"Julie?" Rose managed to press over her lips.
The girl looked at her in disbelief.
"Miss Rose, it is you."
Rose eyes grew wide and she felt little, cold hand grab her throat.
"Is that you, Julie?"
"Yes, it is, Miss Rose. I can't believe my own eyes."
Rose felt the hands closing in on her throat and cutting her breath.
Suddenly a memory flashed before her eyes: Rose is standing in the middle of a dark room, unable to say what or where.
Next to her stands her mother, who's giving orders to a young, skinny girl.
Why did she have to run into a ghost of her past?
"Julie, what are you doing here?" Her voice trembled but she tried to keep a cool composure.
The girl looked at her with a gloom in her eyes that eased Rose.
"Don't worry, Miss Rose. I know what happened, I won't turn you in."
The hands let go of her throat and Rose was able to breathe normally again.
"I don't longer serve your mother, Miss Rose. You have nothing to fear. I'm not going to say a word."
Rose smiled relieved and a soft sigh left her lips.
Mrs. Russell walked in on them and looked surprised at Julie who suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
The woman inspected Julie head to toe and a certain tension hung in the air even though Mrs. Russell usually was very open and friendly to strangers.
Rose tried to soothe the situation.
"Mrs. Russell, this is an old friend of mine. Julie Franklin."
Julie had trouble keeping her laughter silent and nodded along.
This seemed to have broken the ice between the two.
"Miss Julie, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mrs. Russell. You are a fine looking girl. Rose, are you sure you aren't related? Where are you from my child? You don't seem to be from around here. Are you from Colorado? You look like you've had a childhood out in the country. Or are you from Nebraska, Idaho maybe? No, I know! You're not even American; you're English or maybe Irish. No, what am I saying, you're a childhood friend of Rose, so you must be from Wisconsin. But are you sure your mother or father isn't English? I always recognize an Englishman, or in your case an Englishwoman, when I see one."
Rose tried to keep her laughter in and Julie turned completely red.
"I don't think so, Mrs. Russell."
"I think we'd better be going." Rose quickly said to change the subject.
"Have you got everything darling?" Mrs. Russell asked.
"Yes, I think so, just give me a minute." Rose replied.
Mrs. Russell said goodbye to Julie and then tried to force her way through a group of people and resumed making her way to the register.
"Julie, I want to talk to you tonight. Do you know 'The Witters tea - house'? Meet me there at nine o'clock." Rose asked.
The girl nodded and answered: "I'll be there."
Rose turned around and needed to take on a firm step to close in on Mrs. Russell who had already paid and was dragging the heavy flower bags out of the store.
Rose quickly paid for the loaf of brown bread, the bottle of milk and the few apples she had took from the shop.
She'd come back tomorrow, to get the rest she needed.
All she wanted right now was to talk to Julie and to make sure this wasn't one of Cal's tricks.
When she left the store and joined Mrs. Russell, Rose was scared, scared of being trapped in a web spun around her by Cal and her mother...
The walk home annoyed Rose more than anything.
Normally she loved the never resting tongue of Mrs. Russell but this time she wanted it to stop, to have a moment of peace and silence.
The city had come to life and the noise that had grown so familiar to Rose resounded from everywhere.
In the distance Rose could see the building rising up towards the sky.
The coldness that had ruled the world yesterday had made room for a kind of warmth that seemed to come from a different part of the earth.
Although the icy wind had lowered, it still blew forceful enough to calm Rose's fears.
Julie had come into her life for a purpose, she was certain of it.
All she had to do was figure out what that reason was and who had sent Julie.
Mrs. Russell continued her story but she felt Rose didn't listen.
All she wished for was that Rose would open up to her a bit, that she'd take off the mask that fooled a thousand others but couldn't deceive Mrs. Russell.
She had seen the loss in Rose's eyes she had discovered in hers when her husband had died.
She saw Rose was going through something she couldn't face alone anymore more but that she deliberately hid from the rest of the world.
By now they had reached the steps of the building and silently started to ascend the stairs.
Rose carried the bags of flower she had taken from Mrs. Russell after leaving the store and brought them up to the second floor where Mrs. White lived.
She quickly putted the bags in the kitchen and left under loud protest of the two ladies who had tried to keep her for some tea.
Rose couldn't stand the loudness anymore; she needed the comforting silence of her apartment.
Seeing Julie had brought up a lot of memories from the past, memories she tried to suppress.
Had it been her eyesight that failed or had it been her mind that played a wicked game but for one moment Julie's face had turned into Cal's and left her trembling all over.
Rose didn't understand why but there was something about Julie that made her suspicious, even scared her.
By now Rose had reached her apartment door and opened it slowly.
The squeaking noise didn't bother her as much as it usually did, her mind was somewhere else.
What if Julie didn't just run to her by chance?
Would it be safe to meet tonight?
There was something inside of her that told her to be very careful.
Rose went into the bathroom and started to prepare a warm bath.
Maybe that would calm her senses.
As she undressed she felt the coldness that surrounded her.
An icy wind seemed to storm right through the bathroom and froze everything on its path.
She quickly slipped into the tub and tried to relax but the thought of Cal tracking her down and hauling her back to society didn't let go of her.
She had fought for this life, Jack gave up his life for it and Rose would make sure that his death wouldn't be in vain. Nothing would drag her back.
