I continued to sprint until I sprang right into the arms of my beloved future husband. ''What's wrong?'' he asked cupping the back of my head.
''Grant has got Teal and another girl locked away in the stables against their will,'' I said frantically.
''Blue eyes, are you sure?'' he asked cupping my face and forcing me to make eye contact with his worried green eyes. I nodded and he gave his men standing behind him one hand signal and they went running towards the direction of the stables.
He took me by the hand and led me to the safety of our bedroom where he posted two guards at the door. ''Stay here,'' he ordered and gallantly proceeded to the rescue.
I found myself pacing around the room and biting my nails to pass the time and feed my anxiety. I tried mixing some herbs together to relax myself, but it was no use. It was nightfall by time Sam returned, and I was drowsed but wide-awake still worrying and pacing.
The door flung open and Sam appeared at the door battered and bruised. His eye was swollen, and he had bruises up and down his arms. ''What happened?'' I asked as quickly I disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a wet cloth to damp his eyes with and relieve some of the pressure on it. I attempted to touch his face, but he gently pushed me aside and walked over to the wall. He was angry and decided to allow him a few moments to let his anger out before I bombarded his space again. He was so angry he punched a hole into the wall.
''What the hell is wrong with you!?'' I asked.
''Grant!'' he replied back just as hastily, and I decided it was best if I let him cool off for a few more moments. He then, walked over to the window and opened it. He peered out of it for a long while, collecting his thoughts or trying to figure out the next thing to do. He breathed in and out heavily and punched the inside of his palm several times before turning around to face me. He was slightly calmer, but his red face indicated he had not dissipated his anger entirely.
''The bastard punched me and got a few good hooks on me, like a coward when I was not looking. I told him I would have the stables searched, and he flipped out me like a maniac,'' he said shrugging his shoulders.
I attempted once more to dab the swollen and bleeding eye of his with the wet rag and he denied me once more. ''I'm okay, Blue Eyes. Rest and I'll join you later,'' he said turning his head away from me.
''No,'' I said stubbornly. ''I'm the doctor today, and you will let me clean your eyes. Now for the love of peace and sake, sit on the stool and tell me exactly what happened!'' I yelled at him and pointed my finger to the stool.
He did not put up a fight and obediently sat on the wooden stool. He did not speak but allowed me to clean his eye with the rag for a few minutes. ''Now, it's your turn to listen to me,'' he said grabbing by the arm and spinning me into his lap and securing me with his arms.
''I don't know how to tell you this, but Teal is missing,'' he said. I had my men search the entire stables after my fight with Grant. We found shackles and her cloths in the stables, but she was not there, nor was the other girl,'' he said tightening his grip around my stomach and kissing my shoulder. My heart sunk at the thought of who the other girl could be. Could it possibly have been Teal's sister, I thought to myself.
''I'm Sorry, Blue Eyes. We looked everywhere. I sent some men on foot to look for them tonight but there was no trace or track to go off and it's not looking so good,'' he said gently rubbing my arm and I laid my head on his shoulder.
''What about Grant?'' I asked.
''He is locked in shackles in the barn and my men will guard him at all times until I can ship him off to the Jared Mathis Research Institute of Medicine in New York,'' he replied.
''I'm staying home until the wedding to get preparations done and keep an eye on things, but most importantly to keep an eye on you. I want to make sure your safe after what happened today,'' he said wrapping his arm around me and kissing my shoulder. ''We will find her, Rain.''
The next morning it was cloudy and pouring rain outside. Without warning, the bedroom door busted open and Allen walked into the bedroom. He was dressed in his usual attire of navy trousers, a black fleece and stern stricken persona. "Mr. West, I'm sorry to interrupt you this morning but I have come to report Teal has been found. The other girl is still missing with no trace of her whereabouts," he said.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"She's in the cabin-" he replied. I found myself running towards the bedroom door before he could finish his sentence in my nightgown caring little for my modesty. Sam jolted out of bed chasing after me only wearing his underwear and grabbing his trousers he wore from yesterday along the way.
"Ms. Rain!" yelled Allen. I turned around to meet his eyes briefly just as I was about to exit the bedroom doorway while Sam caught ahold of my waist halting me. "I should advise you she may be suffering from some sort of shock or medical brain damage," Allen said.
