Jonesy decided this would be the last day he would spend of his search
around Irving Hall. After a bit of research he learned the owner of the
establishment had been a friend of John Lewis. Seeking out a familiar face
in time of need seemed like a reasonable strategy. His first stop on the
trip of Emerson's familiar faces was to the Monroe household. Having
spoken to the woman of the house, he was sure not to give away his identity
or his intentions.
After knocking on the door, he stood back from the house waiting for someone from inside to greet him. Before him stood a grand two story Victorian style home, yellow in color with white shutters and pillars. The porch on which he waited supported an upper level balcony. Double French doors opened out to the terrace from a room on the second story where white cast iron furniture awaited an afternoon tea. Catching a glimpse of a figure moving through the window, Jonesy stepped back over toward the door anticipating friendly response to his inquiry of the Lewis girl.
Mrs. Monroe, a short, full-figured, blonde haired woman in her mid-forties, offering a pleasant but quizzical smile opened the door. Jonesy plastered on his best falsie and spoke with what he hoped was great concern in his voice, explaining his relationship to the family, wondering if Emerson had paid them a visit following the funeral of her parents.
"Well, no, I'm sorry, Mr. I do not think I got your name."
"James. Edmond James."
"Mr. James, I have not seen Emerson, the poor dear. Losing both her parents in such a tragic manner must have left quite a bit of distress with her. Mr. Monroe and I asked her to move in, to stay with us for a while, but she politely declined our offer saying she wanted things to return to normal as soon as possible. I do hope she is okay such a lovely girl."
"Yes." Keeping his answer short, Jonesy hoped would lessen the amount of personal information his host felt comfortable to share. The less he knew about his prey, the easier the job. Listening to this woman speak of Miss Lewis, learning of her personality, meeting friends, putting a person to his quarry might make his task more difficult.
"She and my daughter, Sheila have been friends since they were tots, let me ask her if she might know of Emerson's whereabouts."
Rising from her seat in the lounge upon hearing her name, Sheila placed her book on the side table and made her way to the door where her mother stood talking to a pleasant looking man.
Resisting the urge to tug at the collar of his fully buttoned shirt, Jonesy jammed his hands into the pockets of the suit pants he wore. Mr. Wells, an assistant of Blackburn sent over to make him presentable to the company of people the Lewis' would have kept, knotted the blue tie tightly and neatly. As he stood before Mrs. Monroe and her daughter, Jonesy perceived the makeover a success.
"There you are Sheila dear; Mr. James here is, um, was a friend of John and Anna. Since the funeral, he has been trying to call on Emerson to pay condolences, but she seems to have disappeared. Did she happen to mention anything to you about going to stay with anyone?"
Looking the man up and down, Sheila thought he looked friendly enough, but in all the time she and Emerson had been friends she never heard this man's name mentioned. Over the years, Sheila was introduced to many of the Lewis family friends and business associates. Solitude being only a dream to the middle child of seven, she practically lived in the home of her friend who had no siblings. Only a few seconds passed before Sheila remembered how frightened her friend seemed during her late night visit.
"No, Mother, she did not mention anything to me about where she might have gone." Technically, it was not a lie; she really had no idea where Emerson was headed when she climbed out the window.
"Thank you for your time, I am sorry to have troubled you." Jonesy felt the girl was holding something back, but had no choice except to end the visit.
"No trouble, sir, I hope Emerson is well. Do stop back by if there is anything we can do to aid in your search." Closing the door, Susan Monroe turned to her daughter.
"Now that he is gone, why don't you tell me what you do know?"
"It was the truth; I really do not know where Emerson went."
"But you do know something."
"I promised not to say anything."
"Sheila," Susan Monroe took her daughter's hand and sat on the steps, which led to the second story of their home. "Emerson might be in some sort of trouble."
Letting out a deep sigh, Sheila knew she would no longer be able to keep quiet. "Emerson came through my window the night after the funeral. She seemed very afraid of something."
"What do you mean afraid?"
