The Lost Ancestor (22 page)

‘Okay.’

Edward stood up and darted from the house
back to Blackfriars.  ‘Why didn’t I think of that before?’ he mumbled to
himself as he ran into the estate.

Breathlessly, Edward climbed the stairs to
his bedroom.  He headed straight for the bed and lunged for the
pillow.  Below it, there was no note.  Nothing.  He then turned
the room upside down, emptying drawers and his wardrobe, searching every nook
and cranny that he could find.  But there was nothing.  The room
hadn’t been touched since he had left for Scotland.

In despair, Edward kicked the bed and then
yelped in pain.  He stood in the centre of his trashed room, desperately
trying to stop himself from crying.  He frantically considered his options
and any places where she might have gone or clues that she might have left here
in Blackfriars.  There was only one other place to check: her bedroom.

Descending the stairs two, sometimes three
at a time, Edward raced along the corridor and up the stairs to the female
servants’ quarters.

‘Edward!’ Eliza yelled angrily when she
bumped into him at the top of the stairs.  ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Sorry, Eliza, I know it’s forbidden but I
must look in Mary’s room,’ Edward managed to say through gasps for
breath.  ‘She’s disappeared.’

‘What do you mean?’ Eliza asked
indignantly.

Upon hearing a man’s voice, Clara stepped
out of the bedroom that she had shared with Mary.  ‘What’s he doing up
here?’

Edward turned to face Clara.  ‘Mary
stopped working here on Wednesday and she hasn’t been seen since.  None of
her family knows where she is and—’ he was cut off by another voice further
down the corridor.

‘She was sacked, the naughty little
girl.’  It was Joan, who stuck her head out from her bedroom door.

‘Do you know why she was sacked, Joan?’
Edward asked.

Joan shrugged her shoulders smugly.

‘Please, nobody knows where she is,’
Edward pleaded.

Joan grinned.  ‘Apparently, so I was
told, Mary was caught by Her Royal Highness wearing all her fancy
clothes.  Parading up and down in her bedroom, so I was told. 
Typical Mary—thinking she’s better than everyone else.’

Edward was perplexed. 
Why would
Mary be wearing Lady Philadelphia’s clothes?  Was that even enough to be
sacked? 
‘Then what happened?’

Joan shrugged again.

‘Joan, just tell him if you know anything,
you can see how worried he is,’ Clara said.

‘She came up here, packed up her things
and left.  I saw her leaving myself.  Gone.  She’s probably
hiding, too ashamed to show her face.  She’ll not work in a house like
this again, I can tell you.’

Clara rolled her eyes, then faced
Edward.  ‘Did she not just go home?’

‘No, she never showed up.  I was
hoping she might have left a note or a clue.’

‘You’re welcome to have a look in our
room, but I haven’t seen any notes.’

‘Thanks—it’s my last hope before I really
start to panic,’ Edward said, as he followed Clara into the room.  Eliza
also joined them and between them they methodically searched the small
bedroom. 

‘There’s nothing here,’ Edward said,
resigning himself to the situation.  Her drawers and wardrobe were empty,
her bed was stripped bare: there was nothing of Mary here. 
She’s gone,
he was forced to admit.

Edith
had to get some fresh air.  At least that was what she had told her mother
earlier today.  In reality, she needed to escape her overbearing sister,
Caroline.  She longed for the day Caroline would return to own house in
Bristol. 
Why is she even still here?
Edith asked herself, as she
traipsed through the Strand Gate, running her fingers slowly over the ancient
stone. 
She says it’s because Mother is still unwell, but it’s more
likely because she’s enjoying being in charge.
  A gentle wind wafted
through Edith’s hair and seemed to calm her thoughts.  She stood still and
closed her eyes, trying to settle her mind before returning home.  She
wished things could go back to how they were last year.  The seriousness
of life seemed to have suddenly come upon her.  In just a few days she and
Mary would turn eighteen.  It was a milestone birthday and they were at
odds with each other.  Edith inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying—
really
trying to forgive her twin.  But she just couldn’t yet.  She felt
utterly deceived by Mary’s actions in the past few months.  First the job,
then Edward.  And she didn’t even have the courage to turn up on Wednesday
to face her—probably snuggled up somewhere with her fancy man.

