Page 12 of Master of Paradise
Amanda gave an enormous yawn.
"Ah had to burn dat dress o' yores. Secondone yo' ruined dis week." Mammy was only just warming up, but whenAmanda looked truly repentant, her big soft heart relentedinstantly. "Honey chile, yo' just curl up an' go back to sleep. Butremember next picnic yo' can't go runnin' off into de swamp withthe other childrens. Yo' thirteen years old now, chile. Yo' got tostart actin' like a lady. Yo' be de death o' yore sweet mother oneo' dese days!"
Amanda Virginia felt a painful pang of guiltthat was genuine at mention of her mother. Caroline Jackson was aninvalid who had to be carried downstairs each afternoon to herchaise-lounge. Amanda had heard the whispers and knew it hadsomething to do with when she'd been born. She vowed to keep out oftrouble, and flung back the bedcovers to devour the breakfast MammyLou had left her.
Amanda was not made in the ordinary mold. Herfamily excused her to friends and neighbors by explaining that shewas eccentric. She had a fabulously rich fantasy life, currentlypeopled by all the gods and goddesses of mythology. She haddiscovered a book on the subject, abandoned in the attic yearsbefore, which had totally captured her imagination.
It had been difficult to decide at first whoshe would be. The nymph Daphne was most appealing, especially sinceshe was constantly being pursued by the god, Apollo, but she hadbeen saved from his advances by being turned into a laurel, andMandy didn't like that part. In fact she thought it silly to beturned into a bush.
She finally decided upon Aurora, Goddess ofthe Dawn. The secret of her great beauty was due to the fact thatshe bathed in the dew of wood violets. In fact, Aurora had beendrenching her naked form in the dew one morning when Apollo cameupon her on his golden arrow and fell hopelessly under her spell.That part about the arrow was obviously a mistake. They mustmean his golden steed, named Arrow,she decided.
The violets were in bloom all over herbeloved Paradise Hill, and that was Amanda's destination thismorning. She grabbed the first dress that presented itself when sheopened her armoire. She was more careful selecting her shoes, andchose black kid slippers, since white would get hopelesslydiscolored by grass stains. She had no intention of combing thenight tangles from her flowing mane of hair, as it took hours andhurt like the devil. The color of her tresses defied description.Some of it was dark, then when the sunlight struck it, redhighlights showed up vividly. Other parts were sun streaked, makingthe whole mass tawny, like the mane of a young lioness. She strokedat it impatiently with her brush a few times, then flung it backover her shoulders without another thought.
She crept out quietly past Jennifer Joy'sroom. Not much need for worry there; her sister never arose beforeten o'clock. Down the hallway was Aunt Billie's apartment. Nothingto fear in that direction either, since she never appeared beforenoon. Amanda's father would have been up and out for hours, so allshe had to worry about was Mammy Lou. She knew the old woman foundthe stairs heavy going these days and wouldn't torture her bulk byunnecessary exertions, but she had ears that could detect a bedspring, a slippered miss-step on a creaky floorboard, or thehinge-squeak of the back porch door. She was capable of addingthese sounds up and coming to the exact conclusion of what AmandaVirginia was up to.
Free at last!Amanda took in a greatgulp of fresh morning air filled with the scent of dogwood andpeach blossom and ran like the wind toward the river bottom. Therich fields on this side of the water all stood cultivated, readyfor planting. She crossed the stream bed at its shallowest point,using the stepping stones she had used for years. She noticed thewater was higher than usual, high enough to wet her slippers andthe hem of her gown. Her mood swung higher now that she was on thefar side of the river,her side of the river,where it wasall a tangled wilderness. The mockingbirds were singing theirthroats out to the warm sun, and the red cardinals flashed theirbrilliance as they flew among the trees.
The woods were ablaze with wild crab appleblossom, early azaleas, and the white stars of the dogwood. Beneathher feet, the grass was filled with wild flowers and the firstjonquils were alive with honeybees, and big wild bumble bees. Acobweb held a million drops of dew, so that it sparkled like adiamond necklace in the early morning sunshine.
Some of this land belonged to Amanda'sfather, even though it had yet to be cleared. Some of it belongedto the county, but the place known as Paradise Hill was hers, atleast in her heart.It has always been just mine, and it alwayswill be.
She ran on through the stand of tall pines,quite dark in places where the branches blotted out the sunlight.She gasped as a large red-tailed hawk swooped down almost besideher, after a small bird. Mercifully it escaped the hawk's talonsand she heaved a great sigh of relief. Then she felt a small pangof pity for the hawk and the hunger that drove it to suchdestruction.
She emerged into the sunshine and lifted hergolden gaze upward to the summit of the hill. As usual, its beautytook her breath away. A tiny waterfall fell down one side,curiously bubbling from a spring only halfway up. The top ofParadise Hill flattened out into a plateau. In actuality it was anescarpment rather than a hill. It was a primeval wilderness withmarshland at the foot of the waterfall and beyond the marshland, tothe left, lay a swamp, its water black from the thick-rootedcypress that shaded it. A white heron arose with a single cry, andAmanda wondered it it were a prince who had been turned into aheron by an angry goddess.
As she climbed the hill, she noted withsatisfaction that the violets were in full bloom, their tiny purpleand yellow faces still moist from the heavy dew. She removed herdress, as a token gesture to the naked part of the ritual, and alsobecause Mammy Lou would scold until she drove her mad if she ruinedanother gown this week. At this moment she felt transformed.Iam Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn.She poised delicately in herbatiste shift, took a deep breath and flung herself down thehillside, rolling over and over through the damp, fragrantviolets.
Suddenly a horse screamed in fright and sheopened her eyes to find herself amid a flurry of plunging legs,flailing hooves and a rain of profane curses.
Nicholas dismounted in a flash and went onhis knees to the girl whom he thought he had killed or at leastmaimed. He saw a female with wide-set golden eyes framed by sootylashes, with the wildest mane of tawny hair that fell about hershoulders in untamed abandon. She was golden-skinned, as if kissedby the sun. Miraculously, she was unhurt.
She stared at him in disbelief and askedsolemnly, "Are you Apollo?"
From relief, a sharp bark of laughter escapedhis lips. "I've been called a devil before, but never a God! Whoare you?"
"I am Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn," she saidseriously.
She was such an unusual creature, he almostbelieved her. "And this, no doubt, is Mount Olympus?" he asked withequal seriousness.
"No," she said, "it is Paradise." She lookedinto the bronzed face and saw that his eyes were neither blue norgreen, but a pale aqua, the exact shade of robin's eggs. "Are you amortal?" she asked suspiciously.
"I'm afraid I am, and what's more, I suspectyou are too.
Fleeting dimples appeared and vanishedinstantly, so that he found himself watching for theirreappearance.
"My other name is Amanda Virginia Jackson,"she said haughtily. "I was Aurora, bathing naked in the dew of theviolets, but of course my pantalets were as close to naked as Idared."
Nick smiled his delight. She was acaptivating creature, past being a little girl, yet not quite ayoung lady. She was a child-woman and he was enchanted. Her faceand eyes were so expressive when she spoke, yet her thoughtsflitting about behind her golden eyes lent an aura of mystery thatwas seductive.
"Is this really called Paradise Hill? 'Tiscertainly beautiful enough for such a name."
"Oh yes, that part wasn't make-believe."
"Who owns it?"
"I do," she said simply.
"Are you sure?" he asked with skepticism.
