Masquerade

Chapter 3: Lies

Latest Update: 8/29/2012; 11:25pm

~

London England, 1871

(Mari’s POV)

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“How are we supposed to contact them?”

“I don’t know.”

“We can’t even send them letters, for there will be no postmark, and we have no other means of communication! How”—

“Paulette, will you be quiet so that I can think? Please?” I snapped. Paulette was hysterical, and with obvious reason: we’d been left in a country with no means of contacting the ship. It wasn’t like we could send them a letter and ask them to turn around and come and get us. Paulette had finally stopped pacing and she sat down on a barrel next to me, the smell of fish wafting around us, and turning my friend’s pale face, a queasy green color.

“Obviously, we have to find shelter. We need some place to stay, because the winter is going to be rough. We should go back and ask the barmaid if she knows of any place,” I said, standing up. Paulette nodded and stood up too, following me as I made my way back to the tavern, which was dead, considering the early hour.

 Surprisingly, the barmaid was awake, and she was downstairs, getting everything ready for the coming night.

“I didn’t think that I’d see you two again,” she said.

“We missed our ship, Lucy,” Paulette said.

“That’s not good,” Lucy said, frowning.

“No, not really,” I said, sitting down on a barstool, “Do you know of any place we can stay?” I asked.

“If I had room, I’d let you stay here…A friend of mine owns a very nice place just up the road. If you mention my name, he’ll give you board for free,” Lucy said.

“Thank you,” I said, as Lucy searched for a pen and a scrap of paper. Quickly, she scribbled down the address and then handed me the paper.

“Thank you,” I replied, and then we turned and walked out of the tavern, and started making our way up the road.

Paulette looked left while I looked right; even numbers were to the right and the odd numbers were to the left.

“There!” Paulette said, rather loudly, making me jump. I looked up at the building at which she pointed, and saw the numbers 1157. It was a red brick building black shutters, and through the window on the door, it was the lobby of a hotel, and a nice-looking one at that. Paulette and I looked at each other, confused, but I shrugged and led the way into the building.

The floor was a gleaming mahogany wood, as was the front desk, and the furniture in the waiting area. Big vases of flowers were put in corners and between chairs, probably to have the feeling of homeliness.

Paulette and I walked up to the front desk.

The desk clerk looked at us, unexpectantly.

“I’m sorry, but the tavern is down the street,” he said.

“We know, but that’s not why we’re here,” I responded, but before I could say anymore, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and saw a young man, with dark hair and light eyes. He wore an olive-colored suit, with black loafers.

“I’m terribly sorry, I thought you were somebody else,” he said, hastily.

“It’s alright,” I said. Though the man had made a mistake, he didn’t turn and leave, instead he stood there, still staring at me.