26. Eleanor

26

ELEANOR

E leanor ran her hands down Shadow’s face, patting her large nose and cheeks. Shadow bobbed her head up and down excitedly.

“Good girl,” Eleanor cooed.

She had done so well in pulling not only her and Osiris in the carriage, but their entire harvest of fever few.

“Are you ready?” Osiris asked, his shadows wrapping around her waist as he began to guide her to the front doors of the orphanage. The shadows stuck out against the yellow fabric of the sun dress with white daisies that Osiris had gifted her. Still, knowing that Osiris had grown comfortable around her was a gift in and of itself.

“Ready as I will ever be, I suppose,” she responded.

Stopping in front of the house, Eleanor took a deep breath as Osiris knocked on the door.

After a still, breathless moment, the door slowly opened to reveal an older woman with graying hair, smiling softly from ear to ear.

Somehow… somehow the woman looked almost familiar?

When their gazes met, Eddy’s eyes widened before she looked up at Osiris, then back down at Eleanor.

“Well,” she breathed out, “isn’t this the most wondrous of surprises!” Eddy reached forward, grabbing Eleanor’s hands in her own.

Eleanor still couldn’t shake the feeling of having seen her before, somewhere.

“I am Eleanor Carver,” she offered, bowing her head in a shallow nod.

“Eleanor Carver,” Eddy repeated, her eyebrows knitting together. “That must make you the niece of James Carver, then?”

Osiris stepped forward slightly, wrapping a reassuring hand around Eleanor’s waist. “Do you know each other?”

“No,” Eddy said, glancing down at Osiris’ hand before looking back up at the pair. “At least, Eleanor likely does not know me. But I know of her and that cruel uncle of hers. Someone ought to teach him a lesson if I say so myself. I lived in the same town as you years ago. Never the matter, I am Edith. Edith Woodcraft.”

“Edith Woodcraft!” Eleanor exclaimed, her eyebrows shooting up as her eyes danced between Eddy and Osiris.

Eddy chuckled, taking a step forward to wrap her arms around Eleanor’s shoulders, guiding her away from Osiris. “It seems us ladies have much to discuss, Osiris,” she called, gesturing to the front door, “be a dear and place the fever few inside. We will be in the kitchen preparing a pot of tea.”

Walking deeper into the orphanage, Eleanor noted all the portraits that hung on the walls, and the toys that had been scattered on the floor. She could practically feel the love radiating off them.

Making their way into the kitchen, Eddy dropped her hold on Eleanor as she moved to the pot which was already steaming. Setting down two cups, she poured the hot tea into each one.

“You must have questions,” Eddy began, turning as she brought the cups to the table in the middle of the kitchen. “I can only imagine what kind of rumors have been running wild since I left.”

Eleanor smiled as she grabbed the teacup, pulling it closer to herself. “Well,” she started, looking up at Eddy through her lashes, “they think you were taken by the Headless Horseman. Not only you though, other women too.”

Eddy chuckled, lifting the cup to her lips, taking a careful sip. “Of course they do. Well, I can’t blame them completely for their ignorance, and, this is half a truth. You see, when I lived in Autumntun, I was married to a robber baron. A cruel man with a cruel hand. I knew of the legends of the Horseman. I thought that if I ran—”

“No one would come looking for you,” Eleanor finished.

Eddy nodded. “Precisely. Though, I had become lost in the forest. Osiris found me. The night I left I was beaten horribly, halfway to death really. I wasn’t scared when I saw him because honestly, any fate was better than the one I escaped.”

“I am so sorry,” Eleanor said under her breath.

“It is in the past. Though, who would have thought that Osiris would happen upon someone else.”

Eleanor’s eyebrows knit together as she bit her bottom lip, worry taking over her mind. “Were you and Osiris…”

“Friends. Only ever friends. So, you can imagine my surprise when he showed up here in the middle of the night, asking me how to make food for humans,” she answered, laughing as she explained what had happened.

They seemed to ramble on for hours, filling up their cups and exchanging memories of Autumntun.The good and the bad.

As a soft knock sounded from the hallway both women turned to see Osiris leaning against the wall, the flames in his head burning a beautiful, warm orange.

“The fever few is inside,” he informed, pointing to the hallway. “May I assist with anything else?”

Eddy smiled gently as she stood up, making her way around the table towards the backdoor.

“Well,” she started, placing a hand on her hip as her voice seemed strained. “I am getting so old, if only there was someone to help with the children…” her voice trailed off as she walked outside, being sure to leave the backdoor open.

Chancing a glance at Osiris, Eleanor noticed his flames dimmed slightly as he reflexively opened and closed his fists at his sides.

