"Perhaps it would be best for you not to mention our discoveries to your father, Master Nate. He would not be all too pleased," George said as we led our horses back through the woods.

"I won't. After the other day, I know better than to mention the girl, but I need to speak to Joseph about her. He knows something, I'm sure he does."

"Do not be too vocal about it. If your father catches on, he will carry out his threat, that much I know for certain."

"Have a little faith in me, George. I know what I'm doing."

"That's what scares me."

We lapsed into silence as we continued to lead our horses through the woods and back to the house. I had mostly spent the ride home going over what we had heard from George's friend and the various theories that might explain the theft of so much food. George agreed with me that there could have been some sort of link between the girl and food, but he was also confused about Joseph's role in the entire situation. Still, it was nice to have someone who believed me for a change.

I spent the rest of the ride through the trees keeping an eye out for any sign of the girl whilst trying to come up with the best way to talk to Joseph. When I had first mentioned the girl, he had clammed up and refused to say anything other than not knowing who she was. There was little doubt in my mind that the next conversation would go the same way. I had to be subtle with my questioning, but subtlety had never been a strong suit of mine.

When we reached the house, the dark clouds had well and truly settled over the property and the woods. It had become so dark that one might have mistaken it for the evening, even though the afternoon had yet to pass by in its entirety. George and I steered the horses across the grounds to the stable door before the two of us dismounted and led our horses through the door.

Inside, I expected to find Joseph completing his usual afternoon chores, but he was nowhere to be found. One of the other stable hands, Martin, stood inside Genesis' stall, topping up her hay for the evening and preparing her for the storm ahead. Martin was a slight boy of thirteen who had a way with animals like I had never seen. He had grown up in the village working in the inn but had come to work for Father when the innkeeper had to get rid of him for cost purposes.

Upon seeing us, Martin stepped out of the stall and looked at us, his head slightly bowed, as was his usual stance.

"Where is Joseph?" I asked, handing him Lightning's reins.

"He is in the house speaking to Mr Thorpe. He is worried about the horses with the storm coming," he said. Martin spoke in only hushed whispers, afraid to speak too loudly in case he got into trouble with anyone.

"Right." I sighed. "If you see him, tell him I am looking for him. It is rather important."

"Yes, Sir."

"See that Lightning is settled for the night; he does not like storms despite his name."

"Yes, Sir."

"Thank you, Martin," George said. He kept hold of Cobalt's reins. "I shall see you this evening, Master Nate. I must untack Cobalt."

"Can one of the staff not do it for you?"

"Your father said I am free to ask them, but Cobalt is my horse and I do not wish to put more work onto the stable hands. We shall do just fine ourselves."

"Very well." I nodded. "Thank you for today."

"You are very welcome. I hope it was interesting and enjoyable."

George gave me a knowing smile and tapped his finger against his nose. I bit back a smile and left the stable, stepping out onto the grounds. The trip to the village had certainly offered me a lot to think about and I had a feeling there was more to George's invitation than originally stated. He seemed more than happy to discuss my wild theories about the girl and even offered his own suggestions. Something told me he was just as interested in the girl as I was.

I crossed the grounds, pulling my riding jacket tighter over my chest to keep out the bitter chill that had appeared out of nowhere whilst trying not to drop the books. The wind whipped around the trees and sent leaves flying across the grass and into my face and body. Wherever the girl might have disappeared off to, I hoped she was at least sheltered from the impending storm. I'm sure even Father would not have begrudged her had she found shelter in the stables with the horses.

Inside, the staff had started to prepare for the Seabrook's visit. Maids moved through the halls with cutlery and dishes for the supper table whilst the slight smell of food from the kitchen wafted up the stairs. I readjusted my grip on the books so I wouldn't drop them and took the stairs two at a time so I might make myself a little more presentable for supper. Mother would no doubt be displeased with me if I showed up to supper looking dishevelled, especially as she had arranged the whole thing in order to apologise for me bringing up the girl.

