I Promised You - William and Ophelia Read online

  “You are scaring me, mother. I admit that I have found it hard to speak the local dialect on occasion. I do find myself forgetting sometimes. William seems to have a very unusual speech pattern himself. I wonder about him.”

  “It is dangerous, daughter, do not fall into that trap.” Ophelia’s mother warned her. “If you start showing off your knowledge, you risk being considered insane, or a heretic.”

  Ophelia found sleep hard to come by that night, and also for the next couple of weeks as she looked forward to seeing William and Gertrude again.

  When the storms of the prior two mornings ended and the sun came out to stay again, Ophelia decided to make a return trip to the Palace. She was up very early and had bundled up a good supply of her sister’s clothing to take with her, as well as her hairbrush. She hugged her mother good-day and set out on her way.

  About twenty five minutes into her journey, Ophelia sat down on a rock to rest and to also collect her thoughts. She looked up when she noticed an old woman approach her. The woman was bent over and used a larger tree branch as a makeshift cane.

  “Good tidings, Alma.” Ophelia greeted the older woman.

  “Good day, Alma answered. “Tis a young man in the forest a day or two ago twas lookin for ye.”

  “Looking for me? Did you know this young man?” Ophelia asked.

  “Naw. He’ in be pretty enough to the eyes, wert polite in tongue.” Alma said.

  “What did he say? What did you tell him?” Ophelia asked her.

  “He asked if I’d be knowin ye and if I knew where thine be. Is ye hos around here. Of course, I dinna be tellin him nothing.”

  “Of course not. Thank ye, Alma, tis a good friend you are.” Ophelia told her. Ophelia wanted to inquire more about this young man. She wanted to determine if it had been William who was looking for her, but she could not let her guard down around anyone. Not even Alma.

  Ophelia reached into her pocket and withdrew an apple and handed it to the old woman. The woman took the apple, smiled at Ophelia with an almost toothless grin and was on her way again.

  When Ophelia finally came to the clearing where she could approach the Palace, she stopped to look around her. She could understand why her sister would want to live in such a grand place, but Ophelia worried greatly for her. Gertrude was not known for her patience or ability to hold her tongue.

  “Hello there, Ophelia, are you looking for me?”

  Ophelia had been so deep in thought she did not see the young man until he spoke. “William, good day. I have brought my sister her clothing.”

  “I have heard sisters sometimes think alike. Gertie has sent me on a mission to retrieve her garments. Mathew and the King have departed and all is well with both Julia and your sister. Come, you will be able to visit with her.”

  Ophelia was very thankful that she did not have to interact with the King or that dreadful Mathew that she met on her last visit. She let William lead her into the Palace and she was able to have a moment alone with Gertie when William said he would announce her arrival to Julia.

  “Tell me, sister, has there been any talk of the purification? Are you sure you are safe here?” Ophelia whispered to Gertrude.

  “The King and Mathew have left the Palace, along with some other men. All is well here except that there is to be a new arrival shortly. A man they call the Great Evil and he was paid a great deal of money to rid all of England of witches!”

  Ophelia looked around here to make sure no one else could hear. “But sister, should you not leave now with me, before this Evil man arrives?” Ophelia asked, fear and concern in her voice.

  “I am fine and will be fine. I have nothing to fear. The King was called away unexpectedly, so I am sure that when the Evil comes that he will not want to stay. I do not want to leave Julia. We brought forth a little man-child. Julia has named him Hugo and he looks nothing like his father. I have grown rather fond of Julia and I don’t think I could tear myself away from Hugo if I wanted to. Come see, sister, come meet this beautiful little boy.”

  Ophelia spent a pleasant couple of hours in the garden with Julia, Hugo, William and Gertrude. It was Ophelia’s first chance to see the inside of the Palace and her sister gave her the grand tour.

  “Don’t be getting too used to the accommodations, sister, hopefully you won’t be sticking around here all that much longer.” Ophelia said, looking around at the beautiful bed chambers that was assigned to her sister.

  “I admit that it is a beautiful place to spend my time, sister, but only until the King and Mathew return. I feel very uneasy in their company. I feel that there is something amiss with Julia, for she seems to prefer her time away from her husband to her time with him. He does have eyes that cut right through you. As soon as I am sure that Julia and Hugo are safe and can manage on their own I will come back home. But as long as the King and Mathew are away, I am not in a great rush to do so.” Gertie told her sister jumping on her big comfortable bed.

  “William mentioned the Great Evil’s arrival will be soon. Be careful sister.” Ophelia said, giving Gertrude a hug.