"She asked me to help her cut and dye her hair to change her appearance a little. She is trying to hide out until John's lawyer comes back from holiday. She gave me an envelope and asked me to deliver it to his office on Friday."
"An envelope? What's inside the envelope?"
"I do not know and I will not disregard her wishes by opening it. Emerson asked me to deliver the package and I plan to respect her request by doing so."
Susan knew by the set expression on her daughter's face that she meant every word she said. Deciding not to further question Sheila's intentions, she turned her thoughts to the well-being of the missing girl. "Do you think Emerson is okay?"
"Mother, you know as well as I do that Emerson Lewis is very resourceful. I am quite sure she knows exactly what she is doing."
---------------------------------------------------
Rhapsody: Sorry, no romance here, but maybe in future chapters? What's the scoop on your story? I've been checking for an update, but am left feeling sad-well, that's what it said before you updated one day before I post this. Hope to see more from you soon. Thanks for the review and well wishes, they both mean very much to me.
Dreamer: First a thank you for updating HP!! Always nice to see an update on a story you love and can't wait for more to post. Secondly thank you for your review and continuing support. I hope this update was worth the wait and not too disappointing. We'll go back to Medda's in the next chapter. =)
Kaylee: Sorry Racetrack didn't make it into this chapter, but I really don't think he would have fit unless he could be one of Sheila's siblings. Hmmmmmm..have to figure something out for Race. *Scribbling note for future chapter to add a bit more Race for Kaylee.*
Jinx: I'm sure you're not reading this, but in the event that anyone else wonders, yes, they did have fire extinguishers in 1900. I try not to use anything without first researching.
Drama-Queen: Many thanks to you and your characters for your well wishes and special thanks for the dedication of your story to me. I really am flattered and cannot wait for an update!!
Sparker: Glad you stopped in for a read. I may be over the hill, but I love the boys as much as you young un's do. Thank you for the review and the swift updates on Angie. I love that quality in an author!!
And finally...
Raven's Wing: Thank you much for taking the time to read and review each chapter. Please send my thanks to the reader who sent you over, it's wonderful to know that someone has enjoyed it enough to recommend it to another. I hope to blow all hints of predictability out the window over the next couple of chapters.
After knocking on the door, he stood back from the house waiting for someone from inside to greet him. Before him stood a grand two story Victorian style home, yellow in color with white shutters and pillars. The porch on which he waited supported an upper level balcony. Double French doors opened out to the terrace from a room on the second story where white cast iron furniture awaited an afternoon tea. Catching a glimpse of a figure moving through the window, Jonesy stepped back over toward the door anticipating friendly response to his inquiry of the Lewis girl.
Mrs. Monroe, a short, full-figured, blonde haired woman in her mid-forties, offering a pleasant but quizzical smile opened the door. Jonesy plastered on his best falsie and spoke with what he hoped was great concern in his voice, explaining his relationship to the family, wondering if Emerson had paid them a visit following the funeral of her parents.
"Well, no, I'm sorry, Mr. I do not think I got your name."
"James. Edmond James."
"Mr. James, I have not seen Emerson, the poor dear. Losing both her parents in such a tragic manner must have left quite a bit of distress with her. Mr. Monroe and I asked her to move in, to stay with us for a while, but she politely declined our offer saying she wanted things to return to normal as soon as possible. I do hope she is okay such a lovely girl."
"Yes." Keeping his answer short, Jonesy hoped would lessen the amount of personal information his host felt comfortable to share. The less he knew about his prey, the easier the job. Listening to this woman speak of Miss Lewis, learning of her personality, meeting friends, putting a person to his quarry might make his task more difficult.
"She and my daughter, Sheila have been friends since they were tots, let me ask her if she might know of Emerson's whereabouts."
Rising from her seat in the lounge upon hearing her name, Sheila placed her book on the side table and made her way to the door where her mother stood talking to a pleasant looking man.
