Page 11 of Curse of Immortality
Another man in his early twenties stopped to buy flowers and stayed to talk to the sisters. He introduced himself as Frederick and was most charming.
Male attention was unfamiliar to Althea and Maeve but strangely exhilarating. Frederick and Marcus were quite competitive when it came to offering the girls compliments.
“Since you’re visiting, maybe you would like me to show you around the area,” Marcus offered. “There’s a small castle no more than a twenty-minute ride from here and the ocean is only a short walk away from there.”
“That’s a great idea. We could all go swimming,” Frederick suggested.
Giving a shy smile, Althea admitted, “I love swimming.”
Frederick’s face lit up. “Then I’ll be honored to take you.”
The brewer’s son was quick to agree, “Yes, we should all go.”
Maeve’s eyes were glowing as she looked at her sister. It sounded like an amazing adventure, and she was dying to have some fun.
Biting her lower lip, Althea shifted her balance. “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. We have so few days visiting our aunt that we couldn’t possibly.”
Maeve groaned in protest because she was tired of hiding in the forest.
“Oh, but don’t worry, it’ll only be for a few hours. We promise to treat you with the utmost care and respect,” Frederick assured them. “I’m sure your aunt would encourage you to have some fun while you’re here.”
A bird landed on the bucket with apples and while Maeve was distracted by the flirting with the young men, Althea heard its message loud and clear. The little sick girl it had told them about a few days earlier still needed help. She was close and suffering.
Althea didn’t notice how her facial expression turned grim and her posture changed, but Maeve mistook it for fear of Rose.
Leaning close, she whispered to Althea. “What is she going to do? Honestly, if we kept it a secret, she probably wouldn’t even notice us being gone for a few hours. Come on, Althea, I want to go swimming with them.”
Althea’s gaze kept darting to the bird, who lifted from the bucket and flew to sit on a small fence. It called for her to follow, but she stood as if paralyzed by all her aunt’s warnings playing tug of war with her instinctive need to help the little girl.
“What’s wrong with you?” Maeve elbowed Althea, who snapped out of her focus on the bird. “Why don’t you answer him?”
Blinking her eyes, Althea looked at Maeve and the two young men, who were all watching her. “Pardon?”
“I asked if you would like to go on a stroll with me through the village?” Holding the flowers he had bought from them in one hand, Frederick smiled with an expectant look.
“Ehm… Maybe another time.”
“I’ll do it,” Maeve said and stepped forward.
“No. We promised Rose that we wouldn’t go anywhere,” Althea protested and quickly whispered to Maeve, “The bird came back asking for our help with the sick girl.”
Maeve’s eyes widened. “It did?”
“Yes. She must be close.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Marcus asked but Althea and Maeve were focused on searching to see where the bird had gone.
“There!” Althea pointed discreetly to where the bird sat watching them.
“So, are we going swimming tomorrow then? It’s Sunday and we could go after church.” There was so much hope in Marcus’ tone of voice.
When the girls turned to respond they saw Rose come toward them with long strides and a troubled expression on her face. She was so focused on getting to the girls that she didn’t pay attention to where she was going. Her hands had yanked up her skirt to avoid the fabric touching filth in the street, but she still stepped in some of the horse manure that the street team hadn’t removed yet.
The way she scowled at the two young men when she reached them made the situation awkward.
“Did you need anything?” Rose asked in a dismissive tone and while Marcus took a step back, Frederick, who was a bit older, was brave enough to state his request.
“With your permission, madam, I would like to take Maeve on a stroll. I understand the girls are new to the area, and I would love to…”
