The House on the Hill: A Ghost Story by Irina Shapiro

Author:Irina Shapiro [Shapiro, Irina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Merlin Press LLC
Published: 2020-05-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

Sophie

January 1728

The snow began to fall again just as dusk painted the world outside a lovely shade of violet. Thick flakes silently fell from the sky, settling on rooftops and branches. Sophie stared out the window, her heart hammering as she counted the chimes of the clock in the parlor. One more hour until she was either set free or her heart was irrevocably broken. She tried not to imagine what would happen if Teddy failed to show up. She’d dreaded going back to George, but after seeing Teddy, seeing the love in his eyes and feeling his arms around her, returning to George was unthinkable.

Sophie took out her spare gown, shift, stockings, and stays from the trunk at the foot of the bed and rolled them up as tightly as she could, tying the bundle with stockings to keep it from unraveling. She couldn’t very well leave in just the clothes on her back but coming down with a valise would arouse suspicion if she encountered someone on the stairs.

She waited until a few minutes before nine, then crept downstairs and fetched her cloak and hat. Thankfully, Amelia had retired a half hour before, and Jeremy hadn’t returned unexpectedly. The servants had all retreated to their quarters, so the house was quiet and dark, the doors locked for the night. Sophie slipped the cloak over her shoulders, pulled up the hood over her cap, and carefully turned the key in the lock of the back door. It opened soundlessly onto a backyard carpeted in nearly a foot of freshly fallen snow.

Sophie glanced up at Amelia’s window. She could see the light of her candle through the thick drapes but didn’t think Amelia would hear anything untoward. Peering into the darkness, Sophie searched for Teddy, but all she saw was the ghostly outline of the ancient oak and the houses of Amelia’s neighbors.

“Oh, Teddy, where are you?” Sophie moaned under her breath. She stood still, waiting and listening. Only a few minutes had passed, but to her, they felt like hours. She had to either leave the house or return upstairs, but she hesitated, hoping Teddy would still come. The world beyond the backyard was silent and dark, the snow coming down from an overcast sky. There wasn’t even moonlight to see by. Amelia blew out her candle and the yard was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the whiteness of the snow.

And then she heard it, a low whistle coming from the darkness. “Sophie.” The whisper was carried on the wind, but to her it sounded like the blare of trumpets. “Sophie, come on.”

Sophie stepped outside and shut the door behind her, trudging through the snow in her inadequate boots. Her feet grew cold as snow came over the top of the thin leather and soaked her stockings, but she didn’t care. She walked as fast as she could, falling into Teddy’s embrace as soon as she finally reached him. Behind him, tethered to the tree, was a black horse, its mane sprinkled with snowflakes.

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