Chapter 3

The train slowed to a stop, letting people prepare to exit the cars. I rose from my seat as my father began to stir and wake up after the long, uneventful journey. My skirt had begun to irritate me with how it made loud shuffling noises as it dragged along the floor.

"Amelia, Dear, wait for me," my father called behind me, beckoning me to slow my pace. I did not realize I was so far ahead of him. I was observing people again, taking in every detail. This became a habit of mine when I was a child. I couldn't help it now. I stopped to wait on my father who was taking longer than usual.

I stood to the side, quietly awaiting my father. People of all sorts passed by me. I drank in their different cultures that they wore on their backs. I pondered about the different parts of the world they were all from. My mind travelled the world until my father appeared by my side.

"The city is an interesting place, is it not?" My father caught me absorbing the culture around me.

"Yes, the different cultures are always a pleasant sight. It almost gives you a tour of the world, you could say." I continued to stare and day dream of what else was out there in the world.

"Well, let's get a move on, shall we?" He led the way as we headed into the city.

We walked in silence. We went into many shops looking at presents that he thought I may like. Nothing really caught my eye. I was only interested in books about history and factual things. Father said Mother and I could look into having a dress made for me for my birthday party. He said it's too "feminine" for a man of his stature.

We entered a small book store on the corner of the street. The store held all sorts of ancient books bound in leather. Most were covered in a thin layer of dust. My father remained in the front of the store where the employees provided a small sofa to rest on.

I roamed in between the shelves, grazing my fingers lightly against the spines of the antique books. I imagined the story in between each page of every book. The light foot steps against the carpet in the next aisle caught my attention. I assumed it was another employee storing away books or another customer.

My mind wandered back to the adventures that were documented on each page. I thought of the fantasies that authors shared with their fans. The possibilities of the imaginative stories made my heart flutter. I hummed to the rhythm of my imagination. I closed my eyes and pictured the adventures my heart desired. The monster crept into the images.

The monster plagued my thoughts. I was thinking about the creature about seventy-five percent of the time. The percentage had recently gone down. Twenty of the remaining twenty-five percent were thoughts of the male at the station. Curious thoughts of who he was and what kind of person he was when no one was looking.

The foot steps grew slightly closer and their pace seemed to quicken as well. I moved further down my aisle in case I was being followed. The steps moved when I moved. I moved on to the next aisle to escape from whoever was following me. I walked backwards to make sure I wasn't being followed. The foot steps had stopped since I had turned the corner. I assumed they had left and I was just being paranoid. I turned back around to walk down the aisle. I ran into someone and we both fell into a tangle of limbs on the floor. I looked up to apologize and I was face to face with the boy from the station.

 His brown eyes stared into my own green ones. I scrambled to my feet and dusted my skirts off as he pushed himself off the carpeted ground. "I am terribly sorry. I didn't see you there." My ears burned as I rushed through my apology.

"Well, maybe if you weren't walking backwards you would have, Milady." He chuckled at his own pun. I scowled up at

him. He was much taller than me up close.

He squared his shoulders and I lifted my chin and turned away from him. I wasn't going to deal with him and his little jokes any longer. If I did I would surely grow beet red in the face. I walked back down to my original aisle. I removed a book off the shelf to find his chiseled features peering through the open space looking at me. "Do I know you?" His voice was muffled by the clusters of leather and paper stacked on the shelves.

"No, I don't believe so." I shoved the book back into its place walking further down the aisle.

"Are you sure? I feel as though I've seen your face somewhere before." He spoke again as I removed another book revealing his face yet again.

"Really? Well, Statistics show that there are at least seen people in the world who look like you. That may apply to this very situation. Interesting, yes?" My sarcasm and knowledge were taking over my system.

"Wow, really? My, that is interesting indeed! Tell me, how do you know that? You seem far more intelligent than most women I've met." He sounded interested in my knowledge, which pleased me.

"I read. I read books that fuel my knowledge rather than my imagination. Factual books tend to be my weakness." I smiled at the thought of being nose deep in a book.

"You like reading? What is your favorite thing to read about?" He seemed amazed by a woman actual wanting to learn and expand her knowledge.

"I don't know, really. I find 'Medical Science' interesting, but I think my favorite at the moment would be 'Mystery.'"

"Mystery?" He questioned me.

"Yes, unsolved mysteries and even some legends. The town's legend is actually quite interesting to me." I clarified for him.

"Interesting. Do you believe it is true? This magical being that dwells in a place called 'The Garden,' I mean. I don't know what to think of it. It is an interesting story, none the less."

"I don't know what I believe, but I' m more than willing to find out for myself. It takes up about seventy-five percent of my thought process. The rest is occupied by-" I stopped myself. I nearly told him that I think of him more often than I would like to say aloud.

"By what?" He furrowed his brows in the most adorable way.

"Other thoughts that run through my mind throughout the day." Blood rushed to my cheeks as I thought back on how attracted I was to this stranger.

"You are absolutely sure we have never met before?" He remembered seeing me. I wasn't going to admit that I remember staring at him in the train station.

"We haven't met before today." I looked down the aisle to see if my father was still at the front of the store. My view of him was blocked by book shelves perpendicular to the ones I stood between.

"You were at the train station! Yes, that must be it! I remember seeing you now. Do you remember me?" The one question I hoped he wouldn't ask me.

I took a long look to seem as though I were searching my cerebellum for a memory image of him. "Yes, I believe I do. You were standing across the platform, reading a small leather book, waiting for someone I assume."  I remembered the scene perfectly.

"Yes, I was waiting for my mother to get off the train. I meet her everyday at the station and ride home in the carriage with her." He spoke with a loving tone when referring to his mother.

"How nice. Tell me, what is your name? I don't think you've told me yet." I glance up from the book in my hands to look him in the eyes.

"William. You can call me 'William.'" He smiled broadly as he told me his name. "And yours?" He asked.

"Amelia," I breathed. I closed the book and returned it the shelf just as William came around the corner.

"Amelia, what a lovely name for a lovely girl." His smirk made me melt.

"Amelia, Dear? Where are you? We need to be heading back home in order to be on time for dinner." My father's voice called out to me.

"Coming," I called back. "I must go. It was lovely meeting you officially, William." I smiled back to William. "Good day." I turned to leave.

"You as well, Amelia. I hope to see you again soon." He called to me as I left. I couldn't help but smile to myself about finally becoming acquainted with the stranger that has been taking over my thoughts.