End

*And it's the end of this tale already. I wrote down two plot ideas that popped up right after finishing this tale, so there should have been coming more from Henrick in the future in the past. Or something.

*

Chapter 07

I received a good morning kiss to my pleasant surprise just before Theresa got out of bed. She was definitely in a good mood because I saw from the movements of her gown and Warrick's collar and bark she gave him a good hug and tussle. I smiled at the scene. I guessed getting closer to the end of her curse made her really cheerful.

She moved to the chair with her uniform draped over it and pulled up her gown probably halfway up her thighs when she stopped. I imagined she had smoothly curved legs from what I could tell when her legs lay on top and against mine as she slept.

I smiled softly when I noticed she must have been staring at me. I woke up from my daydream with a start and blushed as I looked away. 'Sorry! I was still half asleep! I didn't mean to rudely stare at you changing!'

A glance back told me she was giggling hard and I chuckled a little. I couldn't have seen anything really, but my imagination and the way her clothing moved may just be even more arousing than seeing a real life woman doing it.

She left with Warrick to get breakfast after she had dressed in her maid uniform and I dressed myself as well, thinking about where to start the search. We ended up beginning our search in the library and studies, those being the places we'd already searched for the most part before and be done the quickest.

By the time we were done with the last study we sat back on a two seat couch in there. 'To be honest, these places are too obvious when we look at how the diary was hidden, but I had to be sure.' I said to Theresa.

She nodded, took my hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze.

I smiled softly at her as I returned the squeeze. And then my stomach growled. She shook as she laughed while I turned red from embarrassment.

She gestured she'd get something to eat and I shook my head. 'I'll come with you. I'd like to see the kitchen.'

She gave me a nod and led me by the hand downstairs and to the back and side of the manor.

First she showed me the small kitchen for the servants, which she had used so far. Nothing fancy was used or stood here, that was obviously exclusive to the lord and his family and guests. She pulled me along again and we went further down a small hallway towards the main kitchen while Warrick had to wait as he wasn't allowed in there. To mine and seemingly to her surprise as well, we smelled scents of cooking as we got closer.

We went inside a roomy kitchen, large stoves on one side, cupboards with tableware on the other, shelves of jars, glasses, bags and boxes on another, and a large wooden table in the middle with books, big and small plates and bowls, and various foods like vegetables and meats.

'Someone's cooking here.' I said as I looked around for a sign of life. Or another ghost.

Theresa nodded and looked around as well. We stared at each other when an apron with cap and two wildly waving cleaving knives burst out of a side corridor.

'Watch out!' I shouted when the ghost cook turned to her. 'Get out of here!'

I waved my arms to distract him. It worked. He stormed at me from the other side of the table.

I glanced at Theresa to see her rushing at the door we came in through. Now I turned to run away but a cleaver thrown just in front of me stopped me dead in my tracks. I hurled myself across the table to get it between the cook and I, then glanced at the corridor the cook had come from for an escape. It was a dead end to a storage room.

I tried sidestepping to get the cook away from the door but he didn't move far away from it and blocked my escape. Windows in the kitchen were too risky for me to jump through without getting deep cuts.

My heart froze when the cook reached for the thrown cleaver stuck in a cupboard door. I ran to the side of the stoves to grab something to shield myself when Theresa bolted through the door and hit the cook on the head with a serving tray.

The cook ignored the hit and swung her by the waist to the floor. She curled up against the wall at the first step he took towards her while raising the cleaver.

I lost it again at the possibility she'd be hurt and grabbed the saucepan near me. 'Get away from her!' I shouted. 'Or I'll hurt you until kingdom come!'

The cook shot a look at me, froze in his step, and shook his head furiously while holding up his cleavers in a gesture to ward me off. 'Step away from her!' I said and he obeyed at once. I moved towards Theresa and glanced at her. 'Are you okay?'

She nodded and I gave her a hand to help her up.

'Don't you dare do anything!' I said to the cook and he shook his head quickly, gesturing with his cleavers to the saucepan I held and to put it down safely.

A question rose in the back of my mind. Why was this pan such a good defence? It wasn't much of a shield or weapon to attack with. I looked at the contents. A red-brown sauce.

