I dangled my head off the edge of my bed, all the blood rushing to my brain as I stared at the closed door. Heat filled the room and not even the open window was enough to ease it. My hair clung to the back of my neck and my shirt had started to stick to me in the summer heat that infiltrated every part of the room.

Try as I might, I just couldn't remember where I had heard of a horse named Abacus and who might have owned him. The name sounded familiar, and I knew someone had owned a horse by that name, but my memory refused to divulge the information I desperately needed. I had thought of asking Father because he would most likely know who owned a horse called Abacus, but I wasn't in the mood to speak with him.

Alice had no recollection of Abacus and decided almost immediately that I would be following a dead-end trail. She had taken it upon herself to take Rebecca back down to the stables the next morning, deciding that Rebecca might be more likely to open up to her than she would me. I could say nothing to the contrary, as it was an avenue we had yet to look down on and we both knew that Rebecca was wary of men. This left me with nothing to do.

I sat up, rubbing my hand on the back of my neck. Father would have wanted me to study, but there was too much going on in my mind for me to want to pick up one of the law books and take a peek at its contents. Sighing, I shuffled off my bed and moved over to the window seat. I pulled on my riding boots and changed my jacket, deciding that going for a ride was far better than sitting on my bed all day.

A sharp knock echoed through the room and I took a sharp intake of breath, half expecting Father to be on the other side. The door creaked open to reveal George, and I felt myself deflate a little.

"I am heading into the village. Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Not to my knowledge." I paused. "Could I come with you? I was going to go for a ride, anyway."

"That may not be the wisest of ideas, Master Nate. You are probably better off studying than coming with me, especially if you have the day free."

"Please? I don't think I'll be able to concentrate on those books and I should probably see how Joseph is getting on. He'll want to see Lightning, and Oliver said Lightning was a little down without him around."

George sighed, shaking his head a little. "Very well, but if you get into trouble with Mr Thorpe, it is your fault and not mine."

"Understood." I stood up from the window seat, a wide grin stretched across my face at the thought of getting out of the house for an hour or so. A trip to the village was the perfect cure for boredom and it would get me away from Father.

"Go and have the stable hands tack up Lightning, and I'll meet you down there."

George turned, and I listened to the sound of his footsteps as he walked down the hall, leaving my door partially open. I hurried after him, throwing myself down the stairs, although he had all but disappeared down one of the many servant staircases throughout the house. The trip to the village would give me the chance to speak with Joseph, find out if he remembered a horse called Abacus, and potentially track down the Marlow's old housekeeper. If I had a list, just one trip would allow me to cross several things off of it.

I stepped out of the front door and into the summer sun, recoiling a little at the intensity of the rays that blinded me at first. I would have given anything to spend a warm day down at the seaside, but Father thought such things to be a childish affair, so Alice and I hadn't been in several years. The dry grass crunched underfoot as I headed down to the stables, accosting one of the stable hands and asking them to tack Lightning up.

Inside the stable, there was no sign of Alice or Rebecca, but there was also no sign of Genesis, and I knew they must have taken her out of the stall. Whilst Lightning was being tacked up, I stood near Cobalt, who had already been tacked up, most likely by George, and stood ready for him. Out of all the horses in the stables, Cobalt was perhaps the most level-headed. Father's horse, Cromwell, was as temperamental as he was, and Lightning had his mad moments.

"Lightning is ready for you, sir," Martin said, holding Lightning's reins out to me.

"Thank you."

George stepped into the stable, and little patted Cobalt. "Perfect timing. We should leave now if I am to get everything done before nightfall."

"Then let's go." I took Lightning and led him out of the stable, stopping just shy of the door and climbing into the saddle.

"I've never seen you so keen to go to the village before."

"In my defence, I have barely left the house these past few days. I'm probably more excited about this ride than Lightning is."

George laughed and climbed onto Cobalt's back. "Somehow, that does not surprise me."

I clicked my tongue and squeezed my legs against Lightning's side, pushing him forward across the grass. George followed close behind, but he kept a sensible distance from Lightning, who pushed to move at more than a walk. Even though he was itching to canter, I kept him at a steady walk through the trees because of the raging heat.

The trees surrounding our property offered a small amount of respite from the heat, but it lingered in the small gaps in the canopy above us. Sweat beaded on my forehead as George and I weaved the horses through the trees and in the direction of the village. Neither of us spoke. I listened to the sounds of the horses' hooves on the grass and the birds tweeting in the treetops above our heads.

For the first time since Rebecca's arrival, I felt like I could breathe.

I didn't regret my decision to help her. It had been the best choice I could have made, but the pressure to find out the truth had affected me more than I wanted to admit. All I could think about was finding out the truth and seeing them punished for what they did. I hadn't given myself a break, a moment to pause and do something for myself. The ride the previous day had been the first real moment to myself in days.

Despite the mystery of Abacus the horse hanging over my head, I pushed it to the back of my mind and instead resolved to enjoy the journey and trip to the village whilst I could. I needed to give myself a break and Alice had given me one by offering to spend the day with Rebecca.

"Right, you can go and find Joseph," George said as he climbed off Cobalt and handed his reins to one of the stable hands at a nearby Inn. "I'll be nearby if you need me, but I have a lot I need to do."

I swung my leg out of the stirrup and stepped onto the ground. "I can look after myself, George."

"You keep telling yourself that, Master Nate."

