Chapter 19 #2
Through the fine, dark wool of his trousers, the heat of her palm was blinding.
It did not feel like a simple touch. No, it felt as though she had pressed a hot iron directly against his skin.
The heat did not stay localized, either.
It surged upward through his bloodstream like wildfire, racing up his torso, tightening his lungs, and burning with violence in his ears and cheeks.
His pulse, which had just settled after Alice’s outburst, exploded into a frantic thud.
‘Good Lord,’ William thought.
It seemed as though he had contracted the exact same contagion Seraphina had felt days ago.
He could feel his skin burning. His chest felt constricted, as if an iron band was tightening around his lungs.
His heart was hammering so loudly he was convinced she must be able to hear it through the linen of his shirt.
It was an infectious, localized fever, transmitted through proximity and touch.
Driven by an instinct he could neither analyze nor control, William reached down with his hand. He didn’t push her hand away. Instead, he covered her fingers with his own, pressing his large, warm palm flat over the back of her hand where it rested on his thigh.
The moment his skin brushed hers, Seraphina went completely still, letting out a tiny, audible gasp that seemed to vibrate straight into William’s chest.
Slowly, as if dragged by a physical weight, Seraphina’s gaze dropped from his eyes down to their joined hands on his lap. William watched as the pale skin of her neck flamed pink, the color creeping rapidly up to her cheekbones and the tips of her ears.
She did not pull her hand away. Neither did he.
The glade around them seemed to fall into a vacuum-like silence.
The rustle of the wind in the oak leaves, the distant chatter of birds, the hum of insects, all of it vanished, replaced by the deafening, double-time thud of two hearts beating out of sync.
The space between them grew thick, heavy with a suffocating static that made William’s fingers tremble slightly against hers.
He stared at her, his mind completely vacant of logic, overwhelmed by a desire to lean closer, to trace the curve of her cheek, to demand she explain how her touch could possibly alter his physiology so completely—
A rustle of grass signaled Alice’s return.
Both of them recoiled as if they had been struck by a live current.
Seraphina yanked her hand back to her own lap with blinding speed, suddenly seizing a loose thread on her cuff and inspecting it.
William sat up rigidly, clearing his throat so hard it hurt, his hands flying to his cravat to tug at the already loosened linen as if he were suffocating.
Alice walked back onto the wool blanket and simply sat down cross-legged, tucking her feet under her skirts, her face calm, holding both of her small hands securely hidden behind her back. She looked at William, then at Seraphina, giving a single, subtle nod.
Sensing a desperate, critical need to reclaim control over his own malfunctioning brain, William threw himself back into the game.
“Very well,” William said, sitting up straight and crossing his legs, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Alice and away from Seraphina sitting three feet to his left. “Let us establish the parameters. Is this subject larger than a tea caddy?”
Alice shook her head.
“Is it an object derived from nature, or was it manufactured by human hands?” Seraphina asked.
Alice paused, her brow furrowing slightly in concentration. “Nature,” she said softly.
“Is it living?” William demanded, shooting a side-glance at Seraphina. “I mean currently living, with a beating heart or active sap, not decaying cellular matter.”
Seraphina let out a huff, but her lips twitched.
Alice hesitated for a second, her eyes glittering with mischief, before giving a firm, definitive nod.
“Is it a plant?” Seraphina pressed.
Alice shook her head.
“A creature, then,” William said, rubbing his chin dramatically as he leaned forward. “Does it possess legs?”
Alice nodded.
“Four legs?”
Another nod.
“Is it... a caterpillar?” Seraphina guessed.
Alice shook her head with a curve of her lips, keeping her hands stubbornly tucked behind her back.
“A beetle?” William offered.
Alice shook her head again.
“We are failing miserably at this,” William muttered, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at her in exasperation. “Is it an insect?”
Another shake of the head.
Silence fell over the blanket as William and Seraphina exchanged a baffled look.
For one straight minute, they threw out every logical possibility...
a lizard, a field mouse, a ladybird, and each time, Alice merely shook her head, looking increasingly pleased with herself.
She sat there like a little sphinx, her expression completely serene.
William was just about to throw his hands up in defeat when a muffled, wet, unmistakable sound echoed from behind Alice’s back.
Ribbit.
William froze mid-breath. His eyes widened, his head snapping toward Seraphina.
Seraphina’s jaw dropped slightly, her gaze locking onto William’s in equal shock.
Together, as if orchestrated by a single mind, both of them turned to Alice and asked in perfect unison. “Is it a toad?”
Alice’s face split into a triumphant grin. She brought her cupped hands forward, uncurling her small fingers to reveal a fat, mottled brown toad sitting contentedly on her palm, its throat pulsating as it blinked its golden eyes at them.
Seraphina let out a loud gasp, recoiling half an inch with her hand over her chest, before bursting into a breathless laugh. “Good heavens, Alice! Where on earth did you find it?”
William leaned back, chuckling. “You’ve been holding a toad behind your back this entire time? With your bare hands?”
Alice looked immensely satisfied, her small shoulders lifting in a proud little shrug. “You both win,” she murmured sweet-temperedly, looking down at her new friend with deep affection.
“Oh, I do not think we can claim this victory,” William declared, shaking his head with a dramatic shudder as he pointed a finger at the amphibian.
“I think the toad wins, purely for betraying its own hiding place. We would have been sitting here until nightfall guessing beetles if he hadn’t spoken up. ”