Chapter Thirteen - A shadow of a unfolding mystery
Susan hustled down the stairs, feeling still tired from being up so late talking with Alice, and making love as well. The girl could not help but feel lighter in her heart, as she thought about the time spent with the girl... and how she made her feel so giddy even after only a few hours of sleep.
The girl could not help but note that the Vanstrom house was more than just pretty quiet this morning. It seemed way more quiet than was usual over the last few days. It nearly echoed each footstep she took, noticing that she had not run into any of the servants yet as she made her way to the main part of the house. It was eerie and almost disturbing, but it was kind of good as well. She took it as a sign that the day was going to be a good one for her, and smiled as she made her way to breakfast.
She entered the dining room, and found that no one was in there at the time. Not even her Uncle was there, witch struck her as odd. She saw a plate of steaming hot food was set on the table... and that was it. Susan was a little confused with the emptiness she had found, and looked around.
As she pondered this, the dark skinned servant came in. She saw that the girl was just standing there for a moment, right beside the placing where that food sat on the large table. The girl stayed where she was, obviously there for the girl.
“ Where is my Aunt and Uncle... and the girls?” She asked to the girl, being bold about it.
“ Mr Vanstrom left early tis morning for a meeting and Mrs. Vanstrom and the girl’s left a few minutes ago.” The girl said, giving a small nervous sort of smile. “ We were ordered to make you breakfast and to attend to you until the Mrs. Vanstrom came home, Miss Susan.”
“ You don’t know when they will be back then?” She asked of the girl, still a little shocked with this turn of events..
“ No, Miss Susan...” She said, curtsying to her. “.. That was all they told us this morning.”
She nodded and took her place at the table, actually enjoying the chance to eat in a little peace, without having her cousins staring at her constantly. Beginning her meal, she just let herself eat in the quiet that she had been given.
Susan stepped out of the house, with Alice right behind her. She looked at then hustle that was the big city, and marveled at just how many people could be jammed into a single place all at once.
Susan had decided that she really wanted to explore the part of the city her Aunt lived in, not wanting to spend any more time cooped up in the Vanstrom home. The red headed servant girl wanted to make sure she was safe, and had offered to go along with her, much to the delight of Susan.
The two walked down the street. Susan held on to the girl’s arm, as being with so many people all around her made her a little nervous. Alice on the other hand, seemed unfazed with the continual motion of the bustling city, almost seeming to be right at home with so many in one place
“ I am glad you know the city better that I ever would have...” She said, holding on to Alice’s arm while they walked away from the house.
“ I came with the Smyth’s a few times, and stayed at that hotel over there, when the Smyth family had all gathered a few times here...” She said, pointing out the dark brick and stone building she was talking about. “ A few of us servants snuck out a time or two to look around.”
Susan nodded and watched the street teeming with people of all shapes and sizes and every imaginable carriage. It was still so overwhelming, but being with the very calm looking girl as her guide, it made it bearable.
“ So many people are here...” She said, as they walked down the wooden sidewalk.
“ How big was the town nearest you then...” Asked the girl, putting a hand on the arm that was wove around her’s.
Susan sighed and looked at the pretty girl.
“ Hamptondale was the largest town near the farm... had around three hundred people living in and around it I reckon...” She said. “ Seems way more here...”
“ Try way more...” Came in Alice.
“ How much more?” Asked Susan, curious with just how many people lived here in the city.
Alice giggled and looked at the girl with a soothing look.
“ Here in Cabot, we have perhaps ten thousand people...” She informed. “ That was what I heard...”
“ Ten... thousand?” Gulped Susan, hearing the number.
“ Where you Mother and Father went, are probably more than that...” Nodded the girl.
“ M... More?” Said the girl back, already knowing that to an extent.
“ Double it, by what I know.” Informed the girl.
“ Double??” Echoed Susan, as she could even begin to imagine that many people in one place. She was glad for a change, just to be here in Cabot.
Susan tool a long breath, as the large number had made her feel way more overwhelmed than before, and the thought of Chicago being so much more bigger did not help any. She tightened her arm hold on Alice and they continued on walking, listening to the loud shouts of many street vendors that were calling out with a Varity of wares they were selling. She had never seen people doing this before, and was shocked with some of the things they had for sale.
