Thanks for your patience! Here's chapter 2!
"Are you sure they'll be out for that long?" came a panicked voice of a male.
"Trust me, it was enough." answered a gruff, grating voice.
"Did you really have to take the valet?"
"I had no choice. He saw me."
"Alright, I suppose. Drive faster, dawn isn't far off."
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"Mary? Mary!" a frantic voice registered through her consciousness, this time much clearer, "Dear God, Mary, are you alright?"
"Tom…?" she heard herself croak.
"Thank heavens," his sighed, relieved, "are you hurt?"
Mary opened her eyes. A pale blue light filtered through the small room she was held captive in. Tom's silhouette was starting to reveal itself as her eyes adjusted. It seemed they were trapped in a cellar, the pale blue light being the early morning sky filtering through the wooden boards above.
She was lying on her side, tied at her wrists and ankles. Tom was leaning against a wooden post, tied as well.
"No," she tried to clear the fog in her brain, "I don't think so. Where are we? What's happened?"
"I know as much as you do," Tom's eyes were wide with alarm, "I awoke just a few minutes ago."
Mary shivered, "Someone entered my bedroom"
"Mine as well," Tom shuddered, "I just doused the candle when I heard the door open and a cloth was pressed against my nose and mouth."
Mary nodded, the exact sequence of events reforming in her mind as well. Her eyes caught a shape in the corner of the room. It was a body.
"My God!" Mary shouted, "Who is that?"
"Thomas."
"Barrow?" Mary gasped, "Why on Earth would he be taken as well?"
Tom shook his head, eyes downcast. He had no answers.
An unexpected worry grew in her chest for the family's valet, "Is he dead?"
"He's alive as far as I can tell," her brother-in-law sighed, "but I have no way of knowing for sure. Let's hope he awakens soon, perhaps he'll have an explanation."
"Tom," Mary fought the ball building in her throat, "Do you think George is alright?"
"I have to hope he is safe with Sybbie," Tom's eyes grew glassy with growing tears.
Mary remained silent. She would not give in to fear and intimidation tactics. She was a Crawley, her son was to be the heir of Downton Abbey. They would not give in.
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"Mrs. Hughes! Mrs. Hughes!"
A frantic voice yelled from behind her bedroom door.
Elsie Hughes roused from her sleep. She squinted against the dawn light, finding her footing as she stumbled towards the door.
"Alright, alright," she croaked as she turned the knob, "Anna?"
The blond lady's maid to Mary stood at the threshold, panic written all over her face.
"Sorry to awaken you, Mrs. Hughes," she could barely find her breath, "I would not have if it wasn't an emergency."
"Well then," Mrs. Hughes asked, concerned, "what is it?"
"It's Lady Mary," there were tears in Anna's eyes, "I think she's been taken."
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"Taken!?" Mr. Carson bellowed, outraged. Mrs. Hughes and Anna stood in his chambers, having just told him the grave news.
"I was to awaken her Ladyship early this morning per her request," Anna stammered, "and noticed her door was ajar when I arrived to her bedroom. She was not in bed when I looked inside. Nor the other bedrooms, the kitchens, the living room, the dining room, the drawing room, or the stables."
"No coach was sent out and no horse was bridled," Mrs. Hughes seemed grim.
A man came panting into the room. It was Mr. Moleseley, red in the face.
"Mr. Moleseley," Mr. Carson tried to keep his composure, "Now is not the time-"
"It's Mr. Branson!" Mr. Moleseley shouted, "He's gone!"
"Tom?" Mrs. Hughes gaped.
Anna looked horrified.
"We need to alert Lord Grantham," Carson bustled out of his bedroom, "Immediately."
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"I can't break free of these binds!" Tom grunted, trying to wriggle his hands from their bonds.
"You'll hurt yourself," Mary chided, "we need to find an alternative method. Brute force alone will not save us now."
A low groan echoed through the room. The lying figure across the room shifted in its place.
"Thomas?" Tom called.
"Barrow!" Mary shouted, "are you alright?"
"What's happened…?" Thomas lifted his head weakly, "My lady?"
"Stay calm, Barrow," Mary sighed, "we've been abducted."
Thomas sat up, eyes widening. His surroundings started to sink in as he examined their cage.
"How long have we been here?"
"We can't say," Tom shook his head, "only that we were exposed to some chemical agent in our bedrooms at night, and we woke up here."
"I wasn't taken from my quarters," Thomas shook his head, trying to remember, "Now I recall, I was in the courtyard when I saw something urgent..."
"Well?" Mary pressed, "What was it, Barrow?"
He suddenly grew alert.
"My Lady!" he shouted, "They took Master George!"
Chapter 3 coming soon!