Things change around the 11-year-old orphans from Grace Field as they approach their twelfth year of life.
✦ Will these four eldest children, who have placed so much faith in their sole guardian, Isabella, be able to betray that trust after learnin...
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Chapter Seventeen | Disobedience
[Narrator]
"Where were you? You never went up to the bedroom, and I didn't saw you during breakfast either." Ray asked.
Ninelie delicately perched herself on the edge of the bed, her eyes locked onto Ray's as she soaked in the weight of his concern. "Just... somewhere," she replied, her voice tinged with a hint of melancholy. "Mama keeps a close watch on me, it's tough to be around all the time."
"Why would Mama be monitoring you?" Emma queried.
Norman, ever the analytical one, chimed in, "Did you do something?"
"Other than being told not to play outside from now on, it's nothing serious," Ninelie assured. "But I will tell you one thing—
"—don't believe anything that woman says."
•──✦ 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 ✦──•
After that brief meeting, they didn't see her again. Sometimes, when they least expected it, they'd catch a glimpse of her slipping into the bathroom before vanishing once more. Isabella had a knack for hiding in the most unexpected places, like a ghostly specter lingering behind the trees in the dense forest or even taking secretive naps in the infirmary. Interacting with her proved to be a challenge, just as she had warned them. Each attempt to talk to her proved futile, they couldn't help but notice Isabella's watchful gaze following them whenever they visited Ninelie.
"So it isn't true." Ray mumbled to himself, "What Mama told me was just a threat, and most of the things she told me were probably just half-assed lies."
'As long as Ninelie's inside the House, it won't be hard to find her once things have settled down.' He thought.
Their objective was to scout the area along the wall, just as they had strategized. Don and Gilda stationed themselves outside, keeping a keen eye on the second-floor south window of the House. Meanwhile, Emma and Norman ventured into the depths of the forest, leaving Ray behind to distract Isabella.
