"Briarwood by J A Hitchcock" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hitchcock J A)

"Well, after Warren left, rumors began to circulate," Marion said. "Some say he was an alcoholic and hit his wife. Others said she was crazy. Poor Emily may have been depressed, but she was not crazy."

A chill ran down Amberly's spine.

"Emily was a beautiful thing." Marion laughed lightly.

"Long, golden hair and blue, blue eyes. I used to visit her when Warren would allow it. But towards the end Emily became withdrawn. She would stare out the window toward the ruins of that castle and sigh. I asked her what fascinated her so about it. She told me she wished she had been born back in those wondrous days of knights and shining armor."

Amberly stifled a gasp.

"The day before she disappeared, Emily and I sat on the balcony outside her room. We were having tea and looking at the castle ruins. Suddenly, Emily became animated. She asked if I could hear the music. I followed her eyes to the castle. It was as though she could see something I could not."

Amberly began to shake. The other guests were too busy watching Marion to notice.

"What was really odd was a mist in front of the ruins. There was no mist anywhere else. I blinked my eyes and for a moment, I thought I saw a man on horseback looking at us. Emily was entranced. Her smile was one of pure love. The mist disappeared. Then it was as if nothing had happened. Nothing at all."

"Ex . . . excuse me." Amberly ran out of the room.

The guests were too involved with the story to note her departure. Their voices followed her.

"Marion, you say she disappeared the next day?"

"Yes. I'll never forget it. They looked everywhere, but never found her." Marion's voice trailed off.

* * *


Amberly ran up the stairs to her bedroom and shut the door, her stomach wrenching with sickness and fear. She didn't turn on the light. She pushed open the balcony doors and stood there, her eyes searching in the darkness for the castle ruins.

A rustling noise came from the balcony floor. A piece of paper touched her feet. Amberly knelt down and picked it up. Parchment. The handwriting was filled with swirls and curlicues. Amberly's heart pounded as she read it.

_Dark as night, your hair caresses my eyes Smooth as cream, your skin calls to my lips I see you each morn and eve And I yearn to be with you The one I have grown to love._


Amberly looked up, her eyes wide. Could it be?

For a moment, the ruins were ruins no longer. The walls of the castle materialized before her eyes, swirling mist all around it. She saw towers and turrets. Colorful pennants fluttered in the night sky. Sounds of laughter and gaiety tugged at Amberly's heart. She swore she could smell bread baking. And lilacs. She inhaled deeply. Amberly wanted to run there, to run away from the hurt and pain she felt.

But the mist surrounded the castle and it slowly disappeared. Only ruins loomed in the moonlight.

* * *


_"Lionel, may I come in?" The voice was a whisper.

"Please, mother." Lionel sat in a chair near the window.

He did not look up when she laid her hand upon his shoulder.