Nine Steps to Sara (11 page)

“Jack?” Sara called out, ears straining as she picked up the pace.  “Jack, where are you?”  Breaking into a run as he continued to make the most heart wrenching sounds of agony, Sara crashed into a hard stone wall as she turned the last corner, the rough surface scratching her hands. 

“Mom?” Jack cried piteously, sounding closer, but frighteningly weak, and Sara shoved at the stone with all her might. 

“I’m coming, Jack!” she shouted, encouraged when she felt the stone give way a fraction of an inch.  Repositioning her hands, she cried out in dismay to find them smeared with blood.  There were no cuts on her hands, but when she looked up, she saw the stone was covered in a sheen of blood that welled up through a series of cracks that formed a pattern too indistinct to make out. 

“It’s too late.”

Sara heard the woman’s voice on the breeze, and Jack’s cries had gone still, the silence that followed eerie and lifeless.  “No, no it’s not too late,” Sara cried, pounding on
the stone, desperate to get to the other side so that her knuckles grew scraped and bruised.  “Jack!”

Sara awoke with a start, clutching the fireplace poker tightly in her hands.  Bright sunlight streamed through the windows that she knew she’d shut the curtains to and the bedroom door stood open several inches.  With slow care, she let go of the poker, her fingers sore and stiff from the action and upon inspection, her knuckles were red and sore.  What had she done to them while in the throes of that nightmare?  It was disquieting of course, but more disturbing was the sight of her bedroom all open, leaving her feeling vulnerable and confused. 

The explanation made itself known a moment later when Katie came out of the bathroom, a bundle of laundry in her hands.  “Good morning, my Lady,” she smiled brightly.  “I hope I didn’t wake you, I thought to get your laundry.”

“How did you get in here?” Sara demanded, in no mood for pleasantries.  “I locked the door.”

“I-I used the key, my Lady,” Katie stammered.  “Was that wrong?  I didn’t want to disturb you while I tended to the fire and saw to my morning chores.”

Sara pushed
the
hair away from her forehead, none too pleased to note her fingers
trembled
slightly.  “Actually, I think I have a new rule.  How about you knock first?  If the door’s open, then come on in if you don’t hear anything, but if it’s locked, then come back later.”  She said it a little harsher than she’d intended, and Katie blanched.

“Yes, my
L
ady, I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” she mumbled, keeping her gaze on the ground.

“No, it’s fine…” Sara felt immediate remorse for hurting the girl’s feelings.
Damn, she’d have to work doubly hard to get her to lose the ‘my Lady’s’ now…
  “How many people have a key to my room?” she tried again in a softer tone.

“Just the one you see there and I had to borrow the house key from Mrs. Poole to get in this morning.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, as far as I know.”  The girl’s expression clouded as she noticed the fireplace poker in the bed.  “Is everything alright, my Lady?”

Sara looked down in dismay at the sooty mess the poker had made on the bed.  Now she’d gone and made more work for Katie on top of everything.  “I’m sorry, I heard some…”  What?  What could she possibly say to explain why she’d gone to bed with a poker and woke up on the wrong side of the bed?  “Nevermind.  Look, I’m sorry, Katie, I had a bad night.  I didn’t mean to take it out on you,” she sighed, falling back against the pillows again. 

“It’s alright, you haven’t got near the bite in your bark as some, my Lady,” Katie offered a faint smile.  “Is there anything you’ll be needing from me this morning, or should I get on with my chores?”

“No, I’m good, you go ahead,” Sara waved her off, pleased to hear the click of the door shutting seconds later.  “Seriously losing my mind,” she breathed, looking at the scraped skin on her knuckles. 

* * *

“I had the freakiest dream last night,” Joanie’s eyes were bright across the breakfast table and Sara leaned forward, wondering if it was as weird as hers had been.

“
Oh
?  Let’s hear
it;
it couldn’t have been stranger than mine.
”

“
I was on
Rodeo Drive
…”  Joanie went on to tell the story of her dream which centered around a limousine ride around the shopping district of Beverly Hills involving the cast of the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Mike Tyson as the limo driver.  Sara listened as she ate her breakfast, losing interest as the details got more and more farfetched. 

“That is pretty out there, Joan,” Sara admitted.  “But I think I’ve got you beat.”  Rushing through the set up, she shared the contents of her dream, eager to get it out before Jack came down for breakfast, not wanting to upset him.  “So, what do you think?  Pretty creepy, right?”

“I guess
,” Joanie shrugged, not all that impressed.  “Big surprise you dreamt about Jack.  You know you’re supposed to dream about things that don’t flood your day to day life.  You should have been looking for Prince Charming at the center of that garden maze.  Or even a certain chauffeur?” she raised a single brow at Sara who suddenly displayed a renewed interest in her plate.  “This country life is nice and all, but it’ll be good to get back to the city.  Did you talk to the lawyer guy about when you’re going to go home?”

Sara looked up from her plate, “We are home.  This is where we’re living now,” she explained.  “It’s a stipulation for the inheritance.”

“What, like forever?” Joanie blinked.  “But I was all set to help you pick out your new house in
Beverly Hills
,” she pouted.  

