The Secrets of Whitelea

|Chapter Fourteen|

Chapter Fourteen

"I know what you did." Tessa said. Bella stood frozen in the doorway, one hand still halfway towards reaching for her phone in her back pocket.

"Tessa?" Bella moved. "What do you mean 'I know what you did'. I haven't done anything!" Bella took a step towards Tessa who flinched. "What are you doing?" Bella asked her. "How did you get here?" Tessa didn't answer. "Tessa..." Bella's voice was low with a warning. "What are you doing?" Tessa still didn't respond. Bella took a few steps forwards and Tessa flew into motion. She screamed, darted past Bella – knocking over the lamp as she did so – and disappeared out the door. Bella followed after her, hoping that Tessa wouldn't pull another disappearing trick.

The commotion had brought Mariam and Elizabeth up to investigate. With the house being completely empty, noise travelled easier and at the sound of the scream they had left their seats in the kitchen to come and see what the matter was. They were about to ascend the second flight of stairs that led up to the second floor when Tessa flung herself down them and ran straight into Elizabeth's arms while the two women looked up at Bella who was still at the top of the stairs. "What is going on?" Elizabeth demanded, frowning at Bella.

"She was acting strange." Bella said, starting to come down the stairs. Tessa burrowed herself further into Elizabeth's side. "She was in my room and she said the weirdest thing."

"I didn't see her come here, I'd left her at home." Elizabeth frowned.

"She seems to be getting a habit of turning up here when she isn't meant to." Mariam joked.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth's frown deepened.

"Ah," Mariam began but she stopped when she saw Bella's face. "It's nothing. Just some stupid joke."

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked Tessa. Tessa nodded. "I heard her scream." The statement was directed at Bella who shrugged.

"As I'm trying to tell you, she's acting weird."

"What were you doing here?" Elizabeth asked Tessa gently.

"I wanted to explore the house." Tessa answered. "I got lost."

"You know you aren't allowed to just wander round here." Elizabeth scolded. She looked back up at Bella. "That's probably why she was acting strange, she was lost."

"You aren't even listening to me!" Bella cried. "Tessa wasn't lost and she was acting strange for no reason!"

"What did she do to you?" Elizabeth asked Tessa. "Why did you scream?"

"I didn't hurt her!" Bella tried to defend herself. "She said she knew what I'd done." Elizabeth froze. Mariam frowned in confusion.

"I'm sorry?"

"She said 'I know what you did'."

"You're making it up." Elizabeth said. "Why would Tessa ever say that?"

"I don't know! That's why she's acting strange!"

"I think I should take her home." Elizabeth said. Bella stood helplessly halfway down the stairs.

"I'll see you out." Mariam said, following Elizabeth and Tessa down to the front door. Bella stayed where she was long after the three of them had disappeared. Tessa's words were going through her head. I know what you did. What had she done? Except tell a few lies, there was nothing awful she'd done. And the words were the exact same as what had been written on the letters. The exact same words. There was no way Tessa could be the one behind the letters...She was ten for God's sake! No ten-year-old could have managed to pull of a stunt this big and get away with it – right under the nose of their entire family. But what hurt more than the worry over Tessa was the fact that Elizabeth had chosen to believe Tessa over her. What reason would Bella have to lie about something like this? Sure, she had lied about other things...but nothing like this. It hurt her that Elizabeth chose to trust a ten-year-old adoptive sister over a nineteen-year-old blood related one. Bella had never told a lie to Elizabeth (not ones Elizabeth knew about anyway) and Tessa was a child – someone who could easily make up stories and lies to get out of things. It hurt that Bella had been pushed to the side and accused when Elizabeth had so dearly wanted her back.