THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS BRONTE

PART I - HAWORTH 1846

Chapter 1 - Taken

Anne sighed as she read today's headline in the Haworth Weekly. The bold lettering of the words "MISS BRONTE GONE MISSING!" made her sick to the stomach, although it had happened one month ago.

That was when Charlotte had disappeared without a trace. Anne wished her sister could have made it into the newspaper for a less tragic reason. As the youngest sibling, Anne had always looked up to Charlotte, especially at a time like this when it truly seemed that they could have hope times might change. The three sisters had only just begun having their stories published.

Well – except for Charlotte, unfortunately. Her manuscript of The Professor had been rejected recently, but Anne and Emily had succeeded in publishing their first novels Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights. It was such a revolutionary time for women! Well, granted of course, the publishers had no idea they were women just yet, but Anne was sure it would come out eventually.

Only now that her sister was lost and nobody seemed to know what had happened to her, Anne was feeling drained and hopeless again. The family had done everything they could – to no avail. They had reported Charlotte's disappearance to the police to start with.

Once the officers had recognised Charlotte as a missing person after an absence of 24 hours, posters had been hung up all over town and a little while later, a detective had taken over her case, reassuring the family that Charlotte would return eventually.

Anne had noticed a slight hint of a Scottish accent when the detective had spoken to her. "People don't simply disappear," he had claimed, "Usually, there is a perfectly ordinary explanation."

Well, Charlotte was no ordinary woman, so perhaps something extraordinary had happened to her that she couldn't tell her family about, but why would she leave no note? Why would she not reassure her family in any way that she was safe?

Anne was worried beyond her wits that her sister was in dangerous and scared she would never return, but this thought was so awful, she couldn't bear it and quickly put the newspaper aside, resuming her writing, so her mind was otherwise occupied.


Meanwhile, Emily was sitting at her desk in a daze. She couldn't help but rewind what had happened the day Charlotte had disappeared over and over again. Her knowledge tormented her. She knew something her family didn't.

She knew what had happened to Charlotte, but she couldn't tell anyone. Nobody would believe her. Perhaps they would even call her insane or lock her up. Emily could already guess what the neighbours would say:

"It's just another one of her stories," or, "She was always an imaginative soul."

Emily might lose her credibility entirely, but the images played in her mind's eye on a loop, never ceasing, plaguing her with guilt, although she knew it wasn't her fault.

She was not to blame, but what would people think if they knew the truth? Tears began to form in Emily's eyes as she began to remember once more:

They had come back from an outing in Keighley where the three sisters sometimes went to the library to borrow the odd book and perhaps find inspiration within them. The three of them were avid readers and also loved the outdoors.

Hence, they often went for walks. The walk to Keighley took about an hour, so the three sisters were rather tired by the time they arrived back at the Haworth parsonage.

Nevertheless, Emily and Charlotte had decided to go on another jaunt on the moors, to which they had direct access from the parsonage. Anne had gone inside, feeling exhausted.

When Charlotte and Emily eventually headed back to the house, crossing the graveyard as always, which was located directly in front of their home, Emily had noticed something strange. A stone angel statue was standing in the graveyard.

She had never seen it before, so she wondered who could have placed it there. Charlotte had also remarked that the statue seemed out of place. She had a view of the graveyard from her room and looked out every day at the gravestones, standing in uncoordinated rows, not the most pleasing of sights, but – if anyone - Charlotte would certainly be the first person to notice any changes.

While Emily had pondered whether the statue had simply been overlooked all these years, a slight hint of doubt still in her mind, Charlotte had known immediately that something was wrong. Whatever the reason for the statue's sudden appearance, both sisters had an ominous feeling in their stomachs as they beheld the stone angel, which seemed eerily supernatural.

At first, Charlotte had wondered briefly if she had seen such a statue before, but because they had to cross the graveyard on a daily basis to reach the centre of town, she had to rule out this possibility. Surely, one of the sisters would have noticed a stone angel as splendid as this one.

On the day in question, Emily and Charlotte had stood staring in fascination for a moment, then they had turned away and kept walking. "Should we ask father if he had it installed?" Emily had inquired, thinking he might know more on the matter. Charlotte had nodded in agreement - but it was only a few moments later, as they had taken a few steps forward, that the Brontë sisters had heard a rustling of leaves behind them.

Quickly turning round, they were aghast at the sight they beheld. To their horror, the statue had moved. "What kind of devilry is this?" Emily had exclaimed, terrified. Charlotte had hesitated for a moment, then gestured to Emily to continue walking, so they could see if they had imagined things - but again the statue moved still closer towards them.

"What in the world!" Charlotte had gasped. "Are we being tricked?"

As Charlotte was rather short-sighted, she now chose to rely on Emily's judgement over her own.

"It seems to be following us every time we look away," Emily said in amazement. "But how can that be!" Charlotte was astonished.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Unwilling to believe in any supernatural explanation, Charlotte chose to trust her better judgment: "Let's move," she ordered - but even while she was speaking, having taken her eyes off the angel for a mere second, the statue moved towards them once more, this time a lot faster. When they turned around again, the two sisters were horrified to see the angel standing right behind them, one arm outstretched, mouth wide open with sharp little fangs on display.

They were truly in danger now.