“Luciana!” the woman exclaimed, her pretty face lighting up in joy. “I was not expecting you to be visiting our town!” Her cheeks broke out into a wide grin.
Lucie smiled back. “Hello, Vertie. It was a chance visit. I’m sorry that I did not have the time to tell you earlier.”
“Pish posh! No matter, all that matters is that you are safely in town.” Vertiline opened the gate and stepped out, gathering her friend tightly in her arms before pulling away, looking at Lucie at an arm’s length. “Is there anything I get you? Tea, a bit of supper?”
Lucie shook her head. “Actually, I was wondering if my companion and I could stay with you for the night. It has been a mighty long journey, and we need a place to rest.”
Vertiline nodded. “Of course you can!” She called to her husband, glancing over her shoulder. “Eugene, love, would you prepare the beds in the guest rooms, please?” She turned back around, ignoring the grumbles of annoyance that Eugene let out in response to his tobacco session being cut short.
“Oh! How rude of me, I forgot to introduce you to my companion,” Lucie said, stepping to the side to turn her hands to present Gia. “Vertiline, this is Georgiana Fletcher. She is…” Lucie paused for a moment to think. “She is my fiancé’s cousin. We were traveling here to do a bit of shopping, and our train ended up breaking down and leaving us here in the dead of night rather than late afternoon.” She shook her head. “Shame, really.”
Vertiline smiled and stuck her hand out to Gia. “Pleasure to meet you, Georgiana.”
Gia smiled back and shook the hand offered. “I go by Gia, actually. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.”
After a bit more chatting, Vertiline took a step back, gesturing towards the house. “Well, come in, now! No need to stand out here in this nightly chill for more than an evening rest any longer than we need to.”
Gia laughed. “Weren’t your husband and yourself sitting outside when Lucie and I arrived?”
“Well, yes,” Vertiline replied shyly, pushing a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Cornering Eugene during his nightly tobacco chewing is the only way I can speak to him as of late. I had news I wanted to share with him.”
“I am sorry for interrupting you, then,” Lucie apologized.
Vertiline began to walk towards the front door. Lucie and Gia followed behind. “It’s no trouble, Luce. I will simply tell him of the news on the morrow.” She shrugged. “I can only hope he will be as excited as I am. Once I have told Eugene, I will then tell you as well.” She opened the door, holding it open for her guests before stepping in behind them. “Would either of you like anything to drink?”
“Do you have any hot cocoa?” Lucie asked, shivering slightly. She sat down at the table in the center of the room. Vertiline smiled and nodded, walking to the side of the door to grab a few logs of wood for the stove. She stared at the stack for a moment before choosing two large pieces of lumber. She then made her way back across the room to the stove, inserted the wood, and began to put things together to make the beverage.
Gia sat down as well, shifting when the crimson cushion began to slide off the edge of the oak chair. She looked at Lucie in confusion. “What is hot cocoa?”
Vertiline spun around, her jaw dropped. “You have never had hot cocoa before?”
Gia shook her head bashfully. “Is it some kind of luxury item? My family was middle class, but Mother refused to bring anything to the home that may make us children feel superior to anyone below us.”
Vertiline nodded. “That would be why you have never tried it, then.” She finished mixing the ingredients in the pot, stirring it lightly before tapping the wooden spoon on the edge of the pot and laying it along the back of the stove, safely out of the way of the fire below. She came over to the table, sitting down alongside the girls. “You will love it.” She crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward, making eye contact with Gia. “So, Gia, how old are you?”
Gia thought about her answer for a moment, quickly realizing that her birthday had passed during the time that she was laying unconscious in Solomon’s spare room. “I am twenty,” she finally said.
Vertiline nodded, smiling. “That is a good age to be. I was twenty when Eugene and I were wed,” she commented, her eyes twinkling in remembrance. “I was working as a governess with Eugene’s sister, and she introduced us when he came down for a visit once, when we were eighteen. My mother was a governess, too. Lucie’s, in fact. That is how we became friends.”
