Magic in May

Chapter Two - When the Last Sheep Bleats

I woke up before the sun had fully risen over the horizon. However the pale gray of the morning was enough to light my room. Immediately I thought of my Papa and how he was faring. I arose and wrapped myself in my mothers old shawl, so that I was appropriately dressed. I went into the kitchen and found Corbin Cornell leaning over the counter, his face was gray. H e looked ill and thin as well. My heart caught in my throat as the door to Papa's room opened and Doctor Elis stepped out with his black bag and his medicines. I shivered as he caught sight of me. Doctor Elis was an old man who did not hide his emotions well. I felt weak and the room began to spin as I heard someone weeping and crying, before I fell to the floor and I felt myself slip into the black.

***

I don't know for how long I slept but I woke up every once in a while. I never knew the days or the nights that passed me. But each time Corbin was there sitting at the foot of my bed or in the chair next to my bedside. Often he would whisper to me, some of the things he said I did not understand, and some things I did. One of the things that he often whispered to me was "I will take care of everything Honoria. You don't have to worry..." his voice wove in and out of my dreams. Each time I woke up he was there to give me a cup to drink. I saw him pour an orange liquid into the cup and had me drink. I suspect it was a sleeping draught to keep me asleep. I did not have any nightmares though, which is what I had feared. But I dreamed of my the first time I rode a horse with both Mama and Papa. It was during the harvest time and normally Papa would have been far to busy with the fields and the tenants; but he had finished his toil and he had surprised me with Chestnut my own little pony. She matched my temperament perfectly we rode far and wide trying to keep up with Papa and Mama. Their laughter echoed across the golden fields of ripe hay, as I fancied myself as Master of the world that I perceived on the back of that small brown pony.

I cried when I woke up, and felt nothing but a hollow emptiness within myself as I told myself that I needed to stay awake. I sat numbly on my bed. It was a cold rainy morning. The fire in my fireplace had long since gone cold, leaving the entire room damp and miserably bitter. I shivered. At my stirring Corbin came down the hallway, his boots were still heavy on the floor boards. He poked his head into the room. He looked well enough, but he seemed a little to pleased to see me as he came into the room. "Good morning Honoria."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"About a week."

I had no words to offer. I shivered though as a ghastly wind moaned and breathed against the house. Corbin suddenly sat down next to me. I was surprised again by his forwardness. I was still wearing the same night dress from when my Papa had passed... Papa passed... it was such a foreign and cold phrase that felt so unfamiliar to me. "When is the funeral...?"

"It'll be tomorrow... You should know about my finances Honoria.... Even with the farm and the animals..." He grabbed my hand in earnest. "I am in debt Honoria, to tell you truthfully I am in a lot of debt. I tried to tell your father this the night that he had passed... but he was so adamant for us to become a match... With your consent... we need to sell the farm..."

"My farm?"

"In truth I am not the man I want to be... I don't know anything about farming and I refuse to place all of the responsibility of both the farm and the house on your shoulders. If we sell the animals then we could combat some of the debt that I have snared myself in. If we are to be married Honoria, I refuse to start our new life together in such a financial state. As we speak I have managed to keep my own house from the debtors. With the sale of the land, the animals, and the house, we would be alright Honoria."

His words made sense. But this did not stop my heart from aching or my conscious from being weighed down with such a choice. He says that he tried to tell Papa of his state, and that Papa didn't listen. It sounded like something that he would do. He was a stubborn man. But why would he set such a match between Corbin and I without fully looking into Mr. Cornell? I looked at him then... and found perhaps a warmth in his face, as I considered it all. This was my home? But without Papa, or Mama, it was just me in this place... and whose to say that I couldn't make a home with Corbin... Papa said I should try right?

"I have a few requests..."

"Of course."

"I want to keep my horse Chestnut, I want to see some of the money that you make from the sale of the property, and... I want to see the contract that you and my Papa made." He remained silent for a moment and something passed over his face- an emotion that i did n not recognize. It seemed liked we were sitting there on my bed, holding hands. I shuddered a bit as the wind continued to howl against the house that would no longer be considered my home. Something glinted in his eyes and he answered slowly. "Agreed."