"What do you mean she's gone?" I looked at Alice. "You were supposed to stop them from leaving."

"I tried! You gave me no indication as to why they should stay and you've been gone for ages!"

"You are not in a position to be demanding things from your sister, Nathaniel." Father stared at me and I prepared myself for him to yell about the state I found myself in, but his gaze softened a little. "Before we go any further, you need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death. We'll have to summon Doctor Merrick back when this rain stops. Even from here, I can see how much pain you're in."

I glanced down at my left arm. My wrist had started to turn a deep shade of purple and moving it would send a wave of pain up my entire arm. The whole of my left side didn't fare any better. Every breath sent more pain rippling across my chest and my left hip ached with every slight movement of my body. This time, I had not escaped unscathed. Perhaps it was my punishment for not being able to help Rebecca the way I wanted to. For not being able to save her.

My arm could wait. Everything else could wait. There was still a chance that we could catch them; a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. A cold wouldn't be too bad of a result if it meant we could get Rebecca back.

"How long ago did they leave? Maybe we can catch up with them," I said.

"No, Nathaniel. They are long gone by now and I am not having anyone going out in this. It's too dangerous."

Alice looked at me, frowning. "What is this about, Nate? Where did you even go?"

"To the village. I had to speak to Joseph and Mrs Reed."

"Who?"

"Mrs Reed. She was the Marlows' old housekeeper. I thought I told you that already. I had to ask her something about Lily. It was important and it couldn't wait."

"You're talking in riddles, Nate. What's going on?"

"Her name wasn't Rebecca Edwards," I said. "It was Lily. Lily Marlow."

A still, oppressive silence settled over the entire house, smothering every sound - the rain on the window, the creaking of the floorboards, even the clock seemed to stop ticking. I could hear my heartbeat pounding, blood rushing through my ears. The room fell still. I might have thought time had stopped were it not for the rain still hitting the window.

Alice stared at me without blinking. Several emotions crossed her face in a matter of seconds – confusion, concern, intrigue. Father's eyes widened in shock. Either from the news or that I would have the audacity to make such a claim in the first place. I couldn't tell which. I knew how it all sounded. If I hadn't seen the evidence, if I hadn't spoken to Joseph and Mrs Reed myself, I wouldn't have believed it. The mere idea sounded like an immediate trip to the asylum was in order.

Mother stood up from the settee, the first person to break the stillness that had trapped us. She approached me and placed a light hand on my forehead, just missing the bruises that still marked my skin. She thought me unwell. She thought me to be suffering from a malady that had altered my behaviour and caused my continuously careless attitude. Except I wasn't unwell. For the first time in a long time, everything had started to make sense and I could breathe again. Almost.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked. "We really need to get you out of these wet clothes."

"No, I didn't." I brushed her hand off my head and stepped away, curing the fingers of my right hand into a fist. "I'm fine. Fine."

"No, you're not, Nathaniel. Fine doesn't include you claiming to Mrs Edwards to be Lily Marlow. She died years ago."

I reached into my pocket and wrapped my shaking fingers around the pendant. The metal was warm against my icy fingertips. I pulled the pendant out, throwing it at Father, who caught it by the chain. "Open it."

Father frowned but did as I asked. "Where did you get this?"

"Who is it? The photograph."

"James Marlow's first wife, Harriet."

I turned to Alice. "What name did Miss Edwards give you for her mother?"

"Harriet, but that could just be a coincidence. It's a common enough name."

"I found the pendant hidden in one of the old blankets Joseph gave to Miss Edwards. Mrs Reed confirmed that it belonged to the former Mrs Marlow and that it had been passed to Lily. I asked Joseph to look into Abacus, the horse Miss Edwards had said once belonged to her father and, according to David, a stablehand in the village, Mr Marlow's horse had been called Abacus. Clara Marlow saw Miss Edwards in the window at the picnic and the next day, Mrs Ramone turns up.

