I Promised You - William and Ophelia (5 page)

“You gave my baby a watermelon backside!”
Ophelia said.

“She is still a beautiful baby, both girls
are.” Gertie said.

“Both of my daughters are perfect, but you
are saying that there is a reason why Luna looks so different than
her sister? How could Gertie have done that to our baby, and why
would she?” William asked.

Rose looked at Gertie and shook her head. “I
will tell you, William. I sent Ophelia and Gertrude out on an
errand one day to the next village over. They were given things to
barter for various meats and items that we needed. This was quite a
while ago, before either sister had met you.”

William smiled down at little Luna as Rose
continued her story. “Apparently, Gertrude here had her eye on a
very big watermelon and wanted to trade the last of their items for
it. Ophelia, being the more responsible of the two, told her no.
The day was winding down and the girls had arrived late due to a
sudden storm that had delayed them. This turned out to be a good
thing because by that time, the marketplace was mostly emptied of
patrons.”

“Less people to witness what happened.”
Gertie added.

“Gertie insisted on having that watermelon
and when I walked off with our bartered purchases, Gertie became
angry and put a curse on her.” Ophelia said.

“You put a curse on our children?” William
asked, his eyes flashing.

“Yes and no. I mean, at the time we were very
silly ourselves and the thought of children or marriage was not in
our heads at all. I said may your first born daughter be born with
a backside to match the size of the watermelon you deny me.” Gertie
said, looking at the floor.

“How mean!” William said.

“I did not really mean it.” Gertie
offered.

“But you must have, Luna is living proof!”
William said.

“Gertie and I both forgot about it.” Ophelia
said. “We used to fight and bicker all the time, so that was
nothing new for us. Neither of us ever imagined the time would come
where Gertie’s words would actually produce a watermelon sized
behind.”

“Are there any other curses just waiting to
happen out there?” William asked.

“I don’t think so, Ophelia does not have
donkey teeth,” Gertie said. “We used to put curses on each other
all of the time. This is the first one that actually worked.”

“I think it may be because you produced the
blue mist at the time the curse was spoken.” Rose said.

“Perhaps in time she will grow out of the
curse.” Gertie said.

“Or Luna will grow and the backside will not
be as noticeable.” Rose offered.

“I truly am sorry.” Gertie said. Please
forgive me.”

“I do” William said, “but I can’t speak for
this wee one.”

“Listen, mother, Ophelia. I have something
very urgent to tell you both. We have to leave here, all of us, and
soon.” Gertie said.

“Let me put the kettle on for some tea and we
will talk.” Rose said.

“What are you talking about?” Ophelia asked,
fear in her voice. “Has something happened?”

Gertie and William told Ophelia and Rose
everything they knew about the huntsmen. Gertie said that although
she wasn’t certain how it would all take place, she was sure that
it was going to happen very soon. She told her how Julia had sent
for reinforcements in the form of Cynthia and her husband.

“Cynthia married?” Rose asked. “Such a
beautiful girl, do you know if she married within the power?”

William had a confused look on his face.
“Mother is asking if Cynthia married someone who is like us.”
Ophelia told her husband

“Will Luna and Thelma be like me, or like
you?” William asked Ophelia.

“Only time will tell. Both of my parents are
within the power and that power is very strong. You being mortal
will not hurt our girls, but we will just have to wait and see. I
will love them forever, no matter.” Ophelia said.

“As will I.” William answered, as he placed
Thelma in her cradle. “Can you assure me that our daughters will
have no ill health because of me?”

“Hugo is the child of Julia, her parents were
fully within the power. Hugo’s father is mortal and. Hugo seems
bright and healthy. I am sure our girls will be as well.” Ophelia
said.

Gertie told them of the red ring and how they
had to be at a certain location at the moon’s rising on the night
that they have to flee if they were going to be able to live. She
told how the ring has very powerful magic. “It can split open
mountains, it can transport people to other worlds it is our way
out.”

Ophelia thought her heart would beat out of
her chest.

