Memories
A/N: This is my first story that I've uploaded. So any tips or advice is appreciated. To answer a question of what time setting this is in…about the late 1800s, early 1900s. No specific year. Just a general place and sorry about not being clear about what time it is placed in!
Also it might be confusing but it starts out as Sarah's POV but switches over to Katie's POV for the rest of the chapter. The next chapter will be Sarah's POV as Katie leaves her.
A knock at the door interrupted Sarah's thoughts. "Come in," yelled Sarah as she scrambled out of bed, turning on the lights as Katie entered the room. Sarah's head spun as her eyes fluttered open to a dark room. She realized she was in the comfort of her own bed. She cradled her knees to her body. She looked around, wondering how she got here… The last thing she recalled was… crumpling over her father's body. Tears filled her eyes as she recalled the events of the last few days. Her father was dead… What was there to live for now?
The mystery of the locket…a voice in her head whispered to her. Sarah looked suddenly down in her small white hand at the golden locket. She clung to it tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks. Whoever is in that picture is my only family left…I must find them! I must find the mystery of this locket and maybe I will find why my father was killed…
A knock at the door interrupted Sarah's thoughts. "Come in," yelled Sarah as she scrambled out of bed, turning on the lights as Katie entered the room.
Katie smiled sadly at the scrambling fourteen-year-old brown-headed beauty before her. She always was in a hurry once she was awake. Katie had been taking care of the girl since the day she was born to her mother... She knew the girl like the back of her hand. So much the girl had lost in her lifetime- her mother, her sister and her father. She did not know about her sister and Katie hoped she never would. It would just devastate the girl more. Her sister was taken away two days after she and Sarah were born. Katie never saw Sarah's sister again. She did not know why the sister disappeared, but Sarah's father told Katie never to tell Sarah of the sister. Never under any circumstances. Especially if he was murdered. Katie planned to uphold that vow with her life. It was the least she could do for the dead noble.
Katie sighed at the thought of the noble and smiled as Sarah scrambled about collecting her clothes for the day. Katie winced painfully as she saw very clearly traits of the noble in his daughter. Katie felt the memories break the wall she had tried to construct last night…
The Noble was a kind and generous person. He had saved Katie from a cruel life as a slave when she was thirteen years old. Katie had been abducted from her homeland, Spain, when she was only eleven years old. First, the family that had abducted her treated her alright. They just had wanted a daughter to care for and live for but then the wife actually got pregnant with a child.
They did not want Katie anymore. Therefore, she was sold to an auctioneer. The family hardly looked Katie once the wife got pregnant. They had cared for her... until they got one of their own. That was a stab at Katie's heart. She had grown to love and care for that family, even if they had been the ones to abduct her.
But the night Katie was to go with the auctioneer, the family told her that they never really had loved her. She was just a substitute. She would never be their flesh and blood. Katie had a hard time trusting anyone after that. She never thought she could love again. The family that had cared for her and watched her grow for four years of her life, was now abandoning her like she was a dirty old rag that had outlived its use.
The nights with the auctioneer were hard and rough. She slept on the ground most of the time while the auctioneer slept in a carriage or a motel. She had never known a life like this before. Her family in Spain had been a farming family. She was used to rough and hard work but she always got to sleep in a bed. Always. They had fed her and kept her safe. They had hummed lullabies to her. They had watched her grow for longer than anyone else she knew. She had recklessly passed up their love for this family, the very people who took her from her parents, and now they had stabbed her in the back. That is what made it harsh to sleep on the ground not the dirt ground or the hard cold words of the auctioneer.
As the nights with the auctioneer went by... Katie grew cold hearted and missed her family more than ever. With the family that had abducted her, she hadn't missed her home as much because she was treated with love and care...at least until the baby came along. She realized now it was all a joke. A delusion that she had been happily living until her world was broken by their real flesh and blood. Then they revealed their true feelings about her. They had never cared for her. Just looking for a substitute until the real thing came along. She was just a form of amusement to them.
