To Walk in the Sun (Wiggons' School for Elegant Young Ladies - Book 1) Read Free Page A

her, as if he were an
older brother, her father, or a husband?
    “Everyone knows why I am out here,” he
snorted. “The question is, why were you?”
    Tess shrugged, unwilling to explain,
especially to a complete stranger, even if he had saved her life.
“I was restless.”
    “Brandy would have been safer,” Lord Atwood
muttered and turned his attention to the door. “The rain appears to
have ended.” He stood and offered her his hand.
    Tess was grateful for his assistance as she
was not sure she could have risen on her own. Why were her legs so
weak?
    On shaking legs Tess followed Lord Atwood
toward the entrance and out into the cemetery. The clouds had moved
on and the full moon shone down. Destruction lay everywhere. Some
of the headstones were turned over, trees and branches littered the
ground.
    Tess picked her way behind Lord Atwood as he
maneuvered a path through the destruction in the cemetery toward
the road. Some of the houses across the street had lost parts of
their roofs, but they were all standing, thank goodness. Many of
the residents were out in their yards, looking at their homes and
the area. They were probably stunned, not unlike her. She had never
seen anything like this before.
    They ambled into the lane and looked in both
directions. There was a clear path of debris. One led from where
she had come. “The girls,” she cried and set out in a dead run.
Tess only stumbled once before regaining her balance. She had to
make it back to the boarding school. Her heart raced with fear of
what she would find.
     
     

 
     
    Their sole apprehension was lest aught should
awaken
    them from a delirium which they prayed might
continue
    for ever. Yet how vain is the wish that would
arrest the
    decrees of destiny! as well might it seek to
divert
    the circling planets from their eternal
course.
     
    Wake Not the Dead
    Johann Ludwig Tieck
     
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Vincent was amazed at the speed with which
Miss Crawford took off down the road. She lifted her skirts to her
knees and her boots carried her rapidly through the debris
littering the ground. More than a few times she jumped over
branches without breaking stride. After a moment of watching,
Vincent ran after her. With her head still bleeding Miss Crawford
was liable to pass out before she made it home.
    He practically ran her over as he rounded the
corner. She came to an abrupt stop, gazing ahead in horror. Vincent
followed her line of vision. The four-story building that had been
the school, which also housed the students and teachers, stood,
barely. An oak tree had fallen into the south side, demolishing the
corner of the house. He hoped no one had been in those rooms.
    Several students stood in the yard, most of
them crying. Older women, and a few young teachers, comforted the
girls. One called out names, probably to make sure everyone was
accounted for. Given the devastation revealed by the full moon, he
wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the inhabitants had been
seriously injured, or killed.
    She stumbled toward the group and Vincent
remained at a careful distance. Soon he could hear their
comments.
    “What of Miss Crawford? Someone needs to
rescue her ,” a young woman cried.
    An older woman put and arm around the girl’s
shoulder and drew her close. “We can’t get to her room, Eliza. We
can only pray she is safe.”
    Eliza buried her face in the woman’s bosom.
Her shoulders shook with her tears.
    “Miss Crawford, you are alive!”
another girl cried out and ran toward her. Eliza lifted her head
and also ran toward their teacher.
    Vincent took a step back, uncomfortable in
the presence of so many young, emotional women.
    “We thought you were dead, perished in your
room,” Eliza exclaimed once she pulled away from the embrace.
    “As you can see, I am very much whole and
well.” Tess opened her arms wide as if to affirm her uninjured
state.
    The two girls looked at each other, eyes
narrowed with concern before they looked back at