A CHRISTMAS WISH

Chapter 2: Realization

"That is a relief milady; ye gave me a terrible fright with that scream. I almost swooned dead away." The woman said in a mousy little voice with an uncertain smile pasted on her face.

"Fright" "Swooned" whatever was the matter with the woman Sarah wondered uneasily. It didn't bode too well for her if her kidnapper was a nut case. But looking at the tiny woman Sara doubted very much that the poor thing would be capable of kidnapping her.

Apart from the physical aspect this woman was definitely too timid to carry out such a crime, in fact she very much doubted this woman could even serve as an accomplice. No, Kidnapping was definitely out of the equation.

Maybe she was dreaming Sarah thought hopefully. Maybe this was all some kind of elaborate dream that she had concocted. She just hadn't woken up yet. Yes that was obviously it, hadn't she watched that movie about Henry the VIII and his wives the other night maybe she had enjoyed it a bit too much. All she needed to do was give herself a nice little pinch to wake herself up. With supreme confidence Sarah lowered her hand under the covers and pinched her bum "Owwww" she yelped.

The other woman jumped a foot in the air. She looked about ready to "swoon dead away" again and Sarah didn't have the expertise to deal with a heart attack so she decided to blag it out. Acting as blasé as she could manage Sarah looked the woman straight in the eyes and asked innocently,

"Why am I in bed at this hour?"

Sarah was almost certain that it was pretty late in the afternoon because the Sun shining outside beyond the shuttered window was much too bright for morning.

"D' ye not remember milady, ye had a terrible fall. The 'hole castle was in an uproar. Lady Catherine is in the chapel praying fer yer recovery while the Baron 'as been pacin' the solar all morning, everyone 'as been worried sick."

Lady Catherine? Castle folk? Baron? SOLAR? What the hell was this woman yapping about; Sarah couldn't make head or tail of the whole thing. Maybe she had died, Sarah thought. Perhaps that was the answer, ridiculous as it may sound at that moment Sarah actually considered that unlikely possibility as a plausible explanation. But that train of thought led her to another conundrum, "Was this heaven or hell?"

There was no fire or brimstone in sight so it was probably safe to say it wasn't hell. That left heaven, but there were no angels in white robes and where the hell was her halo, surreptitiously she raised her hand to her head only to encounter her messed up hair. No it couldn't possibly be heaven, she was still a healthy size ten under the covers and Sarah was pretty sure that the first thing she would have done in heaven would have been to demand a body like Naomi Campbell and a face like Charlize Theron.

Suddenly the door opened again and in came her mother looking like the lady of the manor. She looked better than she had ever done before and it took Sarah a whole minute to say anything. For a moment she doubted this vision really was her mother, for one she had two thick braids lying across her chest like silvery blonde ropes, secondly her waist was tiny cinched in at the middle by a tight fitting gown. It was a deep Burgundy color and was made of some kind of rich velvety cloth. Her skirt flared from her hips falling to the ground in intricate pleats and swathes of fabric. She looked just like the good witch in the wizard of Oz all decked out in at least 20 yards of fabric.

But the face hadn't changed, younger perhaps but it was definitely her mother. She had the same green eyes that Sarah had herself along with the fair alabaster skin and high cheekbones that her daughter had also inherited.

Oh yes it definitely was her mother Sarah assured herself before rushing into speech,

"Mother I am so glad you are here. Where am I? How did I get here?" Sarah asked desperately, trying to reign in her panic. It couldn't possibly be all bad could it? Her mother was here wasn't she, there had to be an explanation. But Catherine didn't answer; instead she stared at Sarah with a quizzical frown. Anxiously she looked back at the man who had just entered the room behind her. He was scrawny, slightly hunched back and had a thin squiggly white beard jutting out from his pointy chin like an old Billy goat.