Snow and the Wishing Well (Fallen Tales series)

Chapter 33

Chapter 33
Justin
"What do you plan to do today?" I asked Sarah as I started to get dressed.
"Oh I don't know, lay around in bed, maybe order room serves."
I smiled at the thought of that. Sarah lying in bed, amongst all the pillows and blankets, only wearing - I shook the thought away, as her giggles filled my head.
"What do you have planned today?" She asked bringing me back to the hotel room.
I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do today.  But I was hoping to get a lead on Abbigail Hornbrook.
"Ahh, I have to go to the library, look up these books," I said pulling on my sneakers.
"Oh I envy you," she said with a sigh, "spending your day with a purpose."
I smiled turning back to her. I wish I could take her, show her all the books the library had to offer. But I couldn't tell her about my search for my birth mother, at least not yet.
I crawled up the bed to her and pressed my forehead against hers.
"Well, you can think about where you want to go to dinner tonight."
She pulled back so that she could see my face.
"Wait, you're taking me out?" She asked.
I nodded.
"Like, on a date?"
I nodded against her forehead, drawing in for a kiss.
She pulled back to say, "So, our first date."
I groaned giving up on kissing her.
"Yes, Sarah, it will be our first date. I'm sure you've been on one before."
She bit her lip and went quiet. I sat back as I realized why she couldn't get the thought through her mind.
"Oh,"
"I went to an all-girls school then I was home schooled, so I was never around guys. I know it's weird but –."
Before she could stay another thing, I locked my lips on hers.
She pulled back, "What was that for?"
I stood, ready to pronounce my plan.
"That is to start the most amazing night you are about to have. Give me the whole day to decide it."
Shifting off the bed, she stood as well.
"And what do expect me to do? I don't have nice clothes anymore,"
I shrugged only thinking of one possible answer.
"Just do what you normally do to get clothes."
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth drop in surprise, "Wait, so you upped me for stealing clothes, now you want me to."
I was too excited to think properly. My mind was overloading on ideas to make this night perfect, forgetting all ideas I had thought about to tracking down Abbigail.  
"I don't know, just, I don't know," I said throwing my hands in the in defeat, "Look I got to go, I'll see you tonight,"
Pecking her on the cheek, I left the room, with a new purpose for today. Give Sarah the best first date ever.

I paced down the street with the new energy I didn't know I had. With every step brought a new idea.
Horse and carriage ride through the pack.
Dinner at Addendum Restaurant.
The ideas were endless.
I stopped on the street corner taking out my phone, I finally knew a way to start my search. Ma had once told me that Abbigail had once worked for a good friend of theirs. The only problem was, they had many good friends. I dialled one of the numbers from a piece of paper of names and numbers that I had written up last night. 
"Hello, Garret residence," answer a high pitched woman.
"Hello, my name is Justin Carter. I was wondering if there was a maid by the name of Abbigail Hornbrook working for you about thirty years ago," I asked.
"I'm sorry Mr Carter, but there is no way I could find that out for you. It would take –."
"Right, sorry I ask," I hung up.
Why couldn't I find this woman? Why did I want to find this woman? Why did my mother want to me to find this woman?
I sighed giving in, I opened my phone.
"Hello, Carter residence?" it was Harper our Butler.
"Hey, Harper, it's me."
"Hello Sir Justin, which one would you like to speak too? Your mother or your father," he asked.
I sighed, "Who do you think?"
"I'll go get her."
I smiled shaking my head, chuckling. Harper knew how crazy my mother could be just as much as I did.
"Justin!" I jumped at the sound of Ma's voice, "Justin! Oh my God, are you okay? I heard all the snow storm in London. You have to come home right –."
"Ma, Ma, Ma! I'm not coming home,"
"What?" she yelled.
I frowned, "I thought you didn't want me back."
"What, of course I –."
"Abbigail Hornbrook," I butted in.
The line was silent till I heard her soft voice, "Oh."
"Ma why do you want me to find her? Why wait till now?" I asked her.
"Honey, taking over the estate is a big decision to make. So w-we wanted you to know exactly what you wanted."
"And that means, finding my birth mother?"
"Well we –."
"Is that Justin?" I heard Pa ask in the back ground, "Justin?"
"Hey Pa," I said half sighing.
"Look, we just wanted you to know who she was," he said repeating the same thing Ma had just done.
"Well, where is she then?" I asked growing frustrated.
There was silence again.
"What did he say?" asked Ma in the background, "Aaron?"
"Pa?"  I asked.
The eerie silence was killing me.
Where was she?
"She's in London."



