Chapter Three

Nick, who had been outside talking to McColl, entered the house to realize their guest was in the dining room with work with Silas. Since she'd not answered his knock on her bedroom door the evening before, and he'd had to be up so early, Nick had not been able to corner her and demand to be told who she was. Only now, with the chance to do so, he stood too puzzled to say a word. His mother had insisted quite emphatically the night before that the woman was to be treated as a guest in their home. Remembering that, along with the fact the he couldn't get the thought out of his head that she was born into "high class", he was shocked to hear Silas giving some instructions to their guest.

"She insisted on helping Silas." Victoria, who had appeared at the top of the staircase said as she started descending the stair. "And no," she said as she stepped off the stairs and onto the foyer's floor, "She didn't insist with words." Then, after asking Nick to follow her into the study, Victoria asked, "Have you or Jarrod ever met any mutes?"

"Only the one Heath brought home from *Salt Springs." Nick answered as he looked towards the direction of the living room, even if he couldn't see the room. "And, as you know, that isn't her."

Victoria turned up the palms of her hands as she moved her arms away from her sides. "Well, we've got to find out who she is and what she is so afraid of. Only," she let out sigh, "I guess it will have to wait. I have to go into town and deal with Mrs. Willis." Mrs. Willis was an elderly woman who was coordinating the Founder Day celebrations that would soon be held in Stockton.

"She's been in charge of Founder Days for what seems like years. Isn't it about time someone else did it?" Nick asked as his mother looked as if she would rather do anything but go into Stockton.

"The town council says they can't find anyone else to do it. Personally," Victoria gave a half heart chuckle, "I don't think anyone dares tell her she puts too much importance on herself and her name."

The moment Nick heard his mother's words he felt as if someone had reached up, grabbing a lightning bolt and threw it at him. His eyes widened and he stiffened. His reaction startled Victoria and she asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

He thought on their guest in the dining room as he went over the memory that had jumped out at him, one that wasn't all that far behind him. In fact, it was rather recent. At first he wondered why on earth he hadn't seen what was right before his eyes, but then realized he hadn't thought about it due to the way the woman was dressed and the appearance of her freshly cut hair. After all, he hadn't thought the girl he was thinking of would ever cut her hair, wear such garments, and most definitely not do the work of a servant. "Maybe nothing, maybe everything," He said as he excused himself and hurried out of the study saying he was going to insist their guest go for a walk with him, leaving one very confused Victoria behind him.

~oOo~

Nick walked down a dirt path that lay not a hundred feet from the house. Their guest walked alongside him; neither one of took time to look at the gorgeous trees that had been planted years before and now had grown tall enough to touch the sky, or so it seemed. The woman who had…after Silas insisted she go with Nick as he requested…grabbed her cape and went on the walk Nick insisted they take. The sun was out and the day was fairly warm, yet she had the hood of the cape on her head…which blocked her face from view. If he hadn't thought she was hiding from someone before, he was sure of it now.

When two medium sized boulders came into view, Nick sat on one and indicted by the way of his hand, for the guest to take the other one. She hesitated for a moment and then, sighing, sat down upon the boulder.

"What's going on?" Nick reached up and pushed back the hood of the cape, causing the woman to pull back slightly, and then asked as non-threatening as he knew how. "Why is the daughter of the Marque de Lacaise wearing the clothes of a servant and doing the work of a servant? Why does your hair look as if a knife has been taken to it and who put those bruises on your face?" As soon as Nick asked the questions, he felt sicker than he thought possible, for he could think of one person who would be in a position to take a knife to the young woman's hair. "Not your father?" The idea that the Marque had actually been the one to abuse his daughter didn't seem possible. Though, just the thought the man would do it made it so Nick wanted to go find the man and have him horsewhipped.