Alice giggled and looked at the girl, seeing her walking along with her mouth so wildly agape as she looked around. She was thinking Susan was so cute in acting like this, and knew that she was more than just overwhelmed by it all... she remembered feeling the exact same when she had came into the city at a very young age for the first time. She leaned in close to the girl and smirked.
“ Love you...” Alice said in a whispered tone, trying to calm Susan down a little.
“ Love you too...” Susan said back, then added after a moment “ Just promise me if I ever have to go to Chicago or any other city, come with me.”
“ Bein’ a bit of a frady-cat with all of the people here, aren’t you?” Teased Alice, looking deep into those haze eyes.
“ Don’t make fun of me...” Said Susan back, knowing that Alice was teasing her a little. “ But, yes I am...”
“ You don’t have to be afraid of the city, Susan dear...” Snickered Alice, as they both continued on. “ I am here
“ I’ll try...” Susan sighed, trying to get herself acclimated with the place that made everything feel closed in..
Alice soon was leading Susan over to a park she said was near the Vanstrom home. The young Smyth girl was a little curious at the place that she was being led off to was, but being with the girl like she was, let herself be pulled along anyways. She giggled as they neared, already catching sight that she was not expecting to see.
The sight of the tall starting to leaf trees and grass in the city, was a little strange to com upon for Susan, but it was also quite comforting in ways she could not explain. She found herself smiling, relaxing a little as the red head led her on a layed brick sort of path.
“ This is one of my favorite places...” Happily said Alice, seemingly bouncing as she spoke. “ It is as peaceful as Cabot ever gets...”
“ It is surprising to find something like this here.” Commented Susan. “ It so grand.”
“ I thought it was also when I saw it the first time... but it is great.” Giggled Alice, seemingly so happy to be in the park
“ It seems quieter here...” Sighed the long haired Susan, taking in the sight that layed before her. “ Almost like its... a piece of the country in the very center of the city... so different...”
“ That is why I like this park...” Beamed the young servant, pulling on the girl’s arm in one direction. “ I see that we do think alike.”
Susan gigged at Alice’s thoughtful point and looked over at the pretty girl she was holding on to. She looked deep into the girl’s face, pondering the statement with a large grin that was so bright in it’s exhilaration.
“ We do, don’t we?” Susan said finally, with a little pinkness coming on to her cheeks.
“ We do... we do a whole lot I’d say” Laughed back Alice, seemingly more giddy with each moment.
“ What do we do now then?” Asked Susan, happy to see the great mood Alice was showing her... her heart soaring with what she felt for the girl.
“ What you always suppose to do in a park...” Smiled the girl, now really giddy as she pulled on the girl’s arm, startling a woman in a very billowed dress as they passed right in front of her. “ Lets walk around awhile.”
The two started to meander around, watching all of the couples dressed in their refinery sauntering around the park. They both noted the lavish parasols and very amazingly made dresses that all the women seemed to be wearing as they walked in the warmth of the day. They seemed like they were decked out for some fancy party, and not just to be out here in the bright sunlight.
The men who were so splendidly dressed in long tailed coats and all wore tall fur top hats seemed not be liking the amazingly hot weather as much as the women were. They seemed to have to stop more than a few times to pull out a hanky and wipe their sweat covered brows, then kept on walking along side of their women. The clothes seemed to be not as practical as they seemed to be normally.
The two girl’s giggled at one older man that seemed to stand out more. Dresses to the teeth with a shiny wood cane in one hand, he seemed to be perspiring more than any of the other men in the park. He had stopped to wipe his brow more than a few times in just a couple of minutes. How he was acting, made the two girls giggle harder with each passing time he wiped his brow.
The man had already noticed that he was being laughed at, and seemed almost annoying with it. The man shot them a very stuffy look as he mopped his head for the umteenth time, putting back on his tall hat he tried to ignore the giggling girls like they were nothing as he followed a pretty woman in a dark blue dress. He could still hear them giggling as he walked off and then seemed to flair with a little bit of annoyance. The man finally shot back another very annoyed looking glance at them, his eyes now showing that he was turning a little angered towards the two. He seemed to snuff loudly, commenting loud enough for the girls to hear about respecting their elders as he turned away
The two giggled even harder, noticing the look they had gotten from the man. Each spinning on their heels, they both hurried off in the other direction, as the man seemed to have finally past them off by that time as he walked next to his female companion who had been talking continuously... and still was. They did not want to get into any more trouble with the man, deciding to do some fun instead.
