Chapter 28. Daniel staggered back, nearly toppling over

D aniel staggered back, nearly toppling over. “Where is she?” he cried, staring in horror at the boarded-up store. “Where has she gone?”

He stood, trying to make sense of his frantic, rambling thoughts, trying to decide what to do next.

How could she disappear overnight? Vanish into thin air?

As he stood in shock and dismay, a voice floated toward him, calling him, “Daniel! Daniel!” Nora’s voice!

He uttered a low cry of surprise, then held his breath, listening hard.

Again he heard her voice. Again he heard her calling his name from far away, so far away. So faint and far away that it could be the wind. Or his imagination.

“Daniel! Daniel!”

“Nora, I hear you!” he cried frantically. “Where are you? Where?”

He listened again. It is my imagination, he decided miserably.

His shoulders slumped forward. The sky darkened. He felt like collapsing into the dirt.

“Daniel! Daniel!”

The faint, faraway cries were going to drive him mad.

“Daniel! Daniel!”

Desperately Nora called to him, pounding on the frame of her bedroom window above the store until her fists throbbed with pain.

“Look up! Why won’t you look up?” she pleaded, watching Daniel, his face darkened by shock and grief.

“Daniel! Daniel! Up here!” she screamed.

Finally he glanced up. Finally he saw her. “Nora!” She could hear his happy cry through the glass.

Wiping away her tears, she pointed frantically to the narrow balcony outside her second-floor window. It took him only a few seconds to realize she wanted him to climb the drainpipe to the balcony.

She watched as he tossed his heavy coat to the ground, grabbed the pipe with both hands, and began to pull himself up.

Behind him, she saw, the village square stood empty, except for a large yellow hound dog sleeping in the middle of the street. “Hurry! Please hurry!” Nora begged, her hands pressed against the thick windowpane.

A short while later he was standing outside her window, breathing hard. He stared in at her tearstained face. “Nora, what has happened?” he demanded. ‘Open the window!”

“I cannot!” she called out to him. “My father has locked it! I am locked in my room!”

She watched him grip the frame and struggle to pry the window up. It wouldn’t budge.

With a loud groan he pressed his shoulder against the glass and leaned with all his weight. The pane remained in place.

Nora leapt back as Daniel heaved his shoulder into the pane again. She cried out as the glass fell into her room. It landed flat at her feet without shattering.

With a happy cry Daniel burst through the popening and swept Nora into his arms.

“Daniel! Daniel, I thought I would never see you again!” Nora cried, pressing her damp cheek against his.

He hugged her tight. “Nora, what has happened? Why has your father locked you in here?”

She held on to him for a moment, as if proving to herself that he was solid, that he was real. “Father locked me in to make sure I would never see you again. He has gone to the next town to make arrangements. He is taking us far away, Daniel. Far away.”

Daniel uttered a cry of surprise. “But why, Nora?”

“He found out that you are a Fear,” Nora replied, her body trembling, tears rolling down her flushed cheeks.

“So you know!” Daniel said, feeling his pulse throb at his temples. “You know I am a member of that cursed family!”

“I know, and I do not care!” Nora declared. “I love you, Daniel! I do not care anything about your family or its past!”

“I love you, too, Nora!” Daniel cried, and they embraced again. “But you must know the story of our families. You must know all about the curse.”

“No! Take me away from here!” Nora pleaded, her voice trembling. “For Father will never allow us to be together. He will be back in an hour or two. And then—”

“That is time enough for me to tell the story,” Daniel insisted. “And then we will be married!”

“Yes!” Nora agreed, squeezing his hand. “Oh, yes, Daniel!” They kissed.

Holding her hands tightly, Daniel revealed to Nora the tragic history of the Fears and the Goodes. She listened in horrified silence, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“So many deaths, so much murder and betrayal,” she murmured when Daniel had finished.

“Does this mean that you will not marry me?” he asked, his eyes burning into hers.

“We must be married at once,” she replied breathlessly. “We must end the curse forever.”

Daniel cried out in happiness. “I passed by the house of the town justice on my way here. I know he will marry us now!”

Nora’s smile faded. She gazed at him uncertainly. “But, Daniel, we have no ring to bind the ceremony.”

Daniel let go of her hand. His expression turned thoughtful. “No ring …” he muttered, frowning. “Oh. Wait!” He reached behind his neck and pulled off the silver three-clawed pendant. “This will serve as a ring, Nora!” he proclaimed excitedly.

“What a strange object!” Nora cried, staring at it. “Where did you get it?”

“It is of no concern,” Daniel replied excitedly. “It will serve as a ring.” He raised the silver disk to slip the chain around her neck.

As she arranged the pendant, Nora felt a sudden surge of heat at her chest and thought she saw flames rising up around the room. The strange image lasted only a few seconds. When it cleared, Daniel was pulling her by the hand toward the window to make their escape.

“Tonight is my grandfather Simon’s seventy-fifth birthday party,” Daniel told her, helping her onto the tiny balcony outside the window. “We will announce our marriage at the party!”

“Oh, Daniel!” Nora cried, lingering at the window. “What will your grandfather say? What if our announcement angers him or makes him unhappy?”

“He can only be joyful that a centuries-old curse has ended,” Daniel replied, smiling, his dark eyes flashing excitedly. “Come, Nora. Hurry! Tonight will be a night we will long remember!”

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20