Ten years later…
Chapter 2: The man named Abel
The city of London was very busy as she started her day as snowflakes fell from the sky. Townspeople thought that their home was gloomy and bleak; their lives had made gray since that day their King and his family was killed. The only thing that kept their lives interesting was gossip. The rumor most famous now was that King Nicholas's daughter, Princess Esther was still alive. It was said that her grandmother would pay a large amount of money to who ever brought her, her granddaughter.
A young man, who wore a black cloak and had curly, semi-long brown hair, walked through the streets and walked up to an old lady selling apples. He picked one up took a bite and get the lady a copper coin. Then he continued his walk through the busy streets. Quickly he darted around a corner into a dark alley and walked up to a door. He knocked twice in a special pattern, the door opened, and he slipped inside.
Suddenly, he was walking up white marble stairs and when he reached the top he kept walking until a certain man, whom had glasses and a long silver ponytail tied up by a black ribbon that was leaned against the railing, stopped him by whistling and called, "Hey, Leon!"
Leon turned around and saw the man. He gasped and walked up to him, "Abel!" The muttered to each other about something and continued to walk through the market area. They came up to a red curtained off room and slipped behind the curtain and into another room. This one was dark and held many paintings and pottery.
"Well, Abel, I got us a theater." Leon told him as they continued to walk to the back of the room.
"Great! Now we just need a girl." Abel said as they began to walk up a hidden case of stairs.
"Yes, great indeed! Just think Abel! No more forging papers. No more stolen goods." Leon said as the neared the top of the stairs and walked into an attic like room.
"We'll have three tickets out of here! One for you, one for me, and one for Esther!" Abel said as he looked out of the small window balcony and over the snowy town.
"Yes, we'll find a girl to play the part and teach her what to say." Leon repeated the plan as Abel came back inside, opened a safe, and took out a circular gold object.
"Dress her up and take her to Paris!" Abel continued as he slipped the gold object into his bag. Then he and Leon both went to the balcony with a bag in hand. "We'll be rich!"
"We'll be rich!" Leon repeated.
"We'll be out!" Abel said as he thrust a hand into the cold air.
"We'll be out!" Leon repeated again.
Then the two of them jumped off of the balcony and onto the snowy roof as they slide down it. However, when they came to the end of the roof, Abel lost his footing and fell forwards into a snow bank on the ground. Leon jump down and looked at the long arms and legs sticking out of the snow bank. "Hey Abel? Are you okay?" He asked.
Abel sat up and looked at him with a bit of snow on the top of his silver haired head. "Yes, I'm fine. I had this soft snow to help me land." He shook his head like a dog, stood up, and together they walked into the streets, climbed into a trolley car, and road in it to the theater.
In a town away from the capital, the sky was grey and at the horizon line colors of orange and yellow showed as the sun was beginning to rise. It was snowing lightly here too and there was a building in this town and it was big. Children's chattering could be heard from outside. There was a wooden sign over the door of the building and it black lettering it said: People's Orphanage. The door opened and a young woman with long crimson red hair and another lady, who looked about in her mid-thirties, followed her.
"I got you a job in the shoe factory." She said and explained how to get there. "You go straight down this path until you reach the fork in the road. Go left—Are you listening?" She asked.
"Bye! Bye, Tabitha! Bye, everybody!" The red haired woman called as she waved to the children that stood inside the building by the window. She stopped and looked at the woman. "Yes, Miss Laura. I'm listening."
Miss Laura took her hand and led her to the gate. "For the last ten years…" She started as the red haired girl sighed and mouthed the rest of Miss Laura's sentence as she continued. "I've fed you; I've clothed you; I've kept a roof over—"
"Kept a roof over my head." The red head finished.
Miss Laura turned around with a gasp. "Dear, how is it that you don't have a clue as to who you were before you came her, but you can remember all that?"
"But I do have a clue to—" She interrupted as she picked up the charm that was on her necklace that was on her neck.
"I know, dear." Miss Laura said as she took the charm in her hands and read it: "Together in Paris." She let the necklace fall back in place around woman's neck. "So you want to go to France to find your family, huh?"
The red-haired woman nodded. "Mm-hm."
" Miss Esther, as much as you wish to find your family. You can't go anywhere without money. So you need to hurry up and go to your job at the fish factory. Goodbye." She said as she pushed Esther out passed the opened gate and closed it in front of Esther's face as Esther turned around to face Miss Laura. Miss Laura showed no emotion, but deep inside she was sad to lose Esther. She turned and walked back toward the house.