“I have to go back now, William will come
back here with the exact details when they are known. Tell no one
and make sure you travel light, we have to protect these babies!”
Gertie said, giving her sister a big hug before leaving. “Hurry,
Ophelia, you and momma and the babies be ready to leave whenever
William comes back and lets you know.”

“Daughter, you can not mean that we must
leave tonight or tomorrow surely?” Rose said.

“Tonight, mother, there is much to do and I
have told you as much as I know, for there will be no time for
discussion or answers when the time comes. You, Ophelia, the babies
and I must leave here. Most possibly tonight!” Gertie said, holding
her mother by the shoulders and looking deeply into her eyes.

“William is going with us too!” Ophelia
screamed.

Rose and Gertrude looked at each other and
then at Ophelia. “Of course, yes, he is, but please, be prepared to
hurry, but do not let anyone see you preparing to go. Remember, at
the moon’s rising at the edge of the forest right before the
clearing of the land.” Gertie said. “It is important that you know
that, in case there is not enough time to all travel there
together. If I have to get a message to you it will be a very brief
and a disguised one, so you must know the exact time and place now.
If I have to send a messenger, I will not make him privy to any
actual details. Make sure you bring the beans.”

“Take some now, daughter, we have to make
sure.” Rose said.

William and Gertie kissed the twin girls and
said their good-byes to Rose and Ophelia before heading back to the
Palace. “Be ready to leave tonight.”

“Your daughters are perfect, William, as I
knew they would be.” Ophelia said as she and William were traveling
back to the Palace.

“You knew there were two?”

“No, but I knew one or two, would still be
perfect.”

“I confess I am ignorant of such things, so
could you tell me? Will Ophelia be able to care for our girls and
herself when we leave?”

“Ophelia will be just fine, and she has momma
there to help her. In fact, William, are you sure that you brought
back all that Julia and I asked you to obtain for us on your
gathering trip?”

“Yes, everything. Some items were harder to
find than others, but everything is there.”

“Good. Your part should be all set then,
William. Just make sure that you are there with mother and Ophelia
and the twins at the right time and the right place. We are almost
to the Palace and I see that Cynthia and Ashton have a wagon
packed. Leave now, William, and deliver mother, Ophelia and the
girls tonight. Do not be late, we will not be able to wait. We will
leave this place forever. Hurry, William! I will walk the rest of
the way, go now!”

When Gertie arrived back at the Palace she
was just in time to see Julia in the carriage with Cynthia. Julia
had told the servants that she was going shopping with her friend.
She said very loudly “I was waiting for you to return, Gertrude,
please watch over Hugo for me. It will be a day or three before my
return.” She then kissed Hugo and handed him over to Gertie. “Your
mother will be back with a lot of nice clothes for you, Hugo.
Goodbye, Gertrude.”

She then told the other servants that they
would not be needed at the Palace until she returned from her
shopping trip. “Gertrude is quite capable of fending for herself.”
She said and snuck a worried look at Gertie before turning and
leaving.

The other people on staff were only too happy
to be receiving a couple of days off. “Sorry you got stuck with the
lad, Gertrude. I had already prepared meal for tonight, so you
won’t have to worry about that.” The cook told her.

Gertie waited until the last of the staff had
left the Palace before she went in search for the garments she was
looking for. The King’s mother had died several years ago and her
clothes had been stored away in a trunk. Gertie took a matronly
looking black dress out and a heavy shawl. She found a hat and
pined all of her glorious bright red hair up and put on the
hat.

She then prepared two containers of wine and
placed one in the room that the Great Evil had occupied and the one
that Julia and her husband Mathew had shared. She searched the
royal chambers until she found the royal gem encrusted crowns and
staffs and took them with her.

She went down the stairs with Hugo, took his
hand and said “Are you ready, Hugo?” Hugo smiled and laughed and
said “ready.” Gertie chanted and spun in a circle and when the
heavy blue mist cleared, all that was left was an old woman who was
leading her deer on a path that led away from the Palace.

