The Maid of Chateau Winslow Page 3

  “Flicker, your stubbornness outweighs your reason.”

  “Me!” He poked himself in the chest with a finger.

  “Think of your family.”

  “I am. I feel it’s my responsibility to help—”

  A cough rattled, and we spun to find two dwarves waiting in front of the stand. One, a notably handsome, dark-haired man with eyes as black as a raven’s feather, unapologetically stared. Beside him, his ginger-haired companion stood quietly observing.

  “Are we interrupting something of importance?” the dark-haired earthman said.

  Flicker and I pulled our heads apart and I dropped my hands to my sides, my fingers gripping the gem.

  The dwarf’s unnerving gaze roved over me. My heart pounded. Had he come to retrieve the ruby? The sudden urge to kick Flicker under the stand mounted.

  “Nice. Very nice. Don’t you agree?” he said more to himself than to his mate. “Though she could use a bit of fattening up. I do prefer my women with some substance.”

  I disregarded his lewd statement, but a deep, throaty growl came from Flicker, and I hurried to distract them. “My friend and I were simply discussing a missing crate I must have left at home.”

  “Is that so?” He eyed Flicker, who widened his stance and gave the man a callous stare.

  “What’s it to you, peasant?” Flicker jutted his chin at the brash earthman.

  The dwarf’s eyes narrowed. “Watch who you are calling—” He stopped in mid-sentence when his companion elbowed him. Regaining his composure, he glanced at the salves and oils before directing his attention back to me. “I’ve heard whisperings of healing ointments made by a farm girl, and I’ve come to purchase some for my woman.”

  The earthman possessed a godlike beauty, and he appeared entirely aware of it. I got the inkling it would take a confident woman to fall for a man like him. “What ailment does your woman have, mister?” I asked.

  “A broken heart,” his mate said behind a staged cough.

  Ignoring him, the other man said, “She can’t sleep, as she has contracted a cough that keeps her up at night.”

  “I have just the treatment.” I tucked the hidden jewel into the pocket of my skirt before picking up a tin of the ointment made of lemon, pine, and myrtle oils. “Tell her to apply a smidgen of this to her chest and back at night. It should ease the cough and help her sleep.”

  “Very well.” He reached into his cloak and retrieved a coin and held it out. I removed my mitten and offered an open palm while holding out the tin in the other. He placed the coin in my palm, his fingers lingering as his index traced a callus on my hand. “Farm girl indeed. As beautiful as a maiden, but with the hands of a galley maid.”

  I withdrew my hand, seizing the first treasured coin of the day. I caught sight of a gold pendant that glimmered in the sun as he adjusted his weatherworn cloak. A poor man’s attire did not conceal the cavalier earthman who was hardly a peasant. Why had he come dressed as one?

  Without so much as a “good day,” he turned and glided into the crowd as if floating on air.

  “I wish you well.” The ginger fellow graciously bowed his head before turning to catch up with his friend.

  “Pompous ass!” Flicker’s remark was intended for the cocky fellow. “His head is puffed up with more arrogance than anyone should possess. I ought to have landed him nose-first in horse dung.”

  Morning dissolved into afternoon. Flicker had grudgingly taken the ruby and departed in search of his uncle. Patrons paused at my stall for a quick glance before carrying on. My one customer had been the earthman, whom I blamed for casting an unpleasant aura over the day. The constant dickering and calling out to patrons had left me parched and weary. Tears of frustration welled in my eyes as a woman I had almost persuaded to purchase a wedge of cheese turned up her nose, gathered her children, and continued down the line of peddlers.

  Turning to hide my disheartenment from onlookers, I raised trembling fingers to wipe away the tears and lowered myself onto an upturned crate, keeping my back to the crowd. My mind spun with the burdensome responsibilities of our homestead. The animals could not go another day without food. I’d given the last of the hay to the mare so that she could make the journey to town. Our dairy cow’s milk had dried up months ago, after Orell had sold her calf and the bull to bide his time with his debtors. In the spring, our goat had kidded two kids, but her milk never came in and I had no choice but to give the kids to a moneygrubbing farmer for an absurdly low price. In recent weeks the hens had stopped producing eggs, and I’d found one dead that morning.