‘It’ll work itself out, Edie,’ her mother
had said, trying to console her.  ‘Look how it all turned out with the
job—you’re going to be the second housemaid at Durrant House.  Besides
which, you’re still young.  You don’t need to saddle yourself with a man
yet.  Trust me, there’s plenty of time for that.’

But her anger and hostility only worsened
and deepened.  Edith had been alarmed at the rise of her ill feelings
towards her sister.  Then she had berated herself for such shameful
thoughts.

Edith turned the corner into Friar’s
Road.  Something was going on.  Something serious.  The usually
deserted street was bustling with activity.  At least fifteen people,
comprising neighbours, friends and some servants whom she recognised from
Blackfriars, were all milling about and chatting noisily just in front of her
house. 
Was it her mother?  It couldn’t be, she had seemed so well
since she’d been home.  Perhaps it was her father. 

Edith spotted her mother among the crowd
and rushed over to her.  ‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

‘It’s Mary, she’s disappeared. 
Apparently she left work on Wednesday lunchtime and never came home. 
They’ve not seen her since at Blackfriars.  Edward’s gathered all these
people up to look for her.  You’ve not seen her, have you?’

‘No, not at all.’  Edith felt a lump
rise in her throat, as all of the unkind thoughts and feelings about her twin
dissipated. 
How cruel you can be, Edith Mercer
, she scolded herself. 
You wished ill harm on your sister and now it’s happened.  She could be
lying dead somewhere.
  On the verge of tears, she hurried over to
Edward, who seemed to be orchestrating a small search party.  ‘Edward, is
it true that Mary’s vanished?’

Edward nodded.  ‘Yes, I’m afraid
so.  It’s so not like her, Edie.  She’s been missing since
Wednesday.  We have to find her.  Will you help?’

‘Of course.’

‘Good.  Could you make your way out
to my parents’ house and see if she’s there or if they’ve seen any sign of
her?’

‘Okay,’ Edith answered.

‘And knock on doors on the way—there are
only a few houses on the main road.  If you can, have them check
out-buildings, empty sheds—that sort of thing.’

‘Do you really think it’s that serious?’
Edith asked, hoping that he was simply erring on the side of caution.

He nodded.  ‘I’ve got a bad feeling
about it.’

Edith reached out and squeezed his
hand.  All ill-feelings towards Edward and Mary had entirely
vanished.  As she looked into his sad face, she realised that her resentment
towards her twin was based on jealousy rather than any real, deep feelings for
Edward.

Edward smiled at Edith as she let go of
his hand, turned and left the village.

As she made her way along the main road,
Edith passed several people knocking on doors in the pursuit of Mary. 
Edward
must really be in love with her to have organised all of this,
she thought
as she walked briskly in the midday sunshine. 

There were only four properties on the
less than two mile walk to Icklesham.  Each was a farm, complete with a
myriad sprawling outbuildings.  When she reached the first property, Edith
suddenly felt a little silly at the prospect of asking a stranger to search
their property for her missing twin. 
Is this really necessary? 
She’s only been missing three days.  Knowing Mary, she’s taken herself off
somewhere to recover from the embarrassment of losing her job then she’ll swan
back like nothing’s happened, wondering what all the fuss is about.  It’s
just like the number of times she was sent home from school for bad behaviour.

Edith paused in the gabled porch way, not
quite able to lift the heavy black door-knocker.  ‘Come on, Edith,’ she
said to herself.  ‘Mary might need you.’  She raised her hand and
wrapped the semi-circle knocker onto the decorative plate behind it.

The door was pulled open by a short
elderly woman with a pleasant face.  ‘Hello.  How can I help?’

