victory with a thin smile. “There’s a good girl. You wouldn’t want to earn us a poor reputation now would you? I expect to see you in the dining room in three minutes.” She said as she opened the oak wood door and walked past her.
  Us?! Us?! Since when was there an us? It has always been about you, and what you want since Father died. She thought, digging her nails into the palm of her hand, and focusing on that instead of her misery.
  She stood up slowly and somewhat shakily to try and regain her posture. She wiped her tears, tucked her fair hair behind her ears and smoothed out her dress. She breathed in and out before sitting down.
  Abigail sighed. “Oh Father. You have no idea how hard life is for us now. I forgive you for being misled by that hag but I don’t know what to do. Only Noel, some of the maids and Archimedes are the kind souls left who I know. If I refuse Mrs. Reed’s bidding I don’t know what shall become of us.” She didn’t care if nobody could hear her, but in a way talking about it made her feel better. Maybe her father could hear her, maybe things would get better.
  “Abigail!” Came an annoyed voice. “Come show yourself girl!”
  Or maybe not. Abigail got out of her chair reluctantly and headed towards the door. She opened it onto the landing filled with portraits, and looked down the staircase at Mrs. Reed talking to a skinny man in a black suit and top hat in the entrance hall. Abigail hated his crooked nose and grease ridden hair. He made her feel uncomfortable and his personality was certainly no better than his looks. Marry this rich man who did no more than drink, smoke, flirt and gamble? She would rather live her life with a dirt-ridden animal.
  “Ah there is my treasure. Come down and talk with us.” He said after turning to face her, his grey-green eyes staring at her.
  Reluctantly, Abigail gathered up her dress and walked down the carpeted wooden stairs to stop beside the man.
  “Good evening Edward.” She said flatly and gave him a fake smile.
  “You are looking wonderful tonight my Abigail.” He said and kissed her on the lips, making Abigail’s skin crawl. “Why do you look so sad my dearest?” He asked running a pale hand over her hair.
  “It is because it has been so long since she saw you last, and since her father died. Isn’t that right Abigail?” Mrs. Reed said with a somewhat mocking yet forceful tone to her voice.
  “Y-yes.” Said Abigail forcing herself to smile again. “But it makes me feel so much better to have you here with me.” Lies all of it. I hate this! That old hag of a classic evil stepmother just wants the money! But I can’t let my brother down. He needs me. She thought to herself desperately.
  “How wonderful.” Drawled Edward wrapping his arms around her back while a satisfied Mrs. Reed watched.
  “Then I suppose,” he said drawing closer, “That a kiss from my beautiful jewel would be in order?” Abigail would rather do anything but that. But she had a much worse fate if she did not do as he had requested.
  Hesitantly she leaned in to kiss him.
  BOOM! There was a loud explosion from the room next-door’s wall causing both Edward and Abigail to fall over from the shock. A hole had been made in the wall and was smoking, along with Edward’s greasy brown hair and tailcoat.
  He desperately patted the top of his head to rid himself of the glowing ashes and threw off his coat to stamp on the small flame growing larger by the second.
  Abigail had stood up too, brushing off some of the rubble and pulling back her hair, looking at the place where the wall had a hole in it.
  “In the name of! What, what was that!?” He shouted, his face turning red under patches of dust.
  Mrs. Reed who had been standing away from the wall, was looking at it with shock. Her face then contorted, an expression halfway between a frown and a snarl as she saw a young blonde haired man standing at the door. He looked to be about the same age as his sister. His face was black with soot from the small explosion, apart from two rings around his eyes where a pair of brown leather goggles had been placed, which was now perching on the top of his head. He wore a grey pinstriped waistcoat and black trousers.
  “ARCHIMEDES!” Screeched Mrs. Reed like a banshee, her face wild.
  “Oh terribly sorry.” The young man said smiling at the woman. “I was just fixing the lighting in the dining room. You see you cannot eat in a gloomy room.”
  “And I am not going to.” Said an extremely flustered Edward. “I am going home away from this madhouse and coming back when the walls do not explode!” He shouted gathering up his now ruined tailcoat and walking to the door.
  Archimedes grinned and winked at Abigail as Mrs. Reed ran after Edward. “I am so sorry for that idiot of a boy ruining everything Mr. Barnes! It will not happen again.” She stopped by the door as Edward marched briskly into the street to search for a horse and cart.
  Abigail hugged Archimedes tightly. “Thank you. You were brilliant.” She whispered.
