The Girl with the Ribbon

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.

The glow came from the master bedroom. Its warmth and light contrast with that room’s air of darkness and death. Everyone in town knew, but no one dared speak of it - because no one had spoken of the toymaker and his blushing bride in years. Their fates were ones that no one would wish on their worst enemy, but even to this day… no one really knows what happened in that bedroom.

Despite his poor background and trade, Anthony Jackson was one of the most handsome men in town. His charm and kindhearted nature even drew the eye of the most respected ladies in town, but he remained unmarried and childless for years. Many said he was committed to upholding his family’s legacy, but if he was being honest with himself, he had not met a woman who made his heart burst or set his passions ablaze. Such notions were only read in romance novels. That is what he believed until Katherine Gilbert had walked into his store.

He did a double-take when the dark-haired beauty glided into his shop, unable to comprehend that such a finely dressed and respectable woman had chosen to enter his establishment.

She smiled as she browsed the shelves, her fingers lightly stroking the red ribbon at her throat as she looked at the hand-stitched dolls on display.

“Did you make these yourself?” Her voice was softer than she expected, lighter as if it was rarely used for conversing.

“Oh. Yes, yes, I did.” Anthony stuttered, swallowing over the lump in his throat as she turned that captivating smile on him. “My mother owned this shop. She taught me everything I know.”

“Your mother was a businesswoman?” The woman’s tone was not one of contempt but genuine awe.

“One of the best, but she never had a customer like yourself.”

“Oh? And what customer is that?” The woman asked curiously, and Anthony swore those brown eyes of hers were quickening the blood flow in his body.

“One who clearly isn’t from these parts, that’s a London accent if I’m not mistaken?” Anthony said, trying to hide his blunder under an easy smile.

“Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She smiled wryly “my father bought the manor on the outskirts of town, it’s quite a big house for just me.”

“Then I suppose you don’t know the best places to eat here, Miss?” Anthony knew he was being bold, downright foolish even but he felt compelled to say something - anything - to keep the conversation flowing with this rare beauty.

“Katherine and no, but I’d be honoured to have you as my guide.”

And that was how the romance between Anthony and Katherine began. Two people from two entirely different worlds and classes, but they fell madly in love over that summer. Many assumed he was attracted to the woman for her fortune, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

One thing Anthony noticed was that Katherine always wore that crimson ribbon around her neck. Never a necklace or sparkling jewels, always the name ribbon.

He tried to gift her with his mother’s pendant, but she refused - insisting she’d never wear it - and instead the pair compromised on him gifting her with his grandmother’s bracelet.

In the fall, Anthony was certain he wanted Katherine to be his wife and the mother of his children. As tradition, he asked her father’s permission for her hand. The gaunt faced man was apprehensive, but instead of criticising a man beneath his daughter’s status attempting to make her his bride, he said something else entirely.

“I want you to know something if Katherine decides to take you as her husband,” he warned, a grave edge to his voice “you must never, ever take the ribbon off her neck. Do you understand?”

“Why?”

“This is my condition if you seek my blessing!” The elderly man snapped, startling Anthony in his chair.

Of course, he agreed. He’d have said anything to have Katherine as his bride. So, the pair was set to be wed in the following spring. That season was one of the warmest they’d had for years, not one drop of rain graced the town.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Katherine had insisted she wanted to live in Anthony’s cabin instead of her father's estate. She wanted them to live as man and wife, without the financial support of her family.

Even on their wedding day and throughout their wedding night, the ribbon was wrapped firmly around his new wife’s throat.

Later that night, he was roused by his sleep by the unusual heat. He looked down at his wife, his eyes drawn to the scarlet ribbon as she breathed slowly and deeply.

What harm would it do to loosen the ribbon? It may even help her breathe better in this weather.

His fingers pulled at the thread, where a pool of crimson quickly spread across her pale neck.

His screams rang through the night, shrill and filled with horror. The trial was swift and quick, because not a single member of the jury believed his story. Who ever heard of a girl’s neck severing in half due to a tiny insignificant ribbon?