Untying the Knot

chapter 2 part 5 of 6

Ruby, who was about to begin, suddenly shrieked. Charlie, alarmed, peeked into her room and her eyes widened. There, scurrying across the floors, were a lot of mice. The traps snapped one after the other, and the mice hurried towards Ruby. Ruby tried to stay out of their way, and said, “Charlie! I’m afraid of mice!”

Charlie panicked, not knowing what to do. “I’ll call your stepparents!”

“No! Just get me out of here! Please!”

Charlie thought quickly. The window wasn’t too small. Maybe she could crawl out of it. He quickly removed the screen and moved away so she could jump down. Ruby stuck her legs out, and slowly, she crawled out. Then, she sighed and looked up at Charlie. “Thank you Charl. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“I would give up the whole world if I had to, to help save someone I care about.”

Ruby quickly remembered the words from the letter, and knew she had to tell Charlie the truth. She motioned for him to follow her, and she went towards the garden. From there, she had a clear view of her cabin door, the mansion, and the driveway. She could tell that nobody was home, and this was a perfect spot to hide if anyone suddenly showed up. She sat on the ground, near some bushes, and pulled Charlie down besides her. “Charlie. I owe you a story. A really long one actually.”

“Listen Ruby, I’m sorry I pressured you. You don’t have to tell me,” Charlie started.

“But I want to. It’s really important to me that you know, though you already know some of it,” Ruby interrupted. After he nodded for her to continue, she began her story. “Once upon a time, there was a family, made up of a dad and expectant mother. When the mother gave birth, she, unfortunately, passed away. The heartbroken father did his best to raise his lovely daughter. He remarried, and then, he too, passed away, but not before he had married a woman to care for his daughter. That woman was Regina. After her husband’s death, she remarried a man named Devlin, and had the poor little girl banished to the servant’s cabin. She became the servant, from the age of three until today. She did all the cleaning, cooking, and hard work. She was not properly fed, properly clothed, or properly cared for. If she did not do as she was commanded, she would be beaten and have to face some sort of punishment.  She has to sleep in that cottage, where just last night she was locked into and had to do worthless things. She still hasn’t done them, and knows that when her stepparents come back, she will be punished for it, but she didn’t care. She had lost hope in everything, and felt ready to die, until she received this letter. This letter gave her the hope she needed, and the courage to overcome her trust issues, hopefully.  Here, you can read it.” Ruby passed over the paper to Charlie. He quickly read it, and then said, “October 8?”

Ruby’s face darkened. “October 8, a beautiful day. It is the anniversary of my parent’s marriage.”

Charlie put his arm around her shoulder and calmed her. “Who do you think the letter came from?”

Ruby stood up and turned around. Her steady voice began to crackle as she spoke. “I... I don’t know. Nobody knows about me, except… except….. Except Darcy.”