Finding Him

2l Dasa

The walls closed in around her. Her palms were sweaty, staining the envelop she held in them. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, each heart beat responding to the rhythm of the horses' hooves making contact with the road. A large lump had formed in her throat, threatening to choke her and the knot in her stomach seemed to be tightening with every mile that took her further away from home.

Home, the only thing she had left. The only thing she had left was most likely going to be taken away from her.

She hadn't truly begun to fear losing it until the day she turned sixteen, the day she knew for certain that she was going to lose it forever. She had felt so powerless with that revelation; powerless and angry. But anger against her father or her reckless uncle couldn't change anything.

Left with no choice, she had resigned herself to the fact that she would someday lose it. She just hadn't been prepared to walk away, and so soon.

Leaning further into the chair, she glanced down at the envelop in her hands, remembering how Leah had shoved it into them.

Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of Leah. She knew she wasn't going to see her any time soon and it was the thought of not waking up to her maid, that broke her heart further. A part of her worried about Leah, she worried she would be punished for helping Hadassah escape the claws of her uncle.

Stifling a cry, she stuffed the envelop in her pocket, deciding she wouldn't open it. Not now anyway, not when she could hardly contain her tears.

It was several more hours to Birmingham and it didn't matter how fast the coach moved, they would most likely get to the manor in the evening, when she assumed the entire building would be asleep. In that second, she suddenly feared she would arrive the manor and not find Leah's sister. Perhaps she might find Leah's sister, but there was no guarantee her presence was expected, especially considering the time of the day she was expected to arrive.

The coach kept moving, the scenery outside changing as they went further away from Sheffield. She leaned against the window and focused her attention on the dusty path. When she got tired, she leaned back against the seat and drifted to sleep.

She was woken up suddenly, her body flung forward as the wagon came in contact with rougher paths. She steadied herself and didn't fall asleep again. She instead repositioned herself by the window, satisfied with watching the scenery. After a while, she drifted to sleep but woke up again when the carriage stopped moving. The coachman helped her down at the station where they had stopped to eat and water the horses. An hour later, they were back on the road again. The journey was less unbearable and the coach didn't feel as small and with her belly no longer empty, she found herself drifting to sleep.

It wasn't until the coach began to slow down, did she finally wake up, her neck and leg muscles cramping. A soft wince escaped her lips as she reached up and rubbed her neck. When she turned to the window, she was met with darkness. She stuck her head out of the window and looked ahead, her eyes catching sight of a big black gate. She sighed in relief when the gates were opened and the coach began making its way inside. She stuck her head back into the coach and leaned back against her seat. The coach kept moving for a few more minutes, before coming to a halt. Her heart beat rose a notch as the coach came to a halt and the door was pulled open.

Reaching forward with a trembling hand, she took hold of the coachman's hand and climbed down the coach, limbs trembling.

"My lady!" Something bumped into her, wrapping itself around her neck and causing her breath to cease for a second. She stood frozen for a while, until the hold on her slackened and the stranger backed away. "Oh, forgive me!"