Sarah
I walked down the street with a shopping bag of stolen clothes. I was proud of my purchase.
A nice white blouse, nice designer jeans and a nice cream trench coat. The most amazing part was that all of the clothes put together probably would have cost hundreds of dollars, and I got them for free.
Though my heart was bounding with excitement of the thought of tonight,  my mind was on Billy.
Where was he? Did he make it through the storm alright?
I could kill Michael. All those people, homeless, living on the street, cold and alone. The crappy part was that I could never be happier.
I was going on my first date, ever, with a guy that was amazing. And that's all I could think of.
Billy was everything I had when I first came to London. He was the person who taught me everything I knew.
That morning after that first night, Billy took my hand and told me what to do to survive.
"Now Princess, to survive in this city, you need to spend as less money as possible," he started.
Tears flowed like a waterfall, as I blurted everything out, "I had sex with a guy for money! I-I've never been to London and and –."
"Whoa, slow down," he said in a clamming voice as I hiccupped away at tears, "I'm not judging."
"You're not?" I cried.
"No, everyone needs to do what they have to, to survive."
That was the first time he had ever made me feel good about what I did. After that he had supported me in anyway. Sicking up for me with Steve, making me smile after a horrible night and at the start, he stole food for me. So when he got really sick a couple of months ago, I helped him just as much as he did.
When I got to the hotel room, I found Justin hunched over on the bed.
I frowned, worried, "Hey, what up?"
His head shot up, like a dear in the headlights. There was something in his eyes before he hid it with surprise.
"Hey, what happened to you spending the day in bed?" he asked forcing the high voice.
"I decided to get new clothes instead," I dropped the bag, "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Justin, I know that face, I known that face. It's the face where you're trying to hide something by acting surprised. So what's up?"
He sighed, "Fine okay."
He slouched down on the bed, rubbing his forehead as I sat next to him.
"About a week after I came to London, I found this in my book."
It wasn't until then that I noticed the note in his hand. He handed it to me making me frown as I read the name.
"Abbigail Hornbrook, who's Abbigail Hornbr –."
"My birth mother."
My eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh."
"Yeah, well, apparently my parents wanted me to find her so I make a clear decision about taking over the estate. That thing about the homeless shelters were just crap."
I frown, "decision, I thought you were –."
"I guess they're worried that I would freak out again."
"Oh, I guess, that's true..." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say.
"Do you know where she is, where to find her?" I asked in a hurry.
He gave a bitter laugh making me frowned.
"She's a house maid going by the name of Aliza Hampson. I guess it really is true that people change their name to something that had the same first letters of their original name. "
He was avoiding the question which made my mind wonder even more.
"That's not the question that I asked."
He turned his head away from me as guilty washed over him.
"Come on, we'll be late for our reservation," he quickly said, standing.
It was four o'clock.
I grabbed his hand, stopping him from leaving.
"You know where she is?" I asked surprised.
He sighed, "Yeah, I do."
"Where?"
"She's a housemaid –."
"You've ready said that part."
"– at the Cottage Hotel."
I froze, taken aback. His birth mother was in this very building.
"She's here Sarah," his voice was weak, and hopeless, "the woman that abandoned had probably shared the elevator with me, or passed me in the lobby. I mean –."
"Hey," I stopped when he grew more frustrated.
I wrapped my arms around him, as he cupped my nape.
"I just...I don't know what to do, Sarah," he told me.
"I don't know, Justin. I really don't know."