Now she just longed to go home. But she knew that was unlikely. She belonged to the auctioneer, Mr. Smith now. She had grown angry and troublesome as the weeks went by. She had no idea where the auctioneer was taking her, only that she would be sold somewhere. When they finally did get to the auction, Katie was branded like a cattle and thrown into a pen with other slaves and servants. She had never imagined this kind of horror.
When she was young, her father used to tell her about abductions of local children and had warned her never to stray far. The day she had been abducted- she had strayed only two miles away from her home. But it was far enough for the family that abducted her. She hated the family she had grown to care and love. She hated everything except her home. She remembered her parents' smiling faces now. She wondered how she could forget about them...how she could. She did not know.
When the day of the auction finally came, they took Katie with only one guard. They trusted her more than the other slaves and servants. Mostly because she looked more normal and kept better care of herself than the other servants and slaves did. She also had been working to get on their good sides by helping them out when they needed. Offering her services to any guard who came by. It had paid off. There was only one guard to take her. She was happy about this. It was her chance to escape. And escape she did.
Katie had been taught in self-defense in case she would ever be ambushed or attacked. Local children were often abducted. It was not unusual. But it was saddening. So the children were taught to protect themselves at a very young age, since that is when it was more common for them to get abducted. Katie knew how to kick, knock a person out and even kill. She never had killed anyone and would only do that if it were necessary.
Katie managed to get away from the guard, kicking his feet away from underneath him. She had run into the nearby forest. She knew that if she were caught- they would not trust her and she would be severely punished. Katie had not noticed when she was escaping- that in the distance a young man was watching her. The young man had come to try and save some servants and slaves from the crueler fates out there. He would let them go once he bought them. He was not one to "own" other human beings.
The young man had chased after Katie and eventually restrained her from running away from him. Katie had thought he would return her to the auctioneers. She was wrong, very wrong. The man instead turned out to be Sarah's father. The man offered Katie a position on his staff. Katie of course had to accept. She had nowhere else to go. She knew this man could be dangerous but she soon learned that the noble and his wife were kind. His staff was as well.
She grew to love the noble and his wife. The noble and his wife considered everyone who worked for them family. The noble had no real family other than his wife and the people working on the farm. But he was quite happy with that. He helped many servants and slaves by buying them and then either letting them go or having them work for him. Many chose to work for him. So the family grew larger as the years passed by. Until the day, his wife got pregnant.
Everyone had been quite happy. The air had been filled with electricity and love for the noble and his wife. Everyone knew they would be great parents. The noble and his wife had been trying for years to get pregnant, failing repeatedly. Part of being a noble- requires that you have at least one heir or child of either gender to pass on the bloodline. Preferably a boy but girls cannot be helped. The noble had been getting threatened by a distant cousin, that if he did not conceive a child within three years, he would take this to court. The cousin wanted to take over the estate very badly. He would be able to by law if the noble did not live up to part of his contract of having an heir. So imagine the joy of the noble that his wife would be able to have the heir. Plus the fact he really was a family man. The wife of course was quite happy.
The pregnancy was a rough one for the noble's wife. She spent many days in bed, not doing a thing under doctor's orders. Everyone was relieved when the noble's wife finally gave birth. But everyone was shocked when she had TWO babies. The saddening thing was, the second day, one of the babies was taken away. The noble did not do anything. He acted as if it were no big deal. But underneath that, everyone saw a great sadness in his eyes. A sadness that he carried to his death.
But after the baby disappeared, the noble's wife's health to steadily deteriorate for five years. She never was quite herself again. Always haunting the shadows, never saying a word unless she really needed something. Until one day when Sarah was five, the noble's wife died. She had been quite ill for a time. The doctors said she died from pneumonia but everyone knew she had been depressed since the baby disappeared and it was suspected she died from heartbreak not pneumonia.
