Three days later Lily opened her eyes to find herself staring up at a white ceiling. She groaned and blinked a few times trying to clear her head. She was still sore but as far as she could tell she was undamaged so her bots must have done their job. She didn’t feel the all to familiar feeling of a hard cot after an encounter like this but she thought it must be because she was to used to it. She pulled the comforter up to her chin and sighed. Suddenly Lily sat up straight. A comforter? That wasn’t normal. She looked around and saw that she was laying in a big bed with clean sheets and pillows and the wonderful comforter. The walls were painted a light blue, not the dirty grey of a cell or a shed, There was a table with a small lamp and chair in front of her. Her tools and the rest of her items were laying on the table, her clothes draped over a trunk at the foot of the bed. This realization caused her to lift the comforter quickly and look down at herself. Lily’s eyes went wide and she gasped pulling the comforter tight around her again. She found herself dressed in a silk nightgown that was decorated with lace. Slowly she swung her legs off the bed, her toes curling in the softest carpet she’d felt in a long time. She made her way over to the window, going slowly, enjoying the carpet on her bare feet. The scene outside the window seemed to be some sort of ranch. There appeared to be a few standard farm animals like chickens but it seemed like the bulk of the livestock was something she hadn’t seen before. The best way she could describe it was blue-green horse. Closer inspection would reveal that their manes and tails were feathers not hair. She didn’t remember how she got here but this place seemed like a nice place to hide for awhile. If John’s family had found her the others would catch up in no time. A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts and she dove for the bed pulling the covers up to her chest and closing her eyes. The door creaked slowly open and footsteps approached her bed. Someone sat down beside her and started to wipe her brow with a cool wet cloth. Lily opened her eyes to see an older woman smiling kindly down at her, “Hello dear. I’m glad to see you’ve finally come around. We didn’t think you were going to make it.” Lily looked up at the woman apprehensively “Who are you? Where am I?” She tried to sit up but the woman put a hand on her shoulder and gently urged her back down. “Rest for now, when you feel stronger you can come down and have dinner with us. I am Laina Marshall and this is my ranch. My son and a two of our ranch hands brought you were a few days ago. You were in pretty bad shape but we’ve patched you up the best we could. You are a remarkably faster healer but I’m afraid we could do nothing about the burns on your hands.” Lily smiled at her “Thank you for everything Mrs. Marshall.” Laina chuckled “Please call me Laina, Mrs. Marshall sounds so stuffy.” Laina stood up and started to leave. She turned back for a moment, “Come join me downstairs when you feel you are ready. Your clothes are laying there, I had them cleaned. There is another change of clothes for you in the bureau over there if you wish.” With that she closed the door and left. After Laina left Lily went to the bureau and pulled out a dress that had a brown bodice with green sleeves and a green skirt the flowed loosely over the hips. She raised an eyebrow at it for a moment then put it on and decided it wasn’t to bad. It had been a long while since the last time she had worn a dress.
Lily made her way slowly down the hall and toward the stairs, taking her time to look at all the family pictures along the wall. She noticed the man who had rescued her in a few of them. He must have brought her here though why he had done that remained to be seen. When she got downstairs she saw a very homey picture. Someone had artfully mixed a rustic feel with a modern elegance. Laina was bustling around a table setting out dishes of food that smelled delicious. “Can I help with anything?” Lily inquired. “Oh no dear, just sit down and rest. Colin will be joining us shortly. The rest of the men are going into town for the evening.” As if on cue the man who rescued her walked in the door and greeted Laina with a smile and a kiss to the cheek “Hello Mother.” Then he turned to Lily and smiled “ I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. When you feel up to it I’d like to know how you came to be in that situation.” Laina gave him a gentle shove on the shoulder “ Colin, you should be ashamed of yourself. I am sure she doesn’t want to think about that right now. The poor dear must have been frightened witless.” “Of course you are right Mother. I apologize Lily.” Lily realized that she had been staring at him and quickly turned her eyes away for a moment before answering him. She hoped she hadn’t been blushing. She found his scruffy face and short spiky hair quite attractive. The dimples in his cheeks and the wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled were hard to ignore. “Its alright, I’d only been there a few hours before you found me.” Colin looked confused for a moment. “A few hours? Lily, you were there for a few -days-. You were almost gone when we found you and the only reason we did is because we were out looking for one of our lamics that had escaped. I am still amazed that you held out so long.” Lily bit her lip and looked down at her lap. Colin saw this and quickly spoke “please forgive me Lily, I did not wish to upset you. I will not speak of it again.” The three of them sat down and Laina passed around the dishes. Lily enjoyed a delicious meal and good conversation with people that didn’t appear to have ulterior motives. When they finished Laina went outside to start the evening chores leaving Colin to clear the table. As Lily helped with the clean up she tried to think of something to say but Colin spoke first, “You are welcome to stay here as long as you need, I would like to know more about you but only when you are ready to tell.” She smiled and thanked him then went back up to her room. She had some thinking to do. From what Colin had told her she been unconscious for almost a week between being bound and left to die and being brought here. Despite that she found herself exhausted and in need of a good rest. Hopefully her thoughts would be more clear in the morning.
