He
picked her up, carried her over to the fire and set her down in a chair. The
cat crawled up in her lap. She felt so
much safer and protected with the cat there.
She was not sure why, because the cat could not protect her from these
men, but it was something for her to hold onto.
She sat in the chair in front of the fire trying very hard to be brave
and not to cry, holding onto a little black cat.
They brought her some tea to drink. Starchild held the cup to her lips. "Here drink this,” he encouraged her, “you'll feel better." He could see her hesitate and added, "It is only tea it will help warm you. "
Thinking
they were really trying to poison her, and finally having no fight left in her,
she drank all of the tea. She was too afraid to deny what was requested of
her. She sat back in the chair waiting
for the poison to do its work. But
nothing happened.
She
heard the deep voice again, "Will you tell us your name now?"
No
one had asked for her name, not in a very long time. She had not spoken her name since Uncle
Joseph had died. With trembling lips and
a weak voice she said, "My name is Miranda."
"Well,
Miranda,” Starchild stated, “It is time we got you out of those wet clothes and
into something dry. Maybe a nice hot
bath would do you good."
Miranda
panicked at the word bath. They could
all see that something was wrong. They
could see from the frightened look on her face that bath was not a good word
for her.
Starchild
took her by the hand and led out of the great hall. She listlessly followed him having no other
choice as he led her through the manor to another room. There she found servants waiting, they had
prepared a warm bath. "Miranda, I'm
going to leave you here and these nice ladies will help give you a
bath." Starchild said gently,
acknowledging the women who were waiting for him to turn her over into their
care.
Miranda
pulled away from them, terror written all over her face. Starchild took her hand and pulled her ever
so gently over to the bathtub.
"Here Miranda, feel."
He put her hand in the water. She
could feel that it was nice and warm. It
was not the cold river she was used to.
Softly he explained, "These ladies are going to help you with your
bath now, Miranda. It will be nice and warm, and I think you will enjoy
it. Then they will help you put on some
dry, clean clothes."
He
walked out of the room leaving Miranda in the care of two women who very gently
helped her undress and get into the bathtub, fussing over her to make sure she
would be comfortable. She was not used
to such treatment. The water was warm,
and it smelled so good. She had never
had a bath like this. They put a
fragrance in the water and it made her relax.
It smelled just like her roses.
They helped her clean herself then washed her hair. When her bath was over they helped her
out. They dried her off and put clean
clothes on her. She sat in front of the
fireplace in the large bathing room while they brushed her hair. They brushed
and brushed until her hair was dry and then they braided it. When their task was complete, they took her
back into the great hall where The Masters were waiting for her.
Demon
said, "Now little girl, what are you doing here. Why did you come to our home?"
Miranda
having eaten, having had a bath and now dressed in clean clothes, felt a little
stronger. However, still facing The
Masters, she was still nervous. "I didn't know it was your home,” she
replied cautiously, “it just called to
me and I came."
The
Masters exchanged glances. The manor
called to her? What could that mean?
"Why
do you live under the bridge?"
Celestial inquired.
"How
did you know that is where I live?"
Miranda asked, rather startled that they should know anything about her.
Celestial
laughed and with a wink replied, "Oh, I know everything".
Beast
chuckled. "If you know everything, then why don't you know why she lives
under the bridge?"
The
other three Masters laughed at Celestial, each hoping this would lighten the
mood. They could all sense that even
though she was feeling stronger and more sure of herself, Miranda was still
afraid.
It
was then they noticed something they had all overlooked and they had not
realized before. Miranda was blind.
Miranda
felt the cat jump into her lap, suddenly she felt more secure. The cat settled in her lap and started to
purr, she stroked his head. She was
starting to feel stronger and more sure of herself.
"Miranda,’
Starchild started gently, “tell us why you live under the bridge".
After
taking a deep breath, Miranda started her story. She told them she lived under the bridge
because that was where Uncle Joseph told her she would be safe.
