Life Without Life
Chapter 20:
"Well, well, what have we here?" Katherine whispers into the cool night air. "A couple of fools is what I see!" Lying on two piles of leaves, fast asleep, is Timothy and Matthew.
Timothy awakens first and almost cries out at the sight of this figure standing before him. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Timothy, hush, you will awaken Matthew!" she whispers.
"Who are you?!" he demands, now in a quieter tone.
"I am not going to tell you who I am!" she teases. "I am going to let you guess!" She leans over him and gently kisses his lips.
"There is only one person I know with that foul of a taste on her lips, Katherine!" he torments.
"How well you know your kisses."
"How could I forget one so repulsive!"
"Come on, Timothy. Your old life is no more!"
"What are you talking about? I do not understand you!"
"Your old life is over. It is time to start anew. Your life was nothing before but now that can all be changed."
"All right, let me hearth your idea," he says reluctantly.
"Come back to the manor with me- - -."
"Have you lost your mind?! I will be arrested for sure!"
"Let me finish. Come back to the manor with me as my husband. This way you will not be arrested or harmed in any way."
"And what about Matthew? We are not going to leave him here, are we?"
"He can fend for himself. He is a big boy now!"
"Why should I go back with you? Give me one good reason why I should put my life in danger and go back as your husband!"
"You want to see Josette again, do you not?"
"Aye, but- - -."
"So come back with me. Or you could stay here in the cold and die of extreme frostbite!"
"I guess I will go back," he replies.
"I thought you would see it my way!"
"Katherine, what do you have up your sleeve?"
"What makes you think that I am up to something, Timothy?" she says while running her index finger down his chest. "I just want to see you happy," she slyly smiles.
"I still think you are up to something. You never cared to see me happy before."
"You were happy when you were with me, right?"
"I still would be happier if I could be with Josette."
"Now that is a lost cause! Face it, Timothy, you have lost her! Go on with your own life, with our life." He reluctantly agrees to return to the manor with her.
They walk for a while in silence, never talking to each other, never touching each other. They stop to rest in a clearing close to the edge of the manor. "Now this looks familiar, doesn't it, Timothy?" questions Katherine, as she sits herself down on a log.
"What are you talking about, Katherine?"
"Look beyond the trees and you will see what I mean." Beyond the tree line and towards the direction of the manor, is the corn field and the meadow. "Isn't that the same field you and Josette- - -?"
"How did you know about that?!" he bursts out.
"Call it extreme instinct, Timothy, extreme instinct."