Guardian Angel

Chapter 16

With my arms crossed I walked down the staircase toward the dining hall with Laura close behind. I could hear the clack of the heels of her shoes as they hit the floor. I wanted so much to turn around and shout at her to leave me alone but I knew I couldn't. My grandparents sat in their usual seats and smiled at me as I entered the room. "Good morning Scarlet," said my grandfather while reading the newspaper. I nodded back to him and then began to eat my breakfast. Grandfather lay the paper down on the table and looked toward grandmother. "We haven't found a trace of anyone in the garden yet," he said. She looked slightly confused. "That's quite peculiar," she responded. He nodded in agreement. I didn't look up from my plate. "this is just a wild goose chase," I muttered but I was still loud enough to be heard. "It is a large waste of time and resources. Whoever I saw in the garden must be long gone by now. Can't we just accept that and put this nonsense aside?" Grandfather gave me a stern look. "Don't you use that tone with me young lady," he scolded. He couldn't tell but I rolled my eyes at him. "We are simply trying to keep you safe." I laughed a little. Fools I thought. This is no way to keep me safe. They don't understand what's truly going on. I stood up from the table and started to walk out of the dining hall. "It's time for my lessons," I said. I really did not want to go to my lessons but I needed an excuse to leave. Dragging my feet, I made my way over to my tutor's office. If it is even possible, his teachings were even more boring and uninteresting then the day before. It just made the three hour session last longer. He was almost done and I was basically asleep when a thought occurred to me. Laura makes all the beds in the house. What if she found the letter under my pillow? What if she took it? Finally lessons were over. I ran upstairs to my room in a nervous panic. She better not have found it! I burst open the door to see my bed neatly made. "Oh no," I whispered. I frantically flipped the pillow over only to breathe a sigh of relief. The letter was still there in the envelope where I left it. I guess she didn't find it. I took some deep breaths to get my heart to stop racing. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Soon it would be time to see Garren and Andrea. The sun was setting over the manor making the sky a beautiful shade of purple with some patches of orange. I ate dinner alone tonight. Grandfather was upstairs in his office working and grandmother was assisting him. I was used to being alone so it didn't even phase me. I ate fairly quickly and then once again secluded myself up in my room. The moon was starting to rise. I slipped on my night gown and grabbed the rose from my vanity. I held it close to me and stroked the beautiful petals. After a while all was still. "Time to go," I whispered. I made my way to the door that leads to the garden but something was wrong. There was a lock on the door and there wasn't a key anywhere. I shrugged. "They're trying to keep my inside huh? Well I can just use a different door." But door after door had a metal lock placed on it. The downstairs windows wouldn't budge either. I couldn't get out! I pulled on the handle of the back door again but it was no use. Then something fell off the lock and landed on my hand. I picked it up carefully and examined it in the moonlight. It was a strand of short red hair. "Laura," I said in disgust. "She did this."