Prologue

A married couple finds that their normal routine goes out the window when a stranger comes to call

Unexpected visitor

 

Mr. and Mrs. Cole were known in the neighborhood around a suburb in northern London, as the kindest people around. They had both seen their forties pass them by, and now Mrs. Cole was chairman in the Community Group, while Mr. Cole owned a small bookstore. They revered their reputation of being friendly, and loving. They were helpful, open and most important welcoming. This caused them a lot of pleasure and a lot of trouble over the years, in all manners of shapes and sizes. But the greatest pleasure, and definitely the greatest trouble, came in a quiet yet loud manner, in the smallest and most fragile size, and did not appear before one of the weirdest nights had passed.

  Sarah, as Mrs. Cole was named, had just made a cup of tea for herself and Gareth, her husband Mr. Cole, when a knock on the door disturbed their daily routine.

  “Oh dear would you check that?” Sarah asked as she placed the tea on the living room table, then turning back towards the kitchen to get the cookies.

  “Sure darling,” Gareth moved into the hall and opened the door. In front of him was the weirdest sight he had seen in his many years on Earth. A man close to Mr. Coles own age was standing on the porch. His hair was graying, his equally grey eyes were filled with fear and weariness. His body was dressed in a battered drenched grey robe over what seemed to be a bloody shirt. Only after scanning the man several times, did Mr. Cole realize that the man was carrying a baby.

  “Are you Gareth Cole?” Asked the man, he seemed to be out of breath, and soaked from the rain that hammered down on the roof.

  “Yes?” it took him a few seconds to take in the man, but then came to his senses added in a polite voice; “please come in, no use standing out there in the rain, Sarah could you brings us some towels?” Mrs. Cole had appeared in the doorway to the hall, and after half a glance at the soaked man and the child in his arms, she walked to the bathroom to fetch the requested towels. “If you’ll take that off, we can blow dry it for you,” said Mr. Cole, but instead of receiving the robe as he had expected, he suddenly held the infant in his arms. “Uhh, why don’t you follow me sir?” He asked, and moved towards the door to the living room, only to stop as he heard a thump behind him. He turned around and saw the man sprawled on the floor in an awkward position.

  “Oh my lord! Sarah, get in here!” He exclaimed as he hurried forwards, only to find himself limited by the child in his arms.

  “What is going-? Oh my!” Sarah said and hurried forwards. “No no no you take the baby,” Gareth said and passed the child to his wife, he then kneeled next to the man.

  “Let me,” he said and opened the robe. It was soaked in blood as well as rain, and it began spilling from the man’s back onto the floor. “Oh for the love of God! Sarah, throw me those towels,” she obeyed and Gareth pressed them to the wound. The man was gasping for air, and he used what breath he could, to speak in a raspy voice. “My name, is Farin… I come from… Mithgir,” he gave a heavy gasp. “You must keep the child… keep the child safe!” another gasp.

  “Who are you?” asked Gareth, it was the first question that came to mind.

  “I am… the aid of… the lord Dane… that is his daughter… Shana,” Farin gripped Mr. Coles arm, desperately trying to stay alive, trying to deliver the message before it was too late.

  “Here, the med-kit,” Sarah said, Gareth hadn’t even noticed her leaving the room, or entering it again. He opened the red box and pulled out the single shot of morphine his friend dr. Harper had given him for emergencies. He thrust the needle into the strangers’ thigh and waited for a reaction. Farin seemed to relax a bit, at least enough to talk without gasping his way through every sentence.

  “Please Mr. Farin I don’t understand, what’s happened to you?” Gareth asked.

  “There was a raid on the palace, my lord and his wife are dead. They left me to find a safe place for their daughter”.

  “I don’t understand, there are no palaces anywhere near here, and I’ve never heard any of the names you have mentioned?” Mr. Cole said, pressing the towels harder against the wound.

  “Please believe me! I cannot explain, so weak…”  His breath was slowing. “Someday you will understand, but until then, you must promise to protect her please… I” he heaved a breath, gasping for air again. “Please… protect her… protect… prote…” he never got to finish his last sentence. Before he managed to complete his last request, he let out a final breath and then his eyes glazed over, looking into nothingness as he lay dead upon the floor. Gareth looked from the dying man, to his wife who had tears streaming from her eyes. Sarah looked down, really seeing the child for the first time. She must have been about 6 months old, her eyes were open, shining a piercing green up at Sarah, who felt so sorry for the little girl. Gareth closed the eyes of the dead man, and stood back up.

  “Sarah, put the baby in the guestroom, make sure she’s asleep,” Sarah hesitated, but a childish fear of the body lying on the floor drove her upstairs. She opened the door to the room, and began pacing the room, rocking the baby silently, trying to calm herself as well as the child.

  “A breeze will fly and roam, carrying the roses home,” as she finished the lullaby, she settled the baby on the bed and tucked the blankets over her. But when she pulled a blanket over the girl, she saw something glinting around her neck. Sarah sat down silently and lifted of a silver chain, the pendant of which was a delicate silver key. Sarah wanted to examine it closer, but instead put it back around the child’s, neck and moved to the door.

  “Poor baby… poor, poor baby,” she sighed as she looked over her shoulder, at the little innocent creature, lying fast asleep, with no knowledge of what she had lost. 

Author's Note

Chapter one of a story I worked on a few years back, it's not much and not something I'm overly proud of, but it means something to me because it was one of the first things I actually got from my mind to the paper..