Nine Steps to Sara (17 page)

The fog made it difficult to drive on the narrow, country road and it was slow going once they left the village.  Eyes on the blanket of fog outside the car, a dark shape caught her attention at the side of the road.  “I think there’s someone out there.”

“In this soup?  Bloody stupid if you ask me,” he muttered, slowing at first, but no one came into view.  “I think you were mistaken, there’s no one out there.”

“I could have sworn I saw someone out there…” Sara leaned her forehead against the window, peering into the mist. 

“It was
probably
your eyes playing tricks on you,” Will shrugged, speeding up a little, and Sara leaned back with a yawn.  Maybe she’d had too much to drink; there was no sign of it anymore. 

“Do you think maybe you could explain…” the words died on Sara’s lips when a face loomed in the darkness.  A woman, her pale face drawn with fright stood by the side of the road, wearing an old fashioned hat and coat.  She seemed familiar somehow, though Sara couldn’t place it right away.  All at once it hit her, where she’d seen her before.  “Hey that’s…” before she could point the figure out, the woman leapt in front of the car and Sara screamed, “Look out!” 

Slamming on the brakes, Will swore under his breath, but they both heard the sickening thud as the car connected with the woman’s body, the car jolting to a sudden stop and stalling in the middle of the road. 

“Oh my God…” Sara breathed, pulling at her seatbelt, but Will was faster, already half out of the car by the time she worked it free.  Hot on his heels, she threw open the passenger door.  “Is she…”  Will knelt by the front of the car, his face a mask of confusion.  “Is she alright?” Sara repeated when he didn’t answer her.  “Will?”

“She’s not there,” he replied, meeting her gaze.

“What do you mean she’s not there?” Sara squatted beside him on the dirt road, ducking her head under the car.  Despite the darkness, it was easy to see there was no one under the wheels, or anywhere near the car.  “But… you hit her.  We both felt the impact, didn’t we?”

“Maybe I hit a pothole…”

“No, no I saw her and she threw herself under the car.  Are you telling me you didn’t see her too?” Sara demanded. 

Will shook his head slowly, as if trying to clear it.  “It was dark and the fog plays tricks.  You start to jump at shadows and…”

“That wasn’t a shadow, I recognized her.”

“Beg pardon?” his head came up sharply.

“I’ve seen her before, in a dream I had.  She told me… I had to leave before it was too late.”  Sara’s voice fell away at the last.  She hadn’t made the connection to Jack’s visitor before, but now she realized the women didn’t sound too dissimilar. 

“Sara, you realize how that sounds,” Will said carefully, rising to his feet and offering her a hand up.

“I’m not making it up.  She looked just like the woman in my dream, and I think she might be the one trying to warn Jack away from here too.”

“I think we’d best get you back to the house,” Will’s frown matched hers as he steered her to the passenger’s side, opening the door for her.  Any other time and Sara might have been impressed by the show of manners, but thoughts of the mystery woman distracted her. 

Luckily, the car started right up again, and it was a short drive to the house which still blazed with light despite the late hour.  “Man, my power bill’s
going to
be ridiculous,” she murmured, as Will led her up the front steps. 

“They won’t shut the house down until everyone’s in for the night,” Will explained, holding the door open for her and following her inside.

“Another silly rule,” she sighed, before realizing he’d invited himself in.  “Hey, who said you could come in?”

“I work here, remember?”

“But you don’t sleep here, do you?”  All of a sudden she realized she had no idea where the servant’s quarters were and if the Pooles and Katie stayed there at the house or in the village.  Somehow she’d assumed they were close at hand, but not Will; since he wasn’t really the chauffeur. 

“I could,” he gave her a hopeful grin, no doubt reading more into the simple question.

“You’re more than welcome to; we’ve got plenty of room.  I could probably scare up some clean sheets for you, Katie lives for that stuff.”

“Not exactly what I had in mind, but I thank you, my Lady,” he bowed slightly.

“Uh oh, we’re back to that again, are we?  Is that because we stepped over the threshold and I bec
a
me the Lady of the Manor, or did something change out there for us tonight?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, things were going well, at least I thought they were, and then…”

“Then…?” Will raised a single brow; not helping her one bit.

“Then, you sort of, I don’t know, pulled away a little.  Is it because of what I said about the woman?  Why did you get so upset?”

“Because I think it’s wrong for anyone to threaten you or anyone else.  They’ve no call to make you feel unwanted here, this is your home.”

It warmed Sara’s heart to hear him say it, she was so used to having to fight for everything on her own, it was nice to have someone in her corner.  “Thanks.  But I don’t think she was really dangerous, I think she was just trying to scare him.”

“All the same, I think I will spend the night at the house, just in case I’m needed,” Will decided, locking the door behind them and escorting her to the stairs. 

“Thank you.”

“I’ll make sure the house is locked up tight and give a quick look around to make sure everything’s as it should be.”

“Thank you,” Sara repeated, pausing on the bottom stair, feeling a little like she was back in high school, saying goodnight, wondering if he’d try to kiss her.  Somehow she doubted it, given how formal he could be whenever in front of others, and one of the Pooles might walk in at any moment.  “I guess I’ll say goodnight then.”

“Now then, if you decide I’m needed for anything more than protection,” he took a step closer, “you have only to call and I’ll come.”