"I will. It makes me feel better about myself."

He laughed and shook his head. With a short wave, George headed away from the Inn and into the village, leaving me alone. I took hold of Lightning's reins and headed towards the stable, wiping my forehead to remove the beads of sweat. We walked into the stables around the side of the Inn where the stable hand had taken Cobalt to give him some water whilst George was busy.

I stood in the doorway of the stable and stared around, looking at the horses and hoping to spot a familiar face amongst the working stable hands. At the far end of the stable, almost hidden in the darkness were it not for a stream of light coming in through a small window, stood an oddly familiar figure. The stable hand kept to himself, sweeping the floor with a wooden broom and collecting the straw into a pile.

Lightning whinnied, stamping his foot on the floor of the stable. The stable hand looked up, the sunlight crossing their face. Joseph stared at me. He rested on the handle of his broom and Lightning nudged me with his nose, no doubt recognising his old friend. Joseph rested the broom against one of the stalls and walked the length of the stable, immediately resting his hand on Lightning's nose.

"Hello, boy," he said.

"He is rather pleased to see you, Joseph." I smiled. "Lightning has missed you, as have I."

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Joseph looked up and frowned.

"George has some errands to run, and I thought I might accompany him for a change. That and I wanted to see you."

"Me?"

I nodded. "I wanted to apologise. It was my fault you were dismissed from our service and it never should have happened."

"It wasn't your fault, sir. I should have informed Mr Thorpe of Rebecca the moment I saw her rather than keep it a secret." He patted Lightning's side. "Mr Williams got me my position here and I think it is going well. I enjoy working with the horses."

"I'm glad you have landed on your feet, Joseph. After everything that has happened, you deserve it."

Joseph smiled and accepted Lightning's reins. I followed them through the stable to one of the empty stalls where Joseph untacked him and started to brush down his fur. Lightning enjoyed a cool bucket of water that had been placed in the stall and nibbled on the oats, his attention swiftly moving to the food without him offering Joseph and me a second glance.

"How is Rebecca?" Joseph ran the brush down Lightning's side. "Did Mr Thorpe move her on?"

I shook my head. "She is still with us. Father gave me two weeks to find out what happened to her, but I seem to have a bit of an impasse. George asked around the village and no one knows who she is and she has told me very little, despite the time we have spent together."

"Perhaps she doesn't remember."

"Perhaps." I scratched the back of my neck. "She did mention something. She said her father had a horse called Abacus. I don't suppose you remember a horse bearing that name? I recognise it, but I cannot seem to place it."

He shook his head. "No, sir. I can ask around here, though. Some of the stable hands have been working here for years. One of them might know."

"Thank you."

"It is the least I can do, Master Nathaniel. I would not have my position here were it not for you and Mr Williams."

He wouldn't have had to find a new position if it were not for me.

I left Lightning with Joseph, knowing he was in excellent hands and probably pleased to have one of his closest friends back. Joseph had given me another route into solving the mystery of Abacus the horse and I had to hope that his search would be a little more fruitful than my own. The stable hands at the Inn saw to a lot of horses, including those from the grander houses in the area. If anyone was likely to know of a horse called Abacus, it would be them.

Outside the stable, the sunlight temporarily blinded me after the slight darkness in the stable. I stared around the village. People went about their day with baskets under their arms, carts rolled through carrying goods and people from one place to another. Someone in the village had to have known Rebecca, someone in amongst the crowd of people had to know where she had come from and how she ended up the way she did, but I didn't know if anyone would be willing to divulge that information.

Determined to spend the day thinking of other things, I crossed the village and entered the bookshop that had always been a safe haven for me. I stepped inside, inhaling the smell of paper and ink. The narrow shelves were full of rows upon rows of books, some stacked atop one another. I ran one finger along the spines of the books, pleased to be somewhere on my own for a change.

I don't know how long I spent in the bookshop looking at books I had yet to own and deciding which ones I wanted to purchase with the money I had hastily stuffed into my pocket. By the time I emerged from the shop, I had several heavy books stuffed under my arm and very few coins in my pocket. Father would not be too pleased if he saw me.

"I should have guessed you would go in there," George said, shaking his head at me. "Don't you own enough books?"

"One can never own too many books, George."

"If you say so." He laughed. "What do you intend to do now?"

I shrugged. "I might see if I can find the Marlow's old housekeeper."

"What was her name?"

"Mrs Reed."

George chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked around the village. "That name is rather familiar. Try the houses down there." He waved his arm around. "I think there is a Mrs Reed working as a housekeeper."

"Thank you." I paused. "Did you manage to speak to Mr Burch whilst you were inviting the Marlows for supper?"

He shook his head. "There wasn't time. I'll get to it, though. For now, I have a few more errands to run. I shall meet you back at the Inn in about three hours."

"See you then."

George nodded and headed in the other direction. I readjusted my grip on the books and headed towards the row of houses he had directed me towards. Even if I was no closer to finding where Rebecca came from, I could at least find out more about Lily Marlow.

~~~

A/N - We are back with another chapter! I have loads of these backed up which is great since work is kicking up soon and I'm focusing a lot on ONC. Also, got some exciting chapters coming out soon!

Questions! Do you think Mrs Marlow will be able to help Nate? Will Joseph be able to find the elusive horse, Abacus?

Comment below!

First Published - February 7th, 2023