GENTLE | VISCOUNT TEWKESBURY

6| Ellie Houseman

[Y/N]

NEITHER OF THE TWO LETTERS HAD SUCCESS AS I RECIEVED ONE BACK SAYING THEY WEREN'T EVEN AWARE OF MY MOTHER'S DISSAPEARANCE. And even though I could hardly believe it, I decided I could not waste my time to inspect it any further.

The only plan I had for my third day in London, which is today, was to visit the tea shop the third address belonged to. It was the only lead I had at the moment and I hoped this visit wasn't another pointless attempt to find my mother.

As I entered the crowded tea shop a sweet aroma of flowers filled my lungs. I smiled a little as I found the scent reminded me of the countryside.

"Hello" said a voice behind me. Turning my head I came face to face with a red-haired girl who seemed to be about the same age as me. "Hi" I said softly, feeling a little taken aback. "Sorry if I scared you I just noticed you seemed to space out a little. Is everything alright?" the girl rambled.

"Yes, everything is just fine. I'm just thinking" I repaid kindly. "I'm Y/n" I said holding my hand out for her to shake. Normally I'm a closed person but that girl seemed so kind (she was worried about me and she hadn't even seen me before I entered the tea shop a minute ago) and I had a really good feeling about her.

"I'm Avery" she said shaking my hand. "This is my friend Valencia" she pointed to a blonde haired girl who was sitting on a table by herself. "You can come sit with us, if you don't have anything to do of course" she offered. "Your offer is very kind" I started but then I notice a thud coming from upstairs and someone mumble something about 'bloody women'.

"But I'm afraid I must decline. I have something really important to do, otherwise I would gladly sit with you and your friend."

"It's okay" the girl smiled. "We're always hanging around here if you ever want to, you know, come find us" the girl laughed. She is indeed very strange, but not in a bad way. "Maybe one day" I shrugged. The girl nodded and made her way back to her table.

Walking up the stairs the noises became slightly louder. Through the glass windows that separated this room from the other I could see several women dressed in white Jiu Jitsu robes fighting one another in pairs.

Opening the door to enter the room the first thing that caught my attention was a girl in a red dress that had pinned another woman who seemed slightly older to the ground. Thing is I knew both of them. "Enola" I said, which caused the younger girl to look at me. "Edith" I acknowledged the other woman giving her a soft smile.

Looking at each other, Enola held her right hand out to help Edith up before she guided us out of the room. "How do you know each other?" the older asked leaning against her desk. "We met on the train here" I answered.

"Are you two alone in London?" Edith questioned. "I wouldn't say that" I started. The woman looked at me with a look of confusing, silently asking me to elaborate. "There was a useless boy but we got rid of him" Enola answered for me.

"I have money, lodgings I just need to find her" she continued. "Do you know where our mothers are Edith?" I asked. "What makes you two think they want to be found?"

"Eudoria has been hiding all of her life. So has Amaryllis. If the don't want to be found then they won't. Besides they both have work to do" Edith told us. "Are they together?" I questioned to which she nodded. "What work?" Enola asked. "That I'm afraid I can't tell you."

The look on her face gave away that the situation was serious. "So you were at that meeting too" she concluded as if something had just registered in her mind. I didn't know about which meeting she was talking about but I do remember my mother hosting meetings over a few months' time and I most certainly remember her leaving the house to attend them.

"Who is Ellie Houseman?" Enola asked. 'Ellie Houseman'. The name was quite familiar. I think I had overheard mother mention the said name a few times while in those meetings. And before you ask, yes I am aware overhearing is wrong but when living in the countryside one has to find something to entertain themselves.

"I wish I could help you two more" Edith sighed. "You can, you just don't want to" I corrected her. "I must get back to my students. You can see yourself out" she said walking back towards the other room.

I could feel Enola's anger rising and before I could do anything about it she got up and pulled Edith towards her. Next thing I knew Enola was on the ground. She rolled over and grabbed her leg in an attempt to stop Edith, using a move I recognised as the corkscrew.

"You could never manage that one" she commented walking towards the door. She turned to us one last time. "If you two want to stay in London" she said glancing over at me. "Be tough" she sighed before repeating her words.

"Be tough. Live the life. But don't do it because you're looking for someone. Do it because you're looking for yourselves" she said before going back to her class. The girl however did not move, seeming to be deep in thought. "Limehouse Lane" she whispered once she was back in reality.

Enola turned her head to look at me. "Guess we're in this together" she mumbled before standing up and grabbing my hand. "Come on" was the only thing she told me before dragging me downstairs.

WALKING DOWN THE POORER AND EMPTY STREETS OF LONDON DID NOT SOUND APPEALING TO ME AT ALL. However if it was what it took for me to find my mother, so be it. Since we left the tea shop, me and Enola were mostly silent, with the exception of a few pointless comments here and there.

In those moments of silence I was able to figure out that Ellie Houseman was a coded name for 'Limehouse Lane'. But from the fact that Enola was already leading me there I didn't see the need to share my train of thoughts with her as she seemed to have figured it out before I did.

The people living in this area were a lot different form the people I saw in my last three days in London. They were mostly silent or talking quietly, unlike the people who would converse casually while in the busy streets of London.

Everything seemed so much more miserable, but given the area was one of the most poor ones it did seem logical for people to act the way the did. "Are we going home now?" asked the voice of a little girl who came into view as we turned to the corner.

The girl was holding her mothers' hand. Both the mother and the girl were wearing old clothes that were ripped at the end. "Yes" the woman replied quietly. "I'm hungry mother" the girl complained. "I know dear."

The faint smile on my face completely disappeared form my face after hearing the girl's words. How could life be so cruel to people with kindness and respect while it can give everything to arrogant and ignorant bastards?

Walking forward we continued our way, until we came to a stop. Surrounding us were five identical houses with locks on the door. Enola walked to the first one, inspecting it, before moving to the next one.

Deciding I should be of some use I walked forward to the door in front of my, looking at the lock. It was different from the others as it had a small piece of purple ribbon around it. I remember mum wearing a badge with the same ribbon at those meetings, and so did the other women too.

"I think I found it" I said to Enola, who walked over to where I was standing. This is definitely something.