Snow and the Wishing Well (Fallen Tales series)

Chapter 65

Chapter 65
Sarah
I jumped the small stone fence that belonged to one of the farmers near my estate. I knew that all I had to do was jump a couple more fences like that one till I'm home. I was saying the same thing five fences ago.
Maybe, I jumped the fence too early. What if I was at the wrong farm? But when I had asked the bus driver how close to the Abby I was, he said that this was the closest I would come to it. He had no idea.
I tried to remember the farm, but it had been more than two years since I had seen it. The paddocks could have changed, they might not have been running the same animals as before. Everything in my mind was going against me finding my home every minute I was here. But it was too late to turn back. The clock was ticking.
I came to the end of the last paddock to a fence that faced a large group of trees. My heart started to race and a smile started to spread across my face as I recognised them. Home. 
I found the energy that I didn't know I had to jump the fence and run straight for the trees. I stopped when I felt something different.
Silence. The branches slightly moved in the wind, vines hung low creating a curtain around every tree. But that wasn't what had changed. There was not one bird.
My heart started to race as I continued down the path that led to another flied. Once I was out of the trees, sun hit me like lighting. I had to squint my eyes till they got use to the sudden light. My legs forced their way up the hill, barely having the strength to make it to the top. When I had, I was speechless. My heart stopped beating. All the worry disappeared. In the distance, stood proudly, was Willow Tree Abby. The huge Abby was still standing, with its three stories, Servant's hall underground and over a hundred windows. There it was. My home. Something that had been missing from me for two years.
But I couldn't go see it yet. I had to do something first.
I continued slowly down the hill, till I got to another stone fence. There was still the little wired gate that I walked through. Two paths stood before me. Instead of turning left to the house, I turned right.
Apple trees stood on both sides of me, making me frown. We had never had apple trees before. I was soon walking up a hill, knowing that I was close to where I wanted to be. I had imagined the next time I would see this place in so many ways, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw.
The tomb. It stood among apple trees that were never there before. Its stone appearance sent shivers down my spine, making me wonder what it would be like inside. All the emotions I've ever felt over the past two years came bubbling to the surface. Fear, anger, sorrow, love, shame and regret, all rolled into one big emotion.
I fell to the ground, just in front of it, as uncontrollable tears came streaming down my face. This was the last thing I needed to do to prepare myself for the biggest battle of my life.
I had to blink out the tears, so that I could read the stone plaque.

Siana Ann Dixon-White 
1935-1995 ​                                             
Keegan Ian White
1930 -2013
Will forever be missed ​                                       

I read their names over and over. Trying to feel the connection to my parents. I felt it but it only made my crying worse.
"I'm so sorry," I whimpered barely audible over my crying, "I'm so sorry."
I shook my head as I continued to hiccupped, "All I ever wanted to do was to make you proud. But I'm so tired."
Through my tears, I hadn't noticed the sound of steps behind me. The person was probably a foot away before I realized. My tears stopped falling as I began to grow angry. Whoever the person was, I knew what they were going to do.
"Are you going to take me to your Lady, now?" I asked through my teeth as the anger began to build.
"Why would I do that?"
I felt my blood run cold at the familiar voice. So many times I had heard that voice in my head, in my nightmares. And now, the Evil Queen was standing right behind me.
I turned my body to face her, but I didn't get off the ground. She stood, in a nice grey pant suit, with her hair in a plat over her shoulder. She stood with her shoulders back and a smile you would use if you were showing somebody a house.
"Victoria," I gritted through my teeth, as my hands turned into fists.
"You were cutting it pretty fine Sarah," she stated.
"It's Sarah-Snow, actually."
She snickered as if it was one big joke, "So you know the truth, then."
"Some."
She snickered again.
"Well, come on. I'll show you what I've done with the place."
She took my hand and lifted me up. Not waiting till I was study on my feet or even allowing me to pick up my bag, she led me back down the path I came down.