  “What captures your mind, little one?” a husky voice asked, pulling me from my fretting.

  I froze. My heart raced. Could it be? Nisse. I stood and whirled to face him. “You’re back!”

  Before me, cloaked in furs and leather, stood the master watchmaker’s son, his tawny, shoulder-length hair fastened back with a black ribbon at the nape of his neck. He gracefully bowed at the waist, and a grin parted his lips. “Well, if it isn’t the beautiful Valentina. Oh, how you’ve grown.” He stood, holding the reins of his horse. The animal happily munched off a nearby stand, much to the disadvantage of the merchant with his back turned. Nisse was a childhood friend of my brother’s. I was ten when their friendship ended, and although he had never told me why, I assumed Orell was to blame.

  The day I’d fled the market square in tears after hearing the blind man’s tale, Nisse had seized me as I raced by him in the alley. And within his arms, I’d found comfort as he stroked my hair and dried my tears. “There, there, little one,” he had whispered as one would to a little sister. “It can’t be that bad, can it?” I had clung to him and unleashed my grief at the loss of my parents and the horrors of the blind man’s fictions.

  As I recalled that day, my cheeks warmed, and involuntarily, my hand slipped to my throat. How I’d wanted to remain in his arms forever. To bathe in the safety his presence had provided. To grasp a few stolen moments in which I mattered. All feelings I hadn’t felt since my mutter disappeared. Such desires somehow seemed trivial now, as the need to survive exceeded the whims of a young girl.

  After that day, I came to see Nisse as something more. I’d daydreamed on trips to town of running into him. Sometimes I’d watch him through the large window of his vater’s shop as he dealt with customers. On one of those occasions, he’d caught me, and before I could duck out of sight, he waved. Then came the day when I learned he’d left on a crusade with other men from the village. Brokenhearted, I’d spent the days that followed weeping, until anger replaced the melancholy. It had been years since I’d seen him, and I was no longer that love-struck young girl.

  Today a full beard masked his face, giving him a more rugged, outdoorsy appearance. Time had etched lines around his eyes and forehead, but the ever-present gentleness in his kind eyes endured. “It’s been far too long,” he said, looking me over with concern.

  “Could you use some ointment or oils? Maybe some cheese?” I unwrapped the cotton cloth to reveal a wedge. My gaze fastened to the exposed flesh peeking through the open laces of his cream cotton shirt.

  He reached out as if to inspect the cheese, but his hand encased mine. My heart pounded as I elevated my gaze. “Is your brother not taking care of his responsibilities?”

  “I do not rely on my brother to care for me. I’ve become capable—”

  “Well, I’ll be. Nisse!” Flicker’s sudden appearance drew our attention as he circled the stand to join me.

  “Ah, Flicker, my good man.” A broad smile spread across Nisse’s face and settled the storm rumbling in his gray eyes. He bent forward and thrust out a hand, which Flicker gripped between both of his and shook vigorously.

  “When did you get back?” Flicker asked, withdrawing his hands and planting them at his waist.

  “Just rode in. The men headed to the tavern. I was on my way to see my vater until a familiar face stood out against many.” He winked at me.

  “He’ll be pleased
to see you.” I clasped my hands in front of me, then quickly tucked them in the folds of my skirt when his gaze settled on the holes in my mittens.

  The tenderness of moments ago returned to his eyes. “He’s written to me over the years, telling me how you’ve come by the shop to visit with him. Says it helped keep the loneliness at bay. I hope he hasn’t bored you too much with stories of his homeland.”

  “On the contrary, he too has helped fill the loneliness.” Through the years his vater had given me coins and food—which Orell had stubbornly returned and spat in his face, saying we didn’t need handouts.

  “Vater is a noble man, and he has always cared for your mutter.”

  I winced at the mention of her.

  “I didn’t think. Please forgive me.” He stepped forward.

  “No need to fret,” I said. “Some say I should have moved past the pain by now, but the unknown still troubles me.”