The two continued on, watching the many people that seemed to have all come out to enjoy the weather all at once. They both noted that there were many servants with children there as well, all around the park area. The children were all running around playing with youthful abandon, under the watch of these workers who seemed to try and quell the outbursts the best that they could have. Even a few dogs on long leads seemed to be in the park with masters, they were obviously all so excited by all of the sights and sounds of this day in the park that they barked and whined to sow their own delight.
The park was so blissful in comparison to the crowd streets that rung around the green space, but it still was almost like a controlled type of chaos at the same time. It was a welcomed experience for the two young girls that were walking around this little slice of grassed heaven in the middle of the city. For that small space of time, it was almost like the city itself was not there for the time.
Alice and Susan spent the entire morning either walking around the park or simply strolling then through the nearby shop district together... enjoying the fact that they were together and experiencing everything through one another’s eyes. They seemed happy with the time away from the House, for this time it was like they could be themselves out in the warm fresh air of the park
As mid-day finally came, the two girls finally headed back to the house. After seeing all of the bedlam that the city had to offer up in it’s daily life, they were sort of now really looking forward to the quietness of the Vanstrom house by then. Leaving everything behind for another day, the two slowly returned giggling and carrying on like two young schoolgirls would as they did.
******
Evening had fallen on the household, and things were just a little stranger that ever. Susan had found things that did not quite add up in her mind, things that seemed simple... yet there was this feeling about it that nagged her as well.
Her Aunt and the two girl had not returned to the house as she was expecting them to, and with night falling, seemed like they were not going to any time soon. No one really seemed to know why Aunt Nicolette and the girls were not there, but by the look on ever servant’s faces, each and every one of them had a theory on it.
Only her Uncle ended up being there, arriving at home exactly on time as was usual from his office across the street. He had not changed one little bit, being as joyful and friendly as ever to the young girl that was a guest in his house, but seemed to be as unaware of the situation as Susan was.
The man was more than happy to engaged the young girl like nothing was going on, but his eyes spoke of his confusion with the fact that his wife was gone. He never really came out and said that fact, but it was clearly on his mind as he interacted with Susan with his usual friendliness and kindness.
Leery of this situation, Susan just sat and visited with the man though supper and on until late in the evening. She was curious, but soon just put it off to herself being way too suspicious of this odd situation she now found gripping the Vanstrom home. She really enjoyed getting to know the man like this, but she still would wonder from time to time what she was being suspicious over.
Later that evening, the house went silent as a mausoleum when the girl and man went off to bed. This night seemed to be even more quiet than usual, Susan had already noticed that the servants that normally could be seen everywhere, seemed to have unexplainably disappeared into the quietness of the house and left it feeling very eerie. She had climbed two flights of stairs at that point, hand had ran into no one.
She finally came upon Alice as she climbed up to their room. Happy to see that shining face, Susan walked with the girl the rest of the way into the high reaches of the house to their room. The girl was really looking forward to having some more quiet time with the beauty. Bedtime was becoming her favorite time of the day.
The two girls layed in bed high atop in their attic room.. They lay side by side, holding hands as they spoke excitedly about what they had seen on their little excursion into the main part of the city that day. The spoke only in whispers, but it could not hide the overwhelming excitement they talked everything over with
As they layed there and talked, Alice noticed that Susan seemed to be a little nervous or something like being upset underneath her outward excitement. The girl was still talking away about what they had both saw, but those dark brown eyes told of something going on inside of Susan’s head.
She was unsure of what was troubling Susan at the moment, and felt like she really needed to know. She was hesitant to interrupt the girl as she spoke, but her concern for the one she loved mad her act.
“ Susan...” She finally asked, using the girl’s name to stop her from continuing talking and to lead up to a question. “ I have to say that...You seem to be upset with something here.”
The girl blinked a few times, almost in shock. She looked at the girl for a moment or two, then seemed to blush a little with the realization.
