Lilies on the Lake by Katherine Kingsley

Author:Katherine Kingsley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION/Romance/General
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2013-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

10

Struggling to keep her composure, Pip stood outside the carriage that Will had graciously loaned them for their journey, hugging her brother and sister and sharing a few words with each of them, then moving to Will and holding him close.

“Goodbye,” she said. “Thank you for looking after me so well for all these years. I love you.”

“And I you, my dearest,” he said, squeezing her tightly. “All will be well. We love you always, never forget that.”

“I shan’t,” she said. She turned to her mother, tears blinding her eyes. “Mama…” She was unable to go on.

“Goodbye, my darling,” Louisa said, taking Pip into her arms, her eyes just as misty as Pip’s. “Remember what I said.”

Pip nodded against her mother’s cheek. “I’ll try,” she promised, feeling a painful lump in her throat. She moved away from her mother’s embrace, feeling as if with that one step she was creating a chasm between her old, happy life and the new, bleak one she now faced.

Taking one last look up at Alconleigh, the huge gray stone structure representing everything safe in her life, she said a silent goodbye and turned her face toward the future.

Aafteh stood to one side, holding Peter bundled up against the cold, her eyes lowered.

“It’s time to leave,” Pip said to her in Arabic. “Take Peter into the carriage, where you’ll both be warm.”

Aafteh stepped without a backward look, her head bent over Peter as she crooned a gentle Arabic song in his ear, soothing his unsettled cries.

As Pip slipped in opposite her, she imagined that Aafteh was soothing herself in equal measure, uprooted once again in this foreign land and not really understanding where she was going now.

John Henry, after speaking quietly to Will, entered the carriage and took his place next to Pip, who made a point of creating as much distance as possible between them on the seat. They’d barely spoken a word to each other that morning.

The carriage pulled away and Pip averted her face, not wanting to see the home she loved so much disappear in the distance. She looked down at her hands, not knowing where else to fix her clouded gaze.

She listened to the creaking of the carriage, the clopping of the horses’ hooves, and Aafteh’s soft singing. Peter had blessedly fallen asleep, his wails quieted by the rocking of the carriage and Aafteh’s efforts. Aafteh fell asleep as well, her head resting on the top of his silken curls, bobbing up and down as the carriage rocked over the uneven terrain.

Pip looked up to see that John Henry had turned his head to the window and was steadfastly gazing out at the passing countryside clothed in the last of its autumn splendor.

His profile was sharp against the wintry light, and Pip couldn’t help examining it. She could see only the long, straight line of his nose, one high cheekbone, the arch of a dark eyebrow, and one side of his sensual mouth set in a grim line.

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