  “Yes but I do believe we are in trouble.” He said quietly, and pulled away as their fuming stepmother marched into the room, her face beetroot red.
  “You… You will not cause any kind of trouble like that again you understand boy? Ever! Now… GO! Get out of my sight before I kill both of you, you ungrateful scoundrels.” Archimedes pulled Abigail’s arm and she walked with him quickly back up the stairs and into a large bedroom.
  “You’re mad. What were you thinking?”
  “I was just helping you Sister.” He said putting an arm on her shoulder.
  Abigail sighed. “Thank you. Just, be careful. And check that she doesn’t poison you at breakfast tomorrow.”



Chapter two

Abigail sat next to her brother Archimedes in his room on the window seat, a red velvet curtain next to her arm. Her head rested gently on his shoulder.
  Shafts of moonlight shone down from the large round windows at the top of the room. A lamp hanging form the ceiling helped to light the room too. There was a wooden desk in one corner of the room, littered with wires, light bulbs, different materials, springs, screws and goodness knows what else. There were a few sheets of paper with notes quickly scribbled down on them. More lay in large piles around the room as well as the desk. Here and there around the room there were burn marks. An elaborate oak wardrobe was in the opposite corner from the desk, and bookshelves full of complicated books lined the walls. Next to the door lay a small but cosy bed with deep green bed sheets.
  “But really I mean it Archimedes. You need to be more careful. It is all very well that you like to experiment but that was dangerous.” Came Abigail’s voice against the low electrical hum of the light bulb.
  “And none of my other work is?” He replied raising an eyebrow and turning his head to face her.
  “Brother. You know what I mean. You can’t go around making that hag of a woman angry by destroying her house.”
  “I don’t see why not.” He said frowning slightly. “She deserves it anyway. I still think she killed our father. If she throws us out then good riddance I say!”
  “If she throws us out,” began Abigail, “Then we have no money, no home and no means of buying the medicine you need to keep you going.”
  “Then let me be ill. Anything is better than staying with the old witch.”
  “And nothing would be worse if I lost you Archimedes. I don’t know how I would cope.” She said sadly looking at him.
  He took her hand gently. “And you won’t lose me. We will stay here until I find a good job, or have a breakthrough. When I earn the money we can move far away and not have to look back.” He said, his face reassuring. “And there is no way you are going to marry Edward Barnes either.”
  “Hopefully.” Said Abigail smiling weakly, and then stared out a round window at the moon.
  “Your studies may be noticed too. You could be well known amongst biologists.”
  “Archimedes. I doubt that any man from that university could be bothered to listen to a woman, let alone what I study. There are not many who study what I do because it is such an unsuccessful career. Besides, it is only a pastime I enjoy.” She said turning to face him again.
  “Well the platypus exists does it not? It has fur, the beak of a duck; it lays eggs but feeds its young with milk. It defies all the laws of the animal kingdom yet it still exists. So why would they not listen to the information you have gathered on your magnificent creatures?”
  “Because they dismissed the platypus as parts from different animals that had been sewn up to fool them.” Said Abigail standing up.
  “But that is not the case now is it?” Said Archimedes standing up beside her.
  “No, but they are stubborn.” She said as if to end the conversation at that, leaving Archimedes stuck for words.
  Abigail found herself yawning after a second. “I am going to bed. I will see you in the morning Brother.”
  “Alright then.” He said giving in and putting his arms around her for a hug. “Sleep well Abigail.”
  “You too.” She said hugging him back and turned to leave the room.
  She walked down the dark walled corridor to a room at the very end of it.
  She opened the wooden door and walked into her bedroom.
  The room, like her brother’s was not the most orderly, yet just as interesting to look at. The room was round in its shape and had one large window looking out to the countryside in front of their house, and a village not too far off. There was a mahogany dresser with jewellery on it, a cupboard containing her clothes, an unmade bed with its white sheets left on the floor during a rush to come to one of Mrs. Reed’s many angry calls. A desk sat before the window, with a lamp on it, casting light over many pots of ink, a few pens, paper, journals and sketches of plants and animals. A few old books lay on the floor beside her bed. Despite there not being much room to move around, to Abigail it was home.
  Seeing large window open she walked towards it to close it and stop letting out the heat. She reached out to close the large window but drew her hand back quickly.
  There came a squawking noise as a green shape leapt onto her desk, scattering some sheets of paper, which drifted to the ground.
  “Oh Noel.” Said Abigail still startled. “You’re not allowed in here anymore you know that. Not that it was my decision.” She said holding out her hand to the creature.