Nothing...
The girl looked at her in disbelief.
"Miss Rose, it is you."
Rose eyes grew wide and she felt little, cold hand grab her throat.
"Is that you, Julie?"
"Yes, it is, Miss Rose. I can't believe my own eyes."
Rose felt the hands closing in on her throat and cutting her breath.
Suddenly a memory flashed before her eyes: Rose is standing in the middle of a dark room, unable to say what or where.
Next to her stands her mother, who's giving orders to a young, skinny girl.
Why did she have to run into a ghost of her past?
"Julie, what are you doing here?" Her voice trembled but she tried to keep a cool composure.
The girl looked at her with a gloom in her eyes that eased Rose.
"Don't worry, Miss Rose. I know what happened, I won't turn you in."
The hands let go of her throat and Rose was able to breathe normally again.
"I don't longer serve your mother, Miss Rose. You have nothing to fear. I'm not going to say a word."
Rose smiled relieved and a soft sigh left her lips.
Mrs. Russell walked in on them and looked surprised at Julie who suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
The woman inspected Julie head to toe and a certain tension hung in the air even though Mrs. Russell usually was very open and friendly to strangers.
Rose tried to soothe the situation.
"Mrs. Russell, this is an old friend of mine. Julie Franklin."
Julie had trouble keeping her laughter silent and nodded along.
This seemed to have broken the ice between the two.
"Miss Julie, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mrs. Russell. You are a fine looking girl. Rose, are you sure you aren't related? Where are you from my child? You don't seem to be from around here. Are you from Colorado? You look like you've had a childhood out in the country. Or are you from Nebraska, Idaho maybe? No, I know! You're not even American; you're English or maybe Irish. No, what am I saying, you're a childhood friend of Rose, so you must be from Wisconsin. But are you sure your mother or father isn't English? I always recognize an Englishman, or in your case an Englishwoman, when I see one."
Rose tried to keep her laughter in and Julie turned completely red.
"I don't think so, Mrs. Russell."
"I think we'd better be going." Rose quickly said to change the subject.
"Have you got everything darling?" Mrs. Russell asked.
"Yes, I think so, just give me a minute." Rose replied.
Mrs. Russell said goodbye to Julie and then tried to force her way through a group of people and resumed making her way to the register.
"Julie, I want to talk to you tonight. Do you know 'The Witters tea - house'? Meet me there at nine o'clock." Rose asked.
The girl nodded and answered: "I'll be there."
Rose turned around and needed to take on a firm step to close in on Mrs. Russell who had already paid and was dragging the heavy flower bags out of the store.
Rose quickly paid for the loaf of brown bread, the bottle of milk and the few apples she had took from the shop.
She'd come back tomorrow, to get the rest she needed.
All she wanted right now was to talk to Julie and to make sure this wasn't one of Cal's tricks.
When she left the store and joined Mrs. Russell, Rose was scared, scared of being trapped in a web spun around her by Cal and her mother...
The walk home annoyed Rose more than anything.
Normally she loved the never resting tongue of Mrs. Russell but this time she wanted it to stop, to have a moment of peace and silence.
The city had come to life and the noise that had grown so familiar to Rose resounded from everywhere.
In the distance Rose could see the building rising up towards the sky.
The coldness that had ruled the world yesterday had made room for a kind of warmth that seemed to come from a different part of the earth.
Although the icy wind had lowered, it still blew forceful enough to calm Rose's fears.
Julie had come into her life for a purpose, she was certain of it.
All she had to do was figure out what that reason was and who had sent Julie.
Mrs. Russell continued her story but she felt Rose didn't listen.
All she wished for was that Rose would open up to her a bit, that she'd take off the mask that fooled a thousand others but couldn't deceive Mrs. Russell.
She had seen the loss in Rose's eyes she had discovered in hers when her husband had died.
She saw Rose was going through something she couldn't face alone anymore more but that she deliberately hid from the rest of the world.
By now they had reached the steps of the building and silently started to ascend the stairs.
Rose carried the bags of flower she had taken from Mrs. Russell after leaving the store and brought them up to the second floor where Mrs. White lived.
She quickly putted the bags in the kitchen and left under loud protest of the two ladies who had tried to keep her for some tea.
Rose couldn't stand the loudness anymore; she needed the comforting silence of her apartment.
Seeing Julie had brought up a lot of memories from the past, memories she tried to suppress.
Had it been her eyesight that failed or had it been her mind that played a wicked game but for one moment Julie's face had turned into Cal's and left her trembling all over.
Rose didn't understand why but there was something about Julie that made her suspicious, even scared her.
By now Rose had reached her apartment door and opened it slowly.
The squeaking noise didn't bother her as much as it usually did, her mind was somewhere else.
What if Julie didn't just run to her by chance?
Would it be safe to meet tonight?
There was something inside of her that told her to be very careful.
Rose went into the bathroom and started to prepare a warm bath.
Maybe that would calm her senses.
As she undressed she felt the coldness that surrounded her.
An icy wind seemed to storm right through the bathroom and froze everything on its path.
She quickly slipped into the tub and tried to relax but the thought of Cal tracking her down and hauling her back to society didn't let go of her.
She had fought for this life, Jack gave up his life for it and Rose would make sure that his death wouldn't be in vain. Nothing would drag her back.
Nothing...
