The woman, who introduced herself as Mae Tuck, brought the two girls into the house. "I'm sure my boys didn't mean either of you any harm," she said as she brought them some water. Lena had never experienced such kindness from someone in a long time. The way she spoke just made her feel so at ease despite the situation.
"Then why did they bring us here this way?" Winnie asked. "Why are we here?"
Mae sighed. "You have every right to be upset. And I know your families must be worried sick about you."
Lena scoffed lightly and it looked like Mae was about to question her, but the sound of the door opening caught their attention. Winnie jumped a little and a frightened look crossed her face, so Lena wrapped her arm around her once more.
"Where are the children?" a male voice asked.
A man, whom Lena assumed was the father, came in followed by Miles then Jesse. They all looked over and stared at the two girls.
"They're no children, Angus," Mae said to him.
Angus Tuck came over to them and knelt down a bit to their eye level. Both girls felt very uncomfortable under his intense gaze.
The family gathered together and started talking in hushed whispers. Lena could only make out a few words here and there, but she did manage to guess that she and Winnie knew something they weren't supposed to.
"Know what?" Winnie asked.
"Winnie," Lena said quietly. She knew that in these kinds of situations, one probably shouldn't speak unless spoken to.
"Miss Foster, Miss Bennett, this is my husband, Angus Tuck. Angus, meet Miss Foster and Miss Bennett."
Angus walked over to them again. "Hello, Miss Foster," he said, extending his hand. Winnie made no move to take it, so he held his hand out to Lena. "Miss Bennett."
Lena hesitantly shook his hand lightly, trying to appear at least a little polite considering she was older and it was expected of her.
"They're the most important event that's taken place in this house in eighty years."
Lena's brow furrowed. Eighty years? Surely there must've been some other people living in the house before them if that was the case. Angus Tuck couldn't have been over fifty.
"You hungry?" he asked.
"Oh, well, let's all eat," Mae said with a smile.
Lena looked over at Winnie who was sitting there with an overwhelmed expression on her face. She gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, then noticed that Jesse was smiling at Winnie. Broadly, at that. And there was this look in his eye that did not go unnoticed by Lena.
She and Winnie slowly got up and made their way to the table where everyone began setting out dishes. To Lena's disdain, she was forced to sit next to Miles while Winnie sat next to Jesse. Mae set a plate in front of the two girls and they began passing food around. Winnie made no move to eat anything, but Lena wasn't going to pass up the chance for food, especially since it all smelled amazing. She took very, very small portions and ate quite slowly so as not to upset anyone by taking too much.
"Jesse, pass your mother a plate, please," Angus told his son.
"Where's the fish?" Jesse asked.
"Oh, they weren't biting for some reason," Mae said.
"Cause Pa can't fish?" he joked.
"Don't matter. There's plenty." Mae brought out some more food, and Lena took a little bit more.
"I catch fish," Angus said. "If there's no fish, there's no fish if you keep scaring the fish away."
"Mmm, this looks good!" Jesse exclaimed as Mae finished setting the food out.
"Oh, isn't this nice?" she said as she took a seat. "Everybody sitting down together and having Miss Foster and Miss Bennett here. It's just like having a party."
"My father will come looking for me," Winnie said bluntly. Lena looked up at her and looked at her with wide eyes to try to make her stop talking. If there was anything not to say to a family of kidnappers, that was at the very top of the list.
"Your father will cut down the entire forest the way things are changing around here," Angus said to her. "Make himself a very rich man."
"Oh, now, let's not ruin a perfectly good meal with a lot of talk," Mae said.
"My father has plenty of money," Winnie continued. "He'll pay. Anything you want."
"We don't want your father's money, Miss Foster," Angus answered.
"Then let us go home."
"We will," Mae said tenderly. "We'll let you both go home. Just like I promised."
"Directly," Angus added. "We'll need to be able to trust them first before we're sending them back to their folks."
"Trust them?" Miles exclaimed angrily. "We can't trust them. Or any normal people. They'll turn on us in a second."
Normal people? What made the girls normal and the family not normal? Lena was beyond confused about what was going on here. It seemed like every minute, a thousand more questions formed in her mind.
"No, they won't," Jesse said quietly, but adamantly.