Gertie looked at Hugo and exclaimed “Oh my
dear, deer.” and then she laughed. “You were supposed to be a
mule.”

Gertie limped away from the Palace walking
next to the deer. The night was fast approaching and it was near
time when Gertie and Hugo arrived in the clearing near the forest.
She looked up and saw Julia and two miniature ponies that were
hitched to the wagon. Gertie knew instantly that they were Cynthia
and Ashton.

“Time is short, Gertie, where is your
family?”

William turned the wagon around and headed
back towards home. His head held so many different thoughts that he
felt it would split open. He had the horses at almost a full gallop
before he realized what he was doing and he slowed down. It would
not bode well for any of them if someone to notice him driving so
quickly and to inquire what his great rush was.

As William got closer to home he noticed a
great deal of smoke in the air. So much smoke that William was
finding it hard to see. The horses stopped and refused to go
further. William jumped down and started to run as fast as he
could.

William ran up to what used to be the house
he shared with Ophelia that Alma had given them to live in. William
had left the house only hours ago, and now nothing was left of it
but ash. He started yelling for help, and looking around for any
signs of his wife, daughters and mother in law.

William could not see with the tears in his
eyes mixing with the smoke and suet from the smothering fire. He
staggered several feet away from the house and fell against a tree,
trying to catch his breath.

It was several minutes before William could
get his breathing under control. He started to walk over to the
house that his wife grew up in. Perhaps Ophelia and Rose had taken
the children there before the fire started. There was no one around
for him to ask what had happened.

It was a fifteen minute walk to Rose’s house.
William made it in six. Before he could open the door he could hear
crying. He rushed into the house to find Ophelia crying and holding
both of their daughters, who were also crying.

“Ophelia! Are you and the girls alright? I
saw the house, it is completely gone! Is Rose here? What has
happened? We must leave here tonight.”

Ophelia could not catch her breath. The room
was filled with a dark blue mist, but it was her tears that was
holding her voice hostage. “William! It was the Great Evil! He came
and torched Alma’s house! We saw them coming and we hid and thought
he would go away, but instead he set the house on fire!”

William had never felt such raw anger and
hatred in his life. “Where is your mother?”

“After the Great Evil left, some of the
Villagers came to see if we were alright. They told us that they
had word that Alma had been killed this morning as she walked the
path from her sister’s house. She was coming to see if I and mother
were well. Alma could not move out of the way fast enough and the
Great Evil just ran right over her and left her dead in the path!”
Ophelia said.

“That is horrible! I heard that news this
morning on my way back from gathering. I knew not that it was Alma.
Ophelia, where is your mother? Is she here? Did she escape the
fire?”

It took Ophelia another minute or two to
compose herself. “She went to tell Alma’s sister what has happened.
She took two men from the Village and they were going to try and
find Alma and take her to her sister’s house.”

William looked outside. “Ophelia, it is
getting later, we must go to the clearing and meet Gertie and
Julia. We leave now or we shall die here.”

“I cannot go without momma!”

“We cannot stay here, Ophelia. Listen, you
take the girls and go to the clearing. The wagon is not far from
here. I had to leave it when the horses would not advance further
because of the smoke. Find it and take it to the clearing. I will
find your mother and we will meet you there. Go now, Ophelia, time
is running out. You must do this for our daughters!” William
cried.

Ophelia called on every ounce of strength she
had to stand up and hand the children to her husband. She made sure
that the pearls were in her hair and she grabbed a big bag of
coffee beans. William saw the bag, but did not want to spend even
one second not hugging and kissing his daughters goodbye to ask
questions.

“Come, Ophelia! I will show you where the
wagon is.” William said. They half ran, half walked their way
through the forest until they came to the wagon. William helped his
wife up and gave her Luna and Thelma. Ophelia took the reins in her
hands and said “William, you must find mother. No matter where she
is on her way to Alma’s sister’s house, you must make her leave
with you and meet us in the clearing. There is no time!”