Fabric of Fate

Chapter Three

It was hours later when Audrey roused again. She was thirsty and had a pressing need to go to the bathroom. It was a bit of a struggle to make herself get out of bed, but she wasn’t quite as weak as she was yesterday. That was probably a good sign. Not that she was ready to run a marathon or anything. But, in her book, any improvement was good.

Once she’d taken care of her most pressing need, Audrey shoved her feet into a pair of flat, fluffy slippers and shuffled to the kitchen to get something to drink. Her stomach growled and she decided she should get something to eat while she was at it.

She opened the refrigerator door and poked around but nothing looked appetizing. The selection was limited to fresh fruit, yogurt, juice and wine—a single, working woman’s staples. She checked the freezer section and found a frozen bagel. That would have to do.

It didn’t take her long to thaw it in the microwave before popping it into the toaster. There was no cream cheese but she’d make do with margarine. Grocery shopping was on her list of things to do.

While she waited for the cinnamon-raisin bagel to toast, she opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a note pad and pen and began to write a list. Bread and soup were at the top. Quick and easy for meals.

The bagel popped up and she buttered it quickly. She hadn’t thought to boil the kettle for tea so she poured herself a glass of orange juice instead. She carried her meager meal over to the table and sat down at her teak bistro set.

It was so quiet. Usually she was up and showering and running around getting ready for work with the news playing in the background. This morning she didn’t care what was happening in the business world. It was strange to feel so cut off from the rest of humanity, adrift in a world of her own.

She no longer knew herself or what she wanted out of life.

“Maybe it’s time to find out.” Saying the words aloud made them more real. She grabbed the pad of paper she’d used to start her shopping list and turned to a clean page. Audrey chewed on the bottom of the pen before writing, “Audrey’s Goals” at the top. It helped to have goals. She’d always had a focus for her life.

When she was younger it had been all about design and fabric and furniture. Then her mother had gotten ill and life had become all about survival, which is why she’d ended up where she was.

But what did she want now?

Good question. She was a thirty-three year old, single workaholic who’d just had a physical collapse and possibly a panic attack. She still wouldn’t admit to that. To say she had a panic attack made her sound weak and she prided herself on being strong. Better to chalk it up to a combination of too much caffeine, not enough food or sleep and overwork.

She had a vague memory of wanting a family of her own. It had been her and her mother for so long, Audrey had always thought she’d like to have a big family. As a child, she’d lain awake in her bed at night and fantasized what it would be like to have huge family dinners and holiday celebrations like the ones she saw on television. But reality was so different from a one-hour television show and many people lived alone.

She shoved her notepad aside. “I’ll work on it later.” Thinking about it was only depressing her. She’d managed to eat half the bagel but was no longer hungry. She really should sit down and look at the list the dietician at the hospital had given her. “Later. I’ll do it later.”

Audrey couldn’t work up the motivation to do much of anything this morning. She had no idea how much time had passed with her simply sitting here, staring off into space. She glanced at the digital clock on the microwave, surprised to see it was almost half-past nine. By now she’d usually have at least two hours put in at her desk.

She pushed aside her plate and rested her head on the table. The thought of work made her stomach roil and her chest ache. “Stop it.” She pushed herself upright and swiped away a tear. She hated leaking like this. It was a sign of weakness.

Maybe you’ve been strong for too long.

She ignored the voice in the back of her head. She had to be strong. There was no one else for her to depend on. She certainly couldn’t count on her friends. She didn’t have any. And who was going to pay her bills if she didn’t work? No one, that’s who.

“Enough.” Audrey shoved away from the table, dumped the remains of her breakfast into the garbage and shoved the few dishes she’d used into the dishwasher. “What you need is a shower.” It helped to talk out loud to herself. And since she lived alone there was no one around to criticize her for it.

She went straight to the bathroom and turned on the taps, making sure the water wasn’t too hot. She slipped out of her robe and stepped beneath the warm spray, letting it cascade over her body. It was heavenly, sliding over her skin, caressing her breasts.