No one paid me any mind as I climbed the stairs and reached the landing. Father stood in the doorway to his study, his arms crossed and a slight raise in his eyebrow at the stack of books in my mind. I walked slower down the hall until I reached his study, stopping before him since I knew he was not standing there for fun.

"Your trip to the village was successful, I gather," Father said, gesturing his head to the stack of books in my arms.

"It was."

"Good. I hope it has at least helped you to forget about the silly business of the girl." Father looked at me expectantly, but I had no response. The trip to the village had only heightened my interest. "Go and prepare yourself for supper. I expect the Seabrooks will be arriving soon. They should make it before the rain."

"Yes, Father." I turned to leave.

"Oh, and Nathaniel?"

I turned back to face him, trying to keep my expression neutral even though I knew full well what he was about to say. "Do not disappoint us this evening. This supper is important to your mother and it must go smoothly. Understand?"

"Yes, Father."

He nodded his head and stepped back into his study, closing the door tightly behind him as a signal that the conversation had reached its end. I rolled my eyes and continued down the hall, stepping into my room and closing the door. Father had never been short of offering lectures, but it felt as though he had no trust or faith in me. Yes, I might have been stupid enough to mention the girl to Andrew, but I would never bring her up at the supper table.

I dropped the stack of books onto my bed and then shortly followed them, collapsing backwards and staring at the canopy on my bed as the wind lashed at the window. If Father did not want me to mention the girl, then I would not do it, but that didn't mean that I would forget about her. There had to be a reason she was hiding in the woods and a reason as to why Joseph might have been helping her. I intended to get to the bottom of it, but I couldn't do that if Father carried out his threat to send me to London.

The wind picked up outside as I continued to lie on my bed, eventually deciding that I should get myself ready before George summoned me for supper. I pushed myself off the bed and pulled off my riding jacket and boots, switching them for a dinner jacket and a more suitable pair of shoes. With the wind having made a mess of my hair, I ran a brush through it and used a small amount of pomade to smooth down the pieces that refused to cooperate with the brush. By the time I had won the battle with my hair, George had knocked on the door.

"Your mother has requested your presence at the supper table, Master Nate," he said, poking his head around the door.

"Alright, I'm coming."

"Remember our conversation from earlier."

"I will. I won't say a word about the girl or Joseph."

"Good."

George nodded his head and held the door open a little, allowing me to step through before he closed it behind me. He followed me down the stairs, the two of us heading our separate ways at the bottom as he headed towards the kitchen and I moved into the dining room where Mother, Father, Alice, and the Seabrooks were waiting for me. I stepped into the door and tiptoed to my chair, which was beside Andrew. He grinned at me.

Father took his seat, and the rest of us followed. The footmen sprung into action almost immediately, handing out bowls of soup which the cook had prepared to start the meal of. At least the soup prolonged the turbot. We ate in silence, no one making any move to start a conversation, and the occasional clatter of spoons or glasses only broke the quiet. From the head of the table, Father eyed me curiously between mouthfuls of soup, as though he expected me to break my oath and mention the girl with no real rhyme or reason. I sipped my soup quietly.

The silence offered me the time I needed to figure out how I would approach Joseph about the girl. I knew I couldn't be too direct with him, as he could not tell me anything if I was too forceful about the subject. More importantly, there had to be a reason as to why he had decided to help the girl and why he was keeping it a secret from everyone. I had helped him escape his previous employer, and I thought he might have a little more trust in me, but perhaps not. There had to be a reason for him to lie.

When we had finished the soup, the footmen cleared the plates away, and the silence became uncomfortable without the sound of cutlery. Mr Seabrook was the first to break.

"The soup was delicious, Caroline," he said, looking at Mother. "I forgot how extraordinary your cook is."

"Hm. Mrs Lucas has worked for us for years and she has never put a foot wrong."

Andrew leaned close to me. "Talking about the staff, how dull," he whispered.