The scent was mouth watering. I sniffed a little more. 'Oh, this smells absolutely wonderful.'

The clattering of the cleavers onto the floor startled Theresa and I. The apron trembled and the cook leaned forward nodding quickly. He grabbed one of the books from the table and held it out open to me. It was a recipe for a red wine sauce.

'You made this sauce?' I asked and he nodded again. I smelled chicken and pork roasting in the oven. 'I'm sure it'll taste great with the roasts in your oven.'

He nodded again and my stomach reminded me of the reason we came here in the first place. The next moment the cook grabbed a large plate, cleared a seat at the table, set it down with knife, fork, spoon, and wine glass, moved me to take the seat before I knew what was going on, took the saucepan from me and back to the stove, took out the roasts, cut slices, placed these on my plate, poured the sauce on it, added a mix of lightly cooked fresh vegetables, and poured me a glass of red wine.

I blinked at the full plate, then at the cook who I'm sure looked expectantly at me and gave me a slight nod to encourage me to try a bite. Theresa giggled behind her fist. I chuckled once, tasted a piece of the chicken first, then the vegetables, and last the pork.

The cook leaned closer. I could see he was wringing his hands from the movement of his apron's short sleeves. I looked up at him. 'Sir, this is the finest meal I've tasted in my life so far.'

He hugged Theresa tight to her surprise, then served fresh baked bread, cheese, a salad, water, and spices to suit my taste. I looked at the table getting piled with food, then at Theresa who shrugged and giggled more. I wasn't sure what was worse, an attack with cleavers, or an attack with a heap of excellent food.

I puffed out a deep breath and leaned back in my chair, my stomach absolutely bursting. I knew thinking I'll never eat that much again was no use. As soon as my stomach felt fit enough it would demand such a great meal once again. Theresa had helped the cook clean up and sat in front of me, judging from her gestures in a happy mood. Even the cook looked happy.

'I take it you've been cooking for all these years but had no one to appreciate it.' I said to him.

He nodded slight and quick. I hummed in understanding. 'We're trying to undo the curse that has befallen you and are getting closer, so if all goes well you can pass on to the afterlife and won't have to go through this any longer.' He gave a grateful nod. I smiled a little. 'But I'm glad I had the privilege to taste your skill in cooking before you leave.' He veered up in pride and topped off my wine.

I told the cook about what had been going on, while Theresa went to fetch Warrick after the cook allowed him to come into the kitchen. After all, what hygienic danger could a ghost dog pose?

'So now we're looking to find the key to unlock the box.' I told the cook when Theresa returned with Warrick.

The cook leaned back in thought while I stroked Warrick's head. His head turned toward the top of one of the cupboards and he pointed at a box atop it at the back.

'Could it be in there?' I asked him and he gave a nod and shrug.

Theresa moved up to the cupboard and gestured for me to help her up. A chair would be too low to reach the box but if she stepped on top of the lower cabinet she could. I took her by her waist and lifted her up.

She felt so light and fragile in my hands, like an angel might be, that I worried I might hurt her in my grip. She reached out to the box. I looked up at the inside of her uniform, thinking how strangely interesting it is to see the shape of her bust and waist from within because she's a ghost, while in reality it's not possible because one would look at.., underneath the skirt.., a woman's.., but there was no.., I saw the inside directly.., which meant she wasn't wearing any.., and thus I'd actually be looking at her.., inches from my nose..

I turned my head away at once, my flustered face turning hot. My heart pounded hard and fast. She's a ghost! There's nothing to see! It's just my uncivilised imagination! I shouldn't even entertain these thoughts or be affected by unnatural feelings!

Theresa took the box from the cupboard, then jerked back when a large, fat spider fell down from the back.

Her weight suddenly moved back. I grabbed her tighter and stepped back in order to take it but hit Warrick at the back of my legs. In my effort to protect Theresa from falling down I tried to hold her up while I crashed backwards onto the table behind me.

Wine, various sauces to dip bread in, a jar of flour, water, tomatoes, were among the objects that we came into contact with. But the one thing that had the most effect was the softness pressing down onto my face.

My eyes were closed but I knew damned well what it was. Theresa tensed her whole body, my nose was pinched between the two firm halves of her behind and a sense of something wet pressed against my lips in a shivering hard kiss.