"Who
is Uncle Joseph?" Demon queried.
"Uncle
Joseph is Uncle Joseph.” She simply stated, not know how else to answer
Demon. “He took care of me when my
mother and father died."
"Well,
where is Uncle Joseph now?" Starchild asked.
With
tears in her eyes, Miranda explained that Uncle Joseph had died.
Celestial
asked, "How long have you been living under the bridge?"
She
answered, "For 9 years."
The
Masters looked at each other, how could this little girl have lived under the
bridge for 9 years and they did not know?
Coming
to a decision Starchild stated, "From now on you will stay here and live
in our home. You can't live under the
bridge."
While
Miranda bathed, The Masters had been discussing this current turn of events and
had decided she couldn’t stay under the bridge.
Her
answers to their questions had confirmed to them she needed their
protection. So they decided she would
live in the manor with them.
Miranda
felt a sudden wave of panic. He wanted
to take her away from the only home she knew. The only place she felt
safe!
The
cat was still in her lap, he nuzzled up against her cheek and purred as if to
say, ‘It's okay for you to stay here.
You need to stay here. It is safe here.’ Suddenly along with the cat in her lap, her
cat doll appeared in her arms along with her blanket.
Celestial was the first to react. Frowning, he grabbed the blanket from her. "Where did you steal this from?" He demanded, his angry face staring down at her.
Miranda held tightly to her cat doll, forgetting about the live cat sitting in her lap, fear and panic on her face. "I didn't steal it. It's mine.” She insisted defensively. “It's always been mine." She felt like she was going to cry.
The blanket disappeared from Celestial's hands, and again wrapped itself around Miranda.
As Celestial started to make another attempt to take the blanket away from her, the two servants who had helped Miranda with her bath entered the room. Demon placed a hand on Celestial to stop him, while Starchild instructed the servants to take Miranda upstairs to her room.
The Masters looked at each other each with a different question in his mind. Celestial gave both Demon and Starchild a hard look.
Who was this girl, and why did she think that the manor house called to her? She was not really a little girl, they noted. How old was she? How could she have been right here all this time and they never knew? Where did she get that blanket?
Demon inquired of Celestial, "What was all that about a blanket?"
Celestial looked dumbfounded, "Don't you remember? I gave that blanket to Mandy on her birthday."
Beast stepped in, "That doll, I gave that to Mandy. How did this girl get them?"
Suddenly there was a bright light in the room and two people appeared. It was Christine and David, friends of The Masters.
Christine said, "So you finally found her."
"Found who?" Starchild asked.
David answered, "You found our daughter".
They
all looked at Christine and David thoroughly confused, Christine and David were
ghosts. Christine and David had died
many years before.
Starchild
was quite perplexed. "Your
daughter?"
Christine
said, "Yes, Don't you remember? Our
daughter who used to come here and play before that terrible
accident?"
Demon's
face suddenly lit up, "Mandy, my Mandy."
Christine
smiled, "Yes, your Mandy."
Demon
said "But how could this be?"
"The
Dark Ones came after Miranda. They caused the accident that took our
lives," David said, "We teleported Mandy away. We hid her identity so
that The Dark Ones wouldn't get her."
Starchild
was puzzled. "But this girl is blind.
Mandy wasn't blind. Mandy had
beautiful violet eyes."
"We
know,” David said grimly, “We caused her blindness so that no one would see her
eyes. If The Dark Ones ever saw her eyes
they would know that she was meant to be the Lady of the Manor, and would come
after her. We left her in the care of a
good friend but he was old."
Celestial
uttered, "Uncle Joseph"
"Yes,"
Christine replied. "He was a dear
old friend.
"He
knew who Mandy really was and he protected her for 5 years. He taught her everything
that he could teach her in the short time that he was with her. Didn't you think it was strange that you
always protected the bridge?"