  Ophelia and Gertrude walked back into the garden where Julia, Hugo and William were finishing the lunch of bread, tea, cheeses and fruits they shared. Before Ophelia said her goodbyes she asked if she could hold Hugo for a moment. Ophelia loved children and this little boy was a beautiful child and smiled easily.

  Ophelia put the baby over her shoulder to tap his back to allow him to burp.

  Gertrude smiled at the sight of her sister with Hugo. She knew that Ophelia always wanted to have children and she knew that she would make an excellent mother someday. Gertrude saw Ophelia’s eyes grow wide and Gertrude looked to see if she could determine what Ophelia was looking at that was causing such a reaction. Ophelia looked as if she had seen something shocking.

  “You are welcomed here any time, Ophelia.” Julia told her as she took Hugo from her arms. Ophelia stammered and said “thank you.”

  “William went to bring around the wagon, he will take you home.” Julia said. “Gertie, could you help me upstairs? I have suddenly grown very tired.”

  “Of course, Julia. God speed, sister. Thank you for bringing my clothes. Commend me to our mother.”

  Ophelia did not have another private moment with Gertrude. William took her arm. “The wagon is around front, are you ready to depart?”

  Ophelia was still watching the staircase that Gertrude, Julia and Hugo were ascending. “What? Oh, yes, thank you, William.” She said, walking to the wagon.

  William spoke of many things on their way back into the forest. Ophelia could not concentrate, for her mind was elsewhere.

  Ophelia was puzzled and she wished she had a few minutes with her own thoughts. She very much wanted to get to know William better, but she was confused.

  “Tis something bothering ye, Ophelia?” William finally asked her.

  “What?” Oh, no, why does thou ask, William?”

  “I have asked ye twice now if we are still on the right path to your house, thou have not answered me.”

  Ophelia looked around and then said “William, we are very close. I would like to visit a friend of mine who lives hither. Would thou mind very much if I left ye here? Thank you for the ride.”

  “No problem to do that, if you wish, but I would be happy to take you to your friend’s house and even wait until thou are ready to leave again.” William said hopefully. Even though she was not in a talkative mood this afternoon, he was enjoying their time together. “I am not needed back at the Palace any time soon.”

  “Thank you, but no. Could you let me off here?” Ophelia asked, forcing herself to smile.

  “Of course. I hope to see you again soon, Ophelia.” William said, stopping the wagon and helping Ophelia down.

  Ophelia stood there and watched as William turned around the wagon and headed back to the Palace. She sat down on a rock and tried to gather herself. She was positive something was not as it seemed in the Palace.

&nbs
p; “Hello, Ophelia, we be meetin up agin!” Alma called out, breaking Ophelia’s concentration.

  “Good day, Alma.”

  “Could ye help out an old woman, luv? Me branch broke and tis hard on me bones to walk.” Alma said.

  “Oh, of course.” Ophelia said. “Wait right here, I think I see a nice sized branch over there. I’ll be right back.”

  Ophelia walked a bit into the forest away from Alma, turned to make sure Alma could not see her, then pointed at a tree while speaking a few words.

  “Here you go, Alma, I think this limb will suite you just fine.” Ophelia said, handing the sturdy but light weight tree branch to the old woman. “Come, I will walk with ye the rest of the way.”

  Chapter 4

  Ophelia and Alma walked slowly and talked of many things. Exchanging pleasantries to make their time on the path enjoyable. As they came to the fork in the road where they would part company, they bid each other good day and continued on alone.

  “Ophelia! I am so glad to see you back home. Tell me, how is Gertrude and what did you learn during your visit to the Palace?” Her mother asked, giving her daughter a big hug.

  “Gertrude is well, mother. The King’s cousin Julia has given birth to a male child.” Ophelia said and then stopped speaking, taking time to make her and her mother some tea.

  “Go on, child.” Her mother prompted her.

  “Well, it’s just that…”

  “Just that what, Ophelia? Is there danger near?”

  Ophelia sat on a stool across from her mother and said “I can’t imagine how to begin to tell you.”

  “Tell me what, Ophelia?” What has your tongue? Is it Gertrude? Has she gotten herself into trouble yet again?”

  “No, mother, not Gertrude this time. Right before I left, before saying my good-byes, I asked if I could hold the little boy. Such a beautiful child he is, mother, so intelligent too.”

  “The boy cannot be more than a month old, Ophelia. Don’t tell me that he has you now yearning for a young one of your own!” Her mother laughed.

