‘There…now we can eat!’
And eat they did. The meal was taken in silence, but the awkwardness of earlier had all but faded away. Vastra caught Jenny looking at her several times during the meal, each time with a small smile that showed both innocence and a genuine depth of feeling she had feared she would never see. For her part, Jenny noticed Vastra doing the same thing, but the ever present cowl kept her from seeing a similar smile on the face of her employer. I wish I knew what she was thinking, Jenny thought. Certainly she can’t feel the way I do. I’m foolish for even thinking…for even feeling…this.
The meal completed, Vastra turned her attention to the newspaper Jenny purchased. As she looked over the front page, Jenny began to gather up the breakfast dishes to return to the kitchen for cleaning. She was about to take the serving tray and retreat to the kitchen when Vastra spoke.
‘There’s no hurry, Jenny. Sit with me a bit. There are things I should like to discuss.’
Jenny sat back down, the small smile from earlier replaced by a look that displayed her nervousness and worry. Vastra didn’t see this, as her attention was turned to the newspaper.
‘Tell me, Jenny…what do you think of this?’ Vastra placed the newspaper down on the table, facing Jenny. As she leaned in to look, Jenny read the bold, block printed headline that nearly screamed out across the top of the newspaper:
‘MIDNIGHT
MURDER!’
Beneath that, in smaller
print, the following text added more details:
‘Victim, suspected in
several crimes, found slashed in alley’
Jenny looked up at Vastra and shook her head.
‘It’s a sad time we’re in when a person can be killed in the street and no one can catch the man what did him, madam.’
Vastra nodded. ‘Did you read the rest, Jenny?’
‘No madam. Why?’
Vastra pointed to a block of text in the article. ‘Here it says that the victim was himself suspected of involvement in several crimes, including several breakins, thefts, and violent attacks on three women. Two of them did not survive the attack. The lone survivor could not tell the constabulary what her assailant looked like.’
‘That’s horrible!’ Jenny exclaimed.
‘And here,’ Vastra continued, pointing to a picture on the page. ‘This is the man they found dead. Tell me what you think, Jenny.’
Jenny took a long look at the picture. It was a man, perhaps thirty-five to forty years old, with a firm, square jaw and fair hair. A strong, face in general, Jenny thought, perhaps indicating a member of the upper class. Certainly the way he was dressed in the picture helped with that, as he was wearing an expensive suit and tie. A thin moustache only added to the air of gentry and breeding.
‘He looks wealthy, madam. Why would the police think he did those things?’
Vastra sighed. ‘Jenny, there is an old saying…and from what I have found, quite often the old sayings are the truest ones. Where I come from, we say that you should never expect something to act a certain way just by how it looks. I believe you say that you should never judge a book by its cover…I think they mean very much the same thing.’
Jenny nodded, unsure where this was going.
‘The most attractive person can hide a monster inside. They can often get away with horrible things because they have wealth, or influence, and appear attractive. It becomes a mask hiding the truth.’
Vastra paused, carefully considering her next statement.
‘In the same way, you may find that something that is wonderful and precious on the inside, yet the outward appearance may not be conventionally so.’
She paused again, waiting to see how Jenny would respond.
‘Does that make sense to you, Jenny?’
‘I…I think so, madam.’
This time it was Jenny’s turn to pause, thinking over what Vastra had just said.
‘Do you think you can remember that, Jenny?’
‘I think so.’
Another pause.
‘Madam? Why are you telling me this?’
Vastra sighed. She placed her hands on the table, stood up, and walked toward the window closest to the head of her bed…away from the table. Jenny wanted to get up, to go over to her and hold her and ask her what was wrong, but she somehow knew this was not the right time to do that. Instead she waited, fidgeting at the table as she watched Vastra standing at the window. Vastra’s hands reached up and took hold of the window frame, and sighed.
‘You have been working for me for how long now, Jenny?’
Jenny thought for a moment. ‘Nearly three months, madam.’
‘And do you enjoy your work here?’
Jenny nodded, not that Vastra could see. ‘Yes, madam. Sometimes it’s hard, but not always. And you let me read, and we have lovely talks. I like working for you.’
Vastra turned back to face Jenny.
‘It’s time for me to tell you the truth about certain things, Jenny.’
‘What things, madam?’ The nervousness and concern deepened both in Jenny’s heart and on her face. Vastra saw this, knowing her face showed the same look, betrayed the same feelings.
‘It’s time you know why I wear this cowl all the time. It’s time you see me how I really am.’ As Vastra began to raise her hands to the cowl, Jenny raised hers to her face.
‘Madam! If it pains you so much, you needn’t do so for me! I don’t mind!’
‘NO!’
The sharp tone of Vastra’s exclamation snapped through the air, surprising both of them. Jenny jolted back in her chair, a look of shock on her face.
‘No, Jenny. I have to do this. You have to know. If we are to continue as…employer and employee, there can no longer be any charade. No more hiding.’
She stood behind her chair and looked down at Jenny, still sitting there, nearly paralyzed in worry.
‘But please,’ Vastra continued, her voice once again quiet and warm. ‘Please, Jenny…remember what I just told you. You can do that, can’t you?’
‘Y…yes, madam,’ Jenny replied quietly.
Vastra’s hands touched the front of her cowl. She paused for a second, inhaled deeply, and cast the cowl back. She stood before Jenny, exposed for the first time.
Jenny’s eyes widened in a mix of fear and horror.
‘No…’
Vastra took a step toward her. ‘Jenny…’
‘No!’ Jenny cried as she tried to push her chair back. ‘Stay where you are!’
‘Jenny…please…’
What she saw was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Vastra’s face looked human enough at first. Jenny then noticed the scales, fine and green and almost glistening even in the filtered light of the room. Then there were the three ridges that ran across the top of her skull, almost like fins or horns. They too were scaled and green. Slightly pointed ears were next, and while Vastra’s eyes were human enough, they were out of place on the otherwise reptilian head Vastra had been hiding beneath her ever-present cowl.
‘Jenny…I…’
‘No. Just…no. NO!’
Jenny broke for the bedroom door, not looking back to see if the strange…thing…that had spoken with Vastra’s voice was behind her. She ran down the stairs, her momentum carrying her into the front door with a thud. She struggled with the door, trying to force her way out of the house, away from the monster that she knew was advancing on her. She finally remembered that the door opened inward, and quickly pulled it open toward her. She turned for just a second and saw the Vastra-thing at the top of the stairs.
‘Jenny, please! If you will just let me explain…’
‘Stay away from me, you…whatever you are! Just…stay away!’
And with that, Jenny ran
through the door into the safety of London’s streets.
written by
JULIE KAY
copyright 2014
artwork by
METAL POTATO ALEX @ deviantART
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2014