They
all thought for a moment, and Demon responded, "Yes, there were many
nights I would take the dragon form and fly out over the bridge to keep people
away. I didn't know why, I just felt
that was what I had to do."
Beast
said, "I remember going to the bridge. I remember lying down next to a
little girl who would be cold and who would cry. I would cuddle up next to her and try to keep
her warm. I had forgotten that until
just now."
"You
were protecting her even when you didn't know it." Christine smiled. She had known all along The Masters would
protect her daughter.
"If
you made her blind," Starchild asked, " does that mean that you can
make her see again?"
"When
the time is right, when it is time for her to see again, her eyesight will
return." David answered.
Demon
was becoming angry, "Well, when is that going to be? Why are you playing these games?"
"It
is not a game Demon, but the time is not right.
If she were to see now, she wouldn't trust you. She wouldn't believe in us. She has to learn to trust you and then she
will see again." David replied.
Christine
said, "Our time here is short, we must go now. Watch out for our child. Make her trust you. Make her love you and she
will be the Lady of the Manor and belong to The Masters." With that
Christine and David were gone.
The
Masters sat and looked at each other, each remembering back to a time when a
little girl was born.
The
prophecy said a little girl would be born, and she would belong to The Masters.
She would bear their child and that child would overcome The Dark Ones.
Christine
and David had that little girl. Her name
was Miranda but they always called her Mandy.
She had no fear of The Masters.
She was there so often the manor house was her home. The manor house was her home. Could that
be why she thought the manor called to her?
Why she came to the manor?
On
her third birthday, the Demon had taken her flying with him. Christine was terrified but Mandy loved to go
flying with him. She just laughed and
called him, 'my dragon'. That was her
name for him no matter what form he was in, his human form or his dragon form,
he was always 'my dragon'.
The
Demon had fallen in love with Miranda when she was just a baby, the little girl
with violet colored eyes and auburn hair.
The Demon knew that this little girl would grow up to be The Lady of the
Manor and was destined to be his. She
was his Mandy. He would wait for an
eternity for her.
Starchild
thought back fondly to when she was that little girl and how she called him,
'my heart'. From the time she could walk
he always gave her a rose and said "from my heart to you". So it was only natural that when she learned
to talk she called him, ‘my heart’.
They
remembered her third birthday when Christine, David, and Mandy had all been at
the manor house and they had celebrated Miranda's birthday. She was so happy, but when they left the
accident happened. That was when the
carriage overturned and fell down the embankment into the river. Christine and David were killed.
The
Masters had forgotten completely about Miranda as if she had been wiped from
their memory, but it was all coming back now.
The little girl had just disappeared at the death of Christine and
David.
Christine
blinded Miranda and then teleported her to Uncle Joseph. He took her into his home and there he
taught her as best he could, never telling her about her parents, never telling
her about her special powers, and not telling her about The Masters.
Uncle
Joseph made sure she knew the bridge was a safe place. It was on the property of The Masters, so he
knew The Masters would take care of her even if they did not know they were
doing it. This also explained how she
could walk in the manor right through their protective shield. The shield was meant to keep out strangers. Miranda was not a stranger and she belonged
at the manor house.
The
following morning was bright and sunny.
Miranda awoke in a nice soft bed, something she had not done in so many
years that she did not even remember ever doing it before. She felt safe, she felt wanted and
protected. These were feelings she had
not felt for so long, and it almost scared her.
She was afraid that someone would come along and take it all away from
her.
There
was a knock on her door, and one of the servants came in to help her
dress. She could not get used to someone
helping dress her and being nice to her.
She was used to just sleeping in the same dress and never changing
clothes until the clothing was so old it was falling apart, and someone would
throw an old dress at her. Here she had
new, clean clothes that were hers.
She
went downstairs to the great hall to have breakfast with The Masters. She felt so much better this morning. She had survived the night and they had not
hurt her. Maybe it would be okay.