The sudden high blood pressure must have knocked me out just long enough for Theresa to get off of my face and the table. She stood in the corner looking down and clutching the box against her chest. I groaned a little while the cook helped me up and from the table.

I blushed as I looked at her. 'A-are you all right?'

She nodded quickly.

I gave her a quick smile. 'That's good then. I don't know what happened but I'm glad you're not hurt by this accident.' She thrust out the box to me and I took it to place it on the table. 'Let's see what's in it then.'

Our disappointment was great when all it contained were parts of pistol and musket firing mechanisms. Lord Blackfire must've kept these as spare parts.

The cook shrugged apologetically and I held up my hand. 'You didn't know and tried to help.'

I sat back down in my chair and stared ahead of me at the side of the cupboard where a ring with various keys to the manor hung. 'If only it was as easy as having a keyring like that.'

The cook shot up straight from his slumped look. He snatched the ring, separated the keys and held out a smaller one to me.

'You think this one..?'

He nodded as he took the other keys together, then shook his head and shrugged as he held up the smaller one.

I took a deep breath. 'Hiding in plain sight, that might be the answer! It does look the right size.'

Theresa grabbed my arm and shook excitedly while the cook removed the key from the ring and handed it over. 'If this is it I'm going to miss your cooking sooner.' I said to the cook before I left the kitchen with Theresa and Warrick.

Back at my room I tried the key on the lock of the wooden box at once. It turned without effort. The worn pages describing the curse lay inside.

'This is it.' I said as I looked at Theresa. 'I'll have to translate it from the Latin it's written in, but we've got our hands on the solution to release you from this existence. Soon you can leave this restricting world behind.'

She gave me a nod with less enthusiasm than I'd seen before. I couldn't deny sensing regret at the thought to lose her, but her freedom and happiness had become everything to me.

She put her hands in mine and I held them tight. I chuckled as I realised how dirty hers and mine were. 'We look like a mess.'

She looked at herself, giggled, and nodded.

'Translating this writing will take a little while so we might as well take a bath first.'

She nodded and gestured she'd get the water.

'Wait, I'll go with you to get my own bath water. No need for you to get both yours and mine.'

I followed her to the servant kitchen where a large cauldron of water was kept hot on a small fire. I filled buckets with hot water while Theresa pumped water in two other buckets.

On the way back to my room I noticed she hadn't intended to go to her room to take her own bath. I cleared my throat as she filled the bath in my room. 'Shouldn't you have yours in your own room?'

She shook her head and gestured for me to take mine.

I sighed a little. 'I can't make myself take a bath first when a lady needs one. That's just not proper and polite.'

She shook her head and gestured for me to get in. 'You should go first, really.' I said.

She moved up close to me and unbuttoned my vest and blouse. I was about to protest but she silenced me with one finger against my lips. I couldn't resist her and I undressed with her help and stepped into the bath.

My heart jumped and beat faster when her uniform rustled as it fell to floor. Water splashed softly as she stepped into the bath behind me. Her gentle touch with the wet rag sent thrills along my back as she washed my back. Knowing this would be the last time I'd experience this with her ate at me.

She caressed my skin with extra care, taking her time to rinse every square inch of my body. Even as she tended to me down my front with her curves impressed upon my back, I only felt a loss that went beyond the arousal of ingrained biological urges.

This sensation wasn't my own. She gently pushed on my shoulders to have me sit down, then sat in front of me in the bath between my legs. I washed her shoulders and back, her front was too much for me but she did that herself. I wrung out the rag after I was done, expecting the bath was finished, when she took my hands. My struggling heart received another challenge when she leaned back against my chest and wrapped my arms around her waist.

We sat for a while, my pounding heart surely felt by her through my chest and her back, when she gently pulled free from my embrace. Water running down revealed the curves of her back, behind, and legs to me. Such beautiful smooth curves.

She picked up a towel and gestured for me to step out of the bath too so she could dry me. I dried her back and we dressed in silence.

Chapter 08

I spent the last hours of the day translating the curse, and summarised it for Theresa when I was done while she sat on the edge of the bed and I sat on the edge of the chair before her.

