| Sample Excerpt From Wrath of Angels: Robin in the Snow by Elizabeth I. Warner (part of Chapter 12) |
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| ... Before she decided to turn off the lamp, she thought it would be a good idea to put on a warmer nightgown, because it was getting colder and she didn't want to go to the trouble of having to rebuild the fire. Outside, in what was left of the snow, Ramon came around the side of the manor, heading toward the rose garden, with the lantern in his hand. Then, before going on, he stopped and casually glanced up at the window of Faith's room. There he saw her naked through the open curtains as she was changing her nightgown, and the sight of her nearly took his breath away. Had her beauty not stunned him, he might have remembered to be a gentleman and look away as soon as he had seen ... but the view of her was too lovely to allow him to think properly. He only continued to stare at the graceful sight, being spellbound, unable to tear his gaze away. Then, as he realized what he was doing, he quickly turned his head back to duty, and hurried down the path toward his destination, down by the old water wheel. After she finished pulling her nightgown down over her body, she glanced out the window and noticed the light from the lantern slowly bobbing down the path. Focusing her eyes better, to see who was carrying it, she then saw that it was Ramon, and immediately began to wonder if he had caught sight of her through the window, since her lamp had been left on. Having decided that he probably had, she smiled warmly to herself and continued to try to watch him as the light from the lantern slowly dwindled away in the distance, finally disappearing down behind the small hill's path that led to the river, down in the ravine. Then it dawned on her that the light was heading in the direction of the place Adrian had spoken of. What could he possibly be doing at this hour, going down there all by himself? she wondered. The thought was alarming, but she still felt tempted to put some clothes back on and follow after him, to see what he was up to. Maybe she could find a way to uncover at least part of "the mystery" this very night. If he caught her following him along the way, she would merely tell him that she had been unable to sleep again and had been tired of being cooped up, so she wanted to go outside for a stroll since the snow was almost gone. He would know that it was a lie, but she hardly cared about that by now. Besides, she was sure she wasn't going to get caught. But she was going to have to hurry if she wanted to catch up with him. Wasting no time, she threw on a robe and her thick black lamb's wool coat, and then put on her boots, which had already been ruined by helping the Gypsy. And, in a flash, she hurriedly made her way down to the back door of the kitchen, and grabbed the flashlight off the nail on the wall beside it, because Ramon had already taken the lantern. The moonlight gave off enough light for her to go by though, as she quickly but very carefully tread the path that Ramon had taken through the rose garden, then down the hill, and then more slowly as she approached territory that was not familiar to her. Now she thought that she should probably use the flashlight, but she didn't want to run the risk of being discovered and she still could vaguely see the trodden path that Ramon had worn in the snow, so she decided against it. It was more to her benefit though, for now she saw the faint glow of Ramon's lantern shinning throught the brush along the path. As she drew closer, she saw that it was coming from an indenture that was cut in the side of an embankment, which led down to a chasm--beyond that, the river, so she knew this must be the place. Goose bumps began to rise on her flesh at the thought of what might lie ahead, but she trudged on with no intentions of turning back, since she had come this far, already. She only put her hand on her cross and hoped that Ramon would be where the light was to protect her, if there was any real danger. Even if he did get angry, she was sure he wouldn't be angry enough to allow some foul creature to devour her. She didn't think that there were any bear or big cats in the Pyrenees Mountains. But just what was there that could hurt her, anyway? Maybe wolves ...? She had heard boars were somewhat common in the area, and that was a thought that chilled her bones. But if there were anything as dangerous as that around, wouldn't Ramon have been carrying a riffle with him? Nevertheless, they were in the wilderness, so she still felt a little nervous ... until she heard and saw the small river where the water-wheel, free of debris, turned gently, seeming to beckon to her. When she reached the embankment, she saw the carved out entrance in its side, where there appeared to be a doorway that looked like it might once have led to some sort of shrine ... or, possibly, a tomb. Creeping up closer to the mouth of the area, she noticed a monstrously thick iron door, which had been left open to reveal earthen steps leading down the passage way of a long narrow, tunnel-like cavern, and a lit lantern which had been left hanging on a hook inside the door, casting an eerie half-light on the darkness below. This illuminated the shadows just enough to allow her to see that the stairs turned to the left at the bottom, but other than this she could not see anything more ... unless she went on down father inside. This was her only chance, and she thought that she had better take it, because, if she waited too long, she feared that Ramon might start to come back up the steps and catch her. Then the excursion would have been for naught, and she couldn't let that happen. He might lock the iron-grated door behind them, which would then forever ruin her chances of getting another opportunity like this one, again. Taking a deep breath, to muster all her courage, she stepped lightly down the stairs, and then hesitantly peeked around the turn of the wall when she reached the bottom. There was about a fifteen-foot-long crude tunnel that had been dug through the ground to make a hallway, which ended abruptly where it turned to the left, coming to another solid and heavy iron-grated door. She could see a tiny bit of light coming from around its sides, even though it was closed, so she thought that maybe something might be able to be seen from its keyhole, if not from its cracks between the jams. Therefore, edging her way along carefully, she quietly went forth to investigate. There was a keyhole, just as she had suspected! But when she tried to peek through it around the door-jam, there was very little to be seen. However, she could hear the sound of a muffled voice coming from within. |