Taming the Wild

Guess Who's Coming to Town

When Sebastian Shaw got out of the carriage that brought him to Carlton he looked not a day older than what Charles remembered. Only now he was wearing a ridiculously huge hat but apparently it didn't matter if you looked like a total idiot if you were rich. Charles suppressed an eye roll and once again reminded himself why was he doing this now.

"Charles!" the man greeted with the same smile that always made Charles feel so uneasy for no apparent reason.

"Mr. Shaw, so good to see you again, sir." Charles smiled politely, shaking the man's hand.

"Sebastian, please." he said, chuckling. "Call me Sebastian. I'm not that much older than you."

Charles smiled awkwardly. Mr. Shaw was at least 20 years older than him but that was a detail Charles was not going to get into right now.

"Of course, Sebastian." he said instead. "I'm glad you're here because I really hoped we could finally talk about--"

"Such a lovely town!" Mr. Shaw interrupted him "I understand why you like living here, Charles. Who would've imagined, huh? Kurt Marko's boy teaching in a small American village."

Charles tried not to take offense at being called Kurt Marko's boy.

"I do indeed like it here, sir-- I mean, Sebastian." he amended when he noticed Shaw's face at being called sir again "And it may seem a little forward of me but I really need to talk to you about--"

"Where do you live, Charles? Hmm?" Sebastian wrapped an arm around Charles' shoulders and walked with him with no particular direction.

"I-- I have a little place not far from the school" Charles replied hastily. Must they really do this small talk now? Charles was kind of in a rush here. "But I must insist we talk about..."

"The school! Good!"

"Raven!" Charles said firmly, interrupting Shaw.

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh." was all Shaw said

Charles took in a deep breath to calm himself. Shaw's reaction at the mention of Raven spoke books to him. Shaw wasn't here because he had some information about Charles' sister. He had no news to bring that were better told in person. He did not even seem much interested in discussing Raven at all. That was a huge disappointment.

"Yes. Raven." Charles said, pursing his lips "To be honest, Mr. Shaw, I thought you wrote me with the specific reason to bring me more news of her."

"I'm sorry, Charles." the man said, assuming a sad, compassionate expression on his face. "I know this is a difficult topic for you. That is why I was trying to avoid it."

Charles was listening, hoping his face wasn't showing all the emotions that were going through his heart. Hopeful expectations, piling up for days while he was waiting for what Shaw would tell him about Raven, were shattered in just this one moment.

"I wish I had news for you, Charles, I really do. But I don't." Mr. Shaw said, his hand resting on just one of Charles' shoulders now - still a tad too familiar gesture than Charles would feel comfortable with.

"Could you at least explain to me more than you did half a year ago?" Charles pleaded "I really welcome anything new that you might remember about the day my sister went missing. Anything at all! Even if it's just some very small detail..."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Charles. But no."

Charles tried not to cry. He bit his lip, clenched his fists, blinked rapidly in hope to be able to control himself.