The road into Buford was devoid of traffic. Despite her intuition telling her that the mail carriage was not going to arrive today, Erna waited patiently. She still had ten minutes until it was due to arrive, but she didn’t want to run the risk of missing it.
“Aren’t you cold? You should go back inside,” Lisa said.
Erna straightened and adjusted the collar of her coat. Lisa was standing next to her, with a look of concern.
“No, I’m fine, you don’t have to stay here though,” Erna smiled.
Lisa simply looked at her mistress with determination, setting her eyes ablaze. Since arriving at Buford, Lisa had followed Erna around like a shadow, except for when she was bathing, or sleeping. Maybe even then, Lisa was watching her sleep. Erna chuckled at the thought and Lisa gave her a confused look.
Erna had considered the handmaiden several times and each time she came to the same conclusion. She couldn’t let Lisa, who had left her home town for her, to stay in Buford.
“If you say it again, I’m going to get really upset,” Lisa said.
Erna had not said anything, but clearly the look on her face was the same as all the other times Erna had said that Lisa should go back home and live her life.
Lisa already looked like she was about to cry, water came to her eyes and her cheeks grew puffy. Erna pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to Lisa, who took it and buried her face in it. Just as Erna was about to order Lisa back into the house, she caught sight of something coming down the road.
“Oh, the postman is coming.”
Lisa’s agitated outburst quickly subsided, distracted by something else and the pair watched as the postal carriage approached.
“Oh, Your Highness, you’re here again today,” the courier said.
He parked up the carriage and approached with a wide, warm smile on his face. Erna greeted him with a nod and quietly accepted the mail, though the letter she had been waiting for had not arrived. The courier made a little polite conversation, asking Erna when she was planning on heading back to Schuber and how the Royal Family were doing, before heading off onto his next delivery, giving Erna an overly polite farewell.
“Your Highness?” Lisa said, as Erna stared blankly at the small stack of letters in her hand.
“Lets get back inside,” Erna said sombrely.
Your Highness. The title weighed heavy on Erna and she longed to free herself of it. She hoped that the divorce papers would be returned soon, so that she could concentrate on the next step of her life.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
“Ah, yes, its possible to drive you up,” the man’s face lit up as a bundle of bills were laid out for him. “Looks like it might be quite urgent, yes? I can get you there in no time.”
The coach driver stuffed the money into his great coat pocket and smiled. The young man who had been babbling about driving out in a closed carriage, like the hounds of hell were chasing him, looked resolute as the coach driver accepted the job.
The coach driver smiled awkwardly as he opened the carriage door for the young man. He couldn’t help but think of the amount of money he had been given, to ride out in the middle of the night, to the middle of no where. It was enough for fifteen days of work.
He didn’t seem like the average tourist or traveller. He only had the clothes on his back. He was either running from something, or running to something, either way, the coachman was set to make a rather healthy profit from what ever situation this young man found himself in.
There was something oddly familiar about him too, as he stepped up into the carriage and slouched in the seat, with his eyes closed. The profile of him certainly looked like something the coachman had seen before.
The coachman distracted himself with counting out the thick wad of rolled up bank bills.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
The workday in Baden began as soon as the sun rose and didn’t end until the last of its light faded out. After dinner with Baroness Baden, Erna and the servants retired to their rooms and went to bed early. It was a stark contrast to the bustling hive of activity that was the city.
“Are you bored, Lisa?” Erna asked.
“No, not at all,” Lisa said, startled.
She paused in cutting out artificial flowers to look at Erna, who looked back at her with a shy smile. Lisa was captivated by Erna’s beauty and forgot what she was going to say. She could see that Erna had finally returned and things were on track to going back to normal.
“Oh, its already late, you should be getting ready for bed,” Lisa said and started to clear away the table.
Lisa was the one who had suggested Erna go back to making and selling artificial flowers, as she couldn’t stand the way Erna obsessively organised the books in the library, or stood around, staring out of windows.
Erna had gone through a tough time in the last year and a half. Having to face abuse from her father, having her heart torn up by that oaf Bjorn, all that business with Lechen, maybe if Erna involved herself in something productive, she might finally be able to forget the whole rotten business.
Lisa was determined to help Erna find herself again and although she had been left with many, deep, emotional scars, at least she would no longer have to face the pain of one sided love.
Once Lisa finished clearing the table, she went about the bedroom, getting everything ready for Erna to sleep soundly. She chatted with excitement about completing the next order and getting it delivered in a day or so. As Lisa was about to draw the last curtain, she became frozen by what she saw out the window.
There was someone walking down the garden path. Lisa blinked and as sure as anything, there was definitely someone walking to the front door.
“What’s wrong Lisa?”
Erna came over to Lisa, who was staring in wide eyed shock, not saying anything at all. As they stood in the window, the figure came into the porch light.
“No, it can’t be,” Erna gasped.
But it was and stood there, by the door, the uninvited guest knocked. It was hard to believe, but there was no mistaking it.
The sudden appearance of a stranger out of the gloom startled the goat, which bleated at him. Its noise startled the other animals that shared the garden. The chickens clucked and squabbled. Geese gabbled and a young calf mooed in agitation.
“Why are you here?”
The voice of the very angry woman added to the agitated din of the animals. Bjorn said nothing and simply looked at Erna.
Erna did not avoid his gaze, which looked as peaceful as the night had been. She was angry and she did not hide it, they almost glowed with blue rage.
Bjorn let out a sigh and looked around. He had not expected any type of hospitality, but he never really imagined himself in such a situation as this and was unsure of where to tread next.
“Bjorn!”
Erna came out, calling his name and Bjorn looked at her, his head cocked questioningly. It wasn’t until she grabbed his unbuttoned collar that he was sure she had not been a figment of his imagination, like that which had come to him so many times in the last couple months.
Erna was clearly visible before him and although she showed some concern for him, her eyes, which had seemed like unlit windows on the day she left, now seemed bright and full of life. Colour had returned to her face and she looked more alive, more healthy than when Bjorn had last seen her.
Bjorn let out another sigh and smiled dejectedly.
In a frenzied haste, he dashed towards Schuber Central Station and managed to secure a ticket for the departing train bound for Burford. Navigating the bustling midnight streets with sheer determination, he refused to let the last train slip away. Ultimately, he found himself seated within the passenger compartment of a moving train.
As dawn approached and the snow ceased, Bjorn sat in the train, his eyes fixated on the vast, barren field extending towards the horizon. He observed the passing landscape, patiently anticipating the sun’s ascent.
When the morning sun broke through, Bjorn collapsed onto the cramped and uncomfortable bed, drained from his travels. The hum of the moving train did little to disturb his slumber, which was deep and unbroken, resembling a state of lifelessness. When his eyes finally fluttered open, the train was gliding into the terminal station’s platform.
Bjorn splashed his face with the cold water from the washbasin within the cabin and removed the jacket and coat he had hastily donned earlier. Stepping off the train, he felt a renewed sense of clarity and his resolve only intensified.
“Why did you come here, in the middle of the night like this?!” Erna shouted, her words laced with anger and transformed into a white mist as they escape her mouth.
Slowly Bjorn opened his eyes and, with a measured step, he m oved closer to his wife. The pale moonlight illuminated the two of them as they stood on the porch of the mansion.