Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series)

by Justine E. Domke

  “Yes, Sir. But I need more time.”

  “You don’t have more time, James. You have to make her believe you, and very soon.”

  There was no more talk after that. I quickly slid back into the bed and threw the covers over my head. When I heard the door latch, I froze. It was so quiet that I finally peeked out from my hiding place. James hadn’t come back in. I sat up and looked out the window. What was it that James didn’t want to tell me?

  Later that morning I left the room in search of James. He had never come back, which I should have been grateful for. But I knew he was avoiding me because there was no doubt that he knew I’d heard his conversation with Captain Brown. I went downstairs and looked in the study. He wasn’t there. I didn’t hear a sound in the house to make me believe that anyone was in here with me. I expected Captain Brown had gone back into town and James had probably gone out for a walk on the beach. I never heard Will and most of the time forgot he was even living there.

  I stood in the foyer for a moment as I realized I was free to look around as I pleased for once. I walked over to the desk in the study, drawn there for no real reason. Two letters were folded under a paperweight. I knew I had no business reading them, but I pulled them toward me anyway. I unfolded the first one. It was addressed to Captain Brown from about five months ago.

  Captain Brown,

  I have good news for you. I believe I have found your daughter. If you will send someone to me within the next few days, I can start on the voyage immediately. It might take awhile for us to find her, but we’re on the right path this time. I’m positive.

  Captain F.P. Taylor

  So James had been right, the captain’s daughter had been found. It wasn’t just a rumor. The letter beneath this one started off with the word “congratulations.” I hesitated before picking it up, confusion filling my mind. If she had been found, why wouldn’t she have been here with us? Maybe she’d been taken somewhere else for the time being, seeing as I was also living in the house. But would that have really mattered? There were plenty of rooms and enough space for one more person.

  My hand hovered over the letter, but I hesitated yet again. Something about the letter had me feeling very uneasy, even though I had no idea what it was about. It was addressed to Captain Brown from Captain Taylor again, but it was slightly longer. I picked it up slowly, scanned it once and then paid much closer attention the second time.

  Captain Brown,

  Congratulations! I’m very glad to learn that the girl is indeed your daughter. I must say it has been a long time coming. But at least she has been found.

  You said in your last letter that she doesn’t seem to know who she really is. Does this mean that she doesn’t remember being kidnapped? How could she forget it? She was eight when it happened, not something you would think that she’d forget about at that age, or any age for that matter. You said she also believes that that pirate, Shawn is his name by the way, is her real father. I’m not sure I understand why she believes this. Have you figured this mystery out? Let me know.

  Captain F.P. Taylor

  I collapsed into the chair, not able to take my eyes off the letter. I reread it until I had memorized it. This wasn’t possible. They were mistaking me for someone else. Shawn really was my father. He had to be. And I remembered being kidnapped. Then it dawned on me what James had asked me on the road. He asked me what my earliest memory was, and I had said I was about eight years old. I couldn’t remember any of my life before being kidnapped the first time. But I still didn’t believe it. It didn’t make any sense.

  The front door opened and closed and I heard someone, probably James, whistling in the foyer. He came closer toward the study, but stopped immediately after entering. His whistling ended abruptly. I lifted my gaze to find him frozen in place in the doorway, his eyes on the letter in my hands.

  “Is this what you were supposed to tell me?” I asked, the letter dropping out of my hand to land quietly on the floor.

  He looked at me. “Andrea-”

  “You expect me to believe it?” I stood up.

  “Andrea, Love, think about it. You said yourself you don’t remember anything before you were eight. You don’t remember your past. For all you know, it could be true.” He came toward me and stood on the other side of the desk.

  “Just because I can’t remember my past doesn’t mean this is true.” I stepped back.

  “Think about it.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “I’ve never lied to you, Andrea!” He threw his hands in the air. “Name one thing I’ve lied to you about.”

  “What about this?” I shouted as I pointed down at the letter on the floor. “How is keeping this somewhat important fact about my life from me not lying?”

  He leaned forward over the desk. “Do you believe it’s true?”

  I leaned back and dragged a hand down my face. I hadn’t realized I’d started to cry. Before coming to this house, I never cried. Now it felt like it was all I ever did. I fell into the chair behind me, exhausted once again.

  “Andrea, Love, talk to me. What are you thinking?” He came around the desk. He knelt on the floor beside the chair I was in.

  This had to be some sort of trick. James said he hadn’t known who I was when he kidnapped me. “On the ship, you said you didn’t know who I was.”

  “I didn’t. I was just told that we were rescuing a girl from pirates. It wasn’t until you first met Captain Brown, and he reacted the way he did that he finally told me.”

  “And why didn’t you tell me then?”

  “You wouldn’t have believed me. I had to gain your trust. But that isn’t why I wanted to gain your trust.” He quickly added that last part when I lifted my eyes to look at his face. “I wanted you to be able to trust someone. I wanted you to trust me. I had intended that from the first moment I met you, back when you bit my hand. I knew you were going to struggle with it, and I did everything I could to make it easier for you. I never imagined any of this though. Please believe me.”

