Silent Intrigue

The Weight of Suspicion

Silence grit his teeth as he slipped through the kitchen and out the back door. He didn't need his hearing to know they were talking about him. He could feel the weight of their stares on his back. They all thought he was responsible for Francois' death. Only Sophia seemed to know he was innocent and want the truth. Even Matilda was back to giving him a wide berth.

He lightly stepped across the yard, heading towards the little graveyard tucked away at the back of the property, under an ancient oak tree. It was where they had buried Francois, and it was where Silence spent most of his free time now. The oldest stable boy had taken over the care of the stables and he didn't like Silence. None of them did. So it tended to be an uncomfortable experience to go and see the horses now.

Silence still went to visit Trouble every now and then, no matter how uncomfortable it got. The foal was the last thing that kept Francois around for Silence. He sighed as he stopped in front of the grave of the horse-master. The earth was still rough from the disturbance, but grass was slowly begining to grow over it.

Tugging his hands from his pockets, he moved them through the motions to speak. 'Hello Francois. Trouble is getting big fast. They've started breaking him in. I watch from the upstairs windows since they don't like it when I'm around. I miss being able to see the horses whenever I want. I miss you.'

Silence swallowed hard, his hands slowing as he signed out the one question that had been plaguing him for the past week. 'Who took you from me?'

He jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder, then turned to find Sophia smiling sadly. 'I keep asking the same thing.' She moved further under the tree, where the light wasn't quite so bright. Silence followed her, worried at the red marring her perfect skin, despite the layer of clothes and the parasol to help keep the summer sun off.

'You shouldn't be out here. You'll get hurt.'

Sophia just smiled a little as she sat down on the bench that had been set up at the trunk of the tree. She arranged her skirts before propping her parasol against her shoulder to sign. 'I couldn't sleep, and it seemed like you could use some friendly company.'

Silence smirked and plopped down next to Sophia. 'Thank you.' They sat motionless for a long moment, until Silence's hands twitched. He bit his lip when Sophia noticed and gave him a questioning look, then lifted his hands out of his lap. 'Have they made any progress?'

Sophia's chest lifted and she huffed out a sigh, shaking her head. 'Pierre is helping Yosef, but neither have found anything new. No one saw anything useful the night before. No one heard anything. I can't even think of who would want Francois dead. He was a little gruff but he managed to get along with everyone alright.'

Silence frowned, remembering the shocked horror on Pierre's face when he had been told about Francois. He had asked Sophia later to fill in anything he hadn't picked up by reading the mans lips. Pierre had been remorseful and guilty about yelling at the man over his stallion. And he had thrown himself into the investigation of the murder with abandon. Yet, no one had been able to find any evidence that pointed to a single individual.

So Silence continued to distance himself, the staff continued to whisper, and Sophia continued to defend him against their suspicion.

They sat there until the sun began to dip below the trees. Sophia patted his knee and he got to his feet to offer her his arm. They strolled back across the yard and into the house for lessons. Reading and writing was primarily done on his own at this point. Numbers as well. Sophia had moved on to teaching him other things, though riding had been sharply curtailed.

Today, they slipped into the ball room where they had plenty of room and Sophia set a disk into a device. Whatever the device did, it had Sophia moving differently. In a rhythm rather than with the unguided grace that was all her own. Silence quietly absorbed her rhythm as she placed his hands on her, one in her hand and the other on her hip. Then she was drawing him in and around, guiding his body to move with hers in sychronosity.