"If Miss Edwards had been taken, why did they let her keep the pendant? Why did Mrs Marlow dismiss all her staff after Lily died? Why did Miss Edwards have such a strange reaction to hearing the Marlow's name? Mrs Marlow told everyone Lily died and then played her off a servant called Rebecca Edwards. She probably moved her around so they wouldn't get found out."

"But why?" Alice asked. "What sort of motive would she have?"

"The entire Marlow estate would fall to Clara." I thought back to one of my earlier conversations with Rebecca. "Miss Edwards told me that her father had been ill several weeks before he died and no one could explain it. Mrs Marlow probably poisoned him. With both Mr Marlow and Lily out of the picture, Clara would inherit everything."

"Enough."

Father shut the pendant and flung it onto one of the armchairs. He turned his back to me and approached the mantle, bringing a fist down hard onto the wood. A loud bang reverberated through the room, causing everyone to jump and Mother to clasp a hand to her chest in shock. The bang caused a fresh wave of pain to shoot up my arm and across my chest, rendering me momentarily breathless.

My heart beat faster in my chest, the fingers on both hands started to shake, and even after the pain had subsided, I struggled to breathe. I swallowed the bile in my throat, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole. Anything would have been better than the torrent of abuse Father was about to inflict. The room swam beneath my feet.

"I don't know what game you think you are playing, Nathaniel, but it's not funny. None of what you have told me amounts to proof, and all of it can easily be explained away. If Miss Edwards were Lily Marlow, why would she not say something?"

"Because you wouldn't have believed her," I said, my voice shaky.

He turned around to face me, but his eyes looked through me rather than at me. "George, take Nathaniel upstairs. Get him into something dry and ice his arm. I won't have him end up with a lame wrist because of his own stupidity and actions."

"Yes, sir," George said behind me. I hadn't even realised he had appeared.

"No. You don't get to ignore me, not this time. I know I'm right about Miss Edwards. Why else would she come all this way for help when she could have sought someone out in the village which we know she was in before she came to us? She came to us for help and you didn't care. Maybe that's why she didn't say anything. It would have been a waste of time trying to tell you anything"

"That's enough, Nathaniel," Mother said. "Listen to your father and get out of those wet clothes."

"Why should I listen to him when he never listens to me?" I ran a shaking hand through my hair. Father looked at me, a slight furrow in his eyebrows. "I have tried to do everything you have asked of me these past two weeks, but it is near impossible to do so when you refuse to even listen to what I have to say. We could have helped her, but instead, we have sent her right back to where she started and we'll be lucky if we ever see her again.

"If anything happens to her, it will be because of you, because you refused to do anything."

I turned away from him, squeezing my eyes shut as I fought for an ounce of breath. My chest ached from both the bruises that were no doubt forming on my skin and my inability to draw in a single, completed breath. With every second that passed, it became harder and harder until I was simply gasping for air.

The floor swayed beneath my feet. My breathing became non-existent except for the quiet gasping like a fish out of water. My wrist ached, water trickled down my back, and my fingers trembled. I was losing control of everything. A high-pitched ringing echoed through my ears.

"Master Nate," George said softly, his voice breaking through the ringing. "We need to get you upstairs and into something dry. Anything else you have to say or do can wait. Your health is more important."

I couldn't grasp the words to reply. Even if I wanted to say something, I couldn't seem to get the words out. They remained stuck in my throat. I simply nodded my head.

George placed a hand on my good shoulder and steered me towards the doorway, keeping my head turned away from everyone else. Silence had once again fallen over the room with nothing but the sounds of my gasping breaths to break through it. If Father thought me mad before, he certainly would after that performance. I had never wanted him to see me in such a state, but I had lost all control.

"Nate," Father said behind me. I turned to face him, the fire in his eyes having been extinguished. "I'll be up to see you in a little while."

I turned away, allowing George to lead me from the room and up the stairs. The rope on my chest loosened a little, allowing me to take a small breath of fresh air for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Despite our previous disagreements, despite the fight we had just suffered through, there was something comforting about him calling me Nate for the first time in days.