A shudder racked her body and a bolt of desire shot through her. It was that darn dream she’d had last night. It had woken something deep inside her. Her breasts were sensitive this morning, the water almost too harsh against them.

Swearing under her breath, she grabbed her shower gel, squeezed some onto a puff and began to wash. She was quick, not wanting to linger. Her body no longer felt like her own, the sensations coursing through it alien to her.

It didn’t take her long to wash her hair. The curly mass needed some deep conditioning, though, so she took the time to do it, enjoying the fact that she didn’t have to rush.

It was only when she was doing the final rinsing that she noticed the slight bruising, little smudges of black, on the tops of her arms. They were faint but they were there. Her mind immediately flashed back to a large man gripping her arms and shaking her lightly. Abrah.

She shook her head and let the spray wash all the soap from her hair and skin. She’d probably bruised herself when she’d fallen. The dream was only a coincidence, brought on by stress and the unusual tapestry she’d found. The mind worked in mysterious ways.

Audrey shut off the water, stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off. The shower had done its job. She felt more refreshed and awake, not quite so muddled. When her skin was dry she got another towel and wrapped it around her wet hair.

Her limbs were beginning to tremble, reminding her she wasn’t that long out of hospital and still wasn’t back to one hundred percent. She sat on the closed toilet seat and rested until she got her strength back, determined to do this right. She grabbed her favorite moisturizer and began to rub it into her legs, inhaling the relaxing lavender scent. She did her body and arms next, being careful around her breasts.

When she was done, she slipped her robe back on and removed the damp towel from her head. Her hair hung in corkscrew curls down to just below her shoulders. She grabbed a bottle from the vanity and squeezed a large dollop of product into her palm. She worked it through her tresses, knowing if she didn’t, she’d have an explosion of out-of-control curls to deal with later. The blow dryer came last. It wasn’t long before Audrey felt almost like herself.

She was humming under her breath when she went back into her bedroom to dress. Comfort was the order of the day. She needed groceries, but she would order out for those and have them delivered. She planned to spend the day relaxing.

A quick poke through her dresser drawer netted her a pair of yoga pants and a long-sleeved cashmere sweater. “Perfect.” She tossed them onto the unmade bed before digging out some fresh underwear. Panties and a matching bra in beige satin and a pair of thick white socks were the foundation before slipping on her pants and top.

She was exhausted by the time she’d finished dressing and sat down on the edge of the bed to rest for a moment. It was almost eleven now. It had taken her much longer than usual to shower and dress. But that was okay. She wasn’t on a schedule. And didn’t that feel strange?

Audrey ignored the bed, knowing she was just going to crawl back into it later anyway and headed back to the kitchen. She wanted a cup of tea and she should have already taken her medication.

She put on the kettle first and then took her vitamins. The iron supplement certainly couldn’t hurt. She stared at her pale skin. She was looking a little like a vampire these days.

Her head was still throbbing but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been. She suspected her caffeine withdrawal wasn’t helping. The coffee pot sat in solitary splendor in the corner of the counter, mocking her. But she stayed strong.

“Tea. That’s what I need.” It was healthier and she was determined to start living a better lifestyle. Somewhere between yesterday morning and now she’d decided she wanted to start truly living. There were a lot of things she wanted to do before she finally left this earth. And she needed to be healthy if she wanted to do them.

She dug through the cupboard, bypassing the English Breakfast tea, and found a small packet of peppermint tea bags that she’d bought on a whim over a year ago. She’d planned to try it but never had. Now was as good a time as any. The fresh mint smell filled her nostrils when she opened one of the small packets and popped the teabag into her mug. Refreshing.

When the kettle boiled, she poured hot water over the teabag and carried the mug into the living room. Her purse and all the papers they’d given her at the hospital were still sitting on the table just inside the door. She scooped everything up and carried it to the sofa.