  The thing standing before her could only be described as a very small dragon, and a rather strange one at that. It was coloured leafy green, and instead of scales had a leathery hide. Its wings resembled a bat’s. Along its back, around its neck and fanning out with a magnificent display of colour at the tip of its tail were feathers. They were all coloured with different shades of green. Two small white horns crowned the tip of its elegant head. It was almost as long as Abigail’s forearm.
  Abigail ran a finger gently along Noel’s head, causing Noel to close her amber eyes contentedly. She sat down rubbing her head against Abigail.
  “I am sorry Noel but you must leave now. If Mrs. Reed finds out you are still coming to me she will not be pleased.”
  Noel cocked her head to one side and let out an upset squeak. “Come now Noel I will see you tomorrow, outside.”
  Noel flapped her wings in disappointed understanding and nuzzled her hand once more. Its forked tongue flickered out of her mouth for a second and she then leapt gracefully out of the window and spread her wings.
  “Good girl.” She whispered and closed the window. Noel was a strange but faithful friend, named Noel, the French word for Christmas, because she met her covered in snow late one December night in the woods.
  She would have closed the curtains and retired to her bed, if it was not for a green flash of light she saw in some nearby trees. They swayed momentarily in a sudden breeze then stood still. Looking closely, she could have sworn she saw a figure with a long coat, but within the blink of an eye it had disappeared into the shadows once more.



Chapter three


“Well don’t just stand there. Hurry up and hand them over.” Snapped Mrs. Reed jabbing her egg yoke covered spoon fiercely at Abigail over the long wooden table.
  Archimedes shook his head and sighed as Mrs. Reed screeched at her. It really was agony to listen to that rusty voice. He was sat at the breakfast table with a plate of toast, egg and bacon.
  “Yes Mrs. Reed.” Mumbled Abigail; distracted by looking at each letter in turn to see whom it was addressed to. She secretly slipped one into her sleeve. It was addressed to the maid Lucy Burnett. She was a kind woman who spent much of her time speaking to Abigail as a little girl. Knowing Mrs. Reed she would use Lucy’s letter to burn in the fireplace. Celine Reed had two sides to her. Charming, polite and loving in every way when she was with their father, and power loving, cruel and generally evil when not with guests.
  Seeing nothing else that was not addressed to Celine Reed, Abigail walked up to her and handed her the letters before sitting down to her breakfast once again.
  Mrs. Reed muttered to herself under her breath as she sorted through each of the letters in turn. “Rubbish the lot of them. Waste of time. Merry Christmas? That senile old couple have forgotten that was a month ago already.” And the list of irritated mutterings and murmurings continued until she came to the last letter. A cold smile crossed her thin lips as she looked at the letter. It had a red wax seal and very neat handwriting on it, with a first class stamp. The seal had the picture of a serpent’s head on it, pierced by a sword going all the way through its skull and with one large staring eye.
  She laid it to one side of her plate, then ordered an old maid standing by the door to dispose of the rest of them.
  Abigail narrowed her eyes slightly staring at the letter. She had seen others just like it, and they were one of the only kinds that Mrs. Reed replied to. She would never open them at the table but go into the study to reply to them in privacy. She could only wonder what messages they contained.
  She drew her eyes away from the letter as Mrs. Reed shot her a suspicious and iron hard glare, picking up the letter as she did so. “It is not polite to stare Abigail.” She said before heading out of the door to the study.
  Archimedes blinked. “She still seems to be angry from last night.”
  “She’s normally that way is she not?” Said Abigail placing her cup of lukewarm tea back down on the table.
  “Well she seems to be so much more edgy than normal recently.” He said standing up.
  “Well you have a point.” Replied Abigail tilting her cup and swirling the tea inside it. She was deep in her thoughts and curiosity over why those letters could be so important.
  “Anyway,” he said heading to the door, “I will see you later.”
  “Wait,” Said Abigail quickly causing Archimedes to turn. “Have you taken your medicine?”
  “You mean that vile stuff that makes me gag every time I taste it?” He said running a hand through his brown hair, a habit he had whenever he thought of something revolting. “Yes I have.”
  “Good.” Said Abigail and smiled. “You may leave now.”
  “Yes Mistress.” Laughed Archimedes as he left the room.
  Abigail sat and finished her drink, looking out the large double windows at the field behind their house.
  “Would you like anything else Miss Abigail?” Asked the old maid standing by the door.