“Osiris,” Eleanor spoke softly as she walked over to him, grabbing his hands and lifting them to cup her face. “You should go. I am sure if Eddy is the one caring for them, they will not frighten so easily.”

Osiris’ worried face pierced a hole through her heart. “What if I do frighten them?”

“Then you will teach them not to be afraid. Was I not frightened at first? You calmed me, spoke with me, helped me.”

Osiris sighed as his shadows wrapped snugly around her ankle, dropping his head as he nodded.

One step after the other, his shadow staying attached to her ankle, they walked outside, stepping into the back yard. As the sound of playing children roared to life around them, Osiris’ breath hitched, and he pulled back slightly.

“I am here. I promise you, you are not a monster. No matter what anyone says, you are my being. You hold more humanity in your heart than most humans do in their entire body.”

Osiris nodded his head once as he stepped forward, walking out of the shadows and into the light of the yard.

The laughter died down, all the children coming to a halt to stare at Osiris, his shadows growing and flicking behind him as he stared at the tens of children.

Eleanor’s breath caught in her throat as she waited, and waited, nearly choking on the silence until—

“Pumpkin man!” one of the children screamed, pointing at Osiris, encouraging all the other children to run towards him.

“Woah!” another little boy yelled, skidding to a stop in front of Osiris as he looked at his shadows now swaying gently behind him. “Can you move stuff with those?”

“Yes,” Osiris nodded, taking a cautious step forward, “actually I—”

“I bet you’re really good at What Time Is It Mr. Wolf! Let’s play!” a young girl yelled.

“But don’t use your shadows, that’s cheating!” the first boy commanded.

“Nuh-uh,” the girl shot back, “I want him to lift me if he catches me! I want to fly!”

Suddenly all the children began barking orders of playing their games of chase or ‘flying’.

Eleanor’s eyes flicked over to Osiris, half expecting the chaos of it all to be too much, but as she looked at him, he was smiling and nodding at the children, already starting to pick a few up with his shadows.

Before she could say anything, the children whisked him away.

Eleanor laughed as she watched Osiris trying to keep up with them.

“Good job, Horseman.”

The carriage wheels rattled as they waved goodbye to Eddy and the children, a few little ones screaming for ‘Pumpkin Man’ to come back soon, as they started on their way home.

So… Eddy was Edith Woodcraft…

Eleanor watched as the forest became lost to darkness, something that would have terrified her less than a month ago.

In only a month, she had tasted freedom on her lips and felt love on her heart. Only now, as the nights grew cold, was she reminded of their deal.

“Stay here until my next harvest. It will be in thirty days.”

Thirty days had seemed like an eternity but now, she knew it would never be enough.She had avoided the topic all together, afraid of what he would do if she were to bring it up. He had proven to be true to his word, and she did not know if he would break it now. Even if she wanted him to. The deadline of their deal was today, when he delivered his harvest to Eddy, and so, she knew she could not avoid the conversation any longer.

“You know,” Eleanor started, watching the darkening forest around them as Osiris gave a flick of the reins, “after Eddy left, all women were raised with a set of rules to keep us obedient and ‘safe’. Rules on manners, and grace and patience,” she said, watching Osiris, his head sitting comfortably beside him. Even without it, she knew he was watching her. He always was. “Even rules on leaving the house. They would tell us that those who wander in the dark, the Horseman will make his mark. Osiris,” she continued, placing her hands on his, his shadows coiling around her arm. “I am so happy I broke the rules. I am so lucky that you found me. I… I do not wish to go home. Or anywhere else if you are not there.”

“Why are you saying this?” he asked, pulling on the reins, slowing them to a stop next to a large boulder. Osiris turned his body, giving her his full attention as his shadows wrapped further up her arm and around her hips.

“Well,” she mumbled, looking down at her dress, trying to avoid his knowing watch. “The end of our deal is approaching, and—”

“And?” his voice was low and rumbling, as if the very idea that she had questioned if he wanted her was an offense. “I thought I told you, Eleanor, you are mine now. I shall not ever let you go. Never.”

Tears began to prick Eleanor’s eyes as his hand lifted to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You are my Symphony. Each day you give me, where I am lucky enough to see your cheeks painted with pink, is a gift I will cherish.”

Eleanor leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed. “Osiris—”

A stick snapping startled them from behind, both ripping away from one another as they spun to the source of the noise.

A chill crept down her spine and her heart dropped, as she was frozen in fraught silence when her eyes fell upon him . On what he held in his hands.

“Eleanor,” her uncle warned, aiming his musket at Osiris.

“Stand back!”