Chapter 35
35
There was a patch of brambles so thick that Dora doubted even rabbits could get through it, but that was where the strange singing was coming from, and she found herself standing in front of it. She turned to look at Ambrose.
‘It’s through there, I can hear them calling to me.’
He looked at the thick branches, their sharp thorns, and whistled. ‘We didn’t need a spade; we need a machete, maybe even a chainsaw to get through that.’
Dora lifted her fingers in front of her face, staring at the chipped black nail varnish and her silver rings, wondering if it was worth a try. Then she realised that she had no option. They had managed to come this far, if they left without even trying to get to the cabin, they might never find it again. She closed her eyes and pointed at the clump of thorny branches, criss-crossed to stop anyone passing through them.
‘Vines so thick and brambles sharp, grant me the way deep into your heart, lead me to find the books I need, to save my life and honour thee.’
A tiny crackle of static electricity shot out of the end of her finger and the vines and brambles began to slither back. She watched, eyes open wide in awe, and whispered, ‘It’s like something out of a fairy tale.’ Then: ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, you did a great job of keeping Lucine’s book safe, she will be so thankful to you for protecting it all this time.
Ambrose was laughing and clapping. ‘You did it, Dora you did this.’
Dora was watching in amazement, and a tiny voice whispered, ‘You did this, you really can speak the language of flowers.’
She clapped her hands and smiled. ‘This is wonderful, I don’t know where those words came from, but they worked.’ She held out her hand and Ambrose took hold of it. Together they stepped forward, walking along the narrow winding path until they saw the small wooden door that looked as new as the day Ambrose had built it, protected by the canopy of the ancient cedar tree.
Dora grinned at him and rushed towards it. She placed her fingers against the wood and jolted as a rush of memories flooded her mind: Ambrose was dragging her through the woods, she had a stitch and was moaning at him, the sound of the dogs searching for them making her blood turn to ice. She had Lucine’s heavy book clutched in one arm, Ambrose pulling a loose board away so she could hide the book. She remembered the gentle sway of the boat on the water, the first kiss they shared, so tenderly, how he declared his love for her and how she knew he loved her deeply. Dora turned to Ambrose and kissed him; he pulled her close and she didn’t want it to end but when she did draw away from him he stared at her.
‘What was that for?’
‘For always being my saviour, for loving me across centuries of time and for saving me that night. I’m sorry I couldn’t save myself for you, but I will try this time, I promise I will stop this, for once and all.’
He stared into her green eyes. ‘I’ve loved you forever, Izzy.’
She nods. ‘I know you have and I’m grateful you never let me go. I’m sorry that I left you that night, after all you did to save me. It wasn’t enough, and I couldn’t save myself, but things have changed. Times have changed and it’s my turn to do what I was powerless to do all those years ago. It’s time to end this curse and stop Corwin for good. I know with the book’s help I can do it and if I don’t…’
Ambrose had tears falling from his eyes. ‘If you don’t then I lose you again for who knows how many lifetimes. I cannot bear it, Izzy, we were meant to be together. I could help you; do you know how much I’ve wanted to kill him, time and time again I’ve dreamed of hurting him the way he hurt you all.’
She trailed her fingers across his cheek. ‘I imagine a lot, but it wouldn’t stop him if you killed him and that’s not who you are. It would change you as a person and I’m in love with this Ambrose, the kind, gentle, honourable one. If you did, it wouldn’t make a difference because, like us, he’ll be back, and we’ll be in the same position. I need to be the one to stop him – it’s the only way.’
‘But he hurt you all so much.’
It was all coming back to Dora. She remembered the muggy warmth of that New England day as the rope was roughly placed around her neck, she watched that rickety old cart as it came through Salem town up Essex Street with her family on it and she remembered the looks of grief and shock on her mum, Lenny and Sephy’s faces when they saw her already balanced on the back of an equally rickety old horse-drawn cart. Did she ever explain to them that she’d tried to save them, but failed miserably?
‘He did. He took our lives one by one that day out on the ledge, but he never took our souls. Hades did that, he took us somewhere we were safe until it was our time to be born again. He never let your uncle win and Corwin was furious about it. He has carried that anger over into many lifetimes, he really needs to let it go.’
Ambrose laughed and she grinned at him. ‘Now, let’s find Lucine’s book and keep it safe.’
They stepped inside the ramshackle wooden cabin that had stood the test of all this time. The ceiling was low, and it was dark in there, but it smelled gloriously of old books. Dora used her phone torch to light up the small space, letting out a small gasp of delight to see the leather-bound books that Ambrose had bartered for centuries ago sitting on the shelves as good as new, no mildew or mould.
She picked up each one and kissed it, flicking through the pages. ‘I never thanked you for this either. You changed the course of our lives by giving us stories to read when we thought the bible and God were all that there was out there. These books took us on so many adventures; I’m pretty sure it was these books that gave me the courage to go back that night and face your uncle, foolish as it was.’
She clutched a copy of Romeo and Juliet to her chest. ‘They may have been star-crossed lovers, but our story is far greater than theirs ever was. You should write about this one day, Ambrose, it is a story worth telling. Our love has spanned centuries, not mere days.’
He laughed. ‘I might just do that. But you know what all great stories need, don’t you?’
‘Likeable characters, great plots, a villain everyone hates?’
He shook his head. ‘Well, those are important too, and we definitely have all of those ingredients. But a really good story has to have a happy ending, Izzy. I can’t write our story until we have our happy ever after.’
Dora smiled. ‘Then it’s time that we did. It’s time to give it to ourselves, don’t you agree?’
Ambrose pulled her to him, the heat radiating from his body making hers melt into him, and they kissed harder, faster and with more passion than the pair of them had ever known existed. The air inside the cabin was fraught with tension as they began to fumble with each other’s clothes. Dora knew that this had never felt so good, they had never got this far to loving each other in the past. Falling to the floor, they landed on the earthen ground on a bed of leaves, cloaked in darkness, surrounded by the books and the magic that held them in a warm embrace.
After, Dora laid her head on Ambrose’s chest and sighed. ‘Why did we wait so long?’
His fingers stroked her hair. ‘Perhaps we had to wait.’
She smiled. ‘I love you, Ambrose Corwin, even if you do have the shittiest family on earth.’
At that he laughed so loud it echoed around the cabin. ‘I’m sorry, I truly do.’
Dora sat up, hurriedly dressing. ‘Come on, we have to find the book and return to my family.’
She closed her eyes, slowly turned in a small circle then let her feet lead her to the place they had hidden it that terrible night in 1692. She bent and pulled at the loose board by her feet and saw the corner of the heavy leather book. Bending down, she picked it up and clutched it to her chest, tears of joy in her eyes and a newfound belief that this time really was going to be different, this time she would fight Corwin face to face and, with the help of the spells in the book, put an end to his reign of terror, end this curse and get their happy ever after.