Amelia's Story

by C.P. Murphy

  Chapter Nineteen

  Henry grew very impatient as he waited outside of his house along with at least twenty other men from the village. So far nobody had seen Amelia, not even the people closest to her. Others have gathered around too to see what was going on; her friends and neighbors, and of course the Van Martins. David had asked them if they had seen the girl and they were quick to assume that she ran away to get out of the marriage. Arriving at the house to form a search party, Ruth had explained that Anna had run off and said that they should wait for her to return and that she knew where Amelia was.

  God, he had hoped Anna was correct. Moments later he spotted a horse charging towards the house, ready and eager to join the search. He didn’t recognize the man but Anna was also seated on the mare. “Anna, what is this all about?”

  Thomas knew too well who the stranger was that was riding into the village with Anna in tow. Patrick Buchanan, the man who thought he could take his prize away from him. He was angered from the moment he heard Amelia was missing. Seeing her lover ride in like a knight in shining armor made him fury even more. “What are you doing here?” He demanded as Patrick stepped off of his horse. “You have no right; go back to where ever it was you came from.”

  Henry could see the tension between the two men but he wasn’t about to let Thomas think that he was running the search. It was time to take a stand and neither one of the Van Martins would stop him. He didn’t know who the stranger was, although Amelia mentioned him once before, but he knew that it was another person willing and able to help out. “Thomas,” he shouted. “I’ll call the shots here. Now the constable is out of the area,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear him. “I have sent word to tell him that there is an emergency here in Millersport. Until then, this is my house, my daughter, and you all will report to me.” He tried not to show his emotion in his little speech but was finding it hard to fight back the tears. For this many people to be here to help meant that nobody knew where she was and the thought of something happening to her tore him up inside.

  “But, I’m her fiancé,” Thomas shouted right back though it was guided towards Patrick more than it was to Henry. If anyone was a victim here, it was him and everyone should comfort him in this time of need.

  Patrick wasn’t about to let Thomas speak to him in that way. Maybe the rest of the villagers were afraid of the young man but he wasn’t. “That might be, Mr. Van Martin, but let me tell you this. Whether you like it or not, Amelia has been spending her time with me so if she isn’t with me; and none of you have seen her, then there must be something seriously wrong. You can’t stop me from helping in this search.”

  “Enough,” Henry screamed, and the crowd shushed. He pointed to all the men and told them which direction to search and who they should search with. He took a look at Patrick and his instincts told him he should remain by his side. “Mr. Buchanan, you’re with me, David, and Phillip.” He heard Thomas object, but he ignored him. Then just before everyone dispersed he had a horrifying thought of someone out there hurting innocent women. “I’m sure the constable would agree with me if he was here but I must insist that all women and children be kept inside until we figure out what is going on. It’s for their safety.”

  Everyone seemed to agree, except Anna. “But Father, I want to help,” Anna interrupted. There was no way she would be able to just sit around and wait for good news, she would go insane. She had to be out fanning the area herself and at the moment felt as if she was the only one who would find Amelia.

  “I said you will remain in the house,” Henry snipped. The last thing he wanted was for something to happen to her, or anyone else. He continued to instruct the other men to make sure their wives and children were safe in their homes and then gave the go ahead for everyone to look for his daughter. Several hours have passed and there had been no word of Amelia’s whereabouts.

  Thomas looked to Jacob and shrugged his shoulders as if this whole search was a waste of his valuable time. “She ran to get away from me.”

  Jacob pulled Thomas away from the other men that so they couldn’t over hear their conversation. “Come on, you know that isn’t true.”

  Thomas was annoyed and getting tired but kept up with the search because once they found his fiancée, he would make sure she received her punishment. “You saw her last night, you know of her anger towards me. How can you possibly think that she wouldn’t have run from me?”

  “Because of Buchanan,” Jacob explained what he thought. “If she would run off with someone it would be him. He’s searching for her and I don’t believe she would just run away by herself.”