Michelle saw not only curiosity in Nick's eyes, but also great concern. Once again she was reminded where the true nobility lay…and it wasn't with her or her father. On the tail end of that though, she sighed again. She had known sooner or later Nick would recognize her. Then again, if she hadn't wanted anyone to recognize her, why had she run from Granite City towards Stockton hoping to find the Barkley ranch in the first place? The moment she asked those questions to herself, she had to mentally shake her head at herself. Why ask such questions she already knew the answers to them? "I cut my own hair and I did use a knife to do the job; it was all I had. As far as the bruises on my face," she let out a disgusted laugh and said, "Yes, those would be compliments of my father." Michelle let out another disgusted laugh. "The great Marque de Lacaise himself, a man who now walks around with two faces…one that he shows the public and one that he showed me, one I never thought possible. Both faces have his nose so far up in the air he should have had to deal with a thousand nosebleeds by now." Michelle bit her words off as she spoke and turned her face away from Nick only to find him reaching out and turning it back towards him.

"But why?" Nick asked, confusion appearing on his face, though it was all he could do not to laugh at her comment about the nosebleeds.

Why? One word with no acceptable answer just excuses, one excuse after another. At least, in her eyes that was the case. "Because I had the gall to ask him where our nobility was now," she answered as she put the hood on her head once more, though she faced Nick afterwards, making it so he could still see her face. "That is… that was the first time he slapped me since we moved to Granite City. Later, as days and weeks went by, I had more time to think, more time to see how wrong our attitude was." Michelle paused and continued on. "When he made some rather unnecessary remarks about the people in Granite City, I said if being noble meant looking down on other people, if it meant acting as if their lives were not as important as our lives, I wanted none of it he slapped me around some more. He said a few things that I refuse to repeat. He…" she paused and shuddered slightly as he shocked Nick when she said quietly, "He said I was acting shamefully and, if I didn't stop it, it would be a disgrace to our great family name. H…he," Michelle stammered and shuddered, still in shock over the last words her father had spoken to her, "he said he'd kill me himself before he allowed me to do such a thing." Michelle scoffed and said, "I stayed with my father because I knew no other life and thought for a long time he was right in all he said and did. But," she paused doing her best to get control of herself as tears sprang to her eyes, "to have him start slapping me around and then to hear him threaten my life? That's when I decided to flee from my father's house for I cannot take back my words and I do not wish to die. And, believe me, he was serious; he will want me dead." The fact that her eyes had swept over the scenery before them as she again pulled up the hood up and place it on her head told Nick just how frightened she was of her own father finding her. It made him sad and angry, sad for her and angry at her father.

"So, why come to us and then refuse to speak?" Nick was puzzled and he didn't like that. "How can we help protect you if you do that?"

Michelle's shoulders slumped just a little as she explained her reasoning. "I am sorry; I should have been upfront with you. But," she bit her lower lip and lowered her eyes, "After…after what my father and I did, I feared you would not want me in your house, but it was the only safe place I could think of."

Nick smiled at the compliment though he did wonder what reasoning she had used to decide his family's home was, as she put it, the only place. And he didn't hesitate to ask her about. "What made you decide that? I mean, that this was a safe place to come to?"

For the first time since setting foot on the Barkley Ranch, Michelle smiled and her eye lit up. "Because, in spite of what my father thinks, you are and your brothers much better people than my father and I have been."

Nick, who was all of a sudden rather uncomfortable as he wondered what she'd think if she knew what kind of thoughts he'd had when he first saw her, stood up and held out his hand. "We best get you back to the house before my mother begins to wonder what's going on. That is, more than she'd already doing."

Michelle did not argue as all she wanted at the moment was to feel safe from her father, a feeling she did not have being out in the open as she was at the moment.

~oOo~

A/N *Refers to the episode "Plunder"….if it came after the episode I am using for this story? It doesn't now?

A/N I know many will not agree that the Marque (in the two part episode "Explosion") would have two faces as it were. However, many people do and, for whatever reason, this story insisted that he be one of them. Also Michelle will be shown (or have it mentioned) doing things one could not expect someone who was raised the way she was to do. However, the story is trying to show just how much of a break she's willing to make from her father. So, as hard as it might be to imagine her doing some of the things that will be mentioned? Please, just keep in mind what I just said.