Garnet or Garnets Curse

wine, it is time to leave.”
    “By all means. It is getting late,” Father said. “Margo, go with Nell and I’ll get your things out of the carriage.”
    Nell smiled at me and I stood up. “Good-looking girl,” she said, winking at my father. “I find girls like her are mostly trouble,” she said in a serious tone, looking back at my father.
    “Not this one. You’ll have no worries with her. Right Margo?” he asked, encouraging an answer from me.
    “I am told I have an agreeable disposition,” I replied.
    “Well, see that you stay that way,” Nell said, reaching over and giving my bottom a pat.
    Father left for the carriage and I followed Nell out to the waterfront. As we approached, I could see a faint figure of a girl standing on the dock.
    “Did you get all those pots scrubbed?” Nell asked sharply.
    “Yes Ma’am,” she replied.
    Nell moved closer and towered over the girl. “Did you clean up the kitchen and mop the floor?”
    “Yes Ma’am, everything is in order,” she spoke up, this time in a louder voice.
    Nell backed up a bit. “Good. Then I will not be in raw sorts in the morning when I come back to this hell hole, right?”
    “Yes Ma’am, I mean no Ma’am; you will not be in raw sorts.”
    Nell turned to me, “This is Arlene. She’ll get you settled in when we get home.”
    “Arlene is your daughter?” I asked.
    Nell let out a laugh, but it was not filled with joy. “I ain’t got no children. I ain’t ever been close enough to a man to get the job done. The only thing I want to see coming out of a man’s pants is his money.”
    She reached in her pocket and took out a cigar. She lit it and turned to face the water. It was awkward standing there with the two of them. Were they to be my new family? If so, for how long? I feared that the time would not pass quickly at Nell’s house. I was already homesick.
    Seconds later Father came walking up with the ferryman. We were the only four souls that boarded that night. In the count was my father, who was a soul on a mission. Then there was Nell, the angry soul. Lastly, Arlene and myself were just two lost souls.

    Across the moonlit channel we sailed.
    The sea is the earth’s ever-changing jewel,
    By day it is gaily dressed in shades of sapphire,
    And rolls onto the shore like a child laughing at play.
    By night, it is sadly dressed in onyx and amethyst.
    It is mysterious and its depth of loneliness unknown.
    Yet, softly it calls and woos us,
    Just like a lover’s song.

    Chapter VI
    Margo

    When I awoke the next morning, I looked around the room. What I was hoping had been only a horrible dream was real.
    Arlene had led me to the room by the light of a candle, which had burned down to a waxy lump on top of the dresser. With the glory of the morning light, I was alarmed to see my surroundings.
    The last thing I remembered about the night before was stretching out on the shabby iron bed to rest for a bit. I would have preferred a chair, but there was not one. I laid there in the dark, with my eyes wide open, straining to listen to the muffled voices of my father and Nell downstairs. I had full intentions to stay awake all night, but sleep overcame me.
    The dreadful room did not even offer its guest the hospitality of a simple washbasin or chamber pot. I stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in my skirt. My insides were as cold and hollow as the sparsely furnished room. With my arms wrapped around my chest, I walked across the floor to peer out the only window.
    From my bird’s eye view, my eyes spanned across the estate. It was not a surprise that I discovered the grounds were in the same unkempt state as my room. The climbing rose bushes with scattered late bloomers proved that beauty once lived here. However, the long witch-like arms of intertwining vines strangled their splendor.
    This place reeked of death with outbuildings collapsing inward and farm equipment rusting in the sea air. Yet, there was life here and I could hear it stirring downstairs. I took a quick look in the dresser mirror. My face was hanging as if someone had stolen the flower of my youth in my sleep. Since Auntie’s death, it seemed like everything was slowly sucking the life out of the body that hauled my soul. Perhaps, Garnet Dragos was dead. Would she be forever lost to the world as Margo Delancy?
    I looked around for my bag and found it sitting on top of a bale of hay behind the door. When I reached for it, I jumped back as a mouse ran across the