The Quinn’s coachman stared at the broken wheel with a mixture of surprise and worry. He had made sure to oil the wheel and also had made sure to refix the wheel to the carriage to make sure the ride would be smooth and it had been smooth until a few moments ago.
The servant wasn’t sure if he should be thankful that the wheel hadn’t come off else the carriage would have been dragged for a certain distance before coming to a halt. But on the other hand, there was a possibility that the wheel could have been fixed back. Right now the carriage had broken down, the wheel broken into two halves which in a few seconds broke into another half with a loud sound of the carriage moving down towards the ground.
Both the coachman as well as Penelope cringed hearing and looking at the front left corner of the carriage to fall down.
“Let me go get some help, Miss,” the coachman bowed his head.
“Okay,” she gave him permission to see him away from the carriage and her. Looking around, she sighed. The carriage had broken down right around the forest which made her wonder what help would be provided right now. He would have to go back to Lady Yuvaine’s mansion to get help as the next village was farther away compared to the place they had come from.
Penny wouldn’t have agreed if Quinn’s mansion wasn’t far from here. She believed in staying put than wander around and be caught in something unexpected and maybe she was right.Maybe there was trouble that lurked in the forest, troubles of being caught by men who lacked ethics, black witches who were waiting to pick their next lamb for their ritual and possible unlawful vampires who were waiting for their next victim.
Penny had forgotten to carry her pocket watch today, thinking there was no need to carry it. But as she waited for the coachman, looking at the path they had traveled from and the path they were to head and pass through, she didn’t know how many minutes had passed since the coachman had left her here.
Folding her hands across her chest, she heard a bird far inside the forest to chirp loudly, its sound echoing on one side of the forest. Though it wasn’t snowing right now, the snow on the ground was thick enough to let the temperature drop around it that Penny rubbed her hands against her arms.
The last time she had been out in the cold, it was when she had to bring back bread from the market. She was twelve years old. Unfortunately, her mother had been kicked out of work and there was no money to run the house. No food to feed and life had been dire for two months. She had sneaked into the market but the baker had caught her, wringing and twisting her arm until she had cried in pain.
‘Thief! Thief!’
She could still hear the voice of the people around who had caught her from stealing.
When she blew air out of her mouth, it brought a fog through her mouth that disappeared after a second.
She knew it was wrong to pick and steal things that didn’t belong to you but she had been hungry for straight two days. Asking for work in another village while trying to look for food. In the end, she had gotten nothing to take back home and received slaps instead.
After all the trouble she had gone through for her mother, her mother had decided to repay her through death.
She didn’t understand what her mother wanted. Raising her and then sending her to her relative’s house, had she turned to some kind of sacrificial being where she had been waiting for the right time? And why her? As the thoughts continued to circle in her mind, Penny heard the sound of carriage arrive from the direction where he had come from.
She wondered if it was the coachman who had brought help. Taking a few steps away from the carriage, she walked towards the path to stand aside and wait for the carriage to stop when it came near her. She was about to smile and thank the person who had come to help when the smile dampened down by just looking at the person who stepped out of the carriage. It was Mr. Reverale. He was one of the people who were in Penelope’s top dislike list.
Penny’s eyes quickly looked behind the man and on the carriage where it was only him and his coachman.
“Lady Penelope,” Mr. Reverale greeted her, he looked at the state of the carriage to ask, “What happened to your carriage?”
“The wheel broke,” she answered, her words short and crispt without wanting to fuel the conversation with him.
“It looks like it did,” Mr. Reverale walked around the carriage to have a look at it. Penny wasn’t sure how he was here right now talking to her as she struggled to keep from glaring at him like the last time they had met at the Isle Valley. She had slapped him hard enough that had left her hand burning that day.
It appeared so that the vampire kind were shameless. She could ignore Damien’s shamelessness but not the others. She heard the man say, “This might take more than a day to get fixed. Why don’t you come along with me, I will drop you to the Quinn’s residence,” he offered her politely. But Penny couldn’t help but be suspicious about his offer. She saw him bow his head at her, to say, “I hope you forgive me for what happened during our last encounter. I didn’t realize what Damien meant. It wasn’t right of me to speak to you the way I did. My deepest apologies to you, milady.”
Penny stared at him. Her eyes looked carefully at the man wondering how sincere he was with his words.
“I only offer to help you and nothing more than that,” he added waiting for her to speak.