“Will you be curled up outside my room, sleeping on the floor?” she teased, backing up a step and he quickly followed, keeping himself at the same height she was. 

“If you like.”

Sara smiled over the mental image, wondering if he would actually do such a thing if she asked him to.  “That idea’s not half bad, actually.  I could have sworn I heard someone in my room last night, but when I turned the lights on nobody was there.” 

“You really have been dwelling on ghost stories, haven’t you?” he chuckled. 

She hadn’t really been thinking ghost at the time, but after the night’s events, she was willing to entertain the notion.  “It sounded pretty solid to me.”  That and the opening door.  Could ghosts do that?  Or did they walk through walls?  Starting to creep herself out, she took another step backwards.  “You know, I sort of like the idea that you’re nearby,” Sara decided.  “Will you take a room near mine?”

“That would hardly be proper, my Lady.  What will the servants think?” he smirked, pursuing her up the next step.

“You know I don’t care about any of that,” she held her ground that time, eyes level with his.  “Actually, Mrs. Poole as much as told me that if you make me happy I should go for it,” she grinned.

“And do I make you happy?”

Her eyes dipped to the curve of his lips, leaning closer without even realizing what she was doing.  “So far, so good…” anything else was muffled against his mouth as his lips descended over hers.  Operating purely on instinct, Sara’s lips parted to welcome him, hands rising to steady herself against his solid chest as he deepened the kiss. 

It had been a long time since she’d kissed anyone but Peter, but her body remembered what to do even if her mind still had a hard time wrapping itself around it.  His hands settled onto her hips, pulling her up against the length of him and she had to trust him to keep them upright as she leaned against him, lost to the power of his kiss.  Everywhere their bodies touched, a tingle of awareness spread, and Sara forgot where they were, who might walk in, any impropriety involved in making out with the not-chauffer in the middle of the entryway as her long dormant desires shook off the dust and sat up to take notice. 

So
much better than high school. 

It was Will who pulled back first, pressing his cheek to hers.  “You’d best get to bed now, my Lady, before I forget how to act the gentleman.”

“And if I decide I want you to?” she shivered at the feel of his warm breath on her neck, “forget?”

Lightly, his lips brushed over hers once, twice… in the barest of touches before he resolutely pulled back again. “Goodnight, Sara,” his chest rumbled with soft laughter.  “Pleasant dreams.”

“I can practically guarantee it,” she smiled over her shoulder at him, slipping up the stairs before the wonderful euphoria of being alive faded. 

* * *

It wasn’t until she lay snuggled in the cozy, dark comfort of her own bed that Sara remembered the mysterious woman and her haze of happiness faded.  Who was she?  Could she be a ghost, or was there something more sinister afoot?  Alone in the night, the tally of odd occurrences s
tacked
pretty high in the short amount of time she’d been there. 

But there were plenty of good things too.  Sara was fast coming to love the old house, not only because of the faded opulence, but because of the great potential she saw to make it a real home again, not just a landmark.  Then there was the village, she’d never met so many friendly, happy people in her life; it made LA look like hostile territory by comparison. 

And Will… just thinking of him was enough to make her sigh with longing.  She’d never in a zillion years thought she’d feel the way he made her feel.  Young and alive, like her whole life still stretched out in front of her, instead of the best years all over and done with.  Knowing he’d be sleeping down the hall gave her all sorts of ideas. 

Imagination spinning all manner of interesting scenarios, Sara gradually became aware of a squeaking sound at regular intervals, loud enough to capture her full attention.  Not a squeak exactly, more like a creak from a rocking chair on an old wooden floor, which was certainly possible in the old mansion. 

Only… who would be rocking in a noisy chair at that hour?  Joanie must be dead to the world with her bottle of brandy, and she wasn’t exactly the rocking type anyway.  It sounded close, very close, almost as if it came from out in the hallway.  Could Will really be sitting outside her bedroom door, keeping watch?  With a shake of the head and a ready quip on the tip of her tongue, Sara scrambled out of bed, throwing open her door, but the hallway was empty.  In the sudden silence, Sara felt a little foolish, but another creak seconds later gave her the vindication she needed to chase it down a little further.

Once out in the hall, it seemed to come from just ahead, but after a few steps, she got no closer to finding the source of it.  As the creaking continued, Sara padded down the length of the hall, convinced she’d find the rocker around the next corner, but the sound always seemed to be coming from up ahead.  Reaching the top of the back stairs, she considered if she should try going up, down or giving up on the stupid search and looking for some earplugs to get some sleep.  At the sound of Mrs. Poole’s voice below, she decided to ask if the housekeeper had any ideas on how to muffle the sound.  Halfway down the stairs, Will’s voice floated up to her, a smile forming as she paused on the steps. 

“I think you know what we’re dealing with,” Will asserted, his tone slightly frustrated
,
and Sara wondered if he’d been going over the same point for a while.

“She’s never done anyone harm before,” Mrs. Poole brushed him off.  “She has no power over us, ignore her.”

“But she may have power over Sara,” Will insisted.  “You should have seen her face tonight!”

“She hasn’t pulled that trick on the road in some time, she must be getting desperate,” Thomas was quick to add. 

Were they talking about the incident out in the fog on the way home?  Sara couldn’t imagine what they meant; who was getting desperate?