  “No thank you Julie, but it was wonderful. I think I plan to go for a walk today.” She said looking out of the window once more at the field.
  “Well, you wrap up warm Miss. It is still frosty outside after all. Don’t want you catchin’ a cold.”
  “And I won’t. You don’t need to worry about that.” She replied and got up to head to her room to search for a scarf and her coat.
  Up in her room, after she had put on her white scarf and brown overcoat she picked up some paper and a pencil, placing it into a small bag. She looked out to the path from her window deciding to head out to her favourite place next to the woods.
  The woods. That was where she had seen that figure and flash. Would it still be there?
  She shook her head. No, surely it was just a trick of the light. Her lamp must have flickered. She turned to leave the house quickly before she was stopped by Mrs. Reed.
  She made her way swiftly and silently along the corridor to the staircase, avoiding the floorboards which creaked. She did not want to get stuck inside and get a lecture from her stepmother about being ladylike and not sitting around in the grass next to “foul beasts.”
  Having walked carefully down the staircase, she opened the wooden door and slipped outside setting off at a brisk stroll down the frost covered road. It was the opposite direction from the village, and a better place to track things.
  Her breath came out in puffs of steam in the cold air.
  After about ten minutes of walking she stopped in the middle of a field, very close to the leafless trees.
  Abigail sat still on a rock, her bright blue eyes scanning the sky. A few tendrils of smoke curled up from deep within the trees, wrapping themselves around the tree branches before drifting silently up into the sky.
  Perfect. Thought Abigail to herself, and it does not look like Noel’s. That means a new dragon.
  She got some paper and a pencil out of her bag, and quickly noted down what time of day it was, approximately how much smoke was being produced and its area. About a mile or so into the forest.
  She got up from the rock and quietly made her way into the trees, avoiding snapping too many twigs. Not that it would probably bother a creature of such a large size and intelligence, but maybe others. There was too much smoke for it to be small. She felt rather exited in fact; this must be her fifth sighting if she was lucky enough to meet it. Two of them had just been flying overhead, and the others residents to the forest including Noel.
  The sunlight shone through the gnarled and bare branches of the old trees, creating shafts of light that shone onto the leafy ground beneath her feet as she walked. Steam rose from the trees, giving an effect that the forest was shrouded in mist, making tracking the smoke more difficult.
  After about half an hour of walking Abigail sighed. If that smoke was going anywhere it was definitely moving away. She would have to come again tomorrow, and maybe with a jewel of some kind if she planned on convincing the dragon not to eat her if she was spotted, if it happened to be particularly hungry or in a foul mood.
  I’ll have to go back then. Oh joy to see my twisted stepmother again. She thought to herself sarcastically.
  She looked up to the sky to see the fading smoke and took a step forwards only to find herself looking at the ground. She had tripped over a rope.
  She stared at it for a moment. A rope? What on earth is a rope doing here? It was in a coil around an oak tree, its end stretching out where her foot had caught it. There were also some nails, red cloth, a flask of water and what looked like poppy seeds.
  This odd collection of objects in the middle of such a large forest puzzled Abigail. Why were they here?
  Walking towards the tree, something caught her eye. Something had landed or, fallen onto the ground from the tree, and were leading towards the village. A pair of footprints But what confused her even more was the way that they did not even lead up to the tree, just from it. She walked all around the oak tree. No gaps to hide in, no prints around the tree. Nothing.
  Just then a thought came racing back to her. Last night she had seen something strange in the trees. Could it have been this?
  Abigail looked towards the village filled with curiosity. There was only one way to find out. Mrs. Reed could wait. She took a step forwards and headed towards Shere village.





Chapter 4

When Abigail left the shaded cover of the bare trees’ branches, she found herself back in the same old field she regularly used for spotting creatures. The quickest way to find out what she wanted was to follow the tracks.
  They proved easy enough to follow, so long as she kept going in the same direction as them, proving harder to follow through more areas with more grass.
  As they lead on to the path, she could confirm to herself that they were headed towards the village. She raised her head from looking at the path towards Shere, the low winter sunlight shining in her eyes making her have to squint slightly.
  There was a sound of flapping wings and a small squawk as the small feathered green dragon Noel perched on Abigail’s shoulder, nudging her soft cheek with her hard snout and gripping onto her shoulder gently with her white talons.
  Noel held a small strip of a deep blue material in her mouth between her thin fangs. It looked like it was torn.
  “Where did you get this from Noel?” Asked Abigail looking at the material curiously.