Katie never knew the circumstances that revolved around the baby's disappearance but from the noble's wife's depression and the noble's sadness, she knew that it was not a normal abduction. They did not go searching as most nobles' families would if their child was kidnapped. They knew something. Perhaps that they would not find the child because maybe they had given her up themselves. The child was never given a name. Katie had found that odd. They had named Sarah but not her sister. They said they needed time to think of a name. No one doubted that because they had only expected one child after all. That was until... the unnamed baby disappeared from the estate.
As the years went by, Katie had watched the noble grow happier over Katie's progress but there always seemed to be something missing, Sarah's sister. There was an empty feeling in the house and everyone knew it. Now that the noble was gone as well and the young teen, Sarah, was the only one remaining. Katie knew the estate would be given over to the distant cousin. Sarah could not legally inherit the estate until she was eighteen years old.
A few days ago she had received a letter from the new noble. It had said:
Dear Miss Katie McReiter,
I am assuming you are single. If you are being courted or you are married- please keep your affections to nightly affairs that are in the servant quarters, this goes for all other servants in the household as well. I will not have such disgrace in my home.
Now as you are the caretaker of my estate, you will make sure Sarah Katherine Lenard is sent to Greenlow Orphanage out of my sight by the time I shall arrive at my home. I will not have that girl in my home! She is of the former noble's reign. She will not cause chaos in my home. She may return when she is eighteen to take her rightful place if she can still claim the title. But she will not be allowed to step foot in my household until she is eighteen. Please see to it immediately that she is moved to Greenlow Orphanage. I have already made arrangements for her to have a bedroom there. They expect her as soon as possible. No delaying. They will receive a letter exactly the day you receive this letter. You have three days to get her prepared and AT Greenlow Orphanage or there shall be severe consequences.
There are to be no dillydallying in my home. Everyone must wear uniforms that I will hand out when I get there. Everyone will be expected to address me by my title. No one unless I tell them directly can address me as other.
Also my last direction is: No one is to be allowed on the premises until I get to my home. I hope this reaches you and that you follow them to the dot. I do not wish to have to punish my caretaker the first moment I get to my estate. You are after all, the example for all the others. Be sure to be rid of the girl and never look back. There will be no mention of her once I get to the household. Make this clear to everyone!
Sincerely,
Noble James Lynold Weissman
Katie dreaded to tell Sarah this information and most of all she dreaded the noble herself. He did not sound like a kind man.
Katie looked over at Sarah. The young fourteen-year-old curly brown headed, blue eyes, enthusiastic girl's life would be suddenly changed. Katie had already received information about the new noble coming to the grounds. She was lucky- she was still going to be able to work at the estate. But in her letter, as the nanny for Sarah, she had been told to deliver Sarah immediately to Greenlow Orphanage. Katie had known that it would be most likely the distant cousin would not care for Sarah. She had hoped the distant cousin would have some sympathy for the orphan girl. But her worst fears had turned out true- the cousin just cared for the noble's position, not Sarah. She also had a sneaking suspicion that the cousin wanted to ship Sarah off and make her disappear from the world. Probably hoping that no one would miss the brown-headed smiling daughter of the former noble. The cousin probably would make sure of this.
Most likely people would forget except for Maryanne of course. Katie smiled at this. The red headed girl was always following Sarah. She was a good girl but with Sarah's mischievous behavior, she got in trouble a lot. Katie shook her head and smiled at the thought.
Katie felt a cool wind across her face and looked down at Sarah. Katie realized she had been staring off at space and thinking this whole time. She blushed at that thought.
"KATIE! Are you alive?" yelled Sarah in Katie's face. Katie looked at the young girl and put her hands on her hips.
"Now Sarah Katherine Lenard! You should know it is not proper to yell at someone in their face!" scolded Katie.
"But Katie...it is not proper to drift off into space either..." Sarah shot back with a smug smile on her rosy face. Katie laughed and nodded.
"Now come along, little one. It is time for breakfast and then you must pack," said Katie as she shooed Sarah downstairs towards the dining room. Sarah pushed back at Katie and gave her a look that said I am not a little one!
