Torn Hearts, Lost History

Chapter Eight: The Morning

          Benjamin headed to the dining room for his breakfast exhausted. He was tossing and turning all night thinking about his past, and what it could do to his future. Upon entering the dining room he was surprised to see that Cora was not already waiting. "Where is Cora?" he asked surprised. She normally wakes early and is eager for breakfast.

One of the maids bowed her head, "I shall check her room sir," and excused herself from the dining room.

Benjamin sat himself to eat, but there was a strange feeling in his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was. It could have been lack of sleep, nerves at seeing Cora after all the thinking he had done. He did not eat much and the maid had not yet returned. He left to his room and got dressed.

Upon exiting his bedroom he bumped into the maid, "Well?" he asked in a stern, yet worried voice. Something was wrong, he could just feel it, but he had no idea what it could be.

"She's," the maid had trouble telling Benjamin what she was trying to say. "She's not there."

Benjamin stood up tall, to push his worries deeper and look confident. "Check the study, she was writing last night. Maybe she fell asleep at the type writer?" He told her and got ready to leave for work. He put on a rough and non-concerned exterior, but what was he even hiding from? Why did he tell Cora about Africa? What if she wanted to know what happened next, at the village?

He repressed these feelings deeper and as he approached the door he felt something in him drop like an anchor, stopping him from leaving. Benjamin turned to see the maid standing on the steps with a terrified expression on her face. "She's not there sir," her voice was shaky. Did she not return after seeing Thomas last night? Guilt rose inside her and she couldn't hold back. "I'm sorry!" she cried out and tears started to stream down her face.

Benjamin gestured to more staff members to comfort her. "Get yourself together girl!" He shouted at the young maid. "Find her, this is a big house we need more than one person looking. When you find her, send her to meet me at work to explain herself."

Alice heard the commotion and Benjamin's booming voice and poked her head into the front area to see two butlers comforting the hysteric young maid on the steps and Benjamin standing angry in the doorway. He turned his head to look at Alice having heard her enter. "Do you know where Cora is?"

Alice was taken back, this whole situation seemed... wrong. "No sir," she said bluntly.

Benjamin's mouth twitched as he tried to remain calm. "Find her," he said as he turned and left the house. The closing of the big wooden door behind him echoed in the front stairway. Alice looked at the hysteric young maid and walked towards her angrily.

"Pull yourself together," she said in a tone that was a mixture of stern, angry and worried. "What happened?"

Alice and the two butlers brought the young maid into the kitchen where they made her a cup of tea to calm her nerves and try to get some sense out of her. Finally, she started to relax. Alice gestured for the two girls to be left alone and the butlers made no introjections, they simply walked out of the kitchen.

Alice asked again, this time much calmer. "What happened?"

The young maid let out a sigh. "Thomas," she said quietly. "I don't understand, he sounded like such a nice-"

Alice cut her off. "Thomas came here last night?" The maid nodded. "Tell me exactly what happened." Alice asked.

The young maid started to go over the events of the night. Starting right from Benjamin's story for Cora to informing Cora that Thomas was at the front door.

"He went to the front door? Why didn't he just go to the doors of the study? That's what he always does." Alice was speaking more to herself than the maid. Suddenly Alice thought of the man on the street. "What did Thomas look like?" she asked the maid.

The maid looked confused, did Alice not know what he looked like? "It was hard to see, his face was hidden by a dark hood."

Alice started to grow angry again, "But he had a scar," the maid interrupted Alice's anger hoping the information would be good. "On his mouth."

Alice stood up fast, causing her small wooden chair to fly across the kitchen. "Damnit!" She shouted as she ran out to the front. She through open the doors and looked at the ground. Alice saw the faint markings of three sets of foot prints leaving the house. One was clearing Benjamin as it appeared to end where he would have boarded his carriage. The others looked sloppy, like a struggle towards the road.

Alice ran back inside the house and went for her shoes. One of the butlers stopped her and asked what she was doing. "Cora isn't here," she said abruptly. "She's been kidnapped and I'm going to the police."