She was halfway through her tea and all the lists of things she should do and eat when her cellphone rang. She was grateful for the interruption. The lists were daunting to say the least. There was a reason most folks ate takeout. It was easier and a heck of a lot more convenient. But learning to cook was something she’d have to do if she wanted to get healthy.

The phone rang again and she reached out and grabbed it from the table where she’d set it earlier. “Hello.”

“Audrey, it’s Gwen.”

All her good work for the morning was destroyed with those three words. Her chest grew tight and her entire body tensed. She forced herself to take a deep breath.

“Audrey, are you there?” Gwen was impatient and obviously in a hurry. She wondered how often she sounded exactly like that.

“I’m here. I’m also on holiday.” She’d told her boss yesterday she’d be gone for a week or more.

“That’s not important. I need to know what’s going on with the Bozeman account. Mr. Smythe called this morning and he wasn’t happy about something. I had to put him off because I had no idea what he was talking about.” Gwen’s voice was almost shrill now. It hurt Audrey’s head and pushed her headache up a notch.

She had to stop and think for a moment. “Everything you need on current accounts is in the top drawer of the filing cabinet in my office.” Gwen had worked with her for several years now. She knew that. Or at least she should.

Gwen fired off several more questions and Audrey answered them. Her headache, which had almost subsided, was back with a vengeance. “Gwen, I have to go.” She knew if she didn’t cut this conversation off she’d still be sorting things out for Gwen an hour from now. “You want my job so bad you need to actually do the work.” Audrey had no idea what prompted her to even say such a thing.

On the other end of the line, Gwen paused. “You’re right. Take your time coming back.” A loud click sounded and then the line went dead.

Audrey carefully shut her cellphone and set it on the table. She felt shaky inside and out. What had she done? She’d all but dared the younger woman to take her job. And she honestly didn’t care.

Totally out of sorts, she pushed off the sofa and went back to her bedroom. Rain pelted the window and the wind whipped up outside. It wasn’t a very nice day.

The covers were still rumpled on the bed. She thought about just crawling back in and pulling the blankets over her head. The tapestry lay across the end of the bed, the colors spectacular in spite of the gloom of the day. She picked it up and stared at it. The two men standing so proudly in front of the stone structure seemed to mock her. At least one of them did.

She laughed but the sound wasn’t pleasant. Her dream last night had been more real than anything else in her life had been lately. And how pathetic was that?

What was she going to do?

She rubbed her chest, conscious of a growing tightness there. Maybe she should go to the hospital. She certainly couldn’t call anyone to come help her. The limo service maybe. She didn’t have any friends. Not anymore. They’d all lost contact since her mother’s death, since she’d thrown herself so fully into her work.

She was starting to sweat. The room was moving but she wasn’t. The sense of vertigo swept over her and she groped for the end of the bed. She needed to sit down.

She didn’t make it.

Audrey fell to her knees and then eased herself down onto the floor. She’d rest a minute and then stand up. Good plan. The tapestry was crumpled in her right hand, fisted tight around the material.

She started to release it, but couldn’t. A huge flash brightened the entire room. Lightning was her first thought. The storm must be getting worse outside. But the brilliant light didn’t fade. Audrey felt herself being yanked backward.

As she was screaming, the world went black.

Abrah stared into the flames. It was late afternoon and already darkness cloaked the land. He’d be happy when the cold season ended. Usually he enjoyed this time of year, taking the down time to work on his wood-carving skills, plan for the upcoming planting season and practice his swordsmanship with his brother. But not this year. This year the cold weeks had dragged on and on until he wanted to beat his fists against the walls with frustration.

The long season hung like a yoke around his neck, choking him. Beside him, Carn stirred, raised his enormous gray head and stared at the door.

Abrah tried not to think of the dream he’d had last night, about the woman who’d been soft and willing beneath his hands. He’d enjoyed that part. There was nothing quite like the sweet smell of a female, and this one had worn the perfume of a summer’s day all over her skin.