Resisting the urge to tug at the collar of his fully buttoned shirt, Jonesy jammed his hands into the pockets of the suit pants he wore. Mr. Wells, an assistant of Blackburn sent over to make him presentable to the company of people the Lewis' would have kept, knotted the blue tie tightly and neatly. As he stood before Mrs. Monroe and her daughter, Jonesy perceived the makeover a success.
"There you are Sheila dear; Mr. James here is, um, was a friend of John and Anna. Since the funeral, he has been trying to call on Emerson to pay condolences, but she seems to have disappeared. Did she happen to mention anything to you about going to stay with anyone?"
Looking the man up and down, Sheila thought he looked friendly enough, but in all the time she and Emerson had been friends she never heard this man's name mentioned. Over the years, Sheila was introduced to many of the Lewis family friends and business associates. Solitude being only a dream to the middle child of seven, she practically lived in the home of her friend who had no siblings. Only a few seconds passed before Sheila remembered how frightened her friend seemed during her late night visit.
"No, Mother, she did not mention anything to me about where she might have gone." Technically, it was not a lie; she really had no idea where Emerson was headed when she climbed out the window.
"Thank you for your time, I am sorry to have troubled you." Jonesy felt the girl was holding something back, but had no choice except to end the visit.
"No trouble, sir, I hope Emerson is well. Do stop back by if there is anything we can do to aid in your search." Closing the door, Susan Monroe turned to her daughter.
"Now that he is gone, why don't you tell me what you do know?"
"It was the truth; I really do not know where Emerson went."
"But you do know something."
"I promised not to say anything."
"Sheila," Susan Monroe took her daughter's hand and sat on the steps, which led to the second story of their home. "Emerson might be in some sort of trouble."
Letting out a deep sigh, Sheila knew she would no longer be able to keep quiet. "Emerson came through my window the night after the funeral. She seemed very afraid of something."
"What do you mean afraid?"
"She asked me to help her cut and dye her hair to change her appearance a little. She is trying to hide out until John's lawyer comes back from holiday. She gave me an envelope and asked me to deliver it to his office on Friday."
"An envelope? What's inside the envelope?"
"I do not know and I will not disregard her wishes by opening it. Emerson asked me to deliver the package and I plan to respect her request by doing so."
Susan knew by the set expression on her daughter's face that she meant every word she said. Deciding not to further question Sheila's intentions, she turned her thoughts to the well-being of the missing girl. "Do you think Emerson is okay?"
"Mother, you know as well as I do that Emerson Lewis is very resourceful. I am quite sure she knows exactly what she is doing."
---------------------------------------------------
Rhapsody: Sorry, no romance here, but maybe in future chapters? What's the scoop on your story? I've been checking for an update, but am left feeling sad-well, that's what it said before you updated one day before I post this. Hope to see more from you soon. Thanks for the review and well wishes, they both mean very much to me.
Dreamer: First a thank you for updating HP!! Always nice to see an update on a story you love and can't wait for more to post. Secondly thank you for your review and continuing support. I hope this update was worth the wait and not too disappointing. We'll go back to Medda's in the next chapter. =)
Kaylee: Sorry Racetrack didn't make it into this chapter, but I really don't think he would have fit unless he could be one of Sheila's siblings. Hmmmmmm..have to figure something out for Race. *Scribbling note for future chapter to add a bit more Race for Kaylee.*
Jinx: I'm sure you're not reading this, but in the event that anyone else wonders, yes, they did have fire extinguishers in 1900. I try not to use anything without first researching.
Drama-Queen: Many thanks to you and your characters for your well wishes and special thanks for the dedication of your story to me. I really am flattered and cannot wait for an update!!
Sparker: Glad you stopped in for a read. I may be over the hill, but I love the boys as much as you young un's do. Thank you for the review and the swift updates on Angie. I love that quality in an author!!
And finally...
Raven's Wing: Thank you much for taking the time to read and review each chapter. Please send my thanks to the reader who sent you over, it's wonderful to know that someone has enjoyed it enough to recommend it to another. I hope to blow all hints of predictability out the window over the next couple of chapters.