They drove straight there, dumped Bernard out at the front gate, and drove away to his cries for help. Garvin watched and, with the aid of the lights of several torches, saw Bernard running to the gates entrance, falling, and then being lifted off the ground and taken in. Once they arrived back at the estate, we started looking for things to wear and, for once, the search was one of pure joy without the never ending chaos that we had at the end of the so called rainbow. Martin told us about the trunks full of costumes in the attic, and the boys went up and brought them down to the family room, having to set some out in the hall, due to the lack of room.
There was one chest that stood out from the rest because it reminded me of the one my mother kept her personal belongings in. It once held the very dress that she and my father buried me in thinking I was dead and to them I truly was. She had it for her own death and had made it herself, just as her mother had made hers and I would have one day made my own had things been different. I walked up to it going down on my knees, smoothing my hand over the top, exposing the beauty of the dark wood under the thick layer of dust. The carvings were far different than that of my mothers; far more detailed and with the smallest of intricate art work. Vines and flowers graced the trim; larger leaves like rose petals lay spread out on the top with tiny clusters of flowers in each of the corners. The panels were equally as impressive, with swirls making no particular pattern.
When I opened it I had truly thought that I had stepped back in time to when my mother showed me her wedding dress for the first time when I was nine. It was the first thing you saw when you opened the chest. I reached in and lifted the similar dress out by the shoulders and stood up. It was breathtaking. I held it up against me and spun around. The flow at the bottom was wide and much longer in the back than it was in the front; the arms were billowy on the shoulders and slim down to the back of the hands, and completely covered in tiny pearls. The neck line was cut low on the chest and there was more lace than there was silky white material.
“I believe that is the wrong attire for the gala,” Jacob said, scaring me so bad that I almost dropped the dress…almost.
“I was just looking at it.” I put it back with my embarrassment showing all over my face.
“It is a thing worn by those joining in your culture, correct? As husband and wife?”
“Yeah,” I smiled with rosy cheeks. “My ring, Jacob?”
I darted down the hall past him and into Martin’s room. He was nude when we carried him back and my only hope was that he had hidden it somewhere in the house before he left out into the tunnels. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up. “No, please. I just have a question,” I said hurriedly, making my way to the side of the bed so he wouldn’t keep moving around. “Martin, I know I have no right asking you this, because of the way I treated you, but…my ring?”
“I am so sorry, my love,” he said, taking my hand and kissing the finger that it once sat on. “It was in the pocket of my vest that I was wearing the night that I left.”
“I should have never taken it off.”
“I will get you another one,” he said, as I laid my head down on his chest.
“I don’t want another one. I want my ring back.”
“I am afraid it is lost, my love.”
“I love the way you say that,” I smiled up at him, kissing the bruised skin on the center of his chest. “The sound of your voice is so different from mine.”
“I am French and you are an American. Your accent is as beautiful to my ears as mine is to yours. But, I must say that I do not understand some of the things that you say.”
“You mean what Jacob calls my slang?”
“I believe that is what one would call it,” he chuckled. “Ouch! You always make me laugh.”
“Laughter is healing and you are looking much better.”
“I feel better, and with your group and the way that you are together, I should be healed in just a matter of days.”
“I better get back to the others. I have to find my gown for this party thing,” I stood, bowing at the waist and he choked on his own burst of laughter.
“Are you alright, did you hurt yourself?” I asked, sitting back down on the bed and holding his shoulder as he leaned to the side to cough.
“You must promise me not to do that at the gala,” he half coughed, half laughed.
“What? Do what, Martin?”
“Bow. You looked like a female version of Jacob, or perhaps, Cates. Women curtsy. You bend both knees with one behind the other.”
“I know how to curtsy,” I said, giggling just a bit. “I just forgot that I was a girl, momentarily.”
“You will be the death of me. Go before you cause me to laugh my stitches open.” He grabbed my hand as I started to get up again. “But not before you give me one more kiss to last until you return.”
I gave him another kiss; only this one was much longer than a simple kiss on the forehead. I pressed my lips to his and he held me there for a long moment. I could taste his blood when I licked my lips, saw a little seeping from the split on his bottom lip and I couldn’t control my next move. I leaned back over and licked the blood off in a slow, lingering swipe, then closed my mouth over his. He groaned in pain, bending at his waist.
“Did I hurt you? I don’t know why I did that.”
“There was no pain in what you just did. On the contrary, it felt so good it caused me pain elsewhere.”
I stood up after a few seconds of silent thinking and almost tripped on his bedside table. It was far too obvious to hide the fact that I had already looked down at his lower half. “I have to go. I am so sorry,” I apologized, backing toward the door, watching him smile, knowing I had just embarrassed the hell out of myself because we both knew what had happened to his private area and I just made it worse. I opened the door as I backed up, trying to act like everything was just fine, and whacked my head on the side of the door as I turned my head to leave. I could hear him laughing and choking as I made my way with a fast pace back down the hall. ***
“Why are you so red?” Derek remarked, as soon as I walked into the family room.
“Why on earth are you wearing that on your head?” I asked in reply changing the subject, and with good reason, because he had a white wig on that had curls all over it.
“They said we all had to wear them.”
“This trunk is full of them, even though your hair is long enough to create the same style,” Tanda said, squatted down in front of it.
“So, does that mean I don’t have to wear one then?”
“Hell yeah you have to wear one,” Derek answered for her. “If I have to, everyone is going to put one on.”
“I must agree with young Derek, Renee,” Cates said, flipping one of the white wigs onto his head.
“Yep, I have to say the same thing, girl,” Sydney added, putting one that looked just like theirs on his head.
Jacob, Fala, and Garvin followed suit and the whole room broke out in one of the loudest, longest laughing outbreaks that we had had so far. Tammy had to excuse herself, leaving the room holding her stomach. I think everyone in the room was coated with red faces from tears that came from laughing so hard, but it was one of the best times that we had had since this whole ordeal had started. The best part of the whole night was watching everyone try on the fancy clothing. Derek was the worst of all, griping about every single thing and causing more laughter than anyone in the room. He was the first to step back in from the hall wearing the knee high fancy green pants with white tights and slim black shoes that barely covered his toes.