Page 3 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

“I expect you back here in a week,” Greta told me.

“I’ll do my best to—”

“A week, Cale.” She glared at me, and I went tight-lipped.

Nodding, I said, “A week.” Honestly, I was glad I’d be able to come back to a job at all.

I left Tolburg with nothing more than my suitcase and light cloak. Despite not wanting to go home, I was happy to have a break from the tavern kitchen. Working there was beginning to wear me down, and I swear, my handsalwayssmell like food—onions mostly, and the smell always makes me hungry.

As I followed the main dirt road out of town, I passed several people walking or driving carts in and out of Tolburg, and there were both faces I recognized and some that were new.

When I saw Thad Birch, an assistant to the town herbalist, I smiled and nodded at him. “Hello,” I said.

Thad only glanced at me as I went, as if trying to figure out who I was, before looking away.

It felt as if my whole body sank into the ground. The people of Tolburg weren’t a very friendly sort, but how could they be after working in the steam factories or the coal mines every day? I might as well be invisible to them. I was rather used to it, but it didn’t make me feel any better. If people weren’t ignoring me, they were teasing me, and I couldn’t figure out why. Was it because I liked to paint and talk about rocks? Maybe I needed to take that out of the conversations I had with people . . . Or maybe it was because of my clothes?

I glanced down at my plain clothes. They were my best, and even then, the trousers were the same ones I wore yesterday, and my red vest was so worn, the fabric balled up. A button was missing on my shirt, though no one could see that underneath my vest, and my boots were rather scuffed, no matter how hard I’d tried cleaning them yesterday.

Sighing, I looked ahead as dark clouds billowed overhead. I was at least four miles out of Tolburg by now. I would have to spend the night in a tavern on the road, but if the rain came before nightfall, I would have to seek shelter near a tree or brace for the storm.

When thunder rumbled and the rain started, I pulled my hood up over my head. The Lucky Dog was at least another five miles down the road—a fitting name for anyone like me coming to it out of the rain. It was only afternoon, but it was chilly, and I needed to find someplace to wait out the weather.

When I came to the crossroads, I saw the signpost that pointed straight towards the tavern, but it was still a good distance away. I looked around for a good tree to shelter under, and my gaze landed on a path to my left—the path that led into Ashwood, the forest that nobody went into.

The road that way was overgrown with weeds since it wasn’t traveled often, if at all, but for some reason, I felt drawn to it. Whyshouldn’tI go there? The canopy of thick trees looked much better to shelter under than out here in the open.

I’d heard tales about Ashwood, of strange animals that had been seen in there, or fae folk that lured children in to kill them or turn them into goblins. There was even a rumor going on about a wolfman, and I laughed, trying to imagine what such a thing looked like.

All folly.I know those things were only made up to keep children away from such dangerous forests. I fell for it myself when I was younger.

The only thing that was mysterious about Ashwood was that supposedly a lord had once lived there and left because of how haunted it was. But it was daytime, and I wasn’t afraid of ghosts. I was also incredibly hungry and needed someplace to eat what little I’d brought.

Clinging to my suitcase, I rushed along the overgrown path. Once I dipped beneath the canopy of the trees, the rain wasn’t as aggressive, but I was still drenched.

The sky darkened the farther I went. The main road was no longer within my sight, but I was sure if I pressed on that I would find a suitable place to rest.

Not far into the forest, a building came into view. I rushed towards it, my heart glowing at the thought of a warm, dry place. But when I reached it, I stumbled to a stop.

Set within a grove of cherry trees, a crumbling stone wall surrounded a dilapidated building. It looked like a manor, only dark and abandoned, with broken windows and shingles. Parts of a fountain lay strewn across the grass, and the stones that made up the path before the door were loose and broken. The only colorful things were the pink blooming trees that surrounded it.

I held back when I noticed how eerie it looked, but when lightning struck nearby, nearly scaring me out of my skin, I ran for the building.

The door opened easily, thank goodness. Inside, broken glass and ceramic pottery pieces littered the floor. There were a few drips from the ceiling, and a few plants grew in the corner, but overall, it was dry.

Shivering, I set my suitcase on the floor and pulled off my cloak. “Hello?” I ventured, my voice echoing.

No one answered. The wind was the only thing I could hear.

A staircase sat in the middle of the room. If the storm raged on into the evening, I might just have to stay here, and I decided I would check any rooms upstairs if that were to happen. For now, I pulled the wrapped bread out of my bag, my stomach incredibly hollow after walking for so long, only to drop it right into a puddle on the floor.

“No!” I picked it back up to find it soggy and dirty, and my spirit dampened.

I picked a piece off and grimaced. It would have to be this or nothing.

When I brought it to my nose, I smelled only the mustiness of it at first, but then I smelled something fresher. Looking up, I caught sight of a silver plate of fruit sitting on a rough-looking table.

Is someone else living here?

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