  Nisse looked around as two women came to stand a few feet away, eavesdropping on our conversation. He reached into his furs and withdrew a few coins. “This should take care of the rest of your goods.” He leaned close and whispered, “You can close the shop early and join me for a stroll.” His voice rose. “Maybe where one might speak without stretched necks.” He intentionally emphasized the last words, and nudged his head at the women.

  “No, you mustn’t,” I said. Everything in me screamed to take the coins and hold them tight, but pride swelled within me. I didn’t want Nisse to think of me as Orell’s little sister. A child. No, I wouldn’t become indebted to him. My stomach grumbled its protest.

  Flicker waved a hand in dismissal. “I’ll have the goods delivered to your vater’s shop.”

  “Better yet, have the goods handed out to the poor,” Nisse said.

  “Struck it lucky while you were away, I see.” Flicker eyed the coins he pressed into my hand.

  “Fortune did not shine on me. I’m happy to be home and in a charitable mood, is all.”

  “I’ll see the goods are handled accordingly.” Flicker gave me an eager shove forward. “Well, go on then, off with you.”

  Caught off guard, I tumbled forward and gripped the table to steady myself. Shielding my face from Nisse’s view I narrowed my eyes at Flicker, who offered me a debonair smile before broadcasting loudly, “Well, what are you waiting for? You mustn’t keep the weary traveler waiting.”

  Nisse laughed.

  Behind him, one woman coughed. They tucked their heads together and whispered.

  “Gossiping is poison,” Mutter had always said.

  Nisse swung to address the women. “You ladies had best be on your way. The lady has sold out.”

  The women shook their heads in disapproval. “She’s hardly a lady, with her torn clothes and dirty face,” the plumper one of the pair said, her eyes roving over me.

  Heat surged over my flesh, but I wouldn’t allow the women’s judgment to affect me. Jutting my chin in the air, I said in a silky voice, “Ladies, may your day be rich and joyous.” I curtsied, showing the poise of the affluent before rising to give them a brilliant smile.

  A smirk skipped across Nisse’s face, and behind me, Flicker chuckled.

  “Away with you, before you find my boot up your arse.” Flicker thrust a fist in the air.

  The women gasped, then muttered between themselves before taking their leave. A trail of “Tsk-tsk” echoed after them.

  “Don’t pay them any mind. They ain’t nothing but old crows. Ain’t that right, Nisse.” Flicker’s jovial mood returned.

  Nisse shook his head. “And Miss Brandenberger wonders why Vater never accepted her efforts to court him.”

  I exited the stall with the desire to evade any more naysayers. “Maybe you’ll tell me about your adventures.” I forced a smile as I strolled past him.

  Not waiting for him to catch up, I wove through the crowds until I reached the main street, which lay vacant and peaceful compared to the clamor of the market, now a murmur in the background. The clip-clop of Nisse’s mount pulled my awareness to him, and I slowed my footsteps until he caught up. I mumbled an apology and fell into step with him.

  “Such eagerness to flee,” he said. “You need not concern yourself with such tasteless chatter.”

  “I’ve grown used to pity in people’s eyes as much as I’ve become accustomed to the disgust. Orell does not differ from what Vater was. I remember as a child how people would look at Vater with disdain and offer Mutter the same look they give me.”

  His jaw tensed. “Orell’s a fool. He should act the man of the house and take care of you. You look thin.”

  “So I keep hearing,” I said, giving the skirt of my gray woolen dress a shake to release the dirt and snow collecting from the cobblestones.

  “Maybe it’s time you consider marriage—”

  I stopped, and he followed suit. I looked him square in the eye. “What is it with Flicker and you?”

  “What?”

  “Trying to marry me off,” I said.

  “It’s just that by your age, most girls are married.”

  “I have yet to find the right suitor.” I reflected on the words of my mutter. “Make sure your prince is truly a prince,” she’d said.

