Page 54 of House of Crimson Kisses
My dress is filthy, dirt smudges and stains cover my skirts. A burn hole mars the top layer, and several rips perforate the skirts. There’s even one section where the fabric hangs on by a thread.
My arms and skin are just as vile. Black grime is caked under my fingernails and several are chipped, broken or ragged. My hair has more or less fully escaped from its bun, there’s only one clip left holding strands on the left side. A layer of muck coats my face, which makes my skin appear darker than usual. The only evidence that I am pale complexioned are the shadowy streaks left behind by long-dried tears.
I look like I’ve been abducted and dropped into horse manure. I probably smell the same, given the amount of time I’ve spent with Teddy.
“Oh my, would you like to come and get cleaned up, dear? I can make you some food and a cup of tea with herbs, it will have you feeling proper in no time.”
“That’s kind of you, but no. I wonder whether I might trouble you for some information though?”
“Of course,” she says, hesitating the slightest bit as she looks at me, as though she can’t imagine why I would want to continue to look the way I do.
“How can I help?”
“I’m looking for a woman… well, maybe a body, I’m not really sure. But she would have been bought here a few days ago, burned, maybe. But definitely injured. She would have been taken to specialists, I guess. Do you have healers in this village? Perhaps some that know how to treat burn victims?”
“Oh yes, dear. We have plenty of healers here. This is the healer village, all here practice or are training. Each cottage houses a different specialist.”
I instantly brighten. “Truly? Could you take me to the burns specialist please?”
She nods as a fluffy white cat appears between her legs. “Naughty Herbert, get back inside. You know you’re not allowed out here.” She shoos him inside and then hovers in the doorway, picking up a key and a bag that looks like it’s for collecting plants.
“I’m off to the forest to collect supplies, but I’ll point you in the direction.” She grabs some cutters and then locks up.
She leads me down several winding paths, all of which look identical. All of them cobbled, with as many plants and twisting green vines coating the cottage fronts as every other street. The only difference between any of them are the brightly painted windows and ledges. Each house is adorned with a colour so bright it practically glows. It makes them look like toy houses in a child’s playroom.
“May I ask, why each house has a different colour? In the city, we tend to have areas where everyone’s buildings either match or blend in.”
She nods, sage and knowing. Her back is so hunched I’m not sure how she can see which direction she’s going in, but perhaps her feet have memory and guide her the same way they have for years.
“The colours represent the family’s magic and specialism. There,” she points as we reach a T-junction. Down the left, the houses abruptly stop about thirty metres in, and the forest begins. To the right, the houses wind in the same way they have done along all the other paths we’ve trodden.
“The orange house at the end. If you find yourself bending around the corner you’ve gone too far.”
“Thank you so much,” I say. “How can I ever repay you?”
She smiles, “I used to be in love the way you are now. My wife died a long time ago now, your smile and knowing I helped you find her is enough.”
She gives me a toothy grin, and then she’s shuffling left towards the forest. I call out after her to say thank you, but she waves me off and much as I feel impolite, I cannot wait any longer. It has taken all of my strength to make it this far, and I need to face the truth. I need to find out whether Eleanor is still alive.
By the time I have Teddy tied up to the stone wall outside the cottage, I already have more tears streaking my cheeks.
What if she is dead? What if I’ve come all this way and it’s too late? My hand shakes as I raise my fist to the door knocker.
It’s a strange little thing in the shape of a creature, a gargoyle, I guess. I rather like it; I wonder whether I could have one in the city. I go to pick up the ring hanging from its mouth when it opens its eyes and I shriek.
I stumble back off the step and nearly roll my ankle.
“What on earth?” I say as I pick myself up.
“Whath your problem? No coming in unleth you pay,” the strange door monster says.
“What… what are you?” I say, brushing my dress down and scrambling back up the steps.
“I have no money to give,” I shrug, trying to look apologetic. It’s not quite the truth, but I need to save the coin I have for room and board.
“I donth wanth no money.”
“Then what will you ask of me?”