What had disturbed him was the mention of the tapestry. Obviously, his conversation with Heroc had infiltrated his dreams, conjuring a woman brought by the tapestry. Better to stick to reality than build false hopes on dreams.

Beside him, Heroc stirred. The two of them had decided to make an early day of it. In the few short hours of available daylight, they’d checked rooftops and walls of all the cottages, making sure all their people were secure.

Tara had left a large kettle of soup resting near the hearth and platters of bread and cheese sat on the table beyond. They had plenty to eat but neither of them was hungry.

Several of the men, including the captain of the guards, had shared the midday meal with them but they’d all retired to their barracks for the evening. It was as though the entire keep was holding its breath.

Another storm was brewing. This one would probably be the last for the season. It also seemed as though it would be the worst. But they were safe inside and had plenty to eat for several days, if it came to that.

“You told Tara to stay home if the weather worsened?” He didn’t want to worry about their housekeeper who’d been taking care of their home since they were mere lads.

“Yes. And I told Malarc as well.” Heroc grinned. “If she won’t stay home on her own, he and his brothers will make certain she has other things to occupy her time than worrying about us.”

Abrah chuckled. Tara had been married to Malarc for almost thirty years and they still acted as though they were newly joined. His two brothers also treated Tara as the gem she was and they were all content.

Abrah wanted that for himself and his brother. His parents and uncle had had a similar arrangement. This keep had once been filled with voices and laughter. But now it was silent.

Carn continued to stare at the door as he pushed to his feet and growled. Abrah put his hand on the animal’s broad head. “It’s just the wind.”

Carn ignored him, slipped away from his touch and padded to the door. His gaze stayed centered on the large wooden slab and he let out another low growl. Then he turned his head and stared at Abrah.

“Oh no. You were out all day. I’m not going out in this mess again. Come back and sit by the fire.”

“What’s the matter with Carn tonight?” Heroc went to the hearth and added a couple of logs before returning to his chair.

Abrah shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe the wind is getting to him.” It had gotten much worse in the past hour. He was glad all their people were safely tucked away inside their homes.

Carn threw back his head and howled. Then he leapt up and leaned his huge front paws on the door, clawing at the wood. The fine hair on the back of Abrah’s neck stood on end.

“Carn.” Abrah’s voice was sharp but the animal ignored the command. That simply wasn’t like him. He jumped to his feet. “Something’s wrong.”

Abrah strode to the door and grabbed his long, hooded coat, tugging it on. His brother was beside him in a heartbeat, pulling on his own outer gear and strapping on his sword. “You don’t need to go out in this weather. It’s probably nothing.”

Heroc ignored him and yanked up his hood. “We go together.”

Abrah understood his brother all too well. Since they’d lost the rest of their family they tended to spend almost all their time together. They were all they had left.

“Let’s do this.” He yanked open the door, bracing his feet against the driving wind. “There better be something out there my friend,” he warned the dog. Carn ignored his master’s admonishment and took off like a shot, racing down the stone stairs with both men in pursuit.

Audrey was cold. And wet. She frowned, trying to make sense of what was going on. The last thing she remembered was falling to the floor. She managed to pry her eyes open but she couldn’t see much in the dark.

Why was it dark? And rainy?

She was outside. But that was impossible. She’d been lying on her bedroom floor only moments ago. She pushed herself upright and squinted to see through the dark and driving rain. The wind battered her. Her clothing offered no protection against the elements and she shivered as the cold sank into her bones. She had to find shelter. She could figure out what the heck was going on once she was safe and dry.

It wasn’t easy, but with the help of a nearby bolder, she managed to drag herself into a standing position. Its bulk helped to shelter her from the driving wind and rain while she squinted and tried to get her bearings. There should have been tons of lights around. After all, she lived in New York, the city that never slept. But there were no buildings, no streetlights and no people. Only impenetrable darkness.

“This isn’t possible.” Her mind might be telling her that but her body was shivering with the cold and wet. That was all too real.