  Noel simply cocked her head to one side, blinking at her though bright yellow eyes.
  “Well, we’ll have to find out then wont we?” She said running a finger over Noel’s feathered forehead. She tugged at the material, and Noel let go before flying on ahead of her.
  About twenty minutes later, Abigail stood at the counter of a shop beside a blonde haired man in his forties. He sat behind a table leaning back in an old armchair, a faded red colour and frayed at the edges. He was holding a pencil and an old hard backed book. The light from the dusty windows was dim, however a bright fire in the corner of the room let out plenty of light and heat.
  “So Abigail, what brings you here today? You came recently to deliver your letters, surely you can’t have more to give me already?” He smiled. “Unless of course, you are here to bring me some more information?”
  “Yes Mr. Smith.” Said Abigail and nodded. “A new dragon. In the same forest as Noel, however I don’t know if it is passing through it or making a home.”
  “How about its size?” Asked Mr. Smith distractedly as he began scribbling down notes in his book.
  “Well, rather large I can tell from the smoke and footprints. I’ll search again for it soon and tell you.”
  “Yes, well the dragon whistle you ordered from London should be coming soon. Thank you for the news. I am normally too busy to keep track of these things myself, but it is good I have you to keep me updated with the sightings. The people up in London need to know too. Make sure the creatures don’t get into too much trouble eh?”
  Abigail nodded. “Yes, the farmers tend to get suspicious when their livestock go missing.”
  “Well, there are too many people taking up space in the world nowadays, rather troublesome if you ask me.” He said sighing and leaning back into his wide armchair. “Besides, the young ones aren’t supposed to know that a farmers cattle are not supposed to be eaten by them. What is prey is prey to them.”
  Abigail nodded and stood in silence for a moment, running her finger over the deep blue scrap of material that rested in her hand.
  “What’s that then?” Asked Mr. Smith leaning over his desk and pointing to the material. “You ripped some clothing?”
  “Oh, um, no.” Replied Abigail hurriedly. “No. Noel gave it to me. I was just wondering. Have you happened to see anybody new pass through here?”
  Mr. Smith leaned back into the comfortable armchair slowly, thinking. “Well,” He began. I haven’t seen any new faces. Just old Mrs. Miller, and Toby. They were going about their business.”
  “Are you sure?” Asked Abigail. “Sure there was nobody else? Nobody looking to buy or gather things.”
  “Well, as usual there were walkers from further up the road. Nobody I haven’t seen before no.” He narrowed his dark eyes slightly staring at Abigail. “Why does it bother you so much anyway?”
  “Well, I was just wondering.” She said as her hand closed around the material. Why was she hesitating about telling him? She wasn’t exactly sure herself, but the way the objects in the dense forest had been placed so far in made her feel they weren’t supposed to be found.
  “Never mind.” She said straightening up again. “I must be going anyway. Thank you for your assistance Mr. Smith.”
  “Anytime feel free to ask.” He replied as the young woman headed out of the door, still puzzled by Abigail’s sudden curiosity in a complete stranger.
  Abigail walked down the street once more. All traces of footprints had been lost in the village’s street. Well, maybe it was just somebody taking a walk. Thought Abigail to herself. But then again, a walker wouldn’t leave those random objects there. I will just have to check again another time.
She raised her head from the hard and cold path beneath her feet in just in time to see a very strange looking man heading back the way she had come from the forest.
  He was dressed in a deep blue and long coat with a hood connected to it raised. On the back of it were five golden circles. One of them in the middle and the others connected to it. It was blown backwards slightly by the wind as he walked along swiftly with a brown leather bag over one shoulder.
  Abigail’s hand clenched tightly around the material as she looked more closely at the bottom of the tall and slender figure’s coat. It was torn at the bottom, and the material Noel had given her seemed to fit it.
  This was the person she had been looking for. He was heading back to the forest and wore a coat like the figure she had glimpsed out of the corner of her eye the night before. If there were any good time to question the person it would be now.
  “Excuse me.” Called Abigail as she walked quickly up to the hooded figure ahead of her, full of burning curiosity and also some anxiety.
  “Yes?” Replied the figure, as he turned around surprised as he saw a woman stop.
  Underneath the hood she could see the face of a man, with pitch-black hair and deep sapphire coloured eyes.
  When he saw Abigail standing there in the middle of the road he smiled. It was so bright Abigail completely lost any feeling of being nervous of the stranger she had before.
  “Your coat. Would this happen to have torn from it?” Asked Abigail holding out the material to him.
