A Basket of Wishes by Rebecca Paisley

Author:Rebecca Paisley [Paisley, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amber House Books, LLC
Published: 2015-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

As Emil alighted from his coach in front of Jourdian’s manor, a flash of red in a nearby garden of dense bushes caught his attention. Thinking the movement that of a large bird, he proceeded toward the steps of the house.

“Emil!”

He turned, his eyes widening when he saw Splendor standing among the thick plants. She was as naked as the statue of the nude woman she stood beside, and her face, arms, and hands were covered with dirt. “Splendor, what in heaven’s name are you doing?”

She motioned him toward her, and when he arrived she took both his arms into her muddy hands. “Emil, you must help me! I have looked in no fewer than thirteen gardens!”

He didn’t miss her hysteria. Not only did she sound totally panicked, but she was paler than he’d ever seen her, and her entire body was quaking.

Quickly, he removed his coat and assisted her into it. “What are you looking for?”

“Slugs. I have found a wealth of them, but none is—”

“Slugs? But why? Where is Jourdian? Does he know you’re out here looking for—”

“I will explain later, Emil. For now, you must help me find slugs. I will continue searching through this garden, and you will search in others. Save every slug you find, and when we are finished looking through every garden, I will examine each slug we collect.”

“But—”

“Here is a sack.” Splendor curled her arm behind her back, released a few silver stars, then grabbed hold of the burlap sack that suddenly appeared in her hand. Quickly she gave the bag to Emil.

“Splendor, I don’t understand—”

“Please,” she begged, gazing into his eyes with all the desperation coursing through her frame. “Just do as I ask, Emil.”

He did. And hours later when he joined Splendor near one of the estate fountains, he handed her a sack half full of slimy slugs. “And now, Splendor,” he said, brushing his dirty hands over his pants legs, “tell me why I performed this outrageous chore.”

She dumped his slugs into the massive pile of the ones she’d found. On the ground she began sorting through them. “I shall tell you, that I promise, Emil, but first we must find the slug with the black dot on its face.”

“A black dot.”

“’Tis a mole.”

“A mole. Of course. How terribly silly of me not to have realized that myself.”

“Sit down here with me and help me find the—”

“The slug with the black mole on its face.”

“Aye! And we must hurry because my strength is quickly waning. This day has taken a supreme toll on me, Emil!”

Bewildered beyond belief, but hesitant to further upset the panicked Splendor, Emil sat down on the grass and picked up a slug. Bringing the creature closer to his eyes, he looked for a black dot on the slimy little face. “This one hasn’t as much as a freckle.”

“Then put it back in the sack. We mustn’t mix them up or else we will find ourselves examining the same slugs over and over again.”

Emil deposited the moleless slug into the bag, and continued to help Splendor inspect the others.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.