  “How did he know? All it took was that one look and you’re saying he was certain of it.”

  “You’re the spitting image of his wife.” He spoke softly. “There is also a strong resemblance between you and William, though I didn’t catch it until you were in the same room that one morning.”

  “Why not?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it.” He shrugged. “My mind was on other things.”

  “So you believe it?” I asked.

  “I have no reason not to. I must have been brought here about a year after you had been kidnapped.” He rubbed the back of his head. “His wife was gone by then.”

  I rested my head in my hands. “I can’t remember anything from before.”

  “Do you even remember who kidnapped you?”

  “If I heard his name, I’d remember it. I only remember what they did to me.”

  “And then when they freed you…”

  I lifted my head. “Freed me? I barely escaped alive. And then I was wandering the streets, trying to get away from the place when I ran into Shawn. He immediately took me under his wing, and I thought he was my father.”

  “So you admit that you didn’t know.” He put his hand on my knee.

  “I had just gone through a pretty dramatic experience, James. I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.” I looked at him. “I didn’t know my right from my left.”

  “So you’re thinking it could be true.” He was watching me closely.

  “I… I don’t know. I was only eight at the time, and this was almost ten years ago. How could Shawn have done this to me? I can’t believe this. I mean, I never would have thought any of this could have happened.”

  “I promise, Love. I’ll do everything I can to make sure this is true.”

  “I need to talk to Shawn,” I said suddenly.

  James sat back on his knees. “What?”

  “I’ll only be convinced if Shawn tells me himself.”

 
“How will we know where he is?”

  “Mark’s around here somewhere, which means my father has to be around somewhere, too.”

  “I’m not convinced he was here, Love.”

  “I saw him. I know I did.” I stood up and went over to the window.

  “Even if you did see him, you don’t know where he went. Who says he didn’t leave?”

  “He hasn’t. I know he hasn’t.” The feeling in the pit of my stomach seemed to confirm this. I felt a little sick. I wasn’t sure if this was because I knew Mark would do everything he could to take me back to my father or if it was because I knew James would do everything he could to stop him.

  “Well, there isn’t much more we can do today about this. The captain wants us to have dinner with him. Maybe we can talk to him about it, since he’s supposed to be your father and would definitely remember something useful.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want him knowing I know this until I’m absolutely positive about it.”

  “But are you good with dinner at least? You’ll have to wear a dress.”

  I looked down at my clothes and sighed. That was the last thing I wanted to think about. “I’m fine.”

  “Okay. I believe Captain Brown will be back soon so you better go upstairs and change.”

  I kept my head down as I turned around. I just wanted to get some time to myself, but now I was going to have to suffer through dinner. I hadn’t realized that James had come up behind me while I’d been at the window until I saw his shoes right next to me. He pulled me into his strong arms.

  “It’ll be all right, Love.” He kissed the top of my head. “Everything will be fine. Just take it one step at a time.”

  I slowly nodded. Was I supposed to be angry or frightened or happy? I was so confused with my feelings and my life that I just wanted to run away and be able to think alone. Since that wasn’t an option, I was just going to have to do what James said and take everything one step at a time.

  He led me into the foyer and let me go up the stairs by myself. I took my time going down to my room. I didn’t want to think about anything. I was successful until I opened my wardrobe and saw the dresses that had been put in there at some point. I pulled one out and saw that the front was much lower than the first one I had put on, which was nowhere in sight. I picked through the other ones and none of them had a high collar. This wasn’t good.

  I took off the men’s clothing that I was wearing. It didn’t hurt to at least try on one of the dresses. I shifted through the selection and pulled out one that was a deep blue. It was fairly simple, which was why I was drawn to it. The little bit of detail was done in a black thread and it only showed along the bottom of the skirt and along the edge of the sleeves, which would come down to about my elbows. As soon as I had it on though, I knew the neckline was too low.

  I turned to the mirror, and I could see the scar. It ran from my shoulder, across my chest, and disappeared below the neckline. I couldn’t wear this. I looked through the other dresses and saw the same problem. I couldn’t wear any of them. I didn’t want the captain seeing this, let alone James. I traced the scar, out of habit whenever I saw it. It was ugly, and I turned away from the mirror. I was going to have to figure something else out for dinner.

  A loud bang came from downstairs which startled me and distracted me from my negative thoughts.

  “What in the world?” I turned around, but James was suddenly there. He slammed the door behind him and leaned back into it as his fingers fumbled with the lock.

  “James, what’s going on?” I heard another loud bang from downstairs.

  “Someone’s trying to break in. Well, more than just someone.” He rushed around the bed to the balcony door. He opened it with me following closely behind, and once we were out there, he stared down the side of the house.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  He pulled at a vine, displeased with it before he moved on to another one. “Looking for a way down.”

  “What?”

  He finally took his focus off the vine and glanced at me. “We’re trapped up here, Andrea. Men are breaking in downstairs. For whatever reason, they’re coming for us.”