Katie had to laugh at this. Sarah just stomped her feet and stayed glued to the spot. So Katie picked up Sarah who kicked and screamed in shock that Katie could still pick her up. Katie was a strong woman as she tended to the crops on the Lenards' farm. So she could still pick up Sarah. Sarah was very light though for her age. Only about ninety-five pounds. But she was also short for her age as well, five foot three inches.
Katie just took Sarah down to the dining hall. Sarah sat down in her usual spot sulking. Katie thought, at least she is not crying over her father right now. She had more important things to know about- the orphanage.
Sarah looked up at Katie as she served her breakfast and asked, "Katie, why do I need to pack?"
Katie sighed. She had hoped that Sarah would not have noticed she had said that until after breakfast. But it was just as well. Katie sat down on Sarah's right side and held her hand as she begun to speak. "Sarah, as you know, an heir cannot take on the noble's position until they are eighteen years old. You being your father's only child," Katie grimaced at that, knowing she had told a lie but continued on, "and only fourteen years old, you cannot take the noble's position. So a far distant cousin of your father's side is the next in line until you are old enough to be a noble yourself. He has already taken control of the house. I was sent a letter and... He wants to send you to an orphanage. This is quite normal for the circumstances, Sarah. That you being an orphan and he doesn't have time to take care of you..."
Katie watched Sarah's face turn from one of anger to sadness and last of all shock. Katie knew that Sarah had expected to stay at her home. Or had at least hoped to. I had hoped that new noble would let Sarah stay too... thought Katie. Katie shook her thoughts and smiled a sad smile at Sarah. Katie knew Sarah would not be hungry anymore, so she began to lead her back to her room.
Sarah pushed Katie away and ran to her room, slamming her door shut. Katie could hear sobs coming from Sarah's room but also shuffling noises. Katie smiled sadly at that. Sarah always did what she had to do; she never let her emotions stop her. Katie knew that Sarah might be crying but she would also be packing.
Katie knocked on Sarah's door and told her to be ready to go in an hour. Katie pulled out a box and packed a few gifts she would give to Sarah at the orphanage. She had no idea what Sarah would encounter but she knew it would not be fun. She was sad that Sarah would be having a hard life after her father had so desperately tried to give Sarah the world. Sarah would know nothing of that now. Katie doubted the fact that Sarah would even take her rightful position as the noble when she was eighteen. She knew from the new noble's letter, that his intentions were quite clear. Get rid of the girl... and never look back.
Katie entered Sarah's room an hour later. Sarah's things were all in two boxes and one suitcase. Sarah never really wanted a lot. She was always happy with the bare necessities. There were a few things she really wanted and she got those. But her father loved to give her more than she asked for. Then Sarah would give these toys away to the local poor children. Her father knew that and gave her many toys knowing what she would do with them. Her father had taught her to care for everyone, no matter their social status or what they looked like. Sarah had learned well and always was kind, even though she was mischievous. She never did anything to intentionally harm anyone. Though occasionally her water balloons hit someone too hard or she playfully pinched someone and it hurt them. But she would always apologize. She was quite the energetic bunch and Katie would miss her severely. The last of the noble's family was leaving her and the new noble did not look like one who was easy on people. Quite the opposite.
Katie sighed and took Sarah's hand. The trip to the orphanage would only be about an hour. The orphanage was on the outskirts of the town and the town wasn't that big. The noble had taken to living in the country. So they were outside the outskirts of town but pretty near it.
Katie felt Sarah shifting back and forth and biting her upper lip. She only did that when she was nervous. Katie unconsciously stroked Sarah's hair and pulled her closer for a hug. Sarah calmed down considerably. Katie smiled down gently at the nervous girl. Katie knew things would be bad for the girl but she mustn't let Sarah know that. So Katie continued hugging and smiling down at the girl while waiting for the carriage to come. Things had to turn out alright for Sarah... they will! They must... think Katie as she and Sarah climbed into the awaiting carriage.
With a simple crack of the whip, Katie watched Sarah turn around and watched as everything she knew disappeared from her sight.