Page 29 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
Victoria started to cry.
“Let’s go inside, Victoria.”Her mother’s voice shook.She sounded frightened.
And then her mother hustled her out of the greenhouse.
Victoria held the doll tight in her hands as she glanced around the greenhouse, sensing a presence but not seeing it.The little girl?She’d said her name was Lily.
She heard again the young man’s words at the post, sharp and unavoidable.
…wailing at night for a child lost…
“Lily?”The air crystalized when she said the girl’s name.She forged onward.“I don’t know what happened to you.But I’d like to help you.If I can.”
The voice whispered back,You can’t.No one can.
And then, everything was righted as though nothing at all happened.
That eerie sensation was gone, but it had left a lasting impression on her.
Victoria turned toward the greenhouse door.As she reached for it, a gust of wind blew past.The door slammed shut.She sucked in a breath, dropping the doll, and hurried to it and tried to push it open, but it was stuck.It had taken several tries for her to get the door open in the first place on the outside.Now she was inside and unable to shove it open.Not even an inch.
Trying not to panic, she glanced around the greenhouse looking for something to help her leverage the door.But there was nothing.Only the spade and fork discarded on the bench.On impulse, she snatched the spade, using the tip to wedge in between the door and the frame.
No luck.
Overhead, the sun suddenly disappeared.When she glanced up, she saw there were thick black clouds threatening rain.
Pounding on the door would do no good.There was no one to hear her.Gabriel was still in the house.He hadn’t followed her this time.For a moment, she wished he had as her heart drummed in her chest.
Thunder cracked, rattling the glass panes.
She threw her weight against the door to no avail.She tried again, hitting it harder.This time, it was so hard pain lanced through her shoulder.She cried out, holding her arm against her body as she stumbled backward.
Rain pelted the glass ceiling.Soft, at first.Then harder and harder.The roof on the end of the greenhouse leaked, spilling rainwater inside.Lightning sliced across the sky with the sudden thunderstorm followed by the boom of thunder.
She couldn’t get out.Clutching her elbows she stepped toward the middle of the greenhouse.Hot tears sprang to her eyes.
Her voice trembled.“Don’t panic,” she whispered, but there was a rising tightness in her chest that indicated otherwise.
Hopefully, Gabriel would come looking for her.She’d told him she was heading to the garden.But it was likely he wouldn’t come after her until it stopped raining.Until then, she was trapped here.
The trees surrounding the greenhouse swayed with the gust of wind.One branch over the roof scraped the glass with a high-pitched screech.With her gaze fixed on it, she stepped back.But the branch was so large, if it came down, it would take most of the roof with it.
She tried the door again.She shouted until her throat was raw.
Another gust of wind.
A loudcrack.
She looked up just as the branch snapped and came tumbling down.She leapt out of the way.Glass shattered around her as she covered her head.When she took a step toward the bench, her foot slipped and she went down, smacking her head on the cobblestone floor.
The last thing she saw was the faded doll face staring back at her through shards of glass.Then darkness swallowed her whole.
Chapter 12
Gabrielshouldnothavefollowed her to the village.As the distance expanded between him and the manor, his strength waned, making him weak.His hands shook.His breathing labored.Sweat popped out on his forehead and trickled down his spine.Victoria did not seem to notice.Or if she did, she concealed it.
How could he explain it to her?She wouldn’t understand.He could leave the boundary of the manor to visit the village, but only for a short time and never very far.
