The Locket (22 page)

The two stood before the old, brown cottage with their jaws dropped and prayers answered. Both shocked and awe-struck, they gaped at the house with thankful eyes. From where they stood, a path of stepping-stones led up to a petite stairway and a rickety front door. Next to the door was a large glass window that, no matter how hard Savannah tried to look into or how brightly inside lights were shining, did not reveal the house’s interior.

Christian guided the way up the path. Savannah smiled as they crossed under a flowered arc, surrounded by a garden, and onto a wooden bridge that was stationed over a perfectly blue river. She watched while the snowflakes danced from the sky and disappeared into their bed of water.

Racing through the yard, they made it to a six-foot high water fountain before the front door opened and a yellow glow flooded into the blackness of the night. “Hurry up, children! Hurry up! Before you catch a cold from this dreadful weather!” An elderly woman dressed completely in black and purple robes stood in the doorway with her hand motioning them inside.

Not waiting to make sure it was a good idea to go into this stranger’s house, they picked up their pace to the door. “Oh, you poor children,” the woman said as they ushered in. “You must be freezing! And I can see that you’re soaking wet. Take off your shoes and we will see what we can do about your clothes.”

The front door led them onto a simple landing that led off into two rooms: a living room on the left and a dining room on the right.

The living room was quaint, with a fireplace against the back wall and two loveseats in the middle of the room facing one another. A Persian rug was set underneath a brown coffee table that lay next to an oversized blue chair, and a countless amount of picture frames hung on every wall.

Though she could only see the one room at the moment, Savannah took notice of how modern this little cottage looked, despite its location. Odd.

“Please forgive us for the intrusion, ma’am,” Christian took charge before Savannah could get a word out. Of course that wasn’t a hard thing to do when the strangeness, yet beauty of the cottage was distracting her from her manners. “We know it is late and a bit inconvenient, but we—”

“Well, of course you can stay, my ducklings. It would be best if you stayed the night though; I’m not quite sure when this storm will let up and, regardless of the weather, there are creatures out there I’d rather not have the two of you be confronted with.” Taking the liberty of removing the cloak Christian had tightly wrapped over Savannah’s shoulders, the woman hurried to hang it by the fireplace, and gestured for them to follow her.

The woman was older, though not frail by any means. She had a bigger build, not overly so, with curly gray hair that had streaks of white on one side. Her face was round and kind with few wrinkles. She had smaller eyes hidden behind slightly larger glasses, which coordinated awkwardly with her oversized nose. Behind her majestic robes, she wore a floral, ankle-length dress with a white lacey apron that covered only the bottom half of her dress and a shimmering blue gem at the end of a long chain for a necklace.

Upon entering the room, Savannah memorized the layout of the house in her mind. The living room branched off into four different rooms: the kitchen on the right, a long narrow hallway on the left, the landing with the front door behind them, and a square-like shallow hallway that held a door on either side in front of them. Each room that she saw was painted in neutral colors with wooden floors and elegant furniture. They all held a cozy, home-like appeal, with dozens of pictures and photographs.

The living room was particularly cozy, because the only window within view was in the kitchen above the sink or the large one they saw outside next to the front door. The warmth of the fire radiated throughout the entire house, already drying off her skin and preventing any more shivering.

“I’ll just put this over the fireplace to dry off. In fact, why don’t you two take off your clothes and put them over the fireplace as well. That way they can be nice and warm for you for tomorrow.” The two of them blushed as they looked at each other in both embarrassment and confusion. “I’m sorry, I meant after I get some new clothes for you,” the woman finished. They both nodded their heads as they were led into two separate rooms down the narrow hallway on the left.

First, she took Christian into the spare room further back by the end of the hallway and then led Savannah into the second room closest to the living room. “Now, if you need me for anything, just call and I will be right there. I just have to make sure that stew doesn’t burn. Come on in the dining room once you’ve finished, and I’ll see to it that you get a good meal in you.”

Savannah nodded in pure appreciation. “Thanks again for everything. You’ve been our lifesaver.”

“Think nothing of it, my dear,” the woman replied. Just as she was about to leave, she stopped herself and poked her head back into the room. “And by the way, my name is Bertha. But you may call me Betty for short.” Savannah smiled as she continued down the hall, not getting a chance to give her name as well.

