Page 9 of Once Upon an Enchanted Castle

“A terrible loss,” the man said. “You have my sympathies. If you can think of nothing more, I’ll write this up as an accident.”

“Nothing more,” her father said with a glance at her.

She shook her head. The constable and the firefighters left them as the house smoldered, gray smoke curling upward. There was nothing left but a burned-out shell with blackened walls. She stared at it with an overwhelming sense of sadness and despair. They got out alive, but at the cost of losing everything.

Bella stood in the yard next to her father clutching the strange book to her chest. If she’d had more time, she would have grabbed more things from her room. But she didn’t have more time and now everything was lost. Their vast library of books. Her mother’s china. Her father’s antiques he had collected from all over the world. All gone.

And here she stood still in her evening gown while her father wore his night clothes. He appeared to have haphazardly pulled on his overcoat. While he buttoned it, they buttons were off, making it look uneven. The collar stuck up and his hair was disheveled.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked, her voice rough and raw from the smoke.

“We’re going to Hawthorne Hall,” he announced, sounding sure and strong.

Bella snapped her head in his direction. “Hawthorne Hall?”

Hawthorne Hall was in the southern provincial town where her father owned a small, but modest manor house on the outskirts. They spent quite a bit of time there when she was younger. Her mother loved it there, but Bella not so much. They hadn’t been back since her mother died when she was a child.

“Gerald, you, Mrs. Graves and Emmaline will come with us, of course,” he said, as though she hadn’t spoken.

“As you wish, my lord,” Gerald said with a nod.

“Pack what you can in the wagon, though I daresay there isn’t much left.”

There was a bitterness in his tone as he peered at what was left of their manor house. A bitterness she, too, felt.

“Emmaline was looking forward to her days off to spend with her mother and sister,” Bella said. “We should at least ask her if she wants to come.”

She wasn’t sure why she thought of that now. She craned her neck to look for her. She and Edith were huddled together on the edge of the lawn. The girl’s face was tear streaked. The old woman had an arm around her shoulders and spoke to her, as if trying to comfort her.

“Of course, dearest. I need to make some arrangements for us. I think we should spend the night in town, then we can take the train in the morning.”

She gaped at him. He was not thinking clearly. “Father,” she said, her tone soft and patient. “Hawthorne Hall has been closed up for years. Do you think this is a good idea? Besides, I don’t have any clothes and neither do you.”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gerald said, moving a little closer. “If I may, your daughter makes a good point.”

Her father’s gaze bounced from hers to Gerald’s. “She does?”

“Yes, sir. Allow me and the others to go on ahead to make the house ready for you both. That way, we can make sure the larder is stocked for your arrival. In the meantime, perhaps it would be prudent for you and Miss Rinaldi to stay in town a day or two to purchase a new wardrobe?”

Relief settled through her at Gerald’s suggestion. Truthfully, it was the most she’d ever heard the old butler speak. She flashed him a grateful smile.

“And Emmaline,” she added, hastily. “I need her with me.”

Consideration flickered over her father’s face before he finally nodded.

“Ah, yes, quite right, Gerald. I’m not thinking clearly.” He put a hand to his forehead and rubbed. “Bella and I will do just that. We’ll meet you there in a day or so.”

“Very good, sir.”

“I’m going to ask Emmaline.”

Before her father answered, she bounded off toward the two women. They were both dressed in their nightclothes, a dressing gown hastily thrown on and slippers on their feet. They both looked exhausted and terrified but, thankfully, uninjured.

The moment the young girl saw her heading her direction, she whisked away the tears and straightened, as if she wasn’t allowed to grieve losing the manor.

“Are you two all right?” Bella asked, her gaze flickering between the two of them.

“We’re fine, miss. Thank ye for asking,” Edith said.

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