A/N: Thanks for all my reviews! I love ya all! Sorry for the late update, I HATE the end of the year! Oh, well, here is the next chapter.

Ch3: To Go or Not to Go?

"W-What?" Emma asked, for she was not sure whether she heard Mother Superior right.

"'Ow would you like to be adopted?" she repeated, smiling at the young girl's shock.

"By whom?" Emma asked, trying to get her thoughts straight.

"A woman in America, her name is Margaret Bennett," answered Mother Superior. After a few minutes of silence, she continued,

"Child, if we need to give you a day or two to think, we will, but you must know that an opportunity like this does not come around very often."

Emma, dazed and confused, nodded her head and silently walked out the door, Sister Katherine trailing behind her.

"Child!" Sister Katherine called from behind her. Emma spun around to gaze up at her mentor.

"Child, pray, come with me a moment." And Emma followed her into a familiar room. Emma gazed around her, as she always did, and noted that the old, worn out books were still as they had been yesterday and the day before.

"Sit," Sister Katherine gently commanded her, and Emma did just that.

"Now, child, what do you want?" This question was so abrupt, that Emma stared at her for a full five seconds before saying, "What?" Sighing, Sister Katherine explained,

"Child, do you want to be adopted, to go to America?"

"I-I 'onestly don't know. Part of me wants to, yes, but another part of me 'as made a 'ome 'ere and doesn't want to leave…I'm so confused…" she said, lost in her own thoughts.

"Well, I can't tell you what to do, but going to America will be a great opportunity to start a new life, become who you want to be. But like I said, it's your choice." Sister Katherine said, as their conversation lapsed into thoughtful silence. After a minute or two, Emma got up and quietly left the room. Sister Katherine's eyes followed her retreating back until she could see her no longer.

That poor child… she mused, she's going to have lots of fun in America…

Emma walked back towards the lunchroom. There she found Clara, talking away to anyone who would listen. She stopped talking as soon as she saw Emma.

"Go on, finish your conversation." Emma nodded towards Clara, who just remained silent.

"What did she want?" Virginia asked, excitement and anticipation bubbling from inside of her.

"Mother Superior?" Emma asked, wondering if everybody knew that she went to see the Headmaster.

"Yes! You silly goose! What did she say?"

"Well…" Emma began as a devilish thought came to her mind.

"She wanted to know…" Emma let her voice trail off again, causing the other girls to lean in furiously.

"You know what? I don't think I'm gonna tell you." She said and sent a smile to Clara, then turned her focus to the rest of the food on her plate. This action was received with groans and muffled laughing.

"C'mon Emma, tell us!" Sarah persisted. This caused Emma to smile even further.

"I don't know if I should…" She began truthfully.

"Please!" this came from Clara, who despite everyone's persistence, really didn't care if Emma told them or not. She knew that Emma would eventually tell her, one way or the other, but she wanted to shut up the infuriating noise of whining girls.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Emma resigned, still not knowing if it was the right thing to do.

"Mother Superior got a letter that someone wants to adopted me! Someone in America!" Emma cried, surprising herself at the excitement that was portrayed in her voice.

"What?!" came the cries of all the girls simultaneously. They had known girls to get adopted, but they were never this old when it happened nor were the adopters in America.

Clara, upon hearing this news, rushed out of the room. She ran all the way towards her bedroom, not caring who heard or saw. She was happy for Emma, she truly was, but she was sad for herself and for the friendship she was about to loose.

She had been placed in Westminster Abbey's orphanage a little over two years ago, her parents having been killed from a fire. And Clara, their only child, had been forced to live the streets.

And well, she mused, I had to eat. And it had been exactly that sentiment that had got her landed in an orphanage. Successfully stealing apples from the street vendor wasn't the stupid part of her plan. The stupid, and shameful part, she added, was getting caught.

And if it weren't for the beetle, I wouldn't 'ave been placed in an orphanage! Her mind screamed, as the tears began to fall.

Emma was the only one who would even talk to her that first day. Emma, she thought, with that bright smile and friendly demeanor that could make anyone feel welcome. Clara hadn't believed in God then, she had never even heard of him. Emma told her that it was OK, and that she didn't have to believe, she just had to listen. And Clara did just that. It did not take long for Clara to not only believe, but to participate as well. She found a wondering strength in the believe that there was life after death, and knew that her parents must be watching her. But now that Emma was going, for surly she would, Clara did not know if she could handle it.

How am I supposed to go on, she thought as tears continued to roll down her cheeks, when the very person who feeds my strength leaves to America?

Emma, worried about her friend, and knowing that she was upset, left the table in the midst of all the confusion. Everyone was chatting about her proposition, but Emma was no longer excited. She knew what Clara was thinking, for she felt it as well. Clara had been her source of strength and hope all these years, and now, for the first time in two years they were to be separated.

Permanently separated, Emma mused, for she highly doubted that if she in fact, left for America, that she would be back.

As she wound her way through the hallways and into the bedroom in which they shared with three other girls, Emma searched for any sign of Clara. It wasn't until Emma reached Clara's bed, that she found her.

"Clara?" she asked, knowing that she was the cause of her friend's tears.

"What?" Clara asked, obviously trying to sound normal, but they both knew she had been crying.

"Clara, don't cry. I don't even know if I'm going-"

"Yes you are, and we both know it. You'll go because you want a new adventure, because you want to leave. Any of us would." Clara sobbed, whipping the tears from her freckled face.

"I won't go if you don't want me to." Emma said, trying to make Clara feel better, but the end result was to make her friend cry harder.

"What is it?" Emma asked, confused.

"That is so sweet!" Clara cried,

"But we both know that you are gonna go. I may not want you to leave, but I would never tell you not to go." Clara told her as Emma climbed up to Clara's bed on the top bunk. When Emma reached the top and sat down, Clara asked,

"Why wouldn't you go? Just because of me?" Emma thought on this a moment, then said, "No, not just because of you, but that is a factor. Because I've 'ave made a 'ome 'ere and I don't know if I want to live in a place I 'ave never been with a woman I 'ave never met." This statement caused Clara to burs tout laughing.

"What?"

"Emma, you are such a contradiction! You speak of places that you want to go someday, then when you get the chance you doubt whether you want to leave!"

"Well-"

"Don't worry about it! That is one of things I love most about you!" Clara interrupted.

"So…it looks like I'm going." Emma sighed, feeling better all ready.

"Let's go tell Mother Superior."

Deep in the woods of the English countryside, Officer McCullen, the local magistrate shook his head.

"Well, the bodies were found 'ere." He told his partner, who shook his head in response.

"It looks like this one, a male, in his early twenties was hung around the neck." He continued, as he pointed towards the dismembered figure on the ground.

"And this one, female, barely twenty, was shot."

"Well," his partner, Officer Gravers, said,

"What do we do now?"

"We," McCullen stated,

"We go catch ourselves a bad guy."

A/N: Sorry again for the late, update, but I hope you liked it! And for any of you that don't know "the beetle" aka the magistrate is the police in Europe. Oh, and as a side note, my girl Kivaidensgirl has been really sick…(tear). So I HOPE YOU GET BETTER SOON!