“ You seen that?” She said with a small gasp, taken by surprise at the girl’s razor sharp perception.
“ Yep... I do...” Alice said, flashing a small smile through the darkness of the room. “ I see that you might be bothered by something?”
Susan sighed and looked into the face of the pretty girl beside her. She realized that she my not be able to ever hid something from the girl... but she knew that was wrong to actually do in the first place.
“ Guess I am bein’ bothered by something...” She admitted with a little breath sound.
“ With what?”
“ My Aunt... an’ how she had just up and left like this so suddenly...” She said.
“ What about your Aunt is bothering you so much?” Alice asked, stroking the girl’s face to sooth her a little.
Susan smiled a little, as she felt the need to verbalize what had been in her mind all day.
“ My Aunt not being home, and taking the children too... Have you noticed that they have not come home tonight?” The girl asked.
Alice nodded.
“ I did notice that...” The girl agreed.
“ And you did not find it just a little odd?” Susan asked, right on the heels of the girl’s words.
“ With working with your family for years, that is not unusual for people like them to simply just go off for a time....” She smiled sweetly, shaking her head in response. “ Your Momma and Poppa have disappeared just like this for a few days every once in awhile also, then came back after whatever it was they were doing...”
“ They... have?” Asked the girl.
“ Take it from me, Susan, with rich people, just taking off is pretty normal ‘n’ all.” She explained.
“ You sure ‘bout that?” Asked Susan, not knowing that her parents sometimes did the same thing.
“ Yes, I have seen it many times with Mr. And Mrs Smyth lots... It is what I have seen them do over the years....”
Susan gave a nod of her head, but that same look still was painting her face.
“ It does not explain it well for you?” Asked Alice, seeing the look that stared back at her.
“ If it is like that, I still feel something inside of me... it’s like a dread feeling that come along with it...” She explained. “ Even Uncle Charles seemed not to truly know why his wife and children were gone... or at least that was the sense I got from him.”
“ I never seen that in him...” Replied Alice. “ You saw that?”
“ I did...” Was all Susan answered back. “ I did not ask him about it, but that look that was in his eyes... told me that he had no clue to where Aunt Nicolette was.”
“ He might know, and is not wanting to say anything to you ‘bout it....” Piped in Alice.
“ That is not what I see though...” Restated Susan.
The young red head seemed to pause to think over the girl’s words for a moment. She looked deep into the eyes of Susan after that, giving a small smile of comfort to the smaller girl.
“ You might be seein’ something that is not really there in the first place....” Posed Alice calmly. “ Your Aunt might just have gone off with the children to so something, an’ will be back in the morning and everything will be back to normal...”
Susan paused and looked at Alice, the words mulling around in her brain for a scant few moments.
“ You may be right, Alice...” Muttered Susan finally, looking deep into the girl’s face. “ But I still feel a real strange feelin’ with it...” Susan said again, finding more words to try and describe it. “ Something very weird... an’ I don’t know what it is exactly....”
Alice scooted over to be laying pressed right against the girl. She looked into the girl’s eyes and gave her a kiss.
“ After how your Aunt and your two cousins has acted to you an’ such... maybe your seeing something that is not there...” She said sweetly. “ Just relax and see just what will happen next then... you’ll maybe then see that you are thinkin’ all wrong here...”
“ Maybe...” Said the pretty brown haired girl, thinking over the girl’s words carefully.
“ You’ll see...” Alice perked up. “ Your Aunt will be back bein’ mean to you before you know it.”
The girl leaned in and smiled, kissing Susan so softly. She had to smirk, as the pretty girl seemed to shiver with her actions.
“ Let’s just forget about all of this for the night...” She suggested with a impish smirk on her face, her hands already caressing the soft skin of the shoulders of Susan.
“ How...” She smirked with a playful air.
“ Just like this...” Said Alice, stopping her own words when her lips came into contact with Susan’s.
Susan smiled and let her pretty girl drive all of these thoughts out of her mind with more pleasurable things. She knew that all of this will not be answered right off, and the night was still very much young. Kissing the girl back as her passions took over, she just let all of what she had been thinking on drift away... the only thing in her world was now the pretty servant who was crushing herself against her own body.