Chapter 22-Settling In

In a few minutes we were on our feet and following Cerant to the mansion. Walking in the early morning up the gently sloping lawn seemed so peaceful. We all wore smiles and the sun kissed our cheeks. I wished then that I could capture that moment. We had been through so much and still managed to surrender to happiness for a few, brief minutes. Perhaps it wouldn’t simply be minutes though. Maybe our days here would be bliss, they were certainly shaping to, and then we would go home and laugh together about our own fright. I knew that could only be a dream. Even if these days were bliss, getting home would not be. We hadn’t remembered to check into any customs booths when we went to the new islands, so they would wonder how we got here and undoubtedly receive a lecture. Our parents would probably lock us all away in our rooms until September as punishment for letting ourselves get in so much trouble, and then continue on with the trip. I sighed slightly and tried to push the reality of our situation out of my mind. We deserved to be happy for even these few shining moments. I wasn’t going to waste them.

We wandered down one wall of the mansion to a set of French doors I studied the statues as we passed. They must have been pieces of his collection and each was quite unique. They ranged from marble Grecian statues to large bronze Renaissance pieces. My favorite was one with an Asian flavor. It was a full-sized samurai carved so intricately he looked to be wearing real armor and wielding a sword that could cut me in half. It took us some time to get down to the doors because Kat requested to know about nearly every statue we passed. Cerant seemed pleased to talk about his statues and we all listened intently. Finally, we passed the last statue. The doors were standing open when we reached them and filmy white curtains blew in the breeze. They brushed against my skin when we passed through them and I let a content sigh escape from my lips.

"I’ll remember how much you love these kind of curtains," said Joseph. He had come up behind me and was staring at my face with a small smile.

"What for?" I asked with a bemused smile.

"Well," he said. "If I should ever be able to build you a dream house, they’ll be included."

I chuckled and beamed back at him. "So you want to build me a dream house?" I asked.

"I don’t want to," he said. "I plan to."

I stared back at his handsome face. My thoughts drifted back to my previous train on bliss and I saw it in his eyes. It seemed crazy. I had never felt this way about anyone before; it even made feelings for my mother seem mediocre. Well, not mediocre, I just loved her in a different way. I turned my eyes to the floor and smiled. "Well," I said. "I won’t stop you if you try."

Joseph walked up to me and put an arm my waist. We had trailed behind the rest of the group but hurried to make up the space. Two people had joined them. One was an older man. Well, he looked older when compared to our youthful group. He probably wasn’t much older than late 40’s. He had dirty blonde hair that was brushed with white. His ample beard seemed to contain more white hairs than his head, which mixed with the lighter blonde strands. He was large and robust for his age and there was kindness to his eyes. The other new person was a younger woman. She was probably from a local island, while the man seemed to be foreign. She had short, curly black hair and a pleasant face, which beamed at us. Both were dressed in normal clothing but I suspected they were probably his servants.

"This is Hugh," said Cerant, gesturing at the man who waved to us. "And this is Madeline." He indicated the woman and she also waved. "They are two of my servants and, more importantly, my friends," he said. "Hugh has been here since this island belonged to my parents." The man’s smile seemed to waver for a moment then he smiled brightly again. "While you are here," he said. "Don’t hesitate to see if they can help you with anything. When the rest of the staff returns, they will also be at your disposal."

"Our disposal?" chuckled Kyle. "This sounds like something from a British movie."

Cerant merely smiled. "Yes, well," he said. "Take as long as you like to bathe and change, then meet back here and I’ll take you for a tour of the island and my home."

"What will we change into?" asked Mitch.

"Oh, of course," said Cerant. "There is a lot of clothing on the island. Hugh and Madeline will show you to the guest wing in a moment. Each room has sets of clothing for possible guests. Chose a room with a set of clothing in your size and preference. Is this all right with you all?"

I could feel my jaw dropping and my friends all seemed to be showing similar signs of amazement. "All right?" I asked. "This is wonderful. We’ll never be able to repay you."

"Your company is payment enough," Cerant said and he took one of his hands in mine and kissed it on the back. Then he took Kat’s and did the same thing, then shook hands with each of the guys. All of us just kind of stared dumbly at the whole show. Hugh and Madeline simply waited patiently. Their faces seemed to be expressionless except for faint twinges of humor in their lips. "I will bid you audieu for now," he said. "I am also going to get ready. I hope you find everything satisfactory." He then bowed and turned, striding off to one side of the house.

Kat seemed to begin to follow him but Madeline stepped in front of her with her arms raised. "The master," she explained in an over-sweet voice. "Is going to his apartments." Her voiced lowered and she stared, in a not entirely friendly manner, at Kat and said, "I will show you to yours."

Kat stopped quickly in front of the woman, faltering, then positioned herself in a self-assured manner. "Well," she said. "Then why don’t you lead the way?"

"My pleasure," said the woman, her tone serving but smug again. Madeline and Hugh began walking in the opposite direction that Cerant had. They set a faster pace than I would have liked to lead. My eyes kept catching on the rich furnishings that decorated his home. They were beautiful but had a simple elegance to them. They weren’t showy or gaudy.

