The Princess of the Dark

In the forest was a cottage. It sat old and abandoned until found by a small girl named Gemma. Inside of the cottage there were rich luxurious fabrics which Gemma's grandmother was sure to love.

...and so Grandmother found herself being wheeled through the forest of North Leicestershire at break neck speed.

"Slow down, sweet girl. What is so important?"

"There's a quilting cottage!" This is the answer to our prayers. It will solve all of our problems!" Gemma squealed, but when they arrived at the cottage, there was no longer a cottage there. Gemma scratched her head and wondered if she had imagined it, but she hadn't.

Grandmother looked grief stricken..."Dear girl, are you trying to play a trick on me?" Grandmother smiled wearily.

"No Grandmother, perhaps we can't see it because I have brought you back with me?" Gemma had a feeling. She reached out to where the cottage door would have been and it opened.

"It's a magical cottage?" Gemma asked.

"Best be on our way then. This isn't meant for our eyes, I can assure you. Your aunt is no longer with us because of this cottage."'

"You know about this place? My Aunt died because of this place?....But Grandmother.... look at the quality of this fabric." Gemma stepped out of the cottage with a bolt of the most luxurious cloth. "You could save the farm with quilts made from this." Gemma brought the fabric to her grandmother to feel. It was most impressive, but this design was too familiar. She held it up to her cheek and it brought back tortured memories of her childhood. Of course she had seen this pattern before.

"Put it back Gemma. We best be on our way. I have felt this fabric before and no good will come of being involved with it."

"Grandmother...that's not true." Gemma said. She had the shameful habit of talking back to adults. She lowered her head at the sight of her grandmother's disapproval. "But, I am not a quiltmaker. Maybe you could teach me. I can then make enough money to save the farm and surely have a bit extra to save for our future."

Wanting nothing more than to leave the wretched place, grandma said, "Fine then Gemma, wheel me back home and we will begin your lessons at once. Leave that fabric here, if you know what's good for us. I can't stress enough that utter ruin will befall us."

"Why....what happens Grandmother?" Gemma asked.

"Well, I really rather not tell you what happens, dear child. She is evil. You are too young...but I can tell you about the queen..at Bradgate Park, six miles north of here, on the edge of Charnwood Forest, was born and grew up- the girl, She was famous amongst her contemporaries for her learning and her piety but a little known fact, was her love of quilting. The cottage was built for her by her father and only those who see it's phantom presence are allowed to enter."

"Lady Jane Grey...I don't know of her."

"She was the Nine Days Queen of England, in the 1500's" Grandmother said.

Grandmother went on. " ....the poor girl was the victim of a sinister plot for the throne and was queen for exactly nine days from July 10th to July 19th, 1553. She was wrongly accused of high treason and was held in the tower of London. She was just 16, when she was beheaded on Tower Hill on February 12th, 1554. The queen was buried beneath the altar of the Tower's Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, and her ghost can be seen roaming the grounds usually around the anniversary of her death. I couldn't enter into this quilting cottage Gemma. All who enter without her permission, find themselves in an early grave."

"But why Grandmother? Was she an evil person?"

"It's doubtful that she was evil in life. She was just a young girl. But, legend has it that she wanted more than anything to be a mother. She never got the chance of course and her one wish was to have...let's just say... a quilt made by a child of her bloodline."