บท 6: Chapter 6: Reversal
Isaac paced to the window, the frosty bite of winter pressing against him through the glass. His breath fogged in a small circle on the windowpane as he looked eastward out over the property, in the direction of the city. This many miles away he couldn't see the dense array of golden lights emanating from the nearby township, but he knew they were there, twinkling in the evening light.
With a sigh, he looked out over the expanse of dry midwinter fields beyond. In a matter of weeks, it would be time for the farmhands to plow the long rows and sow this year's crops, a prospect that Isaac was dreading.
He'd lived in this same house on this same farm for almost as long as he could remember, and yet he'd never quite felt at home here. Isaac thought perhaps moving to the city might soothe his restlessness. But for the moment at least, his only respite was the occasional mischief stirred up by his little sister, Josephine. And more recently, a certain striking dark haired mystery that he hadn't been able to get out of his head.
Isaac's mother, Martha, bustled into the study, an oversized basket of yarn dangling from her forearm.
"No matter how many times I look at this pattern, I just can't seem to get it right," she huffed, sliding a thick volume into place on the bookshelf. She smiled easily at Isaac. "Oh well. How did you pass the afternoon?"
Isaac turned his back to the window and shrugged. He couldn't tell his mother he'd wasted most of the day daydreaming about, well, her, whoever she was.
"I, uh, just caught up on some reading," he fabricated.
Martha raised an eyebrow and cracked a gentle grin - Isaac had never been much of a liar. She sighed amusedly. "Oh, to be young again. Come on, who's got my darling son all tied up in knots?"
Isaac's face flushed.
Martha laughed good-naturedly. "Is it that 'housemaid' you'd asked about?"
Isaac groaned inwardly. He never should have said anything. When he'd first seen her a few weeks ago, he'd thought that perhaps she was a new servant. He inquired with his mother about her - nonchalantly, he'd thought - but of course, she'd seen right through his ruse, and she'd been teasing him ever since. Now she was itching to know who the object of his affection was, but Isaac - for obvious reasons - hadn't been able to put his mother's curiosity to rest, seeing as he didn't want her to think he was going stir-crazy.
In any case, the woman certainly didn't dress like any servant - or anyone - that he'd ever seen. Isaac still wasn't quite sure if he wasn't just imagining the whole thing… But even if he was, she'd made the long winter much more interesting than in the past, and he was grateful at least for that.
Martha placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "It's okay, honey, you can keep your fancies to yourself. She's a lucky lady, whoever she is." She shuffled quietly out of the room, leaving Isaac alone with his thoughts.
Isaac sighed. Meddlesome as she was, he would really miss his mother someday soon.
Even from his earliest childhood, he'd never been able to shake the feeling that he just didn't belong, that something important was missing from his life and it was somehow his own fault. There'd always just been this lingering cloud of discontentment hanging over him.
Now nearly a man grown, the only thing Isaac could think to do about it was to go - venture out beyond the farm and see what he could make of himself in the world. But at the same time, the thought of ditching his responsibility to the estate, and leaving his loved ones behind, left his resolve wavering.
Ping!
A bell from the kitchen interrupted Isaac's dark ruminations and alerted him that dinner was served.
His stomach grumbling, he gathered up the pile of books from his favorite armchair and turned to place them on the desk, then - glancing up - promptly dropped the entire stack to the floor with a thump.
There, standing not four feet from him, was the woman.
She was on the other side of his father's desk, her back to him, as she swung a brightly colored bag unlike anything he'd ever seen off her shoulder.
His heart reverberated in his chest and his breath caught in his throat.
"Hey!" he managed to choke out, panic resonating through his body as inexplicable waves of anguish racked his heart.
But as always seemed to be the case, she didn't hear him.
He watched in frustration as she rummaged in her bag, the bookcases lining the far wall faintly visible through the curtain of her long, dark hair.
He thought about crossing to the other side of the desk to get her attention, but he was afraid if he moved that she would disappear before he could reach her, as she had so many times before.
Suddenly, she whirled around in Isaac's direction, her hair fanning out behind her as her form rapidly grew more faint.
Isaac caught one quick glimpse of shock in her bright emerald eyes, and then just as quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone.
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