Lucie nodded. “Your mother always just had to bring you with her when she was working.”
Vertiline laughed and winked. “Oh, you know you loved having someone your own age to talk to when Mother was not paying attention to our studies.” She stood as the pot on the stove began to bubble, the popping of the liquid audible even from their spots at the table. Vertiline pulled three mugs and a ladle out of a cabinet near the stove. She scooped the hot cocoa into the mugs. She brought them to the table, handing them to each girl, respectively. “Be careful, I do not want either of you to get burned.”
Gia sniffed the liquid warily, unsure of the dark substance in front of her. It was steaming and still slightly bubbling from its time on the stovetop. She took a hesitant sip, her eyes widening as the beverage hit her taste buds. “Wow!” she exclaimed, taking a bigger sip.
“I am glad you like it,” Vertiline said, smiling. “It is one of my favorite treats to warm me up when the nights are chilled.”
“Thank you for making it for me.”
Vertiline shrugged. “It is not a problem at all.” She shifted her back so that her hand was facing the hallway behind her. “Lucie, your room is at the very end of the hall, on the right. Gia, yours is right across from hers. Eugene and my bedroom is upstairs, if you should need anything.” She picked up her mug of hot cocoa and kissed Lucie and Gia each on the head. “I am going to retire for the night. Enjoy your hot cocoa, ladies.” She disappeared down the hall and up the steps to her room.
Gia watched as she left before taking her hot cocoa and retiring to her room as well.
***
The moon was high in the sky when Gia roused from her rest. The bell atop the Saint George’s Church echoing a single chime throughout the town, alerting Gia that it was one in the morning. She slid the thin wool cotton sheets off of the heavy skirt of her gown that she had changed into when she had retired for the night. It was a simple black frock that would make her a lot less noticeable that she would be had she remained dressed in Rosamond’s elegant gown. She had also removed the crinoline. She would be able to move much faster without it. However, she still wore two petticoats beneath it so, if she did get questioned, she would look as if she was wearing the proper clothing.
Gia had hoped that she would wake in time to go and find one of her sisters to see if they had heard of, or seen, Simona since the brunette had last been in Leander’s care. She smoothed out her skirt before forcing her window open, thankful that the guest rooms were located on the first floor of the house. She moved a chair from the corner of the room so that it was below the window before stepping up and sitting on the window ledge, swinging her legs around so that her feet were facing the grass and dirt below the window. She took a deep breath before propelling herself forward, landing with a soft thud on the ground below.
Gia crept away from the house, making sure to stay within away from the dim oil lamps that lined the street every ten or fifteen feet. She breathed shallowly as she walked, casting her eyes over the darkened factories and apartments that began to appear just two blocks away from the Matthers’ home. There was a clear difference between the upper-middle class and the working class, but Gia was always surprised at how close the people who lived on the outskirts of either neighborhood lived to one another.
The further that Gia got into the land of the working class, the more nervous she began to feel. All around her was the sound of crying children and angered parents, still awake after finally getting their children to go to bed
after hours of fighting and arguing, the parents exhausted from their twelve-plus hour shifts at the factories. Gia had only been into any of these apartments once, when she first became a working girl. She remembered how an entire family would cram into a single room, making their bedroom, kitchen, and family room all into one. The apartment complex that she had entered was three stories, and fit forty-three families into the fifteen apartments that made up the building. The building itself was rectangular in shape, and surrounded a square courtyard that was filled with trash and held three privies that served each family in the complex.
God, the smell! Gia had thought that she was going to pass out from the smell alone, and that was with the corset that was still laced tight against her rib cage. The man had not smelled much better, either. Leander had his girls bathe regularly as to not pass anything from customer to customer, which Gia knew was a luxury reserved normally only for the wealthiest of families. The biweekly bath was something that Gia looked forward to. Being in water that often was unhealthy, she knew that. Everyone knew that. Regardless, it made Gia feel like a new person every time she had that bucket of water dumped over her body. This man, though! Gia was not sure that he had ever bathed.
