The Corinthians Series: Somebody To Love

Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

Callie was bored silly.

It had been a month since they have set up residence in Greystone, an utterly enormous castle with an equally vast demesne. Once, she had gone riding to explore its apple orchard and ended up spending a whole afternoon atop her trotting mare. She had also found a secluded lake with a wasting dock and a few leisure barges rotting away, half submerged in the water. The pond laid undisturbed save for a flock of ducks floating on its glassy green surface, most of it hidden by an overgrowth of willows and oaks and its water's edge rimmed with wild lilies.

What a terrible waste, she had thought, to let such a wondrous place to fall into a state of disrepair and neglect. From what she had observed, Thorbrooke did not bear great fondness for Greystone, despite the fact that it was his ancestral home and birthright. The castle was sadly understaffed and its landscape had suffered from lack of care. Not only that, the majority of its rooms were closed off and the upper landings had not been inhabited for nearly a decade. 

Callie spurred her horse into a leisurely trot and the mare found its way back to the lane that would lead them back to the stables. Whenever Thorbrooke crossed her mind these days, Callie felt annoyance creeping under her skin. Ever since they have arrived in Greystone, he had taken to locking himself in his study. Not much an improvement since their stay in his London's townhouse. Callie had been entertaining herself day in and day out purely for the benefit of keeping herself sane. She had been reading, sewing, practicing on the out-of-tune pianoforte, gardening and even dabbled at baking. Which she had failed, horribly.

Callie slide from atop her horse and surrendered the rein to the stable boy, and carried a sack full of apples she had gathered to the kitchens.

"Caramel apples would serve as tonight's dessert rather nicely, Mrs. Burbage." She said as she handed over the bulging sack to the middle aged woman.

"Indeed it would, milady. My, have you ever seen such beautiful red color?" The cook nodded and dumped the fruits into a tub of water.  "And I was fearin' that we won't be tasting apples this year."

Callie plucked a washed apple from the tub and took a bite. Sweet juice exploded in her mouth and dribbled down her chin. She reached and wiped them off with the back of her hand. "Why did you think so, Mrs. Burbage?"

"The old folks of yore believed that if you did not appreciate a harvest, the trees may not bear fruit anymore. Underappreciated like, they said. Sulking is what I called it. Last year and the years before that, we sold the crop for a good sum of money, on his lordship's orders of course. But still, some of the fruits would fall and rot into the ground. It had been a good long time since the lord and ladies of the castle eat from this 'ere orchard." 

"Well, if fruit trees can indeed sulk, we will fall in deep trouble to be sure." Callie smiled and took another bite at the apple. Mrs. Burbage chuckled and went to the business of cleaning the fruit.

Next on her to do list, Callie fetched a pair of pruning scissors and trudged to the rose garden. It was a nice day out, as she loped on the pebble paved walkway, silently admiring the cheerful blue sky. A brisk wind was in the air, playing her hair which was secured in a bun. The garden she was heading was located east of the castle; a garden which was predominantly planted with roses, though sadly had fallen into inattention.

The bushes were a series of tangled branches, dark green and thorny, adorned with a plethora of different colored blooms. Callie had wondered how these delicate flowers had managed to flourish under neglect. Maybe Mother Nature herself had taken charge of the roses, for there was definitely some sort of magic at work shaping the garden. Callie cupped a fat red bloom and inhaled its crisp scent. Smiling, she took the pruning scissors and set to work. By the end of the day, she should have a sufficient bouquet for the dinner table.