The room Bertha had placed her in was stunning. Painted in a calming blue, one wall held a window that was set above a fancy dresser, while the rest had paintings of landscapes, all in pastels. A twin-sized bed covered in blue wool blankets sat across from the window along with a miniature oak nightstand.

Her favorite piece of furniture in the room, however, lay on the side adjacent to her bed. It was a wooden vanity, painted a soft white that matched the frame of the bed as well as the color of the dresser. It contained only two drawers with metal flowers as the handles. The mirror was enormous and ornate, but perfectly clear. It almost made her wonder if the true Savannah was in or out of it.

What made this vanity especially interesting was the fact that, unlike the living room furniture, it seemed to match this dimension particularly well. Back in the twenty-first century, a piece like this would be considered vintage. But here it was in its place—the correct style for the correct world.

Gliding over to the bed, Savannah found a new set of clothing neatly laid out for her. Replacing her white tank top with the midnight blue peasant shirt and her jeans with the flowing brown skirt, she sighed in contentment. She had never felt comfortable in skirts or dresses, not because she didn’t like them, but more so because they weren’t always practical. It felt so good to just … be a girl and wear something pretty for once.

Poking her head out to see if Betty was around so that she may properly introduce herself, Savannah opted to wait in the dining room as she was instructed, hoping to get the chance before she seemed impolite. Following the scent of heaven, she realized that she hadn’t much eaten since the night before and was starving!

Christian was already at the table, dressed in a white dress shirt and brown pants, his hair slicked back from the rain. Feeling that excited jolt when she saw him, Savannah couldn’t think of a better image than the one in front of her. “Well, don’t you look handsome? Being out in the pouring rain agrees with you.”

He smiled, taking in a satisfying look of her as well as he got up from his chair. “I could say the same about you. You look stunning.” Then he added when she gave him a curious look, “I have always been accustomed to standing when a lady enters the room.”

Returning his grin, though with a hint of increasingly red cheeks, she took a seat next to him at the table just as Betty came rushing in from the kitchen with a pile of laundry. “I’ll be right with you, my dears,” she shouted back as she made her way back into the hall.

Savannah looked from the kitchen door to the front hallway. “Things do seem to move quickly around here.”

As if on cue, Betty came rushing back in from the front hallway, heading back toward the kitchen. “Okay now, your clothes are almost dried and the dinner is cooked, so, if you’ll excuse me for another moment, I will go and fetch it.”

Savannah let out a laugh, amused by her strange company. “You know, for an older woman, she moves insanely fast. I wouldn’t keep trying to stand up if I were you—you might get dizzy.”

Before Christian could respond, Betty came whooshing back in with a black cauldron full of steaming beef stew. “I hope no one’s a vegetarian. Now eat before it gets cold. I apologize for my absence, I’m afraid I must sew up my husband’s work pants before tomorrow. That silly man can’t even keep a single pair in one piece!”

“Shouldn’t we wait for you before we eat?” Savannah began, wondering where all of the plates and silverware were.

“It’s all right my ducklings, I already ate dinner. You go ahead; I made that for you. Anyway, I have to tend to these pants, so if you don’t mind …”

“But we do not have any eating utensils,” Christian quickly suggested.

“You don’t, do you? Well,” and with the blink of an eye, there in front of Savannah and Christian appeared bowls, spoons, and napkins. “There now, eat hearty.” And with that, she vanished into the other room.

***

“What just happened?” Savannah couldn’t take her eyes off the colorful china long enough to give Christian more than a glimpse of huge, attentive eyes.

He chuckled, enjoying her non-domestic reaction toward his world. “It seems to me that our host is a witch.”

“Yeah, caught that,” she murmured, examining a fork as if it were something new to her. “Wow, I’ve never seen a real witch before. Do you think she’s more like Glinda or more like the Wicked Witch of the West?”

“Uh, well, considering I am not sure who either of those two people are, I am going to say she does not appear wicked, therefore Glinda.”

Nodding, Savannah put down the fork and leaned in closer. “Do you think she knew we were coming? And that’s why she made the stew for us when she had already eaten, and why she was waiting for us at the door when we first arrived here?”

Sitting back in his chair, he considered the idea. “Most likely. Witches generally have a keen psychic sense about things.”

Satisfied with his answer, Savannah decided not to wait any longer to eat, and they both dug in.