"Do you like my apple trees?" she asked me, "My gardener tells me that they will fruit soon."
I couldn't even describe what I felt as she held my hand and led me down the path to the gardens around the Abby. Someone who I had hated for years, someone who had killed everyone I loved, was treating me like an old friend.
The garden beds that were once filled with Summer Snowflakes were now home to three or four apple trees in each bed. A lump formed in my throat as I realized what she had done. Taken away everything that was once my mother's.
"Oh and you remember the gazebo?" she asked.
I stopped dead. It held a statue of both my parents. My eyes began to search for it but what I found in its stop was yes a statue, of Victoria. I bit my lip and my nails were dug into my palms so hard that I thought I would draw blood.
"So I see you've been busy," I stated through my teeth again.
"Not as busy as you I hear. I laughed for hours when I found out what you were doing for money," she giggled even now.
"You didn't give me much choice."
She stopped and turned to me, placing her hand on my shoulder.
"No Honey, you gave yourself no choice. But it turned out for the best."
I bit back the words that I wanted to say to her. For you.
"It could have turned out better if you hadn't made your father change his will, only weeks before he died. It was like you knew the he was, going to die."
I pulled back, clutching my fists.
"What? We both know how he died," my voice was rough and unnoticeable.
She groaned, "Oh yes," she sighed, "a heart attack, so tragic."
"Not a heart attack," I said more strongly.
She smiled a wicked smile, taking my hand again then leading me towards the house. Two man stood at the back door, then opened it when we got close. I didn't recognise them.
We walked through a familiar corridor, moving towards the void with each step. I knew that this was my home, where I grew up, but it seemed so different. Not just how it looked, different paintings, different china on the wooden tables, but the feel. Hollow and cold, like there was no happiness.
We got to the void and I felt completely overwhelmed with the memory of Victoria standing in her nighty, screaming my name.
"How did you find me anyway?" I asked as we stopped.
She smiled her evil smile, "Like you, I have my men. I would have chosen someone better if I had known he would back out. But he seemed just as dispirit as you were."
Her words sent a whirl wind in my mind, as if they were a trigger to my memory.
"And you had the hide to be up me,"
"I thought I told you to leave Hackney,"
"Do you honestly think that I wouldn't come back after Billy?"
"So you've heard,"
"Who do you think found him? How did you find out about him?"
"How most people find out about murder, the paper? You can't think that I did it."
"He died in Hackney, Steve. You had to have seen him, Hackney is not that big."
"Fine. Yes I did see him. It could have been days before he died, it could have been merely hours, I don't know. He was complaining that someone had been following him."
"Following him, what do you mean –?"
"How the hell would I know? Leave Snow. It's not safe for you here."
"What do you –?"
"Just trust me. You can't trust anyone."
"Steve," I could only say his name. When I saw her smile begin to grow as I figured it out, I continued, "Steve was telling you everything."
"You being a prostitute, your homeless friend and not to forget about your charming Lord."
I swallowed at the thought of Justin. He would have woken up now.
"Oh and before you get all upset. He wasn't the one who killed your homeless friend."
I hadn't even realized that. But now I had and the fire burned.
"Then who was. Who was the person that followed Justin around? Who was the person who followed me in Hackney? Who were the five people that attacked Blake and Justin yesterday in Carlisle?"
I was tired of playing and she knew it. The cracks were showing.
She snickered, then turned towards the door that led to the library, "Oh Alick!"
Alick came through, with his rough, torn clothing and mattered beard. I wasn't surprised.
With an evil giggle, she said, "He is a huntsman after all."
"And the five yesterday?" I asked.
"Why boys from his hunting crew of course. I wouldn't want to use anybody that's out of the family."
"Family," I said bitterly. The only word that stood out.
"Yes dear, you and I are family."
I took a page out of her book and gave a bitter laugh, "That's right, because you were my mother's sister, weren't you?"
Her smile disappeared and her eyes became daggers.
"Right up till the day she died."