One thing was certain. She couldn’t stay here. She stumbled forward, praying she was headed toward civilization of some kind. The heavy wind was making it difficult for her feet to find purchase on the uneven ground and she tripped and fell in the mud, just managing to catch herself in time to keep from striking her head.

Her lungs ached and her limbs were heavy. Audrey wanted to simply lie down on the ground and rest but she knew that wasn’t smart. She could die if she didn’t move. The longer she was exposed to the elements, the more the cold drained her energy.

Was she dreaming again? She didn’t know. The biting cold and driving storm felt so real. She couldn’t take the chance it wasn’t simply a figment of her imagination.

She pushed onward, half crawling, half walking, searching through the darkness for a light, a building, something. Anything. The wind tugged at her clothing and skin. The rain came down so heavy it made it almost impossible to see. Still she persevered.

Time lost all meaning as she trudged through the stormy night. She put one foot in front of the other, dragging herself to her feet every time she faltered.

A faint sound broke through the unending night. She stopped and listened but heard nothing. “Is anyone out there?” she called. The wind stole her voice, silencing it before it got beyond a few feet.

She was soaked to the skin, her head hurt, her muscles ached and, worst of all, she’d stopped shivering. In her muddled mind she knew that wasn’t a good sign. She’d seen a show on television about hypothermia and knew that was one of the first signs of trouble. “Please. Help me.”

Desperate now, she tried to run but her feet were uncoordinated and she staggered, almost falling. If there was someone out there she didn’t want them to miss her. “I’m over here.” She wanted to raise her hands and wave them but they were simply too heavy. She wished she had a flashlight, something she could use to signal whoever was out there.

She heard the noise again. Was that a wolf howl she heard? She shut her mouth in a hurry. What if it wasn’t a person at all? What if it was a wild animal coming after her? After all, she had no idea where she was.

Nothing made sense. She should be in her bedroom in her apartment. Maybe she was there. Maybe this was nothing but a nightmare.

“Wake up,” she whispered. She stumbled and fell to the ground. It was soft and spongy with the rain and mud. This time she didn’t get up. She’d exhausted all her energy reserves.

It saddened her to think she was going to die here alone in the dark. A tear mingled with the pouring rain, lost among the drops falling from the sky.

She heard the sound again and it was much closer. Her breathing was labored now but at least she wasn’t cold. A comforting numbness settled over her and she decided this wasn’t so bad after all.

A huge, furry face appeared only inches away, startling a scream out of her. The creature was massive, the size of a pony. Wet fur brushed against her face. She cringed back but the animal followed her, showing a lot of very big, very white fangs. She threw her arms in front of her, expecting to feel the painful bite of whatever it was. In the darkness and driving rain she couldn’t tell if it was a big dog or a wolf, only that it was big with sharp teeth.

When nothing happened, she slowly lowered her arms. A large, rough tongue scraped over her cheek. She jerked back but the animal didn’t attack. She squinted. Was it a dog?

It leaned toward her and nuzzled her face again. She threw her arms around the dog’s neck, comforted by its closeness. Where there was a dog there had to be civilization. “Where did you come from?” she asked.

The dog gave a deep woof in response.

“Carn?” a loud, male voice called in the distance.

The animal tilted back its head and howled. The chilling sound raced down her spine. He sounded like a wolf. Come to think of it, he looked something like one too. She slowly released her arms, pulling them back to her sides. The animal gave a low whine as if he wasn’t happy with her.

She smiled and felt the world tilt again. Her head rested against the ground and she could feel the earth shake beneath her as someone hurried toward her.

“What have you found, boy?” the male voice asked. She didn’t have the strength to answer him.

Strong hands turned her onto her back. She blinked as two large shapes went in and out of focus. She raised her hand to touch one of them but it was too much trouble. She let it fall back to her side and slipped away into the comforting darkness.

Just before oblivion claimed her she felt herself being lifted and held against a broad, masculine chest. In spite of the cold, she could feel heat radiating from him and snuggled closer. The one coherent thought she had was that she was safe now. She’d been found.