I screamed in horror. For a breath of a second the creature stopped demolishing the angel to look at me. I was shocked in to silence when I realized he had human features. It wasn’t a wolf at all, he was a man.
I bolted upright in bed. I managed to not scream by clamping my hand over my mouth. I kept it there until I was done hyperventilating. I was glad that Nickolas had not woken up, he needed his sleep.
Two dreams in one night, I was afraid to go back to sleep. What did they mean? My subconscious must be trying to remember, but were the things I was seeing real? They didn’t seem real once I was awake, but how could my mind have come up with all those things? Surely I had heard them from somewhere.
Chapter Eleven
The next morning I was awakened by the sun. The rays came through the window and pried at my closed eyes. I groaned and stretched out on the bed. Time to get up, I thought groggily. There had to be something I was supposed to be doing.
The clanking coming from the other room made me open my eyes wider. How could Nickolas possibly be up before me? He had stayed out so late last night. I wondered yet again what he was out doing.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and put my bare feet on the rough wooden floor. It was warm where the sun touched it. I wiggled my toes in the dancing dust. I pushed myself off the bed and made my way to the dresser where Nickolas already had the bowl of water for me. I smiled, touched by his thoughtfulness.
“
Hey, breakfast will be ready in ten minutes,” he called.
“
Ok, I’ll be right out.”
“
I can bring it in to you.”
I didn’t answer him. I slipped my hands into the warm water and splashed some on my face. It felt nice but what I really needed was a bath and fresh clothes. “Some girl clothes,” I muttered with a pinched face. I cupped my hands and filled them with some of the water. I bent my head low and slurped the water noisily. I would have to ask Nickolas for a cup.
I smoothed my hair down as best I could and looked distastefully down at the clothes I had on. I sighed. Well, this was the best I could do.
When I first walked out of the room Nickolas was smiling, but his smile faded when he looked at me. I self-consciously straightened my shirt.
“
What?”
“
No, it’s nothing,” he tried to sound off-handed.
“
Just tell me,” I demanded. What was wrong with me?
“
It’s just…I thought you would want to change,” he said awkwardly.
“
I don’t have any other clothes.” My face was blank. Change? How?
“
I provided something for you to change into.”
“
Oh. I didn’t see anything.” I laughed and clapped my hands together. “You are too good to me Nickolas!”
“
You might not want to thank me just yet,” he warned.
“
Why not? Of course I thank you.” I giggled again and spun around to scurry back to the room.
“
It’s a dress, not men’s clothes.”
“
A what?” I didn’t hear what else he said; I was too excited about a new outfit and hopefully a bath. I spun around the room, searching for a pile of clothes.
“
It’s there, on the bed,” Nickolas pointed from the doorway.
“
Oh.” I picked up the neatly folded material. It appeared to have only one large hole. Where would my arms and legs go? Maybe this was a coat or a blanket of some sort. “Is this it then?”
“
You have it upside down.” He regarded me curiously, without smiling.
“
Oh, of course.” I gave a nervous laugh and tried to right the large garment.
After a few awkward tries, Nickolas came to the rescue me — again. “Here; it goes like this.” He shook it out and held it up for me to see. From that angle it did look more wearable, but only slightly.
“
This is like what my angel was wearing in my dream. Only hers was white.” The one Nickolas held was different shades of brown. The top being dark and the bottom being light. “What do you call it?”
“
It’s a dress, Eva.”
“
A dress?” He nodded. “What a lovely name!” I looked at him with my smile beaming. “I’m sure I won’t look as good as my angel wearing a dress, but…you know.” I shrugged and ran my fingers over the soft fabric. “Thank you again, Nickolas.”
“
You will look beautiful and you are quite welcome.” He draped the dress over his arms and leaned down to pick up the other fabric pieces.
“
Oooohhh, what are those?”
He looked at me with a mixture of shock and horror, and then he laughed. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can bathe.”
I bounded after him, my dreams from the night before all but forgotten. It would be nice to have clothes on that didn’t embarrass Nickolas — or me. I didn’t feel embarrassed but Nickolas thought I should be.
I was disappointed when he led me to a small stream. “The water might be a little chilly and shallow, but the river will be too dangerous right now.” I nodded. Oh well, water was water. I tried to look on the bright side.
“
I’ll be back at the cabin,” Nickolas told me, “in case you need anything.” He cast one last look at me before disappearing in the trees.
I took the men’s under things off and let them fall on the ground. I wouldn’t be needing those again. Nickolas was right about the water being chilly but after a few minutes I got used to it and was able to relax.
I sat flat down on the bottom of the stream and the water still just barely covered my waist. I used the small square of soap Nickolas had given me to wash my body as best I could. I lay down to wash my long hair.
After I was satisfied with my cleanliness, I stepped carefully out of the stream and on to my discarded under clothes. I twisted and turned the dress so I could put it over my head, but I lost my balance and fell to the ground. After an almost silent oath, I got back in the water and washed off the dirt.
I tried the dress again. I got more and more aggravated with each failed attempt. There was just too much material. I threw the dress aside and picked up the other pieces of clothing. There was definitely less material but they looked far more complicated. I turned it around and around in my hands but I couldn’t see a way to put it on.
I threw them on top of the dress and put my hands on my hips. “Now what am I going to do?” I muttered. I took two slow breaths before fully deciding what I had to do.
