Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,3

guest rooms with clean sheets and putting homemade mints and flowers on the pillows. I wondered briefly what deal could possibly be made between the two families, but I was mostly too busy to ponder it.

About an hour before they were scheduled to arrive, Mistress Stonewell cornered me in the kitchen with a fierce expression.

“We need to do something about your appearance. I can’t have the Black Family thinking that I let my Walkers go around looking like that.” She then gestured to my dress and sighed dramatically, causing a self-conscious blush to overcome my cheeks.

Once I finished what I was doing in the kitchen, she quickly ushered me to her upstairs, lavish bedroom with a king-sized, four-poster bed topped by a thick, red comforter. She sifted through the many racks of long dresses in her walk-in closet until she found a modest, forest-green, floor-length, 3/4 sleeve dress. I felt the thick, velvet material and sighed. It was rare that I was allowed to wear such beautiful clothes, but the fabric would be too delicate to keep clean as well as too hot for my daily walks to the market.

“Go shower and scrub the dirt from under your nails. And for the love of God, try to brush your hair.” We both knew that trying to tame my wild curls was useless, but I nodded at her orders, nevertheless.

I made my way to the bathroom and shut the door. Usually, I was allowed two timed, showers—always cold—a week, but given that this was an unusual circumstance, I took this opportunity to truly enjoy the scalding water that beat against my back comfortably. I scrubbed the dirt and oil from my face and hair until the water ran clear down the drain. Then, I towel-dried my body and hair and attempted to make my appearance pleasing to Mistress Stonewell.

She usually was disinterested in what I looked like, but given the circumstances, I didn’t want to disappoint. I put oil in my hair to smooth the unruly, coarse, golden-brown curls and applied some bee’s wax to my plump lips to help them shine. I shimmied into the form-fitting dress and repositioned my breasts so that they no longer spilled out of the low-cut top. The green color made my lightly-freckled skin take on a golden hue, and the overall effect made me smile. Not being one to obsess over my looks, it was nice to have a brief moment of vanity to appreciate my appearance. I even quietly stole Mistress Stonewell’s eyelash curler and used it to make the thick lashes around my hazel eyes form my lids nicely. Then, using my nails, I plucked a few stray hairs from my thick brows.

As I finished, I glanced down at my watch to see an alert from Mistress Stonewell flash across the screen:

Hurry up, they’re almost here.

I sighed and stole one last look before slipping my feet into flat, black shoes, and headed downstairs. While making my way to the entryway, I passed by Josiah’s room and briefly wondered what he would think of my dress. Feeling brave, I casually stole a glance through the crack of his open door and found him hunched over his desk, wholly absorbed in his work. He was massaging his temples, with a scowl on his brow when he looked up.

I felt the caress of his gaze as he openly observed every inch of my body. He bit the eraser end of his pencil, and a slight groan escaped his peach-colored lips. His reaction made my heart race, but my feet remained firmly planted outside his door, despite my body’s desire to be close to him.

With a strained voice, I broke the silence. “Your guests are almost here.”

He stood up from his work desk and then adjusted and tightened the blue, striped tie that lay loosely around his neck

“I’ll accompany you downstairs,” he replied with a hoarse, gruff voice.

He then walked towards me. Once close enough, he placed tender fingertips at the base of my hips and guided me out of the hallway, down the steep steps towards the common room. The tension between us was thick and suffocating, and I deepened my breathing to stop myself from doing something foolish, like kissing him.

Once at the base of the stairwell, Josiah briefly glanced around, checking to see if we were alone, then leaned in to whisper against my neck, “You look stunning.” His words tickled my exposed skin, and I imagined what it would feel like if