The Murder Of 1886

Chapter 10

Gwen banged open the back door to the kitchen. It was the nearest door to her as she swiftly walked back to the door. The minute she was inside, she called out to Jane.

"Jane! I have something to show you. Things just turned dangerous. Jane..."

Gwen trailed off when she got no response. Now that she thought about it, the house was completely silent. Her fear spiked. Worry wormed its way in her heart as her breathing became rapid. The graves had creeped her out and Gwen knew she would be paranoid from now on. It wouldn't be an easy time.

Gwen ran to the dining room and the living room; she checked every room on the ground floor. There was no sign of Jane anywhere. Her worries only grew as she climbed the stairs and threw open every room as she searched for Jane. Her calls echoed down the halls. She hesitated at the piano room. It had been long since she had stepped into that room.

Gwen opened it in one throw. No one. No one had stepped into the room recently. Her eyes involuntarily went to the floor. There were no blood stains. She closed the door, her heart pounding. She suddenly felt like she was being watched. There was only one more room to check- the library. She hoped Jane was in the library. Heart thudding violently against her ribcage, she opened the door tentatively.

She nearly collapsed with relief. There, standing near the large table of the library, was Jane. Gwen felt so relieved she thought she would cry. For a moment her thoughts had turned dark.

Gwen quietly shut the door and walked towards Jane, not wanting to startle her friend.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" she asked softly.

When Jane didn't answer her, a frown creased her forehead. She tried again.

"Jane? What happened?"

When no reply was forthcoming, she prepared to speak again just when she cut off abruptly.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" her tone was cold and mocking. It chilled Gwen to the core.

Confusion showed on Gwen's face as she asked, "What?"

Jane motioned to the table in front of her. She still had her back to Gwen, so she couldn't see her face. But Gwen could see her hands shaking. She took careful steps towards her friend; she wasn't keen on aggravating her further. Gwen moved closer so that the thing her friend was pointing at was directly in her line of sight.

She paled. Her heart stilled for a moment. There, sitting in all its glory, was the gun she had found waiting for her after she met Ruth for the first time. She hadn't mentioned anything about a gun when she knew she should've. In fact, she didn't know why she didn't. Especially after Jane said she saw a gun with the same initials in her nightmare.

As she pulled herself from her thoughts, she saw Jane glaring at her, her eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a firm line. Gwen felt like a fish out of water when she tried to speak. Trying to play it off wouldn't be a great idea.

"I found it."

Well that was short. Well done Gwen, she thought. She sounded like a child caught with her hand in the forbidden cookie jar.

Jane rolled her eyes. "I gathered that. I doubt you have the subtlety to smuggle weapons into your house." She definitely wasn't amused.

"Hey! I have subtlety. I can..." Gwen's voice trailed off as she saw Jane's enraged face.

Gwen decided coming off clean was the best course of action. She thought she would stutter when she gave her explanation; she thought she wouldn't find words to say what she wanted. But to her surprise, her words tumbled out of her mouth quite easily.

"I found it the day I met Ruth for the first time." Jane's eyebrows rose. "I was settling in, you know, and I got to know more about this house's history from her. She was just ten when that murder happened."

Gwen took a deep breath.

"When I was walking back, I thought I heard footsteps behind me. And yet when I looked around, no one was there. You can't exactly hide quickly because it is an open area beside the road. Someone chased me after that. I didn't see their face though. I barely escaped Jane. That's when I found the gun. It was just lying in front of the door when I came inside."

Jane was still scowling though she seemed to soften in her stance a little.

"Why didn't you tell me this before? Why didn't you ever tell me you were chased? Gwen you found a gun in your house!"

"I would've. I really would've told you Jane. But do you remember the day you came here?"

Jane nodded, confused as to what she was implying.

"That day you had a nightmare about a gun, one with the letter R inscribed in it. Remember?"

Realization dawned on Jane. Her eyes widened and she nodded at Gwen to continue.

"Well, I suspected the gun you dreamed about was the same gun I found. The one sitting here." Gwen waved a hand towards the object lying on the table. "But I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong. I didn't want you to panic."

Jane seemed to believe it but Gwen could tell she was still upset about it.

"Don't you think if you showed me the gun before, I would've been able to confirm it as the same gun much earlier?"

Gwen's sheepish grin told Jane all she wanted to know. She hadn't thought to that extent yet.

"Yeah, well I-"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"Huh?" now, Gwen was the one confused.

"Did you not hear me?" Jane pronounced each word like she thought Gwen was mentally incapable. She probably did.

"Well, yes I did. You said-" Gwen cut her off as she stared at Jane, bewilderment evident on her face.

"Yes, I just confirmed that this gun is the same one I saw in my dream. Are you really that stupid?Catch up, will you?"

Gwen didn't reply to the jab. She just stared until she broke the descending silence in the room.

"Well at least we have that out of the way now."

Jane rolled her eyes to the heavens.

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As they climbed down the stairs, Gwen turned towards Jane.

"I have something to show you."

"What else have you been keeping from me?" Jane raised an eyebrow, seemingly calm but Gwen could hear the indignation in her voice.

"There's nothing else I've been keeping from you. But I found something. C'mon."

Gwen pulled her friend outside. Jane threw up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. It was disorienting to be out in the sun after spending the morning among the shadows of the house. Gwen grinned at her action before her expression became somber.

"Where are we going?" Jane asked as Gwen pulled her towards the woods, the grass getting taller and thicker as they neared the reline.

"You'll see."

After a few minutes of walking, Gwen stopped, pulling Jane to a halt.

"I told you about the D'Souza graves yesterday, didn't I?" at Jane's nod of confirmation, Gwen continued.

"Well there's something else with it that I found today."

She then proceeded to push at the grass until they came upon a small clearing with overhanging trees. The sight would've been beautiful had it not been for the gray and slightly creepy looking graves underneath it.

Four looked to be old and Jane guessed it to be the D'Souza graves. On closer look, she confirmed it. But on peering at the other two graves that looked slightly new, Jane could only utter one word. "Goodness."

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