Ravenwood(85)

Once in the kitchen, she spied Mrs. Davenport, Mrs. Thistlewaite, Alice, and four of the male servants just outside the back door, hovering around something.

“Is something amiss?” she asked, coming to join them.

“Miss Reed! Elinore,” Mrs. Davenport corrected herself, holding a hand over her heart. It was clear Elinore’s arrival had startled them all, but none so much as the kind housekeeper. “You should not be about at so late an hour. And in your bedclothes. You’ll catch your death.”

Elinore glanced around at the other servants and Mrs. Thistlewaite, her eyes resting on Alice - her young face ghostly pale. Elinore’s eyes darted past them to something they were standing in front of, something on the ground just outside the door. Something… bloody. Her eyes again roved over the servants, Mrs. Davenport and Mrs. Thistlewaite. They all carried some kind of weapon, it seemed. Silver, if Elinore’s eyesight was correct. She nodded once and took a deep breath. I am the mistress of Ravenwood, she reminded herself.

“Let us speak frankly,” she said. The male servants looked to Mrs. Davenport and Mrs. Thistlewaite first and then back at Elinore. “I see blood behind you on the ground. I can only hope at this moment that it does not belong to any of the human souls inhabiting Ravenwood.”

“No, miss,” said Jonah. Now that Elinore was of calmer heart and mind, she recognized his face in the dark light of the kitchen.

“All right,” Elinore said, hoping her voice didn’t betray her nerves. “Let us have a look.”

“The omega’s never killed this close to the manor,” Alice spoke, breaking the silence with her youth and temerity on her side.

The men parted and Mrs. Davenport and Mrs. Thistlewaite moved off to the side and Elinore had her first look at the new kill of the omega.

She was glad dinner had been several hours ago, for her stomach turned at the site. She raised a hand to her throat as though its presence could keep her dinner down, should it still decide to make a return trip. “Is that… was that a horse?” she asked. To be truthful, she could not tell, but she didn’t know of any animals large enough on the estate to leave such a sizable corpse.

“Yes, miss,” one of the servants said, a footman. Stefan, if Elinore wasn’t mistaken. “One of Mr. Caleb’s. He took his regular mount, January Moon, with him when he left. This is one of his other favorites, Storm Cloud.”

Elinore’s heart lurched. Not beautiful Storm, the lovely grey horse Elinore had met in the stables. Elinore thought on her soft snout and gentle eyes. Her throat clenched and tears sprung to her eyes. Oh, poor beast. Elinore hoped her death had been quick. What was left was… horrid. Blood, bone, muscle and… other things Elinore did not have the proper names for were mashed, barely recognizable.

“Oh, Storm,” Elinore murmured, taking a step closer. “And so close to the manor.” A hand stopped her from moving further and she looked down to see Stefan’s hand on her arm.

“You’re still barefoot, miss. Best not get too close.”

Her lips tight, she nodded her thanks. “Is this the only… carnage?”

Another man, whose name Elinore did not know, spoke up. “We’ve not yet checked the stables. We heard the scream and came running.”

“I was sneaking a biscuit and thought I heard something,” said Alice. “I opened the back door and found…this.”

“Thank God you were not harmed,” Elinore replied quickly. To think of Alice so close to the creature that had done this… she shook her head. “This is far more savage than the blood I saw by the stables the other day.”

“Aye, miss,” said Jonah. “It’s getting worse.”

Elinore nodded solemnly, her eyes still transfixed by the ruin of a creature in front of her.

“Will it go after people next, do you think?” Alice’s voice was small, nothing at all compared to the boisterous young girl to which Elinore was accustomed. The silence after Alice’s question was pregnant and Elinore belatedly realized that Alice had been asking her, asking Elinore. She tore her eyes away from the carnage and found the servants and the elder women all staring at her as well. I am the mistress of Ravenwood, she repeated to herself, hoping to imbue her words with the confidence she currently lacked.

“No. You are quite safe, Alice. This… feral creature shall not harm anyone or anything else at Ravenwood.” As she spoke the words she felt them come to rest in her breastbone. They would be true. She would help make them true. “We must have this cleaned up before the rest of the house comes down and sees it. It is too horrible and shocking.”

“Most of the help know about… the afflictions of the family,” Mrs. Davenport said carefully.

“That’s good to know,” Elinore replied, “but I’m more concerned that seeing this horror will frighten and worry them unduly.”

“Begging your pardon, miss,” Stefan said, “we can’t get much more worried than we are.”

Elinore took time to look at each person individually and then nodded again. “Still, I would like to spare anyone seeing this if possible.” She took a deep, steadying breath and looked to Jonah, who appeared to be the leader of the men. “What must we do to clean this up? I’m afraid I’m not well schooled in matters such as this.”