  “An arrangement of marriage would suit. No?” Seriousness lifted his right brow, marred by a scar placed there by Orell. When they’d been roughly thirteen, the boys had returned from the forest and Orell stormed into the cottage and slammed the door. In my bedchamber, I had jumped at the sound, dropping the doll my mutter had purchased for my eighth birthday weeks prior. I looked out the window and saw Nisse standing in the yard, stunned, with blood streaming down his face. He’d then turned, mounted his horse, and whipping his reins side to side, he rode out, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

  I continued on down the street. “Like Mutter and Vater’s marriage? No. I won’t make the same error in choosing a husband.”

  “Surely you don’t still think a prince is in your future. All the magic that dwells in the mountains can’t bring you a prince, unless you would consider a dwarf prince. Ah, that’s it—you’re waiting on Flicker to request your hand in marriage.”

  I sputtered and glared at him. “You spew such foolishness. Though Flicker’s as fine a man as any, he’s my friend and nothing more. And not an ounce of royal blood runs through his veins, or have you forgotten?”

  He laughed. “Why, Valentina, I do believe you have grown up since I left. No longer a girl but a woman with more spirit than maybe one husband can control.”

  “Do you wish to control your woman?” I asked with honest interest.

  “What? Of course not. I’m not your brother, nor your vater. Vater always said your mutter was too good for the likes of Timo Fürst. And it’s no secret that Orell bears some of his vater’s traits.”

  My steps weighted, I said, “I’m afraid he’s far worse.”

  “Does he hurt you?” His voice was deep, controlled.

  “Sometimes.”

  His hands tightened on the reins. “The day of reckoning is coming for Orell.”

  I shivered. I didn’t want harm to come to my brother, but I imagined what life would be like without him. Would I miss him any more than I did Vater? The disquieting answer charged me with guilt. “You speak what has troubled me; I too fear his day of judgment draws near.” That likelihood hung heavy in the air.

  We soon said our goodbyes. Nisse left with a promise to come by the farm. I returned to the wagon, and an eerie sensation that I was being watched made me look around. A sudden gust of wind pushed tendrils of hair over my face, and I lifted a hand to smooth them back into place. Debris shuffled around my feet, and a piece of parchment caught flight and pinned itself to the front of my frock. Retrieving it, I scanned the words inscribed:

  Help Wanted

  Clean and tend a household. Board and salary included.

  All interested parties are to inquire at Chateau Winslow.

  The Winslow family had returned! After all thes
e years. Curiosity pricked at me. Why had they returned? A chill from the frigid breeze chased up and down my spine. Again I scoured my surroundings. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, I attributed my paranoia to the overwhelming stress of the day. I tucked the parchment inside my mitten, boarded the wagon, and set off for home.

  The mountain hare fed on the vegetation poking through the fresh blanket of snow, unaware of the predator that held him within their sights. I withdrew an arrow from the leather quiver and nocked it to the bow I’d made of mulberry wood and animal tendon. Steady of hand, I gripped the handle, took aim, and released. The whoosh of the arrow whizzing through the air was followed by a thunk as it found its mark. The hare dropped, nerves jerking its body, and then its movement ceased. I moved in and sank to my knees, whispering gratitude to the creature for giving its life so that Orell and I might eat. I grabbed the animal’s legs and secured it to the tether at my waist. The muttering of the earthmen who had followed me on the morning hunt reached my ears.

  “Steady hand, that one.” A light chuckle. “I bet she’d outshoot even you.”

  “Don’t be so sure, my friend. I was an excellent marksman straight from the womb.”

  I hid my smile behind my long, dark tresses. They were always there, watching and waiting, but for what I did not know. I thought of them as my guardians.

  “I see you haven’t lost your touch,” a husky voice said behind me. I leaped to my feet, retrieved an arrow from the quiver, and took aim all before I realized who had crept up on me.

  “Woo! Hold on!” Nisse stood with his hands in the air.

  “What are you doing? I almost shot you.” I swallowed my heart.

  He rolled back his shoulders, looking self-satisfied. “My time wasn’t wasted teaching you. Your marksmanship is remarkable.”

  “See, even he agrees,” the dwarf whispered to his companion.

  I snuck a look at Nisse but he hadn’t noticed, and no reply came from the other earthman.

  “Clean through the heart. A quick and painless death.” Nisse lifted the hare dangling from my belt.