Determination made my steps sure and quick. I wrapped the dress around myself and scooped up the rest of the clothing. I stomped the whole short way back to the cabin where Nickolas was waiting for me.
He was walking out of the cabin when I came clear of the trees. He watched me warily. “What is it, Eva?”
“
I can’t get this…dress on Nickolas.” I was still angry.
His eyes narrowed. “Ok.”
“
Will you help me?”
“
Me?” He shook his head and took a step backwards. “Eva I can’t…I mean, what do you expect me to do…to help you with?”
I took another step towards him. “There is no reason to be embarrassed. It’s just skin, right? I’m not embarrassed.” I put my hand to my chest to emphasize my words.
“
It is more than just skin, Eva. And I cannot help you.” His words were so final.
I pursed my lips into a pout. I looked down at the ground, defeated. My eyes filled with tears. But then I steadied my quivering chin and looked back up at him. He looked concerned but no closer to helping me. “Then what am I supposed to do, stay wrapped in a blanket?” I tugged at the fabric around me. “Or a dress?” No way. He would just have to get over it. With a single movement I let the dress fall to the ground.
His eyes widened and he let out a gasp. “Eva, this is most…”
I squared my shoulders. “You’ll have to help me now. Or you’ll have to sit with me naked. I don’t care either way.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“
You will wrap yourself immediately. I will go fetch a lady from the village for you.”
I shrugged again and walked purposefully past him into the cabin. “I don’t care what you do.” I stood as close to the fire as possible. It wasn’t really cold, but it was chilly. I hoped he wouldn’t make me wait while he went to get someone. He could be so stubborn!
“
Eva.” He tried to sound angry but I heard the quiver in his voice.
“
Yes?” I turned to face him.
He turned his back to me. “Eva, you cannot…it is most improper…”
My shoulders fell a little. He was determined to not help me. “Nickolas, won’t you please help me?” I made me voice as small and helpless as I could.
His shoulders rose and fell in a great sigh. He walked quickly out the front door. Disappointment flooded me. Maybe I should just try again. He surprised me when he returned just as quickly as he had left. He was holding my clothes in one of his hands.
I smiled broadly. “There now,” I exclaimed, “this won’t be so hard.”
He shook his head without smiling. “This is incredibly inappropriate,” he muttered. “We will never speak of this again.” Nickolas dressed me quickly, muttering the entire time about the inappropriateness. I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. “I’m glad you find this amusing,” he said harshly, making me laugh all the harder. His frequent sighs amused me further. Finally he turned me back to face him and I saw the lightness back in his expression.
The dress hung all the way to my bare feet. He disappeared briefly and returned with a comb. With apparent experience, he tied my hair back in a loose braid. “The dress looks nice,” I mused.
“
Here are your shoes and stockings.” He pushed the items into my hands.
“
How did you learn how to dress a woman?” I teased.
He shook his head, but I didn’t miss his smile. “You are too much, Eva, far too much.”
I laughed and took the shoes to the table so I could sit down in one of the chairs. I set to work putting the stockings on first. Nickolas stood facing me, but he kept quiet. It was obvious that he was in deep thought.
Our silence stretched on while I tried to figure out the buckle on the shoe. It was such a strange little thing. It didn’t make any sense to me. Every time I thought I had it buckled, it just came undone again.
“
Eva,” Nickolas broke the silence.
“
Yeah?” I was still trying to buckle the shoe.
“
Did you have another dream last night?”
My fingers paused, had he heard me? “Did I wake you?”
“
I was already awake.”
“
Oh.” I nodded and looked back down to the shoe.
“
So?” He made the word into two syllables.
“
So what?” I pretended to not know what he was talking about.
He took the shoe buckle from my hands and quickly fastened it. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Roughly translated: I had no choice but to tell him. “It was the same dream really, the one with the wolf.”
He sat back on the heels of his feet and templed his hands under his chin. I tried my best not to make eye contact. “Will you tell me about them?”
“
The dreams?”
A breathless “Yeah.”
I was right to avoid eye contact with this perfect man, because the moment our eyes locked I was lost. I couldn’t look away. I probably would have promised him my first born if he had asked at that point. “Yeah, ok.”
He looked away with a small smile. No fair! “The first dream you had was when you first got here?”
“
Mmm-hmm.” All he wanted to know about was the wolf, I told myself; don’t tell him any more than he is asking for. He just kept staring at me with a half-smile on his face so I continued before he asked. “I was in a forest. My angel was there. She told me not to forget why I was here.”
“
And why are you here?”
“
That’s the thing,” I shrugged, “I don’t know why I am here. I was being chased by something, through the trees.”
“
The wolves?” I hesitated and he noticed. “What do you think was chasing you?”
“
The wolves,” I muttered with a shrug.
“
What about the dream last night?”
Had he seen my dream too? Maybe I talked in my sleep. “I saw the…the creature better last night.”
“
You mean in your dream?”
“
Yes, but it was more than a dream. It was a memory.”
“
It was just your mind, trying to remember. But you can’t control a dream…it was just a bad dream.”
“
I was trying to remember,” I agreed. “It wasn’t a wolf that was chasing me.” He looked confused, but so was I. Maybe we could piece it together. “The black shape…I only thought it was a wolf, but it wasn’t. It was a man, Nickolas.”
“
I know it was traumatizing for you, getting attacked by a wolf but I think…”
“
I wasn’t attacked by a wolf.” My angel had said so and I believed her.