Read Online Dawn at Emberwilde by Sarah E Ladd - Free Book Online Page B

gathered Isabel’s discarded stockings, and laid them over her arm as well. “I’m not so sure you would want to do that.”
    “But why?”
    As if admitting some sort of defeat, the lady’s maid stepped toward the window and lowered her voice. “Mr. Ellison’s mother had this window nailed shut well over thirty years ago, and it has not been open since.”
    Isabel frowned. “But that doesn’t make any sense.”
    “After you have been here awhile, it will make sense,” Burns stated matter-of-factly.
    “I . . . I don’t understand.”
    “I’ve said too much.” Burns inched backward. “Forgive me, Miss Creston.”
    She turned to leave, and Isabel called after her. “Wait, please don’t go. Why would Mrs. Ellison have these windows nailed shut?” If she was going to spend the night in this room, she needed an answer. Was there danger?
    Burns stepped back and cast a glance over her shoulder, as if she expected someone to be watching her, then lowered her voice. “She had all the west-facing windows nailed shut, for she feared the ghosts.”
    At the word, a tiny chill traveled down Isabel’s spine. Lizzie’s innocent question from the carriage leaped to the forefront of her mind.
    “You know that forest out of your window?” asked Burns.
    “The Emberwilde Forest?”
    “Some call it that, but most folks around here and in town call it the Black Wood Forest.”
    Isabel brushed her hair from her face. “It looks like such a beautiful forest. Why would they give it such a gloomy name?”
    Burns narrowed her eyes. “Beautiful places can be deceptive. Perhaps you’ve not heard the legend.”
    “I haven’t.”
    “Horrible, sad story.” Burns lowered the garments she was holding and looked out the window into the black night. “The better part of a century ago, gypsies took up residence in these woods. Your uncle’s ancestors tried everything to be rid of them, but they were unsuccessful. Legend has it that the gypsies threatened to put a curse on the land. But then there was a massive fire, and several gypsies died.”
    “How terrible!” exclaimed Isabel.
    “Lost a good section of the forest. The fire scorched many a tree in the rest of it, and they were black for decades. Some said it was the souls of the trees dying.
    “Places have memories, Miss Creston. Do not doubt it. Ever since then, stories spread like wildfire. Odd things happen to folks who go into the forest. Some blame it on the ghosts of the gypsies, seeking their revenge.” She tilted her head, her eyes bleary in the firelight. “Still want the nails removed?”
    Isabel couldn’t resist the little chuckle that escaped her lips. “There are no such things as ghosts, Burns. Surely you know that.”
    “I don’t know that, Miss Creston. In fact, many would agree with me. Stay within Emberwilde’s walls long enough and you might change your mind.”
    Isabel swallowed and met Burns’s gaze purposefully. “I do not believe in ghosts, or curses, or anything of the like.”
    “Well then, you’d best take that request to have the nails removed up with your uncle. I doubt your aunt will allow it. She’s a superstitious woman. I doubt that many around here would willingly be letting the ghosts in.”
    With that, Burns curtsied, adjusted Isabel’s gown in her arms, and quitted the room, leaving an eerie silence in her wake that seemed to quiet even the pounding rain.
    Isabel looked out the window. She knew the lawn below met up with the forest’s edge. She had seen it when first shown to her room. Now the landscape was black—pitch black—for clouds blocked the stars and shielded any light from the moon.
    As she stared into the darkness, though, something caught her eye. It looked like a bit of light coming from the ground. The opaqueness made it impossible to judge the distance, and the falling rain made the light jump. She squinted, but soon gave up trying to get a better view. In all likelihood it was simply the light from her