A long train ride helps me daydream. The smooth glide of the wheels on the rails and the chuff chuff chuffing of the engine is a rhythm. I look out of the window and see fields with sheep. I love sheep. Do they do anything interesting when we can’t see them? I close my eyes and imagine them dancing until the train comes rolling by. Then they’d resume their post of contented grazing.
Now the train comes to a stop. It’s in a train station somewhere pretty remote. The doors open and passengers step out. I gaze at the platform, watching people meet up with their loved ones. Now a boy steps inside, his trunk almost getting stuck in the door.
“Do you need a hand?” I ask, getting to my feet.
He brushes his unruly brown hair away from his dark blue eyes. His freckled nose and cheeks are flushed from running onto the train. I smile at him.
“No thanks,” he replies. He heaves the trunk into the overhead carrier and then looks at me. “You’re going to Garnet Valley?”
My heart flutters. “How d’you know I’m going there?”
“You’re the right age. You’re carrying a lot of luggage, so you must have packed for a long stay.” He pointed at my two suitcases occupying the overhead carriers. “And there are only three more stops. Garnet Valley is the last one.”
I giggle. “You’re so smart. Yes, I’m going to Garnet Valley school. But where are you going?”
“I’m going to the town nearby. It’s at the same stop. I can escort you there if you like.”
What a lovely turn of events. I won’t have to make my way to the school all alone in the dark.
I grin and reach out my hand to him. “Thank you, thank you! I’m Poppy.”
He shakes my hand with a grin, and brushes his hair away from his eyes with his other hand. “I’m Alfie.”
“So why are you going to Garnet Valley? The wife school?”
“To learn to be a wife. Um… Mum and Dad are having some financial trouble, but the school agreed to take me for free to improve their publicity. They promise that they’ll be able to train me in how to be a good wife and then when I’m old enough, to find a wealthy bloke to wife me up.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Is that what you want?” asks Alfie, gazing at me with his dark blue eyes. “To be a housewife?”
“I-“
At this moment, the train stops.
Alfie helps me get my luggage from the overhead carrier and we step onto the platform. It’s cold and windy. We leave the station and take the road through the valley. The school is in a castle surrounded by forest. We take the path that leads through the forest. I keep throwing wary glances into the forest every time I hear an owl hoot or a branch creaking in the wind. There’s nothing to be seen but shadows. At the end of the forest path, we arrive at the castle. Garnet Valley is a castle with turrets reaching high into the sky. We walk up the steps leading to the arched doorway and Alfie pulls on the handle, murmuring in surprise as it swings open easily.
Inside, the hall is illuminated with the glittering lights of a chandelier above our heads and the stone walls are covered in portraits of graduates who have been successfully married off to nobles and kings. There are large doors leading to different wings of the castle, and stairs leading to the first floor.
There’s a figure descending the stairs, a tall girl in a flowing blue maternity dress. She has long red hair that shines like copper in the light of the chandelier and a bold freckled face that seems to glow. She’s very pregnant. Her belly is sticking out, causing her to waddle.
“There you are!” she says as she stands before us. She gazes at us with bright green eyes. “Ruby was worried you were lost. I’m Lottie, head girl.” She points at me. “You must be Poppy.”
“Y-Yes, I’m Poppy,” I reply, looking up to be able to meet the gaze of the tall girl. “And this is Alfie. He very kindly escorted me here.”
“You two could pass for sisters,” says Alfie.
“Hmm. We both have long auburn hair and freckled faces,” says Lottie. “But Poppy has a button nose and doey brown eyes and a wistful mouth. Now come on, Poppy. It’s bedtime and I have to get you settled in. Alfie, please wait here. The headmistress will be down to see you soon. She’ll decide whether you need board for the night. It’s a bit late for you to be going back through the forest.”
I clasp Alfie’s hands. “See you soon!” I really hope I do.
“Hurry, Poppy!” calls Lottie. She’s already climbing the stairs. I drag my suitcases up the stairs as I follow her. At the top of the stairs I follow her down a corridor and she pushes a key in my palm and points at the door at the end of the corridor. “Meet your new room mate.”
I knock on the door and when there is no answer, I insert the key in the lock and turn it. The door swings inwards. The room beyond is what I expected. The walls are bare stone, the floor a dark wood, scratched and dented. There are two beds and a cradle beside each of them. Cradles for the babies. There’s a girl sitting up in one of the beds. Her hair is pale gold, illuminated in the candle light. She gazes at me with piercing blue eyes.
“Carmen, this is your new room mate,” says Lottie. “Now go to sleep girls. Breakfast is at six thirty.”
Lottie turns to leave. Carmen is gazing at my face with unnerving intensity.