  Was it Mark? Was he finally coming for me?

  “Maybe it’s Mark. Maybe I can talk…” I cut off immediately with the look I got from James.

  “Andrea, I don’t think its Mark. Something tells me whoever these men are, they mean us harm.”

  That didn’t sound like Mark. He would have wanted to hurt James, but he never would have hurt me.

  While I stood there thinking, James grabbed a vine and yanked on it. I focused back on this.

  “How do you think we’re going to get down with a vine?” I asked as another loud bang echoed inside.

  He looked at me slowly. “We’re going to have to climb down. I told you we’re trapped up here. We don’t have any other option.”

  I watched him as he climbed over the railing and gripped the vine as he started to climb down. I leaned over as he got out of view and watched how he did it. I hadn’t realized how much muscle he had in his arms until just then as I watched him slowly move one hand under the other one. He repeated the pattern until he hit the beach below. He tugged on the vine and then looked up at me.

  “You’ve got to do it, Love! We don’t have that much time. Just climb over like I did and slide down.”

  I slowly climbed over the railing as I heard another bang coming from inside.

  “That’s it, Love! Now, just slide down. There you go.”

  My hands were burning and my face cringed as I slowly slid down. I heard a popping noise and looked up. The vine was starting to break.

  “James! The vine is going to snap!”

  “You’re going to have to jump. You aren’t that far from me, and I promise I’ll catch you. You have to trust me.”

  “I can’t!” I closed my eyes as the vine twisted again.

  “You have to. Trust me!”

  I let go just as the vine broke. I was about to scream when I felt James’ arm under me. He had caught me just like he had promised. But just as quickly as I realized this, he set me down, grabbed my hand, and took me around the house. We went through the garden, something I had wanted to do for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Of course this time, I couldn’t actually look around and enjoy it. When we got to the edge of the house, he stopped and peeked around the side. Since he didn’t seem to see anyone, he pulled me forward and we ran across the street into the forest.

  “Where are we going?” I finally asked. I tripped over a tree root and cursed.

  “Deeper into the forest. But we have to be quiet.”

  We went on for about another hour in silence. When we finally stopped, we were by a stream and I collapsed against a tree. James sat across from me so he could lean back against a fallen tree trunk. We sat there to catch our breath for a few minutes. I kept my focus above James’ head so that I could look up through the trees. I could tell by the way the forest looked that the sun was starting to set. I brought my attention to his face. His eyes were focused on my feet, and he opened his mouth to speak as he shifted his stare to my face but stopped. His eyes focused on my shoulder, and I knew he was staring at the scar. I brought my arm up as I looked away. I felt so uncomfortable as I tried to cover the scar with my arm and hand.

  James stood up, and I focused him again. His eyes were on the ground. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?” The panic in my voice that wasn’t meant to be heard made me wince.

  He looked down at me. He kept his eyes on my face this time. “I’m just going to the stream. Your feet are pretty badly cut and I need to clean them.”

  He walked past me as I pulled my foot toward me. There were a couple deep gashes, but most were little scratches. I didn’t feel any pain, but then again, I was used to walking barefoot and getting my feet scratched. James came back, his shirt off and in his hand. It was sopping wet. He knelt down at my
feet and gently pulled them onto his lap to wipe them off. I leaned back into the tree and closed my eyes as he gently cleaned my feet.

  James cleared his throat nervously. “The scar on your chest… that’s from when you were… from before isn’t it?”

  I moved my hand up to my shoulder again and gently traced it. “Yes.”

  “How did it happen?”

  “It was with a knife.” I didn’t want to explain any more of it than that, so I lied when I said, “That’s all I remember.”

  “I’m sorry, Love.”

  I looked at him. “Sorry for what?”

  “That you had to go through with whatever it was you went through. From what I’ve seen and how you act, I can’t even imagine. I just know that no one should have to go through it.”

  “I don’t think a lot of people have.”

  “No one should have to though.” He glanced down at my feet. “You have some pretty bad cuts here.”

  “I’ve had worse.” I waved my hand as I dismissed his comment.

  He slowly lifted his gaze to my face, and then lowered it to the scar on my chest, which I immediately covered again.

  I turned away. “I meant I’ve had worse on my feet. I go barefoot all the time and I tend to step or trip over things.”

  “Oh.”

  We sat quietly as he continued to wipe the blood off my feet. When he was done, he tossed his ruined shirt behind him and moved next to me.

  “How long are we going to have to wait out here?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “I’m not sure. The captain and Will are going to find out what happened to us quickly, and they’ll start looking for us. But we have to remember that those other men are searching for us, too.”

  “So we have to sit here and wait?” I gazed at him.

  He stared down at me. “I didn’t know what else to do. We’ll be fine though. There are plenty of things to eat out here, and in a few days we’ll try heading into town.” He reached his hand up to my face and rubbed his thumb over my cheek. “Don’t worry about a thing, Love. We’ll be all right.”