"At least it isn't about the weather."

Mr Seabrook took a sip of his wine and placed the glass on the table just as the rain lashed down on the window. "This is going to be quite the storm."

"Yes," Father said, glancing at the window. "I wonder if it may be worth you all staying for the night. It shall be far safer for you than trying to ride a carriage through the wind and rain. The horses will be fine in the stable and the carriage shall fit comfortably beside our own."

"Perhaps that shall be for the best. Thank you, Mark."

I looked at Andrew and bit back a laugh. There were very few things worse than supper-time conversation, and it was when said conversation became about the weather. It was a sign that no one had anything else to discuss and that Mother's plan for a successful supper might have been slipping through her fingers. Then again, it was not as if we had anything else to say to one another since we had all met just a few days before and all the talking points had been exhausted.

We were spared any other awkward table talk by the arrival of the turbot, which Mrs Lucas had paired with an assortment of vegetables. I recoiled at the sight of the turbot, wishing we could have had anything other than the fish on my plate. I would have settled for a leg of lamb or a pie, but Mother insisted on supper being perfect and that included serving the most disgusting fish known to man.

I tried not to focus on it and instead ate around the fish whilst staring out of the window across the room. Rain lashed against the glass, the trees shook violently and leaves flew against the window, sticking to the wet glass. Every now and then, a flash of lightning would light up the entire grounds and a growl of thunder would shortly follow. I watched it all whilst shovelling forkfuls of carrots and peas into my mouth.

Another flash of lightning crossed through the sky, causing enough light for the grounds to come to life. The lightning revealed a shadowed figure running across the grounds. I couldn't tell who it was, but they moved quickly and disappeared from sight when the lightning vanished. I dropped my fork to the plate with a loud clatter and pulled my eyes from the window. Everyone stared at me, Father with a look of anger building behind his eyes.

"Nathaniel?" he said, his voice low. "Is everything alright?"

"I think one of the stable hands is outside," I said, turning back to the window. It was too dark to see anyone out there.

"Just a stable hand?"

"I couldn't say. It's too dark."

"Then how did you see them?" Father raised an eyebrow, as though he didn't believe me, and I did not expect him to, but someone had been running across the grounds.

"The lightning! I watched them take off at a sprint across the grounds. It looked like they were heading towards the woods."

"I expect it was nothing. A trick of the light."

"I know what I saw."

"We are not doing this again, Nathaniel. Not in front of our guests."

I rolled my eyes, not even trying to hide my disdain towards Father and his lack of trust towards me. He hadn't believed me about the girl, fair enough, but even I wasn't stupid enough to try to come up with the same lie twice. One of the stable hands had been out on the grounds and heading towards the woods. There was only one person who might have been reckless enough to be moving around in the middle of a storm. The same person who had been keeping a secret from me.

Joseph.

If the girl was still out there, he had to have gone out to find her and bring her somewhere safe. Maybe, just maybe, I could prove to Father that she really existed and that I hadn't been lying the entire time. To do so would involve breaking his rules and doing something incredibly reckless. I was going to be in trouble anyway because of my comments. I didn't see the harm in going one step further if it meant I could prove a point.

"Someone is out there. A stable hand, the girl, I don't know. I'm not lying about any of it, but if you won't believe me, I suppose I shall have to prove it to you."

I tore a napkin from my lap and pushed my chair across the floor, creating a loud screeching sound that echoed through the room. Father stared at me but did not say a word. No one did. They watched me climb from my chair and leave the dining room. Once outside, I broke out into a sprint and ran down the hallway.

I hauled open the door and ran out into the storm without a second thought.

~~~

A/N - We are back with Chapter Five! I'm having a little bit of trouble writing again at the moment, but I'm determined to power through it and see this story to the end!

Question time!

Should Nate have gone running into the storm? Should be have listened more to George's advice?

Comment below!

Dedication - No dedication this week! Comment below for your chance to recieve a dedication!

First Published - November 11th, 2022