  The young man gently took it from her and inspected it. “Yes, it is. Thank you. Where did you find this?”
  “Oh, on the path.” said Abigail lying, not wanting to give anything away about Noel just in case.
  “Well thank you. That creature must have dropped it then.” he said as he pocketed the strip form his coat.
  Noel must have torn it. Thought Abigail to herself. She wouldn’t normally do that.
  “You wouldn’t happen to headed towards the forest would you?” asked Abigail curiously again. Everything about this man seemed odd, not just the coat but also his very presence. He looked so out of place yet he himself seemed to be at home.
  “Yeah, I am. What makes you ask?” he questioned.
  “Well I just saw some wood and rope and other objects in the middle of the forest, along with that torn coat piece of yours. I followed the tracks to see if I could find you, and it looks like I just have.”
  The man stood there grinning happily, his smile rather infectious. Every time he smiled the happiness just seemed to spread like an aurora around him.
  “What are you smiling about?” asked Abigail watching him slightly confused.
  “How fortunate I am. I place some objects in a forest, have my rip my coat ripped by a small lizard and here comes a beautiful woman to return my lost coat piece to me. So what inspired a wonderful lady like you to come and look for a lonely traveller like me hmm?”
  Abigail blinked confused. Was that man teasing her? She shook her head in disbelief. She had only just met the man, and she certainly had no intentions of flirting with him. “Excuse me but are you the village idiot?” She retorted staring at him.
  He let out a laugh as he leaned against the wooden fence lining the path, grinning like an exited little boy. “A question I have been asked far too many a time.” He gazed at her for a moment, still smiling. This made Abigail feel rather self-conscious. Why was he looking at her in that way?
  Her thoughts were interrupted as the young man stood up taking her hand, and a voice broke through them. “And as I walked on down the path a beauty I did see. ‘Twas not a rose or flower fair, more beautiful than thee.”
  Abigail looked at him and his sapphire eyes and found herself blushing. She straightened herself up again. This was no way for a stranger to act, flattering though it was. “Are you mad?” She asked.
  He let out the same carefree laugh once more before leaning close to her slowly.
  “I assure you. I am all too serious.” He then backed away with a smile. “Well, I must be heading off now. Maybe I will see you sometime again. Abigail.” He said as he walked away leaving her speechless.
  Abigail noticed there was something that had been placed in her hand. It was a delicate deep red rose. She blushed bright red now as she looked at it.
  A thought occurred to her. That mysterious man, who she had never seen before in her life, had known her name.



Chapter 5

Abigail felt a rush of sudden wind. She looked up the path where the man had been walking but saw nobody, only old leaves flurrying in spirals across it.
  Who was he? If tossing a rose at her had simply been a plan for a quick getaway it was certainly the most charming one she had ever experienced. An expert one. But he had rather seemed to enjoy himself at the same time. He was strange.
  With some disappointment Abigail realized she had found the stranger she was looking for, without finding out anything about him.
  What was his name? What was he going to use those things in the forest for? Where was he from?
  I will see him again. Surely that will not be the last time I see him. And he knew my name. How? I have never seen him. Thought Abigail to herself as she shook her head in dismay and began to walk home.
  After a while Abigail was stood outside the heavy oak doors to the house. She placed her hand around a cool brass handle and opened the door to the large entranceway, expecting soon enough for Mrs. Reed to be glaring at her suspiciously once more and questioning where she had been.
  To her relief she wasn’t greeted by an angered Mrs. Reed, but saw the maid Lucy Burnett hard at work, dusting the dark wooden frame of an oil painting. The painting showed a picture of a field filled with wild flowers and tall grass.
  “Hello Lucy.” Said Abigail as she walked up to the woman.
  “Hello Miss.” replied the maid happily. “Been out to town again now have we?” She asked as she placed the old duster down on a table resting against the wall. She looked at Abigail again and noticed what she was holding. “Where did you get that then? I haven’t seen any in bloom recently.” She said nodding towards the rose.
  “Oh I was given it.” Replied Abigail.
  Lucy smiled. “A lucky girl you are. Who is it from?” She asked curiously
  “Well, I never had the chance to find out, he came and left so quickly. But here.” She said deciding to change the subject and pulled Lucy’s letter from her sleeve. “I managed to save it from Mrs. Reed.”
  “Bless you child.” She said holding the letter close to her as if her most prized possession and looking at the address.
  “I will keep an eye out for your letters.” Said Abigail before walking up the large wooden staircase.