Amanda Arrives at Damon's House

Amanda is sent to live with her uncle during the bombing raids on London during WWII

       It all started the day that Amanda arrived at her uncle’s mansion.  It was a lovely spring day filled with sunshine and warm thoughts.  A gentle breeze blew the neatly trimmed poplar trees that lined the long drive.  Amanda had been sent far away from her home in London.  Her mother Emily and father Jack were forced to send her to the country after the blitzkriegs.  Amanda’s brother had just turned eighteen and wanted to join in the effort against the Germans.  Amanda was sixteen and a half and not allowed to contribute, so she was sent alone to visit her uncle whom she’d never met before.

       The Rolls-Royce pulled up and stopped in front of the old English manor.  The manor consisted of three main stories, a basement and an attic.  The front and center part of the house was the largest.  Two smaller wings were attached on either side.  The dark stone mansion, which appeared to have been neglected for some time, loomed ominously over the neatly manicured gardens. Amanda had been told that the manor was built in 1695 by Lord Cookton.  Thus, the name of the house had been Cookton Grange.  Over the years, it had also been known Horning Hall.  Her parents simply referred to it as Damon’s House.

      The door of the black car opened and a handsome young man extended his hand to help her out.  Amanda took the hand, stepped out of the car, and came face to face with the very handsome young man.  He smiled and their gazes met.  Amanda’s green eyes locked with his brown eyes.  She smiled back.  Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her knees go weak.  What was it about him that made her feel so intoxicated?

     An all too familiar voice brought her back to reality.  “Ready Amanda?”

     Amanda nodded, her blond curls bouncing around her face. 

     The driver commanded the handsome young boy to grab Amanda’s luggage and take her inside.  The young man obliged.  The driver got back in the car and drove around to the garage while Amanda was led up a set of stairs to a set of big, black doors. 

      “So this is where I am to stay for the next several months?” Amanda announced in wonder.  She took in the mansion and tried to feel good about the change of scenery, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel very positive.  In fact, something told her that very dark times lie ahead for her. 

       “Yes,” the young man said.  He set her luggage down long enough to push open one of the huge doors.  It creaked open.  He picked her luggage back up and said, “Well, in we go then.”

       Amanda stepped inside the dark hall.  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light.  An older man greeted them.  “’Ello Stefan.  Who do we have ‘ere?”

     “Amanda Cookton Sir.  Amanda, this is Frank Scott. He is the butler and he will take you to your room.”

     “Thank you Stefan,” she said. 

     He smiled again and slipped out the front door.  Frank took her luggage and ushered her up the grand staircase.  Amanda noticed several dusty old tapestries on the walls and a couple of suites of armor.  She treaded up the faded red carpet to the landing.  Frank took a left and she followed him up the rest up the stairs.  They walked down a hallway that was unlit except for sun coming in at the window at the end. 

      “Is there no electricity here?” Amanda asked curiously.

      “Indeed, there are lamps and such ‘ere.  Damon leaves most of them off is all.  ‘Ere is no need to have them all on now is there?  Barely anyone lives here.”

      “Do you live here?”

      “Yes Ma’m.  I live ‘ere with me wife Charlotte.  She’s the cook she is.  Other than us, ‘ere is only Master Damon and the Misses. ‘Ats four all together then.”

      “Stefan doesn’t live here?”
      “No Ma’m.  Stefan lives with his mother in a cottage down the ‘ill. Mistress Mary tends the gardens.  Stefan helps ‘er mostly, but he also ‘elps Master Damon as well.  ‘E does odd jobs ‘e does.”

      Amanda was relieved that Stefan would be around.  At the same time, she felt a sense of isolation and loneliness.  There wouldn’t be anyone to play with or talk to it seemed.  How would she spend her days here at Damon’s House?  Already she was bored.  
      Frank stopped at a door and set down the luggage.  He took out an old skeleton key and unlocked the door.  It swung open with a loud creak as well.  He reached inside and turned on a lamp on the table just inside the door.  He’d only been in that room once a long time ago.  It had been locked for nearly twenty years.  Frank set her luggage inside the door and said, “Ere you go.  Make yourself at home.  Unpack and settle in if you want.  Dinner is at six.  I’ll come and get you then.”  With a smile, Frank was disappeared down the long hallway.

      Amanda turned her attention to her new room.  It was nice and large.  There was a painting on the far wall.  A huge fireplace took up most of the wall on her left.  On her right was her large canopy bed.  Just beyond the bed was a window.  Amanda opened up the curtains and let the sunshine flood her room.  She noticed that the window looked out on the backyard.  The backyard was an empty field with a path leading down to the grove. Amanda turned and noticed that there was a door just down from the window.  It led to the small bathroom that was attached to her room.  Amanda liked having her own bathroom, as she feared getting lost trying to find one in the hall at night.  Between the bathroom and door to the hallway door there stood a large wooden wardrobe.   Amanda unpacked and put her clothes in the wardrobe.

