Lady Ann's Folly: Chapter Three - Part Six

Ann rushed out of the holiday cottage, not bothering to shut it up.

Panic like streaks of lightning was shooting through her veins all over her body. Her mind was almost blank with the pinpoint of worry.

Her worst fear had come true. She had known it was idiotic and had done it anyway. She should never have traded bodies, even for a moment.

Traded lives... That was what she had really done, not traded bodies. Unless she could find Mavis quickly there was every chance she would be stuck like this. Her voice would change first, entirely becoming that of a Yorkshire clodhopper; then her personality would start to shift. She’d grow to enjoy the lowbrow pursuits of a country barmaid and then soon after that even her memory would be affected. She’d forget what it was like to be a lady and recall more and more about a life as a peasant. In the end she would forget she had ever been Lady Ann or Burt. She would become Mavis in every single way that mattered.

Oh, how could she have been so stupid?

She had known it was a bad idea. She had decided not to do it. Even after they changed by accident she could still have reversed it right away. Why hadn’t she?

Idiocy! That was why! Idiocy and recklessness!

She ran down to the stable and turned up the path toward the front of the hall.

If she could just find the former Mavis right away. She still had the pendant. Trading places again should be simple. But it had to be now – before she had time to acclimatise. The minute she came to believe she had inherited the power due her new rank, it would become infinitely harder. And of course, ever hour Ann remained in Mavis’s form, her own sense of authority would be eroded.

“Oh God. I have to fix this. I have to fix this now!”

The light was fading from the sky as she ran up to the front steps and ascended. She looked into the dim entranceway through the glass. No one was about. That was good. She turned the handle and pushed.

Nothing happened. The door was locked.

Ann locked up for a moment, the panic growing brighter.

She hammered on the door then instantly regretted it.

Whoever came to open it would see her only as the local barmaid. They would have no interest in any demands she made.

Perhaps she should flee; hide; try one of the other doors!

Before she could move, she saw movement inside and Powell, the butler, came into view. He saw her. She was trapped.

The best thing she could do now was try and talk herself inside – get to see the faux Ann and force the swap on her somehow. She still had the pendant. As long as she did, she had all the power. She had to remember that.

Powell opened the door, a sneer on his face. Seeing that open condemnation where before there had been only reverence was heartbreaking – especially when she recalled the way she’d been looked down on as Burt. This wasn’t a new experience – that was the horrible thing – it was a return to that most awful and humiliating lack of status.

“Yes?” he asked. No preamble of politeness.

“I, uh... I need to see Lady Ann.” Despite her desperation, her voice remained well-crafted again, but Powell didn’t notice. The way she looked damned her completely in his eyes.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“It’s urgent,” she replied. “Please. She ‘as somethin’ of mine. I’ve got to get it back off her.”

“Be off with you girl. You have no right to be here. Go back to your inn and do what you do best.”

“No! Listen, you! I ‘afta speak to ‘er right now! Go and fetch er if you won’t let me in!”

“You clearly don’t appreciate your position my girl,” said Powell sternly. “This is Griply Hall. You are not fit to clean the boots of the lord and ladies who live here. If you do not vacate the premises immediately I will have the dogs set on you.”

Ann gaped back at him. She couldn’t believe that she was in this position after having everything just an hour or two earlier! He was only the butler but she was nothing now compared to him. She wasn’t even an employee at the hall. She had rights of any kind to demand anything.

“What’s going on here Powell?” came a lady’s voice, and Ann looked past the butler into the hall as Hattie appeared and approached the door.

“Apologies m’lady,” said Powell. “This riff raff is causing a nuisance.”

Riff raff? No. Surely. She was meant to be the lady of the manor. She was meant to be Lady Ann!

“Let me have a look at the girl,” said Hattie, and Powell stepped to the side.

Ann felt a tiny shred of hope. Powell was a brick wall of obstinacy but surely her sister could be persuaded.

“What do you want?” asked Hattie.

“I... I need to speak to... to her ladyship, Lady Ann.”

“Oh do you now? On what matter?”

Ann faltered. “On... a private matter... m’lady.” Her heart sank further still at having to address her little sister in this way. But she had no other choice.

“Who are you?” demanded Hattie.

“I’m...” She didn’t want to say it. “I’m Mavis Gibbs... miss. I... I work as a barmaid down t’Dog & Pony.”

She recognised the accent colouring her voice and felt even more dejected but in response to the confession of who she was now she got that same tingle in my mind that she knew meant the magic was working on her still further.

Hearing the words, Hattie gave a little smirk and Ann frowned, getting an inkling of something. But before she could put her thoughts in order, Hattie said, “Powell, see to it that this baggage is sent away. She is not to be allowed to speak to Lady Ann. Ensure all the doors and windows are locked.”

“No,” begged Ann. “Please miss. I just need to see er for a minute.”

“If she does not leave immediately then call for my father, the Earl. I am sure he will be more than willing to see to it that this peasant is flogged for her impudence.”

Hattie turned and walked away and Ann stared after her, shocked to the core.

“You heard her,” declared Powell. “Be off with you, you dirty scamp!”

“But please. You have to listen!”

“Begone girl! Or I’ll call the Earl and you’ll be whipped like the animal you are!”

Ann scuttled away and down the steps in fear. She couldn’t bear the idea of that . Nothing could be worse.

She stared back at Powell as he closed and locked the front door and the horror of her predicament closed around her.

Too much time was passing. The situation was falling further and further out of her control. How could she ever reach the real Mavis before it became all too late?

She couldn’t risk being seen again. And the house would be locked up, front and back.

She was trapped! She was going to be trapped forever!