“That’s not in the cards,” Sara shook her head.  “Maybe we might pick up a vacation house at some point, but I can’t see justifying the expense if we’re going to be spending most of our time here.” 

“I don’t see why you have to stick
around;
the money’s yours, right?  They can’t
make
you live here.”

“They can if it’s in the terms of the inheritance.”

“I bet you can break that though with a good lawyer.”

Sara frowned over that, even though they were alone, it didn’t seem like a good thing to be talking about in the house.  What was it the crazy old guy at the curio shop had said?  Something about how it wasn’t safe to talk without being overheard, even when you think you’re all alone?  “Hey, we like it here,” Sara pointed out.  “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, we’ve got more than enough room, but if you’re getting homesick…”

“You’re not getting homesick, are you, Mom?” Jack asked, catching the tail end of the conversation as he entered the room. 

“Nope, we’re set to stay,
l
ike we talked about,” she soothed before he got himself worked up over it.  “Did you sleep good last night?”

“Yeah,” he replied, loading up his plate with bac
on and a single piece of toast.

“One scoop of eggs with that,” Sara called out. 
At least it was better than pop tarts…
A quick trip through the morning checklist and she was satisfied that living in the lap of luxury hadn’t spoiled Jack too badly yet.

“You can at least get a posh place in
London
though, right?” Joanie asked, not willing to let the subject drop yet, and Sara started to lose her patience with it.

“Maybe,” she answered vaguely.  That made more sense than a house in
Beverly Hills
.  “We’ll have to see how it goes.  I’m more interested in talking about what we’re going to do today.  Any ideas, Jack?” she changed the subject.

“I’m still working on my books and then I want to start on the library.
  What’s draughts?
”
he asked out of the blue, but both women shrugged.

“
No idea. 
Come on, squirt, you can do that any old time.  How about you suggest a shopping trip to
London
to your
m
om?” Joanie winked, but Jack looked less than interested.

“Oh no, you can’t go to
London
today,” Will interrupted, strolling in to filch a piece of bacon from one of the silver chafing dishes. 

“Why not?” Joanie asked, her eyes taking on a predatory gleam as they watched him lean casually against the sideboard. 

“Because the car needs a bit of work done before it takes on a trip like that.  Why, exhausted all the commercial possibilities our village has to offer already, have you?” he smirked.

“Yeah, in about a half an hour,” Joanie snorted.

“That’s okay, Will, I wasn’t planning on going to
London
today anyway,” Sara spoke up.  Somehow she didn’t think Mrs. Poole would approve of him strolling in to steal a bit of bacon in his jeans and t-shirt (which was a slate gray and made his eyes look like a stormy sea), but she didn’t want him to leave either.  “
I
s that what you’re working on today?  Car repairs?  Or does someone else do that, seeing as how you’re not the chauffeur?” she smiled.

“No, I’ll be the one doing it, right enough,” he grinned back.  “But today I thought I’d take you on a tour of the estate.  Tell me, Sara, do you fancy a bit of a jaunt through the countryside with me?”

Sara found herself smiling back like a loon, before she realized both Jack and Joanie were watching the exchange with avid interest.  “I um, I thought you had to work on the car today?”

“Shut up, Sara. If the man wants to take us on a tour, let him do it,” Joanie’s grin stretched from ear to ear and Sara couldn’t help but frown.  Somehow she’d thought the invitation hadn’t been extended to everyone present.

“Yes, by all means, we’ll all go together,” Will’s smile remained fixed, but there was no mistaking the look he gave her; the invitation
was
meant for her alone. 

A rush of anticipation went through her at the thought of spending the afternoon with Will, even with an audience.  It had been a long time since a handsome man looked at her like that.  “How are we going to take a tour if the car is down for repairs?”

“Ever been on horseback?” a single brow was raised and Sara blinked in surprise.

“It’s been years, but yes, I’ve ridden a horse before.  Do we have horses?”  If there were stables on the property, Sara was unaware of it; not that she’d had much chance to check it out yet. 

“Donated for the day with pleasure by a neighboring farm with the hopes that you might take a liking to one of them and choose it for your very own,” Will replied glibly. 

“That was nice of them, was that your idea or theirs?”

“Just doing my part to stimulate the local economy, my Lady.”  Will’s tone grew more formal, as did his stance as Katie came in to add more hot water to the tea pots.  “What about you, Jack.  Have you ever been on a horse before?”

The little boy barely looked up from his plate.  “No
,
I have other things to do today anyway, you go ahead.”

He was afraid of
horses;
Sara could see it plain as the nose on his face.  “We could take a long walk instead if you want to come along,” she offered, but Jack shook his head.

“No, you should go and have fun, Mom,” he looked up, eyes thoughtful behind wire rimmed glasses.  “I can take a walk with you guys some other day.”

“If you change your mind, I’ve an idea that we might have just the horse for you,” Will winked.

“That’s okay.  I think I’m allergic.”

“Fair enough,” Will chuckled softly.  “Besides, you should be resting up well for the fair tomorrow anyway.”