Secrets

Chapter 31

The following day, Holly left for a walk, telling Mr. Caliban she would not venture too far. She tucked her suitcase next to the house which allowed her to gain quick access and make a quick getaway. The girl walked through town, a place that was home to her and was also safe. She smiled at many of the local people and did stop to chat briefly if they approached her. She exchanged simple pleasantries such as the weather and what she or they had been doing. However, this walk was not for leisure and was not part of a simple plan.

Getting close to Mr. Telltone's household, Holly used her spyglass to view the home at a safe distance. She waited and knowing that it was a sunny day, Mrs. Telltone and their daughter would eventually come out to enjoy the good weather. A pleasantly cool breeze was rolling off the fjord but did absolutely nothing to damper one's enjoyment of it.

In time, her patience was rewarded and the elderly woman and a young woman, quite a few years younger than Holly's own father at the time, came out to sit with lemonade in their hands, a very pleasant drink for a very pleasant day.

The girl retracted her spyglass and then began to approach, waving to them as if their meeting was simple happenstance. They signalled to her to approach, and she did so, coming through the white-picket front gate and towards the lovely, decorated porch which had carefully carved shrubberies in front of the white-painted railings and lovely lilies and azaleas hanging from above.

"Holly S., how lovely to see you back," Mrs. Telltone said. "It feels like it's been much too long."

"It certainly has and thank you, Mrs. Telltone, I have missed home dearly," the girl answered.

"My husband tells me that your father is away on business again and you were staying with a family friend."

"I still am he's a nice man named Mr. Clarke. My father is coming back in a few days, but I missed Arcanum enough that I convinced my caregiver to come back early."

"I certainly do not blame you," Mrs. Telltone's daughter chimed in. "We all miss something when it's gone..."

From what research I could find on the youngest child in this local family. Her name was Edith Telltone and she worked for the second most important bank with the third most important financial advisor in the city. She was vying for a promotion within the following months and would return to Arcanum once again to pop a bottle of champagne with her parents as a celebration. She seemed to be a nice woman with nice facial features and eyes that shone when she was happy.

"So, what brings you back to town?" Holly asked Edith. "How is the "big" city?"

The three women chuckled at the remark as the city she spoke of was not a big city, but rather a medium-sized one that was still polluted and rather crowded. However, it can be assumed that often small communities such as Arcanum consider even medium-sized cities "big" compared to their own.

"Certainly busy. My boss, Ms. Haines has me working long hours with scarcely time for lunch. However, it pays quite well and I am due for a promotion within the next few months."

"That's wonderful," the Snicton girl says, doing her very best to remain attentive in order to discover the information that she needed.

"I came for a much-needed holiday and to help mother install her new curtains."

"Yes, they are simply to die for. Edith bought them for me in the city. Every wealthy person is using them right now."

"I saw them in this thing called "IN Magazine" and even some of the financial advisors have installed them in their own homes," Edith explains, removing an issue from the stack of magazines placed on the table between the two women, a place where one could sit back for an afternoon and read under the shade of the porch with the occasional breeze rustling the pages. She opened the page that contained the curtains and showed them to the girl. Holly nodded politely.