After passing through a number of rooms designed for lounging, dining, and general group activities we reached a long hallway. The plush Persian rugs were soft against my bare feet as we padded down it. On either side of us were many different doors. They were well spaced from each other but there seemed to be an endless number of them. On each door was a design. Madeline opened the first, carved to look like a snowy mountain, to reveal the room behind it. My eyes widened when I saw it. The room had been designed to look like the inside of a mountain cabin. There was a large fireplace decorated with stones and a giant bearskin rug. A large bed was in one corner. It was covered in skins and blankets. A thermostat next to the door revealed that it was a chilly 55 degrees in the room, but it betrayed that you didn’t need the fireplace to warm it. A large, pine cabinet was in one side of the room. We made our way over to it so that we could see what Cerant had meant about the clothing sets.

Inside the clothing was designed to look like mountaineer clothing but was made entirely of very light cloth that must have been more suited for the local climate. There was an array of sizes but most were geared toward men. In a drawer beneath the main closet were assorted pieces of more normal clothing. They were all very rich and again geared toward guys with fancy swimming trunks and light men’s clothing. There was also a dressy suit hanging in with the mountaineer clothing.

"Well," said Joseph. "I know it’s probably silly to call this when there are most likely far more interesting rooms ahead. However, I love the mountains and I’m going to call dibs on this room. I’ll continue on with you guys and if I find something I like more someone else can have free reign on this room." I never knew he loved the mountains but it made sense. They, like him, were majestic but silently proud.

We followed them out into the hallway. "Now," said Hugh. "That we’ve revealed what the rooms are like, I never tire of seeing people’s expression when the comprehension hits, you can explore them and find which you would like to stay in. We’re going to go prepare baths. Once we’re done we’ll come out into the hall and wait for you. Hopefully you won’t finish before we’re done, though I doubt you will because there’s much to explore."

"Is there anyway we could have clothing moved or something?" asked Kat. "It seems kind of a let down that some rooms are restricted to a certain gender."

"Don’t worry," assured Madeline. "You won’t be "let down." Most major themes have similar rooms with the opposite gender’s clothing. If one of you girls had wanted the mountain theme, there is a ski-lodge room nearby."

"I see," said Kat. "Thank you."

The woman nodded a little stiffly and she and Hugh disappeared down a corridor. When they had left we all sat quiet for a moment before letting out a flurry of noise. Some of us hooted, some laughed, some giggled, I think Mitch shouted, "Yeeehaw!

"This place is just fantastic," said Kat.

"My guess is that you think Cerant is fantastic," said Mitch, poking her in the ribs.

"Well, staring at Madeline probably took your mind off of Lindsay," returned Kat quickly.

Mitch looked flustered. "I have not been staring at her!" he shouted. We all laughed at his expression.

"I hate to interrupt this interlude," said Kyle. "But I’m really anxious to see these rooms."

"As we all are," I said with a smile at him. He grinned and turned to a door near us. Carved on the outside was a ring of flowers with trees on the inside. The room looked like a quiet glade in a woodland forest. The bed was a hollowed log with sheets that looked like leaves and moss. The wardrobe was the inside of one of the trees and the theme clothing looked like clothes that elves in movies wore. The clothing in this room was geared toward women.

"Dang*," muttered Kyle.

"Now you know what it feels like," I said, poking him with my elbow. He made a fake pouting face and chuckled.

"Lets brake off and look alone," suggested Mitch. "Or in pairs." He said the last part with a grin directed and Joseph and I. "Everyone get one of your theme outfits to wear today." When he finished, I pulled Joseph by the hand out of the room. We scurried from room to room. I was never going to be able to decide. There were rooms set in anything you can think of from a medieval monarch’s room, to the cabin of a spaceship, from a pirate ship to the bottom of the ocean.

 

 

We ran into Kat as she found what would be hers. Her system was to study the carvings and throw open the door briefly. She suddenly muttered, "Oh I must be dreaming," as she was studying one door. I glanced over to see an Arabian palace on the door before Kat threw it open. Her face lit up as she walked in. I followed her to see what the room was like. The bed was shrunk into the floor and seemed to be mostly a stack of colorful, plush pillows. Around it hung translucent gauze hangings in all shades of the rainbow. The room was made of graceful arches and the wardrobe with the clothing was designed with an intricate Arabic design. Kat flopped down on the pillows and didn’t even glance at another room.

Joseph ended up staying with the mountain cabin and I chose a room with a medieval theme, mostly for the clothing. The bed was immaculate with velvet and satin sheets. The furniture was royal and my wardrobe contained many flowing gowns, my favorite. I selected a sky-blue silk dress with an embroidered, navy blue vest to go with it and a pair of matching slippers. I dashed out in the hall to see the others waiting for me with Hugh and Madeline.

Along the way, we reported our rooms to each other. Mitch had chosen a western theme room-the heights seemed to be a bed on a horse and an opening cow for a wardrobe. Kyle had found a jungle room, much like the woodland room, oriented toward men and stuck with it. At the end of the hallway we broke off into two large rooms. Kat and I followed Madeline into one while the three guys went to another with Hugh. The room was massive. Two large pools of water steamed on one side and smaller tubs had their own places around the room. They were only smaller in comparison and still large. There were a bunch of stalls with regular toilets and European badays. A long line of sinks stood beneath a stretching mirror.

Two of the baths were full of steaming water and thick bubbles. Everything we could want to clean ourselves stood on silver trays next to the edge of the large tubs and they smelled of sweet, exotic oils. I quickly stripped off my torn and tattered clothes to sink into the comforting depths of the soothing water. "Kat," I said after a moment of soaking in the comfort.

She seemed to be doing the same thing but looked over at me and asked, "What?"

"I could get entirely too used to this sort of thing," I said, blowing a bubble out of my face.