      After she was all unpacked, Amanda laid down in her new bed.  She thought about her uncle.  What did she know about him? Nothing really.  She’d seen an old photograph of her father and her uncle together.  Her father had told her that photograph had been taken before they had a falling out back in 1922. The both had dark hair and light eyes.  Jack was younger and clean-shaven.  Damon had a beard and mustache. He appeared older and there was something incredibly sad in his eyes. His lips were pressed together angrily or perhaps impatiently.  What would he look like in person she wondered?

       It was just before six o’clock when Frank returned and knocked lightly upon her door.  He led her down the dark hallway and back down the stairs.  The walked through the entrance way and around the corner to the enormous dinning room.  A long table stood in the middle of the room.  The chandelier was dark, but there were candles lit on the table.  Her aunt and uncle sat at the very end of the table talking.  It was difficult to make out in the dim candle light, but it appeared as if family portraits hung on the wall behind the elegantly carved chairs.  Amanda was shown her seat beside her uncle, who sat at the head of the table.  He aunt sat across from her on the right side. 

     Her uncles first words to her were, “Glad to see that you are prompt.  Your first priority is to me and this house.  That means that you must be prompt or face the consequences.  Tardiness is not tolerated.”

     “Yes sir,” Amanda said quietly. 

     Charlotte came from door in the back of the room with trays of food.  She set them down before the three of them and returned to the kitchen for more.  Frank poured their wine while they waited for the rest of their meal.  When Charlotte returned, Frank helped her set everything up.  Then the two of them disappeared back into the kitchen together.

      Her aunt Helen spoke to her briefly.  “I am Helen,” she said.  “I hope you will be comfortable during your stay here.”

      “I am sure I will.  Thank you Aunt Helen.”

      “I am glad that we could accommodate you.  After all, we have plenty of room.”

      Then Amanda was left to eat while Damon rattled on about the war.  Helen listened politely, but Amanda guessed she was a bored she was.  In the middle of a tirade on how ineffective the British government was and how the French were a disgrace to humankind, he stopped abruptly.  “Amanda, why are you not eating your dinner?”

      Amanda glanced down at her plate.  “I am just not that hungry.”

      “You must eat anyway.  It is rude to insult your host by not eating what is put in front of you.”

      “Sorry,” Amanda said eating some of her pot roast and potatoes.  As she ate, a wave of nausea came over her.  Was it the food or the fact that she was being forced to eat it she wondered.   She did not like how strict or stern Damon was�"that much she knew for sure.  She missed her father Jack dreadfully.  He was kind and gentle.  His demeanor much softer than Damon’s hardened one.  Amanda wondered why there was such a difference between the two brothers.

        Helen saw her struggling to finish all of her food without throwing up.  After a few minutes, she spoke up in her niece’s defense.  “Now, Damon, can’t you see she is simply exhausted from the long drive out here.  I am sure it is all so overwhelming.  Why don’t you let her excuse herself and retire to her room for the night.  Her appetite will be veracious by morning I expect.”

      “Don’t do this. You are always undermining my authority woman.”

      Helen kept an even tone despite Damon’s increased volume.  “Now, Damon you know I didn’t mean to undermine anything.  I simply don’t see the point in making her suffer.  There is no need to be cruel.  Of course, you can make her stay or go if you want.  Clearly, it is up to you.  I was merely making a suggestion.”

      “That better be all it was.  I am starting to think no one has any respect for the head of this household any longer.  What happened to the days of a man being the king of his castle and lord of his manor?  Women knew it was their place to be seen and not heard!”

       Helen shrunk back in her chair and looked away.  She was clearly upset by her husband’s belittling words.

      “Go ahead, leave this table Amanda.  What do I care if my brother has raised a rude heathen?”

       Frank, who had heard Damon’s words, came out from the kitchen.  He approached Amanda and helped her out of her chair.  Without meeting Damon’s fiery eyes, Frank escorted Amanda away from the table.  When they had rounded the corner and approached the den, Frank finally spoke.

      “I am sorry Ma’m.”

      “For what?”

     “Your uncle’s behavior. Mind you, he wasn’t always like this you know.”

     “What happened?”

     “A number of things really.  He lost out on his career as a Don at Oxford because he had to come home and take care of his ailing mother and father.  Then he and Helen lost their only daughter.  She died in her sleep she did.  The babe was less than a year old.  Tragic.  The Master rather went mad after that.  He ain’t been right since.”