Miles glared at the boy. "You're a fool. You don't even realize what you've done here." He angrily got up from his seat and left the house. Despite it all, Lena noticed that a lot of the tension seemed to die down when he went away. And it was getting stressful sitting next to the person who had taken them in the first place. She still didn't know why exactly they had been taken. What was the point of all this?
She had so many questions. There was one thing she was most curious about though. What had happened to make Miles so hard-hearted?
Mae set up a couple of makeshift beds for Winnie and Lena in the corner, then put up a blanket to give them some privacy. She handed them both a nightgown to sleep in, so they began removing their dresses.
"Angus made that cradle," Mae commented, noticing Winnie looking at the wooden creation. "Brought it all the way from Scotland. Oh, it's rocked a few Tucks." She came down from the chair she had been standing on in order to pin up the blanket. "There you go. The breeze off the lake will keep you both cool all night. The boys sleep up in the loft when they're home so you'll have your privacy." Winnie and Lena removed their top layer which revealed the corsets they had on. Mae looked at them. "Oh, those corsets look painful. May I help one of you off with it?"
Winnie and Lena looked at each other for a second before Lena said quietly, "If you can get mine off, I'll get Winnie's."
Mae smiled and went to work on Lena's corset while Lena went to work on Winnie's. "Oh, honestly, I can't understand why women torture themselves this way. It's no way to live."
Lena allowed herself a small smile. She couldn't understand why they were forced to wear corsets either. It didn't seem right to have to wear one for the sake of beauty.
"Do you have a daughter?" Winnie asked Mae.
"A granddaughter. And a grandson." She showed the two girls a picture of each of them in the locket around her neck. "Anna and Beau. Oh, Miles loved them so."
"What happened?" Lena asked.
"They died," Mae answered with a sigh. "Their mother, too."
In that moment, Lena understood why Miles was so angry all the time and why she had seen that sadness in his eyes. She couldn't imagine what it was like to lose a child, two at that, and a spouse. Miles was just so young for that to happen to him. He must've been around twenty-one or twenty-two. If that was the case, it must've been somewhat recent that this all happened to him.
"I'm afraid the good parts of Miles died along with them," Mae continued. "You'll have to forgive what's left of him."
"I'm sorry," Winnie said quietly.
"Well…it's the way things are, Miss Foster. Can I call you Winnie? And Lena?"
The two girls turned to the kind woman and slowly nodded. Lena hadn't felt this kind of warmth towards her in such a long time.
"Do you have brothers and sisters, Winnie?" Mae asked.
"No, it's only me."
"What about you, Lena?"
Lena's breath hitched in her throat. The truth of the matter was that her family situation was fairly complicated and she didn't feel like sharing it with a woman she had just met, no matter how nice she had been this whole time. "I had a little brother. He died many years ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Lena shook her head, signaling she wished to say no more. Winnie decided to make more conversation to get the subject off Lena, which she was more than grateful for.
"My mother decided she wanted to put all her focus on making me the perfect woman in society. I think she's taken it upon herself to do the same for Lena."
Mae smiled. "I decided to let my boys travel. I didn't want them to be bound down by society's rules."
"So where do they go?"
"Oh, they go different places, do different things. Miles can do carpentry and he's good with his hands. Jesse, now, he seems to have settled himself. Of course, then, he's young yet."
The two girls' corsets were finally off and both of them took in some very deep breaths, something they hadn't been able to do since they put that torture device on. Mae helped them both into the nightgowns she had given them.
"Well, I hope you both will be comfortable here. It's a good feeling having more women here. Try and get some sleep now."
"Thank you, Mrs. Tuck," Lena said.
"Oh, please. Call me Mae."
The two girls smiled at her and watched her depart. Winnie climbed into the bed Mae had made for her.
"Lena, why are we here?" she asked.
"I don't know. I guess they think we know something we're not supposed to."
"Like what?"
Lena shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea."
"Are we ever going to go home?"
"Of course. You heard Mae. You'll be back at home before you know it. Now, you should be getting some sleep."
Lena knelt down next to her bed and gently ran her hand along Winnie's arm. She began singing softly to her:
All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day, angels watching over me.
When at night I go to sleep
Angels watching over me, my Lord
Pray the Lord my soul to keep
Angels watching over me.
All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day, angels watching over me.
When Lena finished singing, Winnie was asleep. Lena went over to her own bed and closed her eyes. When she had started this day, she never expected something like this to happen. But at least she was here with Winnie and as long as they had each other, they could get through this.