The Hunting Of Locksworth Tower

Chapter 3: The Wolf Down By The Stream

( Flashback#3 Stephen's POV. )

The maids ask me to leave the room so they can change Madeline's clothes. I leave the room and decide to take a walk down by the stream, that is on the plantation. As I walk, I notice a dog of some sort, standing by the stream. As I close the gap between the creature and I, I come to find that is not a dog, but a wolf. I stand there, waiting for it to make a move to rip me to shreds, but it does nothing. Nothing, but sit there, starring into my eyes. I stand my ground, making sure, not to make any sudden movements. Then, the wolf bows, of all things. It bows its head and barks once. Then it starts to walk away before stopping to look back at me. " It wants me to follow it."I think to myself, slowly walking toward it. After I get closer, the wolf starts walking again. I follow it to the garden, where the flower I had planted for Madeline, still grew beautifully. The wolf stops at the center of the garden, where the flower is and asked it," Why have you brought me here?" expecting no response.

" In the tower, there is a room. Inside this room is a drawing among many. You of all people will recognize it. Please, Find it and give it to the one who is portrayed. This is the wish of the one closest to your heart. She is not gone, only sleeping in depth. Time to wake up . . . Young prince, Stephen." The wolf says then vanishes.

I open my eyes to the blinding sunlight poring in through the open curtains.

" Why, it was just a dream." I say in a whisper.

" Master, Victor? " Bella, one of the new ( orphan child ) maids says. She has her head down because she was taught not to look at her masters unless they told her to do something or was told to look at them.

" Yes? What is it Bella?" I say with a weary smile ( still tired ).

" May I say something . . . Sir?" She asks me with her head still down.

" Yes and, please, look at me when you speak." I say kindly.

" Thank you, Sir, Um, you looked like you were sleeping more peacefully than you have in a while and I didn't want to wake you, but I am sorry that I did so. . ." She says with an expression of complete sincerity.

I smiled wide and hugged her.

" It is alright, Young Miss," I say with a quiet laugh. " I needed to wake up anyway." I say as I let her go. Then I frown. " What is the matter? You look a little thin. Are the others feeding you?" I ask in a concerned voice.

"D-Do not w-worry about me, Master, Sir. I . . . I am alright. . ." She says trying to smile brightly, but I can tell she was hungry because I herd her stomach growl.

" Come, now." I say with a smile.

She hangs her head. Then she looked back up at me. " The older maids say that I am not doing a good job at doing my chores and that I may not have my dinner until I can do them right . . . I have not eaten in days." She says with a frown.

" Well . . . I am hungry, too. What do you say we go get something to eat, from the kitchen. I will have one of the other maids look after Madeline for the time being." I say gently grabbing her, small, hand.

" T-Thank you, Master." She says as we make our way to the kitchen.

I look at her. "She is walking with her head down again." I think to myself. I stop and turn around right as she bumps into me. I wrap my arms around her." There is something else bothering you. Isn't there, Bella?" I say stroking her hair, like I was her big brother.

" I was wondering . . . Why do you treat the younger girls so kind? You are one our masters. Yet, you treat us so kind. . . Is it because we remind you of Madeline?" She says looking straight at me.

" Of course not, sweet, Bella. You are a child and all children should be treated with love and acceptance. I love all of you like you were own. I mean that." I say looking into her, glistening, blue, eyes. " Now, let's go get something to eat." I say smiling.

" Okay!" She says with a bright smile. She holds my hand as we walk to the kitchen.

" Master, Victor!" Amelia ( another orphan child ) says as she waves at me. She does a lot of the cooking for the mansion. " What would you like?" She says sensing our hunger.

" Bella and I would like some eggs and bread, please." I say leaning against a counter with a smile upon my face. I, myself, enjoy spending time with the orphan girls. I want to adopt them, but I don't know how my family would act. I look over at Bella who is sitting on a stool next to me.

" Here you go." Amelia says as she places two plates on the counter top with eggs and a few slices of bread.

" Thank you, Amelia." I say and then look at Bella. " Go ahead." I tell her seeing as she is just starring at me. She nods and then picks up a fork and starts eating. " Hey, Amelia? Mind getting us some tea as well?" I ask while looking at her.

" Sure thing." She says poring hot Earl Grey into some tea-cups. Then she placed the cream and sugar on the counter top with the cups. " Enjoy, Sir." She says sweetly.

 I eat the food and drink some tea. then say goodbye as I go outside. I look at the tower, thinking about the dream I had. I walk inside the tower and up to the room that Victor said she was in. I look around in the room. There are drawings all over the desk, just like the wolf had said. I look at the drawings and notice one that stands out from the rest. It is a drawing of my father under a maple tree beside a stream. "Could the wolf in my dream, have been Madeline?" I ask myself as I roll the picture up neatly and place it in the pocked of my coat.

Once back at the house I ask a maid if she had seen my father and she tells me that he is in his study. I thank her and head to his location. I knock on the door and I hear my father's voice come from the other side.

" Come in." He says.

I open the door and walk in, closing it behind me.

" Oh, it's you." He says coldly.

" You are being too hard on Madeline. It is not her fault that she is another man's daughter."

" I know, but every time I see her, she reminds me of what your mother did." He says as he looks away from me.

" Why do you linger in the past, Father?  Why can't you just forgive her and let them both live happily?" I ask as I take the drawing out of my coat pocket and place it on his desk. He looks at it.
" What is this?" He ask me still looking at the rolled up piece of canvas.

" It is a gift . . .From your unwanted guest." I say sadly as I turn and leave.

He unrolls it and gasps at what he sees. The drawing is almost flawless. "No one taught her to draw like this. She must have worked hard to make this." He says with a slight smile and tears in his eyes as he recognizes the maple tree as the one he walked under with her in his arms, when she was an infant. " How did she remember that?"