Cyril lay her down in the grass near the bank of the pond. The black swan turned its attention towards the movement, swiveling its arched neck around to study Mildred’s figure on the ground. Cyril straightened up, wiping a hand on his suit and studying the red streaks on his hand thoughtfully. Mildred suddenly took a breath on the ground, and he looked down at her. She would be awake in a few minutes; he certainly had been cutting it close. Silently, he took a few steps backwards, then turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows of the trees. And still, the light from Griffin’s shed flickered on and off eerily, and that was the first thing Mildred saw when she opened her eyes.
Her head was pounding, sending throbs of pain down her back and arms. She lay there motionless as she waited for her vision to return to normal; right now everything was blurred and twisted, and she found it much easier to focus on the pain than the dark reflections on the water beside her. Yes, that was water, wasn’t it? She was... she was outside. Slowly memories came trickling back to her. She’d gone outside to tend to the hedges on the east side of the house. She’d gone to get the hedge clippers from the toolshed, and... she’d seen Master Griffin there. Yes, so... why was she lying on the ground?
Her head was pounding, sending throbs of pain down her back and arms. She lay there motionless as she waited for her vision to return to normal; right now everything was blurred and twisted, and she found it much easier to focus on the pain than the dark reflections on the water beside her. Yes, that was water, wasn’t it? She was... she was outside. Slowly memories came trickling back to her. She’d gone outside to tend to the hedges on the east side of the house. She’d gone to get the hedge clippers from the toolshed, and... she’d seen Master Griffin there. Yes, so... why was she lying on the ground?