Hearts Alligned

Chapter 8

Anne's POV

Anne hid behind a corner as she watched the guards walk away from the office door. Once they were gone, she hurried to the door, opened it, and slipped inside, closing it carefully behind her. She went to the desk and stared down at the paper. 

Her eyes scanned it, trying to memorize every detail, but it didn't  make any sense. It looked like a map, but there wasn't any name, and nothing looked familiar. There were several symbols: X's, lines, squares, and triangles. Some other symbols looked like trees and there was a drawing that looked like a pile of rocks. 

At one end, there was a gate. Could it be one of Pinecrest's gates? She closed her eyes and pictured the east gate. There was a hill and a rocky area in the east. Maybe this was a map of the area outside of the east gate. That was also the hill where The Beast attacked her Andrew, and that was the forest where she found Emma. 

She looked closer at the map. What did these symbols mean? There was a blank space behind the rocks. Could that mean a hole? A tunnel? Or a mine?

This could be the place where Emma had been. Were the other children there? 

Her foot bumped a box on the floor next to the desk .

She looked in the box, and inside were more pieces of parchment. She drew out the one on top, unfolded it, and laid it on top of the desk. It was also a map, but this one was more detailed.

Should she take the map with her? Would Arthur realize she was the one who took it? There would be horrible consequences if he caught her. He would probably kill her. 

She looked at the other papers. They were records of money. Maybe they were proof of how Arthur got so much money all of a sudden. She would have to risk taking the map and the paper since she needed evidence to show the duke of Dawnridge. 

She took the papers and stuffed them into her sleeve and stepped towards the door.

Voices came from the dining room where Arthur and Andrew were. Should she go into the room so Andrew knew she was finished in the office or would that be too suspicious?

The cooks were standing at the door between the kitchen and the dining room, looking through the cracks. 

"Is there anything sweet?" Anne deliberately made her voice loud.

The cooks jumped and spun around. 

"You scared us to death," one of them whispered. 

"I'm sorry." She kept talking loudly. "I think I found something." She pointed to a pastry, but the words were for Andrew.

Andrew's POV

Andrew pretended to drink the wine Arthur poured for them. He did his best to nod and smile when Arthur talked on and on about himself. Then he heard Anne's voice in the kitchen. He kept his gaze on Arthur but listened intently to Anne.

"I think I found something." 

She said something else that was too low for him to hear. Then he heard her say, "I'm going hunting."

Other voices answered her.

Arthur kept on talking. "Except for the snakes, which you will  get rid of, right? To win Anne?"

Andrew smiled. "You know, I'm going to make a plan right now. I have a lot of ideas." He got up from his chair. 

"Ideas? Why don't you tell me?"

"Oh poison them, trap them, drive them into the river. Many ideas." Andrew went to the door. 

Arthur was still talking.