Gia flinched as the memory came back to her. Fortunately, she did not have to deal with this range of life for very long. Once she was a luxury girl, it was very rare that someone from the working class would be able to afford her. This was the area where most of her sisters worked, though, and she was sure that there would be at least one, if not more, roaming the roads when coming back from pleasing a paying customer. She kept her face down, much like she had done when walking from the train station to Vertiline’s. She was thankful that she had made the decision to take the black dress she was wearing from Rosamond’s closet when she borrowed the room the previous night. How Lucie did not notice it in the trunk, she was not sure, but Gia was extremely lucky that she had not. Gia would have stood out like a corn stalk in a potato field in that other dress.
Gia finally took a deep breath once she left the neighborhood. She wrinkled her nose when the smell of urine and feces came downwind to her. The air had been still when she was walking through the neighborhood, the apartment buildings successfully blocking any path that the wind had been making. The lack of wind meant that Gia was beginning to sweat despite the slight chill in the air. It also meant that the smell did not begin to grow strong until Gia had moved into the more open air. She opened her mouth to breath in hopes that it would stifle the smell. However, it did not work, and it ended up just leaving a sick taste on her tongue. Fortunately, though, she was close to her end goal: the park at the end of the street, where her sister Abigayle remained posted.
Abigayle was a luxury girl, but Leander liked to leave her by the tree that looked like a hugging couple so that the high payers who wanted her knew where to find her. As Gia entered the park, she immediately saw the path that lead to the tree. She made her way down the path as quickly as possible, her shoulders slumping when she realized that Abigayle’s spot was empty. Gia reached the tree and moved behind it, crouching down while she waited so that she would not be seen if someone were to enter the path.
Gia’s legs had just begun to go numb when she finally saw a hint of a pale blue dress in the moonlight, Abigayle’s wider-than-normal skirts jumping into view. Abigayle had never been the most womanly of girls, and Leander had decided early on that Abigayle needed to triple the number of petticoats that she was wearing in comparison to the rest of the girls, along with making her corset tighter, so that she would appear at least a bit more curvaceous than her body truly was. She was the only one of the luxury girls built in that way. However, she was also the most beautiful, which is why the exception was made in the first place.
As soon as Abigayle reached the bench near the tree, Gia straightened and stepped out from her hiding place, putting a hand on Abigayle’s shoulder. The blonde jumped, her eyes going wide as she spun around in fear. When she saw who it was, her eyes grew even wider, and she gasped. “Gia!” she exclaimed. “I thought you were dead!” She pulled Gia into her arms and hugged her tightly. “Oh, Gia, when Raymond alerted us that you were missing, I thought that the worst had happened!”
Gia shrugged. “Well, Raymond tried to kill me, but I was found before I bled out, if that is any consolation.” She shook her head. “I really do not have time to explain right now. I had a few questions, and I need you to answer as honest as possible.” She sat down on the bench and pulled Abigayle down next to her.
Gia took a deep breath before starting her questioning. “It is about that night,” she began. “You know… the night that Isaiah and his men had us help him pull in more girls for Father. Do you remember much from then?”
Abigayle shrugged, twisting her lips to the side as she tried to remember things about that night. “I remember very little… I had been so tired that evening. Raymond had kept me up very late, and refused to let me rest much during any down time from my observations.”
Gia nodded. “I understand that, but I need you to try. Can you recall the faces of the girls from the London trip?”
Abigayle leaned on her hand thoughtfully, her elbow pressing against her upper thigh. “Somewhat… Gia, where are these questions coming from?”
Gia shook her head. “That does not matter. I just need you to answer me. Did you stay with the girls? Do you know which ones arrived safely home? Especially from London.”
“We stayed with the girls from the time they got into Isaiah’s carriage until they arrived in Leander’s care. He had hoped that that would keep them quiet and less panicked, but it did not work. They were still scared, and spent most of the journey crying and pleading for us to take them back to be with their families.” She shook her head. “It nearly broke my heart… I remember how hard it was for me when I left my family at that age.”
