"The Mystery of O'Connor Death"

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

     In the afternoon, a carriage entered the yard quickly. It had just started raining and a special smell was in the air, the smell of wet soil, the smell of rain. When James wanted to get off the carriage, he was surprised to see a strange woman walking among the trees; anyway he went inside the house. But the woman looked very upset because she didn't know anything about herself until then. She didn't know who she was, what her name was, whether she had a family or not. These thoughts constantly bothered her mind. It seemed like the past few days were the first days of her life and she was upset that she was playing the role of this family's missing person. She felt that they were forcing her to have a personality that was not her own. She felt confused and lonely.
   James had come to Ramsgate because his mother had written him a letter and asked him to come there as soon as possible.
   The strange woman went inside the house and although she was very sad and depressed from the bottom of her heart, she played the role of the happiest person in the world for Mrs. Ellington and did not think about the consequences of this work; She did not think about whether this work was right or wrong at all; She did not want to think about anything else.1
     The next afternoon, while the strange woman was sitting under a tree near the stable and fence of taming horses, Karen came to her and they walked together in the same vicinity.
   Karen looked at the woman's face and realized that she was very upset. For this reason she said, "Yesterday you were the happiest person on earth and now you are very sad and it's all my fault; I'm sorry."
   The woman said, "So I'm a good actor. Anyway, now I regret what I did because I made your mother hopeful for Georgiana's existence while I am not Georgiana. I don't even know who I am and I was very upset but at that moment I didn't want anyone else to be upset either. What should I do if your mother gets hurt by this?"
   Karen said, "The whole story of Georgiana's disappearance and my mother's condition is my fault." And at this moment she pointed to a point where a child was washing a white mare and said, "Georgiana always rode this mare." And then she said sadly, "Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't been born."
   "If you hadn't been born, I wouldn't have been saved and I thank you for that."
     They sat under the tree again when suddenly the mare ran and as much as it approached the tree that they were resting under its shade, it slowed down until it reached the woman. The woman stood up calmly and took its bridle. She petted it and took it to the stable. Near the stable she gave an apple to the mare and said, "Well done, you are so beautiful."
Suddenly she felt events as if they had happened at that moment in front of her eyes; she remembered that a man with a woman and a ten-year-old child were next to her and she ran to the stable with childish joy.
   The man said, "Do you know that today I bought you a white mare foal? Stuart says 'it's a good foal.' Do you like it?"
   She gave an apple to the horse for the first time and said, "Because it is white and loves apples very much, I will name it Snowy. I love it very much."
   The man laughed and said, "But all horses love apples anyway happy twelfth birthday."
   She said with enthusiasm, "Thank you father mother."
   The woman who was shocked suddenly came to herself and said to Karen, "Please give me a needle."
Karen brought her a shovel, but to her surprise, she saw that the woman grabbed her hand and ran towards the garden. After a few minutes, she stopped in front of a tree and caressed its trunk and started digging the ground at the foot of the tree.
   Karen sat next to her on the ground and asked with astonishment and fear: "Why are you digging the ground?"
   The strange woman did not answer her, ignoring her fear and horror. She put the shovel aside and with her hand brushed some of the soil aside and took out a small wooden carved box with both hands.
   Karen, who was shocked, pointed to the box with a trembling hand and said in surprise: "Did you know that this box was buried under this tree?" Then she stuttered and said with great effort: "This is impossible. Only me and Georgiana knew about this box."
   The woman left the box, got close to Karen and tried to calm her down. After a few minutes, she laughed and said: "To tell you the truth, I don't believe it either. My dear Karen, maybe all this is a dream?"
   Karen squeezed her hand kindly and said: "But I believe you are really my sister." Then she put her hand on her chest and said: "My heart is beating very fast. I'm afraid I'll have a stroke."