Reluctant Enemies

Chapter 4

Beth felt out of sorts that morning.

Her dream had left her confused, sad, and scared.

And to make things worse, her furniture was moved around again.

Bernard came up to her room shortly after she had gotten cleaned up and dressed, as though he'd known she needed his help.

They got everything back into place in record time, then went downstairs where Bernard allowed her to help him prepare breakfast. Beth suspected he'd known she needed something to re-orient herself, as he'd been very rigid about cooking the meals on his own before.

They made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and fresh orange juice.

Beth had squeezed the oranges on a pretty glass dish, finding the simple press and twist relaxing.

By the time breakfast was ready Beth felt calmer, and her thoughts were neatly organized as they ought to be.

She pulld out her phone to text Taehyung good morning just as Bernard turned around.

"Miss Beth, if you could pass me the-" His eyes landed on her screen by accident, and amusement mingled with slight concern flickered briefly across his face before he continued "The shredded cheddar please."

Beth passed the cheese he'd named and he sprinkled it onto each serving, giving her a slightly more generous helping, and saying nothing.

Beth smiled.

.

.

.

.

At noon, her parents called all of them together for a family meeting.

They presented a strange set of bagpipes, proclaiming that they had found what they were looking for, and explaining that they would be taking it to a museum later that day to have it looked at because it was believed to be one of a very old set.

If it was the one they believed it to be, they would be gone for several days to show it to multiple museums and try to get a good price for it.

Beth never believed a word of it.

As she watched them depart, Bernard's presence by her shoulder was comforting, although the big man was tense.

Maya and the boys dissappeared to play hide-and-seek in the castle, and Beth had expected Bernard to excuse himself to do something, but he hesitated.

"Miss Beth, may I have a moment of your time? There is something you deserve to know."

Beth was startled. "Of course Bernard. What is it?"

There was that tension in the corners of his eyes once again, and he beckoned her to come with him.

"Mind you miss, I am not supposed to be telling or showing you any of this. However your parents, who should be telling you, have refused and left the job resting on my shoulders. Please do not hold it against them." He strode stiffly through the hall as he spoke, so that Beth nearly had to run to keep up. "They are under a very large amount of pressure."

Beth nodded. "I can understand that. Is this about the mysterious, all-powerful bagpipes?"

His words when defending her parents had been stiff, rehearsed. Now he almost smiled, the tension easing for a second before his expression became stoic once more.

"Hardly. As you have guessed, they are largely unimportant."

Bernard paused before a large oak door that Beth hadn't seen before.