Page 44 of Emma & Edmund

"It seems my dear old friends lived a life you never knew. Maybe I have some of the answers that you are seeking." Emma, still rooted in the ground where Edmund had once been, watched the shadow form, expecting her to spring out at any moment and attack like a wild animal. Edmund seemed to feel none of her fear, a new, hope-filled question falling from his mouth.

"What do you mean? Please tell me."

"Edmund, she's lying." She had no true reason to think so but couldn't stand the naïve trust that he exuded.

"I can prove it." The chilling mouth didn't need to glow for the slimy smile to be evident in her voice.

"Fine, then," Emma spat back, "now is your opportunity. Prove yourself."

"Not here, though. Somewhere more comfortable."

"Absolutely not," Emma said immediately, the horror the implication brought her obvious refusal.

"Now hold on," Edmund turned his attention to Emma, "perhaps this is exactly what we were waiting for."

Emma could have screamed, only barely keeping it at bay. "You have no reason to believe this. I, once again, do not."

"She knew my parents, Emma."

"If that's true, why hasn't she ever called on you before now? Why approach you for the very first time on this very dark path, very late at night?"

A light cough from the stranger interjected. Emma did not want to look back into the void, the eerie ever-present shadow covering the interjector, helplessly watching as Edmund did.

"I've been away from the area for some time. I was actually at Belmont's door, not more than an hour ago, only to notice a party well underway. Uninvited as I was, I did not want to intrude. Thus, was on my way to find lodging for the night. This is nothing more than a happy coincidence."

A short, shallow cough capped the woman's goodwill speech. Emma recognized the cough; it was one she would use to hastily excuse herself or draw a modicum of attention to her. In short, it was as false a cough as Emma was a man.

Apparently, it was less obvious to Edmund. At the grating noise, he clicked his tongue sympathetically, undoing his cloak with one hand before sweeping it off his shoulders. In one step, he was before the shadowed woman, dropping the cloth around her.

"Come. We will continue this conversation somewhere warmer."

"Edmund...!"

"You're free to return to Belmont, Emma," Edmund said without looking at her, "thank you for your help this evening." His tone left no room for retort, no space for defiance.

"Thank you, kind lord." Emma could have smacked the woman.

A part of her wanted to stay rooted to the ground, to stubbornly remain on the small pathway and allow the other two to walk off. If Edmund wanted to trust this woman without a word edgewise from her, she might as well let him walk off to his doom alone.

But when Edmund seemed more than ready to call her on the bluff, all his attention turned to the woman as he asked her to follow him.

Unlike Annie, who played the part of a gypsy from her airy, vague voice to her very clothing, this woman was just as any other traveler. From her woven hat, tied with a black ribbon, to her simple brown dress and browner smock, Emma could never have picked her out of the crowd.

That is if this even was the woman they were waiting for.

She should take Edmund's advice, to return to Belmont and allow him to do as he pleased with the creepy creature they stumbled across. She could enjoy what is left of the night, true sobriety not yet returning to her, and ignore the threat just as Edmund was. He was more than grown and strong enough to take care of himself.

"You're not going to stay here, are you Emma?" Damn him. Damn the worry and concern evident in his words. And most of all, damn her and her weak resolve.

"Are you going to leave me?" Emma shot back, the snide words slipping through her lips before she had fully committed to the act. The deep sigh they pulled from Edmund hit her heart harder than she would ever admit.

Any frustration he may have felt to her resistance was absent from his face when the moonlight captured it as he turned to her, even if a similar vexation rushed through Emma. "Of course not, come over here."

With a wary eye still trained on the willowy pale woman, Emma obeyed. Slipping her gloved hands through his, she allowed herself to be pulled in close enough for him to lean down as if it afforded them any sort of privacy.

"Trust me, Miss Thompson," Edmund's breath ghosted over the sensitive skin of her ear lobe. "I'll take us back and if you are still distrustful, I'll return you to Belmont safe and sound."

"Mr. Anthony will skin you alive for this."