Awestruck, she watched as the dishes disappeared as easily as they had appeared after dinner. No sooner had the dishes, including what was left of the stew, been blinked away than Betty reentered the room. “All finished?” she glanced at her surprised guests, grinned in amusement, and added, “Good, now let us have some tea, and we’ll discuss everything. Go on now, go sit on the couch.”

While Savannah sat herself on one of the loveseats, Christian chose the chair next to her. Moments later, Betty pushed through the swinging kitchen door with a tray. “Here we are, three cups of nice, hot, green tea,” she said, handing the two of them their cups and sitting down on the second loveseat. “So, Anna, tell me all about your adventure in the woods and how you came to my door.”

“Well …” Glancing at Christian, she wasn’t quite sure how much she needed to say. After all, if Bertha knew they were coming, what was to say she didn’t know how they got here or why they were there? “I guess it all really started when I came to this world—”

“Through your mother’s locket, am I right?”

Savannah stared at her, dumbfounded. So she did know. “Forgive me Betty, but I am not quite sure what exactly you want us to tell you. You seem to know everything already.”

Smiling, Betty blew on her tea and took a small sip. “Only bits and pieces, dear. I’m sure by now you’ve noticed my … talents and who I am, but I’m afraid with my old age I cannot get the full picture anymore.” When Savannah didn’t say anything in response, Betty nodded her head at her. “Anyway, please continue.”

It was so unusual to have a conversation with someone and to not be sure whether or not they already knew what you were telling them. She hesitated in going on with her story, but continued when she got the “go ahead” nod from Christian. So she started from the beginning: from her bizarre greeting from Lance, to their travel to the castle, to her meeting with King Fredrick, to her meeting with the royal family, and the entire dinner.

At the mention of the royal family dinner and its interruption from Lance about the missing prince, Bertha sent a long glance over to Christian. Her eyes were dark and wise, letting off that she knew more than she was willing to say. With the tiniest hint of a smirk on her face, she turned back to Savannah, who didn’t seem to notice. “To make a long story short, my job is to travel across the Mysterious Forest and warn the kingdom’s general of the upcoming war. So that is what I plan to do once I find and reach him.”

Bertha nodded her head. “I see.” She changed her attention from Savannah to Christian. “So where does this strapping gentleman come into play?” Oh, she knew who he was all right. He could hear it in her tone. What was odd though was why she hasn’t said anything out loud, especially to Savannah. Not altogether a relief yet…

“Oh, I met him along the way. He’s kind of kept me company and helped me through this whole trip,” she replied, beaming at Christian. “He’s like my tour guide mixed with …” she trailed off, not quite sure what they were considered to each other.

“Friends,” he added, causing her to exhale in relief.

“Yes, friends. I guess you could say I was really lucky he came along.”

Bertha’s grin was a mile long and not completely without sarcasm when she looked Christian’s way. “I’ll bet.” Picking up all three of their abandoned mugs and the kettle, she headed over toward the kitchen. “If you’ll excuse me once more, I will be right back.”

When she returned moments later, Christian thought it best to change the subject before Bertha changed her mind about keeping his secret. “What about you, Betty? What are you doing so deep in the forest?”

“I’m here for retirement,” she replied. “I was in the Witching Academy until I was about twenty-three years old, and almost as soon as I left out into the real world, I met Henry. He was mortal, but none of that mattered to me. We fell in love at first sight and were married not long after that. Then Henry helped in fighting the first war we had, and I received a job in a potion’s factory. I became the Vice President of the business, and loved my job every day. But eventually, I grew old. I became tired every morning, dreaded going to work, and started to get too slow, so I retired”

Savannah was not absolutely sure how that was possible. By the way the woman sitting in front of her was so quick on her feet now, it was difficult to imagine how much faster she could have been.

“Anyway,” she went on, “we’ve lived here ever since and absolutely love it. Now, Henry and I get to relax and do all we’ve ever wanted to do all our lives. We get to travel, garden, sit and watch the sunset, everything. We’re happy.” At the response of her guests’ satisfaction with her story, she changed the topic. “Well, I suppose that it is time to turn in. If you two would like to stay up longer, you may; you know where the bedrooms are. But I strongly suggest that you retire for the night if you plan on getting a good start in the morning.”

“We will,” Christian agreed, standing up. “We cannot express our appreciation and are in your debt.”