Remy and Josephine
Tales from the Kingdom of Tyndall #7
I stood next to Josephine as we both looked upon the completed cabin. I had finally finished the small but homey cabin. It has been a couple of weeks since Josephine showed up on my property, all but dead. For the first few days, all she could do was lay in bed and drink water every once a while, but she got better every day. And now I do believe she has recovered, though she is still quite thin.
“So, Remy, now what?” asked Josephine.
That was an excellent question. The whole purpose of moving to this island was to become a lord and one of the elite. I had done little to achieve that goal. But, a completed cabin and the first seeds planted on my land was a start. So what would I need to do next? What was the next step?
Since I didn’t answer, Josephine continued, “Are you going back out as Emerson once again?”
After she had been with me a week I had decided to let her know my true identity. Since she had known me only briefly as Emerson, the revelation didn’t seem to bother her. “No,” I replied, “I think Emerson will take a break. The cabin is built and I can get by for now without the wages.”
She nodded in response, and then said, “You still haven’t answered my first question.”
I shook my head in acknowledgement and then passed my hand through my sandy blonde hair. “Well, my attention now shifts to the upcoming ball. Lord Wedgewood has set the date for his Pride Island Welcoming Ball.”
That had to be the next step. I needed to show up at the ball and show everyone that I could be a lord. I needed to demonstrate that I could dance, I could have intelligent conversation, and that I belonged on this island. My hand rested on my face as I continued to think about everything that was at stake at the ball. Josephine stood silently by my side, letting me think about my own comments.
“I need to make a solid first impression,” I said out loud. “I can’t mess this up.”
“Why is this so important to you?” she asked.
“Well, I guess I want to be respected by others and seen as a man of quality.”
“Why?” she said, in a tone that conveyed that she really didn’t understand the feelings behind the words.
“Oh, forget it,” I said. “First impression…” I said again. “How to do that?” After a few quiet moments went by, my sudden loud exclamation made Josephine flinch. “That’s it! I need a woman on my arm. A beautiful woman escorting me would automatically elevate me a couple of steps.” I started to pace back and forth in front of the cabin as many thoughts ran through my mind. Josephine just stood there looking at me, a doubtful look on her face. “What?” I asked.
“Where are you going to find such a woman?”
“I am looking at her,” I said with a big smile.
“No, I can’t,” she said immediately.
“Why not? You are certainly beautiful, and would make me look so much better.” I felt my cheeks go red as I finished the sentence. I hadn’t told her that before. I mean, yes, it was true. But I hadn’t actually let myself tell her that I thought she was the most beautiful girl that I had ever met.
“Thanks, I think,” she said, as her cheeks took on a rosy color, as well. But she quickly recovered. “I can’t, it’s just…I can’t.”
I could tell something was bothering her. In the past I had not pushed her and so had learned very little about her. I knew her first name, and that she hadn’t been planning on being on this island, and that she didn’t own any land. But that was about it. So I decided it was time to find out more.
“Josephine,” I said quietly. “What’s wrong? Why do you think that you cannot go to the ball with me? Is it me? Are you afraid of me? Or…don’t you like me?” I said that last part reluctantly. It sounded too much like I was seeking her approval.
She looked down at the ground for a minute before throwing her head back and looking at the sky. After a few deep breaths, she said, “It’s not you. It’s everyone else at the party.”
“Everyone else?” I repeated. “What is the problem with everybody else?”
She ran her hands through her hair and let out a few more sighs. Then she responded, “I don’t know how I got here, okay!” I don’t know what happened, I just…” She became a little more frantic, as her arms flailed about. “What if someone on this island had something to do with it?”
I instinctively put my hands on her shoulders in an effort to calm her. It seemed to help at least a little. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting her to say. I guess I am not sure what I expected her to say, but this wasn’t it. But I had to stay calm. I could tell that her emotions had her on the brink of some sort of panic. So I had to help. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” I said. “Tell me what you remember, let’s start there.”
She took a step back, and my hands fell away from her shoulders. She took a shuddering breath. Then she proceeded to tell me that her family was from Berton and about how she was at a ball, and then went riding the next morning, and the next thing she knew, she was laying on a beach.
I stood quietly as she talked, trying to digest everything she said. She was right. It didn’t make any sense. How could she not remember what happened? I wasn’t sure how to respond. But she was standing there looking at me, expecting me to say something. “I understand why you would be concerned,” was what eventually came out of my month. “I have never heard of anything like this before.”
“It has happened before,” she said sheepishly. “But my memory has always come back. It has been a few weeks now and I still can’t remember.”
“We could arrange passage for you to go back home, maybe your parents could help.”
“No,” she said aggressively. “What if they had something to do with it?”
“Really? Your parents? You can’t really think…”
“I don’t know, I am just not ready to try that yet.” Her breathing was quickening, her arms and hands fidgeting.
“Okay, that’s fine,” I said. Reaching back out to her, I grasped her arm gently. “We are going to figure this out. Okay?”
“How?” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“You are going to accompany me to that ball. That’s how.” The idea just started to form in my mind as I talked. “We will help each other, you in a stunning dress,” my heart beat a little bit faster at saying that. “And once we have made that marvelous impression, we can use the rest of the night to investigate. We can poke around casually, and see what we can learn.”
She seemed to collect herself, her breathing not as fast. “Will that work?”
“It might. It just might. Either way, it is the next step. We both are taking that next step. And we will do it together. And…,” don’t say it, don’t say it, “I won’t mind having you at my side one bit.” You said it, now wipe that stupid grin off your face.
“The next step, then. I don’t think I will mind, either.”
She smiled back at me, and that’s all it took. I was falling for her. Fast. Too fast. I told myself, be rational. But my mind wasn’t listening.
Read more from the Kingdom of Tyndall: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6