The Resurrection Of Amelia D. Taylor (1) Chapter 1 The couple walked along the cobble stones with their hands linked together. The young woman was dressed in fine London silk and lace. The hem of her dress flowed elegantly as she walked. She wore strings of pearls and ruby that hung loosely around her neck. Anyone would agree, she looked ravishing. Her companion, a tall silver smith was all in black and white. He wore two silver rings on one of his fingers---as did the woman--and a gold watch on his right wrist. The man stopped walking and pulled his wife aside. For a while, he just stood, gazing out at the fluorescent blue-gray water. The woman knelt down and picked a flower from the ground. She twirled the tender flower in her fingers, and she watched with a grin as one precious petal dance to the ground. The man grunted. His face showed he was deep in thought. The woman looked at his sunken reflection and frowned. �You aren�t as you used to be, my love. Do share your change.� The man formed a puzzled look out of the creases in his face. �I have changed?� The woman shrugged. �You don�t seem to enjoy life as you used too. It frightens me sometimes, how emotionless you can appear to me.� The man felt his heart slowing down. Whether he was calm or in distress, he couldn�t quite tell. The woman beside him stared at the fallen petal on the ground, glistening lightly in the traces of evening rain. �You have changed as well,� he announced. �I have. It�s how people are to be, if I�m not mistaken.� He nodded, but he wasn�t sure what for. �You are becoming of age,� he said. The woman let out a generous laugh. �As are you. You are older than I, are you not?� The man cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back. �I see no humor in this at all.� This remark made the woman frown. She fixed her brows in anger. �I have not become too old.� �You are older than you were. Your features show it as well.� She touched her face. She could feel no wrinkles, no creases, just skin. She was confused. �People become older,� She whispered. �I seem to have forgotten your age. Remind me, kindly. � The woman hesitated slightly. �I shall soon celebrate my twenty-third,� she mumbled. The man nodded again for no apparent reason. Then he took in a deep breath. �She is of nineteen years.� The woman shot her eyes directly into his. Her pained expression made no difference on him. �She.� �Yes.� �So there is.� �Yes.� �And you were naught to tell me.� He nodded and caught her gaze. �Correct.� . She got the picture. She wouldn�t interrogate him much longer. The woman swallowed. �Who is she?� the woman demanded. The man pointed to a woman by a cherry tree. She was a beauty. Her hair was long and blonde, pulled back in a tight bun. Her face was kind, her eyes were bright and generously shaped her face. The clothes she wore looked expensive and so did the diamonds around her fair neck. But the girl had a flaw. Her stomach protruded arrogantly from her person. Yet, the rest of her looked quite in figure. The woman accompanied by the man smirked. �She�s lovely,� she said dully. �She is. Quite.� �She�s a bit,� the woman paused, �large.� The woman made a hand gesture that beckoned to her stomach. The man sighed. �She is of child,� he said as calm as he could bear. The woman cringed. �You did not bless me with child.� The man was silent. He was watching the girl walk toward him. He smiled, and his wife frowned. �Jane,� he began, �This is Amelia.� Jane smiled a perfectly white smile. �It�s a pleasure,� she said perkily to her. �If a pleasure is what you are to call it, then yes.� The man put his arm around Jane and gave Amelia a serious look. �We aught to be going, Jane. It�s getting late.� �Of course.� Amelia shot him a look that frightened him. He took his arm down off of Jane and put his hands behind his back again. �Jane,� he groaned, �Could you leave Amelia and I for a moment?� �Yes, yes,� she said. To Amelia, Jane sounded more like a slave than a lover. A mother, for that matter. She turned to Amelia, �It�s been nice meeting you.� Amelia nodded, but kept her eyes burned to the man. She waited until she was sure Jane had wandered off somewhere, then took and abrupt step forward and pointed her finger at him. �Of all the men in the world, it had to be you.� �Don�t you---,� Amelia interrupted him with a slap in the face. He put his hand to his cheek. �You wench!� he yelled. Amelia stepped off for a moment and blinked, feeling her eyes well up. �Alexander�I can�t even believe this.� She shook her head. She really didn�t believe it. She refused to believe it, actually. �Don�t you dare talk to me like that.� Amelia stepped up again and waved her finger at him. �You wait. You are becoming old. You will die before I.� Amelia took her hand down away from his face, looking back and forth from him to Jane. �You make a good couple. Your both trash.� With that, she took off her silver band and threw it to the ground before his feet. �You�ll see me again,� she promised. It was a promise Alexander hoped, far too deeply she would break. He watched Amelia as she walked away from him. Him eyes were drawn. His mouth was plastered shut. Undoubtedly, his expression wasn�t in regret, but in shock. Amelia didn�t look back. Her eyes remained on the pathway before her. She swallowed back her tears, and clenched her fists. Back behind her she could hear Jane and Alexander talking. Amelia swore, the scent of him or her was about enough to make herself sick. �wench� The same word stuck in her head. A reminder of what she was under her skin. Chapter 2 Amelia pulled on the necklaces Alexander had made for her. On all of them, he had carved �to my one and only.