Blood Bride

Chapter Four

Sorry for the long wait i will try to be more regular with the updates now! Why dont you go like my author facebook page and the facebook group for Blood Bride. links here and in comments below! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1501242146833269/ and https://www.facebook.com/samanthacbirch

I had fallen asleep soon after barricading myself in my room and when I awakened the next day I was surprised to see half the day had gone. Looking out the window, blinking rapidly from the pain of the midday sun's penetrating rays assaulting my eyes, I noticed how eerily silent the town was.

My house was on the edge of the centre of town and I watched as women and men took down the hanging lights and flowers that adored the surrounding buildings. Children ran in and out of their mother's skirts picking up flowers from the floor and placing them in baskets. Burly men removed the benches and tables, lifting them over their shoulders before taking them back to the town hall.

All of this was done in silence.

A sudden gust of cold wind hit me and I picked up a ratted old shawl from the chair beside me and wrapped it around my shoulders as I turned from the window, closing the shutters.

When walking back to my bed I noticed my wardrobe drawn across in front of the door and thought back to the previous night's escapades. Nearly getting raped by two men was one thing but what truly scared me was the thought of the consequences of hitting Peter Hallow over the head with a lantern. I couldn't remember if I saw him move or not, or whether or not the flames set alight the hay around us as left, only the fear I felt at the time when I ran back home and bolted myself in her room, terrified of him coming after me.

I walked over to the door and pushed against the wardrobe with all my might, the sound of wood scraping against wood filling the air. It seemed harder than when I remembered moving last night. Probably because of the adrenaline, I thought. When the wardrobe was back in its place, I stood back straight just as I saw something flutter to the ground.

Picking up the red rose, I cut my finger on one of the thorns and small beads of blood bled from the tip. Sucking the blood away I turned my attention to the rose. After receiving it yesterday from a surge of wind I had placed it on my bed before getting ready yet here it fell from the top of my wardrobe.

This all confused me but I brushed the many questions aside, placing the flower on my bed as I heard movement outside her room.

Pulling the shawl tighter around my thin chemise I opened the door only to run into my mother.

My mother was looking very flustered when she ran into me. Her hair was half up and down and didn't look like it had been brushed or washed in a while. Her soft blue dress looked worn and had some stains on the bodice. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sagged with fatigue as she pulled her limbs up to my door.

"Mother are you okay?" I asked, concerned for my mothers welfare.

"Yes, yes," my mother reassured me, wiping a dark ringlet from her face, "It's just your father. He's not feeling well so I've been up night and day caring for him. He must have caught an illness last night at the festival."

I didn't know what had happened with my mother and father after I had left the festival and I had fallen asleep before they arrived home. Upon reflecting on my midnight escape I also wondered what happened with Patrick and Catherine. I knew that girl could get herself into so much trouble even as heavily pregnant as she was. I promised to herself she would visit them later that day.

"Well, why don't you lie down and get some rest," I suggested, "I'll look after father for a while."

"I think I might," my mother replied, wiping sweat from her forehead, "there is a bowl of soup and a tuff of bread by his bedside, can you try and get him to eat, he wont eat any of it when I try to make him."