Gia nodded. “Yeah, me too,” she said softly. She shook her head, trying to shake the thought away. She sniffed, straightening her back. “Do you remember a girl with light brown hair, around the age of twelve or thirteen? She is not very tall, and is very lithe. She is very pretty.”
Abigayle thought back before nodding. “Yes, I do remember a girl like that. She was the only one around that age that looked that like… she was very feisty when Father took her in. Why are you so concerned about her wellbeing?”
“She is a friend’s sister,” Gia admitted after a moment of debate. She smiled grimly at her sister. “I just need to know that she is still alright.” Gia knew Abigayle would understand how difficult concern for someone in the ring could be. The blonde had a blood twin in the ring, as well as one of her cousins. They watched out for each other as much as they could, making sure to check in with one another every morning at Abigayle’s spot before they walked back to the hideout. Both of the girls had joined Leander’s family two years previously, during a raid much like the one that took Simona.
A dark blur in the moonlight at the corner of Gia’s vision caught her eye, and she leaned forward, looking to the right. She craned her neck, trying to gauge if there was someone there or not. After a moment, Gia decided that it was nothing, and returned to her seated position next to Abigayle. She cleared her throat. “The girls from that night. Are they still being broken, or have they moved up in the home?”
Abigayle shifted, turning so that she was staring back out into the park. She crossed her ankles, placing her hands on her lap. “Most of the girls are either in training or out among the town, but I believe that the girl of which you speak is still in the breaking phase.” She shook her head. “She was very tenacious, I will give her that. I know that when I was her age, I did not have the courage to stand up to any of the men. I still do not have the courage to try to get away or defy a one of them.”
Gia nodded in understanding. She had been the same way. “Thank you, Abigayle. You have been a great help.” Gia pushed herself up off the bench. As she walked back down the path, her mind began to wander. Now that
she knew that Simona was still alive, she felt a lot more confidant in her choice to lead Lucie to Leeds. Now the only problem would be trying to figure out how to break in to the hideout and rescue the poor girl.
Before she knew it, Gia was out of the park, back in the main street. Her stomach dropped as she realized that she was in open light. She let out a gasp as someone grabbed her arm and spun around, her heart racing wildly as images swirled in her head of what Leander would do to her when he saw that she was still alive. The grip on her arm got tighter the fastest that she spun.
“Solomon?!”
12
Solomon’s face contorted with rage and he swung his arm forward, the back of his hand making its way across Gia’s face and forcing her to the ground. He spat at her as she fell. He pushed her back down when she tried to stand back up. “How dare you do this to my family?” he growled, his eyes narrowing as he ground his teeth. “Lucie trusted you, and you betray her like this?”
Gia pushed herself up so she was leaning on her forearms, her mouth agape. “Solomon, what are you—“ She scrambled to her feet as Solomon interrupted.
“You are a toffer, hm? Did you steal Simona so that you could spread your legs a little less often? Are you trying to get my Lucie to do the same?” He glared as he threw insults, pushing her around. “Are you a tom? Are you trying to steal my Lucie from me and force her into your band of Sodomites?”
Gia’s eyes widened and she stepped back. She arched her body as Solomon came close again, his eyes bright with fury. “Solomon, I have no idea what you are talking about! Why are you even here?”
Solomon began to circle Gia like an eagle going in for the kill. “You know exactly what I am talking about, Georgiana. Or is that even your real name? Did you and your little pinchcock of a friend team up to take my girls?” He pointed back in Abigayle’s direction. “I saw you making conversation with that wench in the park only moments ago. You and her were pretty chummy. Is she helping you swindle money from Lucie and her family?” He brought turned his finger back towards Gia accusingly. “I followed you from Vertiline and Eugene’s home. You knew exactly where you were going. Were you planning on bringing Lucie to her in the morning?”
Saving Simona (Alone In The World Trilogy) Page 12