� What a lie! She ripped off the silver, throwing the necklaces to the ground. A few times, she winced in pain. It was after she tore all the jewelry she began to feel a warm sticky liquid run down her back. Amelia was prepared for the uphill battle ahead of her. It had been this way before. So long ago. She sighed. Alexander wasn�t the first to leave her behind. As a child as well, but that was so different. Alexander wasn�t taken from her. Not truly. She ran her fingers on the tops of the fences. The wood felt rough against her skin. The wind blew her dress and her hair back into the fence. Her dress ripped a few times from getting caught on loose nails. Amelia closed her eyes. She imagined herself in a world without people. She imagined herself as a little girl again. For a moment she actually felt calm. She felt free. She kept her eyes shut, running her fingers along the fence line. She even smiled in her carelessness. Her smile faded though, feeling herself run into someone. She opened her eyes and saw a man standing above her. He was about four inches taller than she. She felt her face go hot. The man just smiled down at her and put his hand out. �William.� Amelia looked at his hand like he had a weapon, then she shook it. �Amelia�� He laughed slightly and Amelia coughed. �Amelia Taylor.� She never was the best at formal greetings. �William Rather. Nice to meet you, Amelia.� Amelia nodded and put her hand to her face. She was red and she knew it. William smiled brightly at her. �Don�t be shy. I�d love to get to know a beautiful young lady such as yourself.� She smiled widely at that. �Flattery will get you no where, William.� �Oh? I feel I�ve already made a pretty descent impression.� Amelia nodded. She hadn�t gotten a good glimpse at him until now. She turned her eyes up to his face. He was a doll. His face was lean and smooth. His eyes were dark and tough. His hair fell into his face like black wine vines. He was well built, not too thin, not too broad. To Amelia, something she couldn�t quite compare to. She imagined herself in her own mind. Her messy hair that hung profusely around her shoulders. She wasn�t thin. She wasn�t large. She wasn�t short. She wasn�t tall. She was however, Average. Plain and boring Amelia. William just kept looking at her with those dark eyes of his. �What exactly are you doing out on the streets unaccompanied, milady?� he asked politely. �It would be bold to ask you the same thing.� �Too bold. I asked you first.� �Prehaps.� �Well? Are you going to answer me?� �If I tell you, would you care to tell me your reason?� He looked at her with a peculiar expression. Amelia raised her eyebrows at him. �Of course,� he replied. Amelia could tell he was a gentleman. �My husband left me at the scene,� Amelia explained. �I�m sorry. May I ask why?� �He says I have simply become�� Amelia searched her mind for words, �to of age, if that makes any sense.� William nodded. �Well that doesn�t seem right. You couldn�t possibly be older than I. And I don�t feel I�m old at all.� He smiled. �How old? If you don�t mind,� She beckoned. �I don�t. I�m twenty-nine.� Amelia nodded. �Twenty-two.� �It�s a fine age. A Youthful one, at that,� he said. Amelia laughed lightly and William smiled at her. �You try hard,� she said. �Is it working?� �Yes.� William nodded again. Amelia thought he was quite amusing. Not a phenomenal funny, but to the point where it was cute. Like a young child telling a story about a dragon and a princess. As hard as they try to seem serious, they just seem cute, wich makes it funny. �You promised to tell me why you were out here alone.� �Why, yes I did.� �I�m waiting.� William nodded. �It isn�t uncommon for a man to walk the streets unaccompanied.� �Your lady?� He smiled and lifted his right hand, slowly turning it around. Amelia could see what he was trying to get across to her. A flutter filled her veins. �You are unmarried?� �I�m unengaged as well,� he joked. But then, he was serious. �So your alone?� �As are you. Now.� �Not really.� �In a sense, yes.� Amelia shrugged. �So now you and him are both alone?� he asked. �Not exactly,� she groaned. �Oh? He left you for another woman?� Amelia brushed her hair back. �Yes. She�ll soon have his first child as well.� �How old?� �Nineteen.� Williams face turned a lifeless pale. �That young?� Amelia nodded. She was awfully young. Hardly developed. Then again, Amelia was engaged to him at sixteen. She was never a mother, though. Amelia and William stood in silence for a moment. The silence was akward. �I should probably be going,� Amelia said. She started to walk away, then William stopped her. �It�s never pleasant returning to an empty house. You can come with me, if you�d like.� Amelia thought a moment. It wasn�t until then she actually thought about it. She didn�t really have anywhere to go. The house she was living in belonged to Alexander. All of her possessions inside now probably belonged to Jane. Amelia felt a sickening, thinking she had been replaced. She looked to William again. He was just standing there patiently waiting. �Alright,� she said. He smiled and took her arm. �It isn�t far from here,� he announced, �Just down the way.� Amelia nodded and held onto him. She needed the comfort. She was sure she would break down sooner, or later, without it. William noticed her slight death grip on his arm. He was certain she was pained right now. After talking to a complete stranger about her personal issues, she had to have been feeling somewhat awkward. Yet, she was the one chanting her personal life in rhyme. Amelia noticed Williams quick pace and had trouble keeping up. She had to jog slightly to get back up to his speed. He slowed for her after a while, apparently noticing she was having a hard time. �So, what do you do for a living?� she asked. William looked down at her. �You�ll see, won�t you?� She nodded. William looked off behind him and trailed somewhat behind Amelia. She was off somewhere else, but still had control of her grip, obviously. William cocked his head sideways and swallowed. He could see the red back of her dress. He figured he wouldn�t ask.
Copyright © 2007 Jacqueline P Ervine |