My Shadow

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

For the next few days they travelled all day every day, only stopping a few hours per night before they set off again. They could now see the town in the distance and it grew larger the closer they got.

Louis had mainly been excluded from Eddy and Lizzy’s friendship group but he didn’t mind. It allowed him time to think and go over what he should have done or could have done to change his predicament. He could have let Eddy and Lizzy escape the first time and then he would be at home in the warmth.

But then he would miss his Eddy and Lizzy and he would wish he were with them. He eventually decided that he had made the right decision no matter how much he hated it.

~*~

It had been about a week since they had arrived in the town. It was much larger than Lizzy had expected. She had been used to the small village she had grown up in, not the seething mass of people in the town.

Already they had had people come up to them and welcome them. Some even gave them money so they could stay in an inn or save up to buy a house. They had stayed in an inn for the first night but had given up the next day. They had not enjoyed sleeping on beds that were falling apart or so dirty insects had made homes in them.

They had come to the decision that they could camp out on one of the streets like some people did until they had enough money to leave and go back to the castle. It would take a long while but at least they had other people to talk to other than themselves.

Lizzy had made friends already with one of the girls that lived nearby where they were staying. The girl had begun to give them any spare food that she had that the family she was looking after didn’t need and the trio were grateful for it.

Eddy and Louis had applied for jobs. Eddy at the stables and Louis at an inn. They now worked every day and the money they earned they saved. Lizzy was keeping count on how much they had and how much more they needed to reach their one hundred pound target. They had decided that if they hadn’t got as much as they wanted and they had given up then it would be all right because Charles and Catherine would accept any money if they needed it. They would hopefully accept Lizzy as well.

~*~

Over the course of the next few weeks and months the fund that they had started grew. Eddy and Louis were doing well with their jobs and Lizzy had started cleaning and cooking for a family on the street where they stayed.

When they were near their target they decided to move on and collect more money on the way. Eddy and Louis quit their jobs and Lizzy said goodbye to the family. They then set off through the streets, some people called goodbye as they left.

By now everyone knew they had only come because they needed more money for something and everyone was happy to help. They were also sad to let them go. The boys were good workers and Lizzy was a great help to anyone who needed it. But they knew they had to go.

By the time they reached the edge of the village it was almost dark so they decided to stop for the night. Louis went off by himself, saying he needed to think things out. Eddy and Lizzy were left alone again for the first time in months.

“Do you remember that conversation we had before we came here?” Eddy asked her.

“What about that conversation?”

“Well, I admitted that I liked you.”

“I know, I remember.”

“Well, I think I am falling in love with you.” Eddy said. There was a silence for a few minutes. Lizzy didn’t know how to respond. She was not expecting anything like this. The thought made her blush. “You are blushing?”