"From cancer, right?" I asked already knowing the truth.
"That's right."
"Or was it from a poison that you gave her, the same one you gave my father merely hours before he died."
She chuckled, "I have no idea what your –."
"Or was it something different that you gave him. You were so sure that he had changed his will so that you got everything, the house, the money, because he told you that, right? You just didn't realize that he had come to me first. I told him to lie to you. I told him not to give you anything."
My heart was racing so fast that I hadn't felt the slap till my cheek started to sting. When I turned back to her, her eyes were dark and hallow. Like the house. I realized then, that she had me where she wanted me. She had already guessed what I had just said, I had just confirmed it.
"Well, Alick, lets show Sarah-Snow, our little surprise," she said, with her eyes locked on mine.
Alick clapped his hands together and the door to the library opened. My voice was stolen from me when I saw two men drugging Justin in by his arms, his hands tied behind his back and a cloth around his face so that he wouldn't scream.
"Look who we picked up at the train station. We were waiting for you, but we got something so much better."
At the sound of Victoria's voice, Justin lifted his head in alert and spotted me.
"Sar-ah!" he screamed my name through the cloth.
"Justin!" I yelled taking a step forward.
"Sn-ow!" he screamed again as they dragged him back into the library.
My eyes landed on Victoria's.
"I'll give you anything you want."



Justin
Pain spread everywhere in my body. I didn't even see it coming at the train station. One minute I was standing, waiting for the train, the next, I woke in a room with two other people. One I recognised from the homeless shelter the other I recognised from the birthday photo that Sarah had. Heather I think.
When I had seen Sarah in the void with Victoria, the fear was worse than the pain. I had tried so hard to get out of the grip I was in but the two guys were way too strong for my weak body.
And now I sat in what seemed like a library, looking at the two other people. Three guys stood in the corner of the room, talking between them. They had taken off our gags, now that Sarah now knew we were here. Well now knew that I was here anyway.
"You look horrible," the guy that I was pretty sure was Steve stated.
I smiled fakely, shifting to a better position.
"Few bruised ribs, anything too major," I told him.
He laughed as if he found this one big joke. I didn't understand why Sarah cared about him.
To Heather, I asked, "what do they want with us?"
"Leverage," she answer, her Scottish accent thick.
"For what?"
I feared what it was.  
"So that my Lady will do as that Evil Witch wants."
"Evil Queen," I corrected.
"The only stupid part of that sentence was you saying that Snow was a lady. She is no lady," Steve added.
"She's my lady and that's all that's to it, Leddy. Why are you even here anyway?" She asked.
I guessed I had been wondering the same thing. It wasn't like Steve was high on the most important people of Sarah's life list.
He sighed, "Nobody says no to the Queen."
I frowned, "you know Victoria?"
He looked up and his eyes landed on mine.
"She had asked me to spy on Snow, and report back to her for a decent amount of cash."
I dropped my head back, connecting the dots. That's how she knew that Sarah was in London? How Billy was her only friend in London. Even about me. She knew about it because of him. For cash.
"So spied on her, for cash. Because of you, Billy ended up dead."
He just shrugged. He didn't even care.
"How was my way for surviving any different to hers?" He asked.
"Because she was doing to buy back her home, not for some cold hard cash."
Again, he shrugged. If it wasn't for him, Sarah and I could have been happy together in London. I could have taken her home without the fear that someone was going to follow us. She wouldn't have spent the last month, scared that someone was going to find her, again.
As my anger grew, I thought about what he had said before.
Nobody says no to the Queen
"Why did you have a change of heart?" I asked him.
He looked up again and frowned.
"What?"
"You said that nobody says no to the Queen, why did you stop following her."
He shrugged, "I figured out the story. Snow the homeless girl, was a Lady of an estate whose father had died. I felt bad."
I shook my head trying to calm my anger. If any of us were going to get out here alive, we had to work together.
"So what does she want with Sarah?" I asked Heather knowing that if I had asked Steve, I would have gotten nothing but a sarcastic remake.
