The ice did not have the desired effect and by the next morning, my cheek had turned a dark shade of purple. I had no choice but to face the day head on as there would be no hiding. Our servants knew better than to ask questions and so none of them mentioned the bruise, although a few did cast sideways glances towards me when I left my bedroom that morning.

At breakfast, no one mentioned the bruise, not even Mother. I was more than certain that Father informed her of what had transpired the previous day. Had he not, it would have been mentioned in front of the servants and that was not something Father wanted to do. He had always said that what happened between our family was of little concern to the staff and that they had been prone to gossip. The last thing he wanted was for the story to travel beyond our house and the people within.

When we finished eating, Father failed to give me a task, as he usually did, and simply disappeared to his study, where he would no doubt remain for the rest of the day. As I had been left to my own devices, I decided to go down to the stable to see Lightning, perhaps take him for a ride around the grounds, and to apologise to Joseph for the events of the previous day. I had not had the chance to before.

I left the house and made my way across the grounds; the grass crisp under my shoes and the mud all but vanished in the stifling heat. The gardeners were out, cleaning up the mess from the storm and replanting bulbs in the flowerbeds that lined the entrance. They paid me no mind as I passed them.

The stable door had been left open to allow some air to enter the otherwise stuffy room. I stepped inside, coming to a halt not long after as Sooty the cat shot across the floor in front of me, pursued by one of the older cats, whilst the stable hands worked all around. They were topping up the horse feed, cleaning stalls, and grooming the horses as I entered; they offered me a slight nod and smile as I passed. I walked down the centre aisle, checking the stalls as I went for any sign of Joseph, but I couldn't find him.

I stopped at Lightning's stall, trying to scratch his nose, but he was too interested in the fresh hay that had been put out for him. Father once said that Lightning and I were a perfect match since we were both so similar; food always came first.

"Do I not even get a good morning?" I asked, reaching my hand across his stall. He swerved it and continued eating.

"He tried to take my hand off when I gave him the hay and the oats, sir," Oliver said. He stood beside me with an empty feed bucket in hand. Lightning's ears pricked up at the mention of oats, but he continued to eat.

"That does not surprise me."

"I might give the new stable hand the chore of feeding him for their first task, settle them in the right way."

I turned to look at Oliver, scowling slightly. "New stable hand? I thought Father said we weren't in need of any new staff, especially here."

"Mr Thorpe told us first thing that he'll be looking for a new stable hand. He said that Joseph had decided to look for employment elsewhere."

"Joseph's gone?" I stared at Oliver as though he had two heads.

"Yes. He left with the milk cart, didn't say a word about it to any of us. Mind you, he barely said a word to anyone after Mr Thorpe had spoken to him yesterday evening." He frowned and then shook his head a little. "I should get back to work, Sir."

"Very well, thank you."

Oliver nodded and shuffled away from me to continue with the rest of his chores. I clenched my fists at my side, confusion quickly turning to anger as the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. Joseph never would have left without saying anything unless he had been instructed otherwise. If Father had visited him the previous evening, after supper and long after I had returned to my bedroom, then he must have had something to do with Joseph's sudden decision to move on from his position.

Father had dismissed him.

I stalked the length of the stables, ignoring the stable hands who stared at me with wide eyes and startled expressions. Outside, the sun roared and did little to help my rising anger. I paced across the grass, wringing my hands in front of me, hoping to distract myself, but it didn't have the desired effect.

Anger boiled away inside me like one of Mrs Ryan's stews, and nothing I did would get rid of it. Father had no right to dismiss Joseph for something so minor, especially as he did not know that he was even doing something wrong. It should not have been a punishable offence for him to offer food to someone who didn't have any themselves. Father had done a lot of questionable things in the past, but dismissing Joseph had to have been the worst of them.

I headed around the side of the stables to try to hide from any of the staff who may have been around. My hands shook a little and my heart beat against my chest like a drum. To the left of me, half-leaning against the wall of the stable sat a metal bucket that was usually used for collecting water. I charged across the grass and kicked the bucket, letting out a loud, guttural scream as the bucket flew through the air and hit the ground with a loud clang.

"What did the bucket do to you?" George asked, appearing from behind the stable.

"Nothing. It's just—" I waved my hands towards it. "—there."

"Right. And what, might I ask, has led to you taking your anger out on a water bucket?"

"Father. He dismissed Joseph this morning."

"Ah. I heard about that."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why didn't you tell me? How come I had to hear it from Oliver?"

"Calm yourself, Master Nate. I only just found out myself and I came to find you. Miss Alice said you had gone out to the stable."

"I only came out to see Joseph so I could apologise for yesterday. It's my fault he got into trouble and it's my fault he was dismissed." I ran my hands over my face and interlocked my fingers behind my head, pressing the palms of my hands against my hair.

"How have you come to that conclusion? You didn't dismiss him, Mr Thorpe did. Besides, Joseph decided on his own to keep his knowledge of Miss Rebecca a secret."

"If I had just told him to go to the stable after we found her rather than go to the house, Father would never have known he was involved. Now he is jobless and without a reference because of me!"

George took a step towards me. "You will not be doing yourself any favour if you continue to blame yourself for your father's actions."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing."