  “What? No, mother, but it was so strange. When I held the child, his name is Hugo. When I held Hugo and when I burped him and had him close to my ear, I could swear he thanked me.” Ophelia said.

  “What were you drinking today, Ophelia?” Her mother asked. “Did that William boy offer you ale?”

  “No, I am quite serious. I heard little Hugo say quite plainly Thank you, Ophelia.”

  “What did Gertrude say? Did anyone else hear the child speak?”

  “Gertie and Julia took the child upstairs, no one else had been close enough to hear. Mother, I am sure that the child spoke to me!”

  Ophelia’s mother clapped her hands together in joy. “He is one of us, Ophelia, little Hugo is one of us! You must get word to your sister as soon as you can. Although, perhaps he will make himself known to her as well.”

  “That cannot be, mother. His father is called Mathew, and he is a man who has been summoned to help with the purification. He and an even worse huntsmen they call The Great Evil. I shudder to think of what either one of them would do to the child if they knew.”

  “You must not speak of this to the child’s mother, Ophelia. If his blood goes back into times that did not mix with his mother’s, then she might harm her son, kill him even.” Ophelia’s mother said, alarm in her voice. “What kind of a person is his mother?”

  “I do not know, mother. I only just met her today. She treated me kindly while I was there. I do know that both William and Gertrude speak well of her and both have expressed worry of what type of beast her husband is.”

  “You must set out again for the Palace before too long, daughter. If Hugo has shown himself to you, then maybe he will also seek out your sister. Let’s pray that he does, she will be able to protect him.”

  Ophelia had many sleepless nights after that conversation with her mother. She wanted to make yet another trip to the Palace. She was concerned that she might be deemed a nuisance and banned from the Palace if she were to appear too often. Then too, she knew not when the King and Mathew were to return. It would do more harm than good if she would visit while the King and Mathew were there.

  Ophelia was washing out some garments of hers and her mother’s near the waterfall when William appeared.

  “Oh my! William, what are you doing here?” She asked.

  “Looking for you, in fact. This was where I first met Gertie. I was hoping to have the same luck today and now I have.” William said, smiling.

  William told her to wait there for a moment and he ran back to the wagon and retrieved a basket with cheeses and fruits. He and Ophelia had a picnic there at the base of the waterfall. Ophelia felt a wave of happiness being with William.

  “William, may I speak what is on my mind to ye?”

  “Of course, did I offend you in some way?”

  “Not at all. I am very surprised to see you today, but also very happy to be sitting here with you as well. I have so many questions for you that my head hurts.” Ophelia said, taking a bite of the delicious orange William had brought with him.

  Encouraged by his kind big brown eyes, Ophelia spoke. “William, I have noticed that you speak in different tongues. Tis hard to tell if you are of Nobel birth, or something else. You told me that Julia found you in a market place when you were much younger. Do you have no parents of your own?”

  “I do speak differently at times. I supposed I get that from living with Julia for all of these years. She also speaks in a variety of words. I suppose it comes from traveling around as much as she has. It is easy to pick up different languages or ways of speaking when you are around so many different groups of people.” William said. “My parents were poor and had to leave me to my own resources when I was very young. I have not seen them in many, many years. I owe everything to Julia. May I ask a question of you, now?”

  Ophelia almost dropped a grape she was about to put into her mouth. Perhaps this session of questions was not such a good idea after all. She looked down and said nothing.

  “You apparently have not traveled far from the forest. But both you and your sister Gertie have also spoken in words that are foreign to my ears. I wonder why that is.” He said.

  “Gertie must have been listening to Julia and as for me, well, I catch on very quickly when Gertie speaks to me. William, what do you think of this purification that so many people are speaking of?” Ophelia asked, almost sure that William would not be so willing to seek out her company after today because all of her questions and she was determined to find out everything she could from him.

  “I think it is horrible. Please do not get me wrong, Ophelia, I do not know any witches, nor do I know any magic tricks. It seems to me that to go into someone’s homes for the express purpose of killing them, well that is just wrong. I hate the very thought of it and so does Julia.” William said loudly, and then obviously thinking about his words, amended “Although I do not speak for Julia, only myself.”

  “What if there was something that we could do to help these unfortunate people who are to be preyed upon? Would you be willing to help them? To stand with them and fight against the treacherous, evil men who are nothing but killers?” Ophelia asked.

  William stood up and took a few steps away from her. For a moment, Ophelia wondered if she should not take this moment to run. What if he told Julia what she asked him? Or worse yet, let Mathew or the King know when they returned?