George took me up to my bedroom and I offered him no resistance as he set about peeling my damp clothes from my body and replacing them with my nightshirt. He moved my left arm as gingerly as possible, but that didn't stop the pain from flaring up once more. My chest was spotted with the beginnings of bruises that would no doubt be even more painful than they were the last time I had fallen off Lightning.

Even with the nightshirt and the blanket George had draped around my shoulder, I still shivered. The cold, which I had previously managed to ignore, had embedded itself into every part of my body. My fingers still shook, but the rope on my chest had loosened considerably and I could breathe freely.

"You scared me when you disappeared into that storm with Lightning. I was about to come looking for you myself when Oliver told me you'd come back injured," George said, sitting on the window seat beside me.

"I ... I did look for you."

"Mrs Lucas told me when I got back. Something serious could have happened to you and we wouldn't have been any the wiser." George sighed, looking at my wrist. "I'll get some ice and then we need to bandage that. Doctor Merrick probably won't be here until the morning."

"Perhaps you would allow me to do that, George. I believe Nate and I are due a conversation," Father said from the doorway. I looked up at Father who stood with a cloth in one hand and a rolled-up bandage in the other. He also had something hidden in his pocket.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you."

"You'll be fine, Master Nate. Trust me."

George offered me a comforting smile and a light hand on my shoulder as he stood up from the window seat and left the room. Father stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. I listened to the sound of the rain lashing the window as he crossed the room, joining on the window seat. He twisted his body to mine and lightly took hold of my left wrist.

The ice Father pressed to my skin through the cloth did nothing to stop the trembling of my fingertips, but I was sure it was now caused by fear rather than anything else. After a few moments of silence, he removed the cloth and began to wind the white bandage around my wrist.

"You and I have never seen eye-to-eye, Nate. I know that. Ever since you were a boy, you have always been determined to help everyone you can, be it human or animal. I never quite understood your obsession and thought that perhaps you might grow out of it. I was wrong, but that wasn't as bad a thing as I thought it to be. Helping people is what makes you, you.

"What happened downstairs just now, is that what has caused your strange behaviour over these past few days?"

"Partially."

He nodded, tying the bandage. "I thought as much. I know that my actions this last week or so have no doubt only exacerbated the problems you've been having. It never should have reached this point. You never should have been in a position where you didn't think you could come and talk to me. I am sorry I ever made you feel like you couldn't. As your father, it is my responsibility to ensure your future is safe, but it is also my responsibility to ensure that you are happy and I can see you have been anything but.

"From now on, I need you to tell me how you're feeling. If I don't know, I cannot help you to move forward and I want to be able to help you, Nate. Things never should have reached this point, and I know that the blame rests squarely on my shoulders."

"What about Miss Edwards?" I asked.

"Miss Edwards, Miss Marlow, whoever she is, we'll find her. Someone has to know this, Mrs Ramone, and when we find her, we can find out the truth."

"What if we never find her?"

"We will, Nate. She cannot run forever. Any potential reunion between you and Miss Clara Marlow is to stop immediately and from now on, you are in complete control of your future."

"I should have known it was her." I looked down at my hands, squeezing my eyes shut but being unable to fight the tears that rolled down my cheeks. "We grew up together. I should have recognised her face."

Father gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest, something he hadn't done since I was a boy. "This isn't just on you, Nate, we all should have realised. I'm sorry I wasn't the help I should have been, but we'll get through this together. We'll find her one way or another. That is a promise."

I knew it was a promise that he wouldn't be able to keep. How could he? We didn't know where they went, or even if Mrs Ramone was her real name. Still, his offering to help mattered more than he could have ever known, and I hoped that it was the start of a better relationship between us.

As for Rebecca, there were too many unknowns, too many loose ends to a task that I had wanted to complete. I wanted to help Rebecca, but I couldn't and so she just disappeared once more, no doubt thinking we had forgotten her.

That was something I could never do.

~~

A/N - One more chapter to go and then When The Rain Falls is over! It's a bittersweet ending as we wrap up Nate's story!

Questions!

Do you think they should have trusted Nate? Had he been too wreckless?

Comment below!

First Published - May 30th, 2023