"Victoria -."
"Hey," one of the guys pipped up, poking her with a steal pole. It was only then that I noticed the purple bruise growing on Heather's worn out cheek. Had he hit her with that?
"Say another word and I won't be afraid to use this again," he warned.
I felt another fire inside of me, as I thought about him beating her with that. A women that was probably in her sixties, being hit with a steal pole.
"Hit her with that, and you'll be sorry," I warned, knowing that there was nothing I could do tied to a chair. And the guy knew that.
"Right sure," he chuckled, "you can barely hold yourself up, how are you going to stop me from beating this old bat."
"Her name is Heather, use it," I ordered.
Both Heather and Steve looked shocked that I was sticking up for her. But I didn't know what else to do. Sarah was out there with her stepmother, defenceless. The least I could was make sure that her maid wasn't beaten to death.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" He asked me.
I used to be nobody. But then I was adopted by a Lady and a Lord. And I became everything. I became a son, an heir and the most important person to someone out there. A week ago, I had a chance with these guys. I had none anymore.
I shook my head and muttered, "Nobody."
"That's right. You're just a beaten down piece of leverage for Miss Sarah. You're no prince."
My hands turned into fist at the sound of her name. How dare he say her name.
"It's Sarah-Snow actually," I snarled through my teeth.
"Whatever," he groaned going back to the other two and they started up their conversation again.
I jumped with hope and fear when the door opened. I frowned when another women came through. Probably the same age as Heather, maybe younger, wearing the same uniform as Heather as well.
"What the hell do you want?" A different one asked, moving forward.
"My mistress, wanted something," she told them, barely blinking at the sight of us.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"I can't say, it's supposed to be a secret. Nobody but my Mistress and I are allowed to know."
The guy was silent thinking but finally nodded letting her through. I watched her carefully as she walked along the bookcase, looking at the selves. What the hell did Victoria want with a book?"
"Who's that?" I whispered to Heather, hoping that the three guys wouldn't notice.
"Beatrice, Lady Victoria's maid," she answered.
I frowned, turning back to Beatrice. She had stopped, tapping the spines of three books, like she was deciding which one to take. What was she deciding? I watched her take out one of the thickest books I've ever seen. She didn't look like she could carry it, with her thin arms and petite body. Wondering the same I was, the third one asked, "A book?"
She smiled and walked over to him, "Yes, it's a instrument that contains pages of words and sentences. Used for learning and enjoyment."
"Are you trying to be smart, with me?" he asked.
She shook her head, "Never smart, just realistic."
I sat up, noticing the little spark in her eyes. She wasn't getting the book for Victoria.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
I heard the thud of the book against his cheek before I saw him stumble to the ground. The other two seemed too stunned to do anything, which she took as an advantage. She pushed the second one into the first one, using the book and watched them fall to the ground.
"Holy cow!" Steve yelled surprised.
"Where the hell did you learn to do that, Beatrice?" Heather asked as Beatrice paced over to her to untie her.
"I wasn't always that witch's maid, you know?" she answered moving over to untie Steve.
I still felt uneasy towards her and couldn't bring my guard down to trust her, even after she untied me.
"Why are you helping us?" I asked.
"Because in five to ten minutes, she will ruin that poor girl's life. Which we probably ruin your own."
I paused thinking about what she was saying and when it hit me, it hit me hard. Ignoring the pain in my body, I turned towards that door. It hadn't hit me that someone was holding me back till I realized I wasn't getting any closer to the door.
"Don't be stupid, Boy," Beatrice told me, "You can't go out there the way you are."
"But you just said that –."
"I know what I said. But don't go out unprepared."
My heart was racing and my blood was pupping. I didn't have time for logic thinking. I just needed to get out there to save my Snow. Didn't anyone understand that?
As my pulse started to calm, so did my thoughts and I could think better. Beatrice was right. I needed a plan. And a better weapon than a book.