I stared at George. The anger that had started to fade came rushing back in waves. Even if he was right and Joseph's dismissal hadn't been my fault or my responsibility, I couldn't just do nothing. Very few people survived without working and trying to get a new position without a reference would be impossible. Everyone in the village knew he worked for us and it would not take them too long to realise what had happened. Someone had to help him.

"Leave Joseph to me. I know plenty of people in the village and I might be able to find him a position despite him not having a reference." George gave me a pointed look. "You have other things to be dealing with. If your Father dismissed Joseph so quickly, I doubt he will wait for Doctor Merrick's say so before he sends Miss Rebecca away. You cannot get on his bad side any more than you already have unless you are asking for trouble. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. I have this afternoon off, so I'll ride into the village and see what I can do. You need to go back to the house and try to get that temper under control. You are more like your father than you know, Master Nate."

Without another word, George walked past me and into the stable to prepare Cobalt for a trip into the village. I watched until he disappeared from view before walking away from the stable and up towards the house. Through the open windows, I could see the staff moving around inside, cleaning the rooms and gathering laundry. There was no servant in the window of Father's study. Instead, Father stood there with his hands clasped behind his back and a slight smile on his face. It took everything in me to not go rushing upstairs and give him the same bruise he gave me.

I swallowed the anger, clenched my fists at my side a few times, and stepped into the house. The servants were busy preparing for luncheon and I side-stepped them and headed up the stairs towards my bedroom to try to calm down before I had to be face-to-face with Father again. George had been right. If I wanted to help Rebecca, I had to choose my fights carefully no matter how frustrated I became towards Father.

When I reached my bedroom, I collapsed against my bed and stared up at the red canopy above me. Even though every fibre of my being was telling me that I had to do something to help Joseph, I knew I was better off listening to George's advice. He would be of far better use than me, and I knew that finding Joseph a new position would annoy Father greatly. For the time being, I would have to bite my tongue and stay calm.

George had been right about how similar Father and I were.

Father and I had always been told we were similar, although it usually had something to do with our appearance. I had never wanted to be like Father in any other way, as I always found him to be boring and his temper often terrified me. There had been moments, though, when small glimpses of my anger had been identical to his. The thought of me turning out like him in any way frightened me beyond belief.

Someone knocked lightly on the door, and I tore my eyes away from the canopy. It was rare for anyone other than George to summon me if Mother or Father wanted me, and I knew George was busy with Cobalt.

"Enter," I said, sitting up and staring at the door. I half expected Father to walk in and gloat about dismissing Joseph, but it wasn't him.

"I heard about Joseph," Alice said, stepping into the room. "I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. George said he would take care of it. He gave me quite the warning about not getting on the wrong side of Father, although I think I'm already there."

"Well, if George said it, it's probably true." Alice laughed, no doubt trying her hardest to calm the situation, and me down a little. It did not have the desired effect.

"How is Miss Rebecca?" I asked, hoping a change of subject might be needed if I was to calm down about Joseph.

"Still asleep last time I checked. Doctor Merrick put her on strict bed rest, along with the porridge and beer. She's eating and drinking properly, but the poor girl is struggling to stay asleep for more than an hour. Most of the time she wakes up screaming and one of the servants has to try to wake her without making the situation any worse."

"What do you think happened?"

Alice lightly shook her head. "I do not know, Nate. To be perfectly honest, I'm a little scared to ask her because I do not want her to withdraw in on herself. I had hoped that maybe Joseph could help, as she trusted him enough to let him protect her in the woods, but I suppose that idea is now out of the window. Perhaps you can help."

"Me? Why should I be able to help? You heard Doctor Merrick, she doesn't have much trust in men."

"Adult men. You're not quite there yet."

"I'm sixteen!"

"You don't eat turbot because it stares at you from the plate."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is, Nate."

Alice looked at me and laughed, the laugh quickly transforming into the usual snort that usually meant she found something hilarious. The snort then proceeded to set me off until the two of us were just laughing, with no actual idea about what we had been laughing about in the first place. Any residual anger that had set inside me faded with the laughter, and it took several minutes for either of us to call down. By the time we stopped laughing, Alice had tears streaming down her face, and I had stopped making any sort of noise.

Even though she was an annoying younger sister who had a habit of trying to get me into trouble, there was no denying that Alice had a way of cheering me up. She knew that a simple snort of laughter was enough to send me into hysterical laughter too, and by the time it was over, I had forgotten just what had been on my mind. Although I hadn't forgotten Joseph, I definitely felt better.

"Will you at least try? We can speak to her this afternoon," Alice said, wiping the tears from her face.

"Yes, alright."

"Excellent. By the time we're done, George may be back from the village."

I did not like the idea of having to wait the entire afternoon before finding out whether George had been successful, but at least I had something to do in the time. Had Alice not offered me a task, I would have driven myself mad trying to find something to do or merely worrying about what to expect.

Perhaps Alice was not the annoying sister I thought she was.

~~~

A/N - We are back with Chapter Nine! This chapter definietly isn't a day late because I forgot yesterday was Tuesday... Anyway, we have more of George and Nate, and Nate and Alice!"

Questions! 

Do you think George will be able to find a new job for Joseph? Should Nate stay out of it for the time being?

Comment below!

Dedication - There is no dedication this week, but comment or interact with the story for your chance to have a chapter dedicated to you! 

First Published - November 30th, 2022