  That was it, just then things made sense, and he thought for sure he knew where to find her. “You’re right my friend.” Then he turned to the others in his group and told them they were heading in a different direction. He wasn’t positive where they were going but he had a good idea. Within minutes they were outside of Patrick’s house and Thomas’ insides gleamed, thinking he would be the one who found Amelia’s hiding spot. “She’s in there, I know it.” He continued to tell the others what he suspected about Amelia and the stranger. Without hesitation, they barged into the house.

  Henry’s little group were silent most of the time, all of them trying to figure out where Amelia could be. They were about two miles away from his house and he feared that she couldn’t have been too much further away. Along their ride out in that direction he also thought about what Buchanan meant by saying that Amelia had spent time with him. He was about to question him but his thoughts were interrupted by Patrick’s outburst.

  “What are they doing going into my house?” Patrick was furious for he knew that the group entering his private domain was none other than Thomas’. He looked over at the others and could see they didn’t approve of the behavior of the other group. They rode faster and as they reached the house, Patrick jumped off his horse to see what was going on.

  “Thomas,” Henry shouted. “What is this all about?”

  Thomas was angry to think that Henry was taking sides with Buchanan. “I’m searching for Amelia. What else would we be doing?”

  “In my house,” Patrick steamed.

  Playing dumb Thomas answered, “Oh, is this your house? We had no idea; all we were thinking about was searching for Amelia.” The others in his group all nodded their heads to confirm what he’d said.

  “That’s bull shit,” Patrick snapped. “You weren’t given directions to search this part of Millersport. You’re here for other reasons?”

  “No,” Thomas continued to make a fool of the stranger. “We searched the area you told us to,” he said as he looked at Henry, “and decided since there was no word yet that we should go on. Just happens that we ended up here but since we are, what is the harm? Got something to hide, Buchanan?”

  Patrick growled and wanted to knock the idiot’s lights out but felt David’s hand on his shoulder. “Let him look,” he whispered into Patrick’s ear. “They will not find her here, right?” Patrick knew that he was correct and just nodded his head to allow the others search the insides.

  Henry’s group had waited outside of the home, giving Thomas his moment of glory. Henry was convinced that the stranger wouldn’t harm his daughter. He could sense the way the stranger cared about her and thought they might have something in common. But, that feeling changed within a few minutes and Henry himself became skeptical for the matters of Patrick Buchanan.

  “Well, well, well,” Thomas smirked as he came out of the house. He didn’t find Amelia inside but knew that she was there at one point. It might not have been much to go on but if he were lucky, it could have been just what they needed to pin the blame onto Buchanan. As he stepped closer to Henry, Thomas again played the concerned fiancé and looked Amelia’s father in the eyes. “Isn’t this her hair ribbon?”

  Henry was astonished. He knew that ribbon all too well because he was the one who had bought it for her on her eighteenth birthday. She had worn it many times since the
n and he even remembered her wearing it the last time he saw her. He turned to Patrick for answers. “Where is she?”

  Patrick could sense the tension building up as all eyes stared at him; even the eyes that were on his side just a few minutes ago. “I told you, her and I have spent time together. She must have left it here the last time she was visiting.”

  “It was in your bed chambers,” Thomas snarled. His intuition about the couple must have been correct and his blood boiled. Buchanan stood up and got in his face and Thomas became nervous when he realized how much smaller he was than the stranger.

  “Stop,” Henry insisted. Then turned towards Patrick and demanded to know more. “I asked you where she was.”

  Patrick, who looked right into the eyes of Thomas, answered, “I told you, I don’t know. I said she must have forgotten that ribbon the last time she was here and I’m standing firm on that.” He felt Thomas backing away from him and if the situation was different, he would have laughed.

  Everyone from both groups looked concerned. Nobody knew what had gone on between Amelia and Patrick but their fear of the unknown, Patrick Buchanan, forced them to suspect him. “She isn’t here and all we have is her hair ribbon,” one man stated as he urged the group to continue their search. They left Patrick’s house but this time they were all one large group instead of the two smaller ones they began with. Everyone was silent as they searched; the only sounds were of men calling out Amelia’s name in hope of her answering. Everyone had one eye looking for Amelia and their other eye glued on Patrick; just waiting for him to mess up somehow.