Edith smiled.  ‘Hello.  Sorry to
disturb you, I’m looking for my twin sister who disappeared last week. 
Her name is Mary Mercer and she’s my height with big red curly hair.  You
couldn’t mistake her.  Have you seen her by any chance?’

The old woman shook her head.  ‘No,
definitely not seen anyone matching that description.  Sorry, my love.’

‘Would you mind terribly just having a
quick look in your farm buildings, just in case she’s there?’

The woman frowned, evidently not keen on
the idea of searching for a trespasser.  ‘I’ll have a quick look
now.  You wait here.  If she is here, she wants to keep well out of
my husband’s way, let me tell you.  He doesn’t take kindly to traveller
folk and itinerants on his land.’

Before Edith could interject and say that
her sister was neither a traveller nor itinerant, the door was closed.

The longer she waited, the more
preposterous the search felt to Edith. 
What really were the chances of
Mary being stowed in the barn of an Icklesham farm?  It made no sense.

‘Sorry, my love, nothing,’ the old woman
said when she eventually returned.  ‘Good luck—hope you find her. 
We’ll keep an eye out.’

‘Thanks,’ Edith said, and turned back to
continue her walk along the main road. 

After the second, then third and fourth
farmhouse all returned the same negative outcomes, Edith became more
apprehensive.  For her part of the search being carried out, everything
relied on her aunt and uncle having seen or heard from Mary since
Wednesday. 

Her aunt and uncle lived in a small white
weather-boarded cottage close to Icklesham church.  Again, Edith was
hesitant about knocking.  In the window, she caught sight of her aunt who
seemed perplexed to see her.

‘Edith! What are you doing here? 
Just out for a walk?’ her aunt called through the open window.

‘Not really, I’m looking for Mary. 
Can I come in?’

Her aunt opened the door and, at the sight
of her warm familiarity, Edith burst into tears.

‘Oh my poor thing, whatever’s the
matter?  Come inside.’

Despite
the clear skies that had mercifully dominated the day, at just after
seven-thirty the day began to give way to the night.  Edward and the few
remaining searchers were standing on Friar’s Road outside the Mercer family
home, anxious with despair.  None of them had spoken for several minutes,
each too absorbed with their own theories and conclusions, drawn from the
outcome of the day’s searches: nobody had discovered anything.  Edward had
no new leads to go on—there had been absolutely no sightings at all of Mary
since Wednesday.  To him, it seemed as though she had been plucked from
the face of the earth, which worried him immensely.  He could cope with
her running away, even if it did mean the end of their courtship.  What he
couldn’t cope with was the idea that something untoward had happened to
her.  He couldn’t shake an unpleasant recurring thought: that Mary was
lying dead somewhere where she would never be found.  That idea had
haunted and clouded his every thought.  There was now only one possibility
left for today and that was Edith.  She had yet to return from
Icklesham.  The fact that she had been so long heartened Edward; he kept
expecting the two of them to waltz in, arm-in-arm with a tale to tell.

The streets grew darker, the darkness
bringing with it a stark chill in the air.  Edward could only just make
out the corner of the street and was now starting to worry about Edith. 
Should
he go and search for her now?

‘What’s taking her so long?’ Edith’s mum
asked, evidently thinking the same as he was.  ‘She should’ve been home
hours ago.’

‘You don’t think the pair of them are up
to something?’ Caroline mused. 

Edward bit his lip through fear of saying
something he might regret.  All day Caroline had strutted around, huffing,
puffing and complaining that the searches were a waste of time. 

‘Don’t be so silly, Caroline.  Why
don’t you go inside and check on your father.’

Caroline did as suggested and disappeared.

‘Is that her?’ Edward said, suddenly
seeing movement at the corner of the road.  He strained his eyes through
the dusky gloom to see, as the figure drew closer.  It was Edith. 
Alone.  With a despondent look on her face.  Edward knew that if she
had any news at all, then it wasn’t good.

‘Anything, Edie?’ her mother called as she
approached them.