Esther sighed as she turned to face the snow-covered path and began to walk down it.
Esther came to the fork it the road. She looked at the sign. The left arrow said 'Loughton' and the arrow that pointed right said 'London'.
" 'Go left,' she says," Esther whispered, "Well I know what's to the left. I'll be Ester the orphan forever." She rubbed her hands together to make them warm again. She started walking down the right path as snow crunched under her shoes as she aid, "But maybe if I go right, I could find––" she fumbled with the charm on her necklace again, "whoever gave me this necklace must have loved me."
She dropped her hands down back her side and back to walk back to the sign. "This is crazy. Me go to London; then Paris?" Her long crimson red wool scarf, which was wrapped loosely around her neck, dragged in the snow. She raise her arms up and then dropped them back down at her side again as she called out, "Side me a sign! A…a hint!" She sat down on a mount of snow and whispered, "Anything."
Suddenly, something poked it's head out from the snow bank behind her. It was a puppy. It barked, grabbed the end of her scarf, and took over with it in front of the right path. The scarf easily slid off her neck and onto the snow; were the puppy dragged it.
"Hey!" Esther said as she stood up and grabbed one end of the scarf. "Hey! I don't have time to play around, dog! I'm waiting for a sign, so let go!" She tried to pull it out from the puppy's mouth, but it didn't work. "Would you please leave me alo––" She said as she pulled, but the puppy still wouldn't let go and circled around her legs; entangling her and the scarf. She tripped over it and landed face first into the snow.
The puppy began to run down the right path, toward London. He stopped and turned toward Esther. He was waiting for her to come with him.
Esther stood up. "Oh, great! A dog wants me to go to London!"
The puppy dropped the scarf and barked.
Esther gasped and looked at the dog. "Okay." She said as she walked over to the puppy and scarf. "I can take a hint." She said and picked up the scarf. She looked up and down the path. The puppy picked up the other end of the scarf again and began to lead her down the snow-covered path.
"Heart, please don't fail me now; courage, don't desert me. Esther, don't turn back now that we're here. You can do Esther Just take one step at a time." She told herself silently and did so as well. She and the puppy began to walk down the path, leaving a trail of tracks behind them in the blanket of snow.
"People always say life is full of choices, but no one ever mentions fear. But why am I afraid? Is it because I can't remember a thing? Or is it that I never was let out of the home and gates of 'People's Orphanage' and was never one my own before? The only time I was alone was for a few weeks before I was brought to 'People's Orphanage' ten years ago. But somewhere down this road, I know there must be someone waiting. This feeling in my heart tells me that I'm right." She thought as she walked.
She stopped walking and picked up the puppy. "I'll finally be home. I'll be safe and wanted for once." The puppy licked her nose and she giggled. She set the puppy down and began to walk down the path again. She turned to him and said, "Come on." He barked and followed.
It was passed noon when they passed a cottage where a small family lived. The family was inside eating dinner together. Esther, as she was walking, looked inside the window and saw this. She and the puppy continued to walk down the path as she thought, "Hope; love; family. There must have been a time I had them too."
They neared the end of the path. They could see the big clock tower, the streets, and all the houses and buildings of the city of London.
A train ticket salesman sat inside his office. He was old with little, thick-lens glasses on the edge of his nose, and he was busy stamp some papers.
Esther, who held the little puppy in her hand, came up to his little window and said, "One ticket to Dover please."
"Exit visa." The old man grumpily replied.
"Exit visa?" Esther repeated questioningly. The old woman behind her backed up a step.
"No exit visa, no ticket!" The grouchy, old man yelled and shut his office window.
The old woman behind her jumped back and gasped deeply.
"Oh. Hmph! Mean, old, grump!" Esther whispered as the puppy growled at the window.
The old woman tapped Esther on her back. Esther turned and looked at her.
"You want to go to Paris. Don't you?" The woman asked. Her voice was sly and creaky.
"Yes!" Esther gasped. "How did you––" She started but she was cut off by the old woman,
"See Abel; he can help."
"Where can I find him?" Esther asked in a whisper.
"At the old palace." The woman answered. "But you didn't hear it from me." She added and looked around. "Go. Go, go, go." She said with the wave of her hand.
Esther turned. "Hmm. Abel…"