'Basically, Lord Blackfire meant to take your lifetime and that of the other servants to extend his own, thereby becoming virtually immortal. He'd just have to steal from other people again when he'd run out of years.'

She nodded in understanding.

'The agreement he had with the dark ones linked his success to pouring his life into the diary, thereby draining his soul slowly to be claimed later by the demon he contracted with.'

She nodded again.

'He tried to break his bond to the diary by substituting his own soul for yours but he made a mistake during the incantation, gaining your lifetimes only partially and erasing your presences only in part as well. He did not break the bond and did not keep his full life, but he still gains wealth and sort of lives as long as he finds victims to feed the diary.'

She shuddered.

'Now, the only way to lift this curse is to destroy the diary, and for that we need a ghostly dagger, as it's called in the text.'

She tilted her head and I nodded. 'I don't know yet what's meant by that but I'll look for references.' I leaned forward and took her hands in mine. 'I'll save you. I swear upon my life.'

She shook a little and tears glistened as they ran down her cheeks. I went down on my knees. She spread her legs and pulled me closer in a tight hug which I returned, leaning my head against her chest. Her heartbeat resonated against my ear and I had never before felt the urge to protect something, someone, so much.

'I'll do what it takes to give you the peace you deserve.' I whispered, caressing her back.

She stroked the back of my head slowly, then cupped my cheeks to hold my head up and placed her lips softly against mine.

Any restraints from logical reasoning were gone. It didn't matter that she was a ghost. I wanted her as close as possible.

I returned the kiss, pressing gently more against her cool lips, so soft and round. My hand moved up along the strings tightening her uniform at the back, between her shoulder blades and into the back of her neck where I touched her hair.

She moved back as I moved up on the bed, our kiss unbroken and increasing in intensity. She straddled me as I sat down on my knees, our lips parting and our tongues reaching out for each other in natural instinct.

Her hands ran along my back, pulling me tight. Second thoughts about her feelings for me were unnecessary. Our tongues embraced one another to pull us into a deeper kiss and we let them take the lead.

Our fingers crawled along our bodies, clawing in hunger for the emotion to fill an emptiness inside us. I wanted, no, needed to satisfy the most important moment in a person's life to let her go without regret. She couldn't speak, but she didn't need to to express her desires.

Her hands moved to my front and unbuttoned my vest and blouse, this time with more urgency than before. I let go of her without breaking our hungry kiss and she slid my clothing down my shoulders and arms, casting them beside the bed. My trousers and undergarments followed quickly, unbuttoned in a flash by her nimble fingers.

Those fingers found me below and embraced me, gently yet urgently leading me to her heavenly place between her thighs. The touch of her cool and moist ghostly flesh did not reign in my arousal like cold water would. It made it even stronger.

With her guidance I slid carefully inside her, her cool depths engulfing me tightly while her body tensed in my embrace, shivering in ecstasy. I could not see her apart from the way her uniform stretched and folded, or hear her, but the way she moved and touched was all the more clear. I could feel her breath on our kiss even if it wasn't there. She took me in completely, pressing herself against me while gripping me tight below and in her arms.

I gave her and myself a moment to fully experience this special time, then moved gently back and forth inside her.

I pushed and she gasped, biting slightly on my tongue or lip, releasing along with her breath when I pulled back. I groaned deep holding back the tension inside me, she shivered all over. I pressed against her depths, she squeezed tighter around me. I stroked her thigh, she pressed her cool skin against my hand. I slid my thumb under the bust of her uniform, she pushed her chest up.

The tension below reached explosive levels. I groaned harder, tensed every muscle in my body and she pressed her mouth harder against me, clawing at my back to pull me even deeper inside her. I gave in. The sudden release of pressure forced a deep and long groan out of my throat, she trembled hard and nearly pulled the skin from my back, then let go while her chest heaved hard against me.

As if possessed, my desire flared up higher. So did hers. I bent forward, pulling down the fabric still covering one breast and seeking out that one magical hardened feature with my lips and tongue to explore it fully by touch. She wrapped her arms around my head and pressed her firm softness against me. My hands moved down along her sides and gripped her other firm curves of her body through the soft layers of her skirt.