I nodded my head, broke out of Sam's embraced and headed for the stairs ignoring the trouble in my stomach.
"Rain, wait!" yelled Sam who was struggling to put his other pant leg on as I peered behind me one last time before running quickly down the stairs. I heard Sam running behind me, but I did not wait or stop for him to catch up. I sprang out the doors of the mansion and into the pouring rain. I ran as quick as I could across the slippery field while being blinded by the poring rain towards Aunt Karen's cabin and invited myself inside.
Aunt Karen was kneeling on the floor muttering something to Teal as she held her hand. I kneeled down beside the stinking woman and she greeted me with a smile. Aunt Karen ignored and disregarded the wetness from my body that rubbed up against hers slightly and ran down into the logged floor.
''Teal, how are you baby,'' I said grabbing her other hand, but she did not respond. Her only acknowledgment of me was a brief glance into my eyes and then she returned gawking at the wall.
Her eyes were life-less, and her body was motionless, and I wondered the kind of trauma she endured. There were new scratches all over her body and her dress was ripped, ragged, and dirty with grass and dirt stains. Her hair was wild with grass and leaves scattered in it. ''What's wrong with her?'' I asked Aunt Karen.
Aunt Karen shrugged and replied, ''She's been like this since they found her, and I haven't been able to get her to do much either.''
''Rain.'' Said Sam as he spotted me on the floor next to Aunt Karen. He was winded and only wearing his brown colored trousers. ''How is she?'' he asked kneeling down next to me.
''She's mute and I think she's in shock,'' I replied.
''Could be trauma,'' he said as held up a finger up to her eyes and moved it from left to right. Her eyes followed the finger, but they were still lifeless and blank. He placed a hand on his head and said, ''I don't know. I'll have her transported to the infirmary and have the brain specialist have a peak at her. I'll send my men to fetch him. He's working in town today and he should be here by sunset,'' he said rubbing his chin and evaluating the mystery that sat in front of him.
Sam sent for his men to transport Teal to the infirmary and I stayed back in the cabin with Aunt Karen while Sam attended to some business around the estate. We ate breakfast, vented, and prayed together to consul our hearts before I returned to the mansion. By that time, it had stopped raining and the atmosphere had a refreshing breeze to it, and I could tell Fall was due early this year.
I spent the rest of my day reading a few books I had found in the library of Sam's mansion to Teal in the infirmary, while waiting for the Brain specialist to arrive. She didn't move or talk. The only movements she made were blinks of her soulless eyes, but I kept reading. Dr. Stoner, the brain specialist came after sundown and the sun was nearly gone.
He was quite young and perhaps younger than Sam and wore glasses thicker than my finger. His black hair was ungroomed along with his unkempt clothing, but I was no one to judge at the moment. I had not combed my hair and wore the same dirty dress from yesterday that was decent but yet unpresentable. I paced nervously back and forth for hours while Sam sat on the floor studying some medical notes and records while waiting for the brain specialist to finish his examination outside the door in the hallway. I was sleeping on Sam's shoulder in the hallway when the door creaked open, awaking us both. Sam yawned and stretched his big arms, and asked, ''Dr. Stoner, what's wrong her?''
Dr. Stoner removed his thick glasses and looked down at the floor for a moment while gathering his thoughts. He scratched his wild hair and replied, ''Its seems there is nothing wrong with her.''
''I think she is in a state of shock that will hopefully wear off over time. I believe she is suffering from traumatic stress disorder,'' he said.
''How do we fix it?'' I asked.
He looked down briefly and replied, ''Nothing. There is nothing you can do but give her time and support. There are no guarantees she will return back to her normal self, but chances are she will,'' he said looking at us. ''I'm sorry,'' he said patting Sam on the shoulder before swiftly exiting the hallway. I threw myself into Sam's arms for comfort until I drifted heavily off to sleep.
I awoke before Sam the next morning in our bed. His eye was still bruised, but not as swollen as the day before. I decided not to disturb him and I forced myself to get ready for the day. It was an awfully pleasant day and the sun was shining bright in the blue sky with not a cloud in sight. I threw on a next to decent dress and tied my hair up with a rag for the first time in weeks. I wasn't exactly in the mood for ratifications.
Just as I was about to take my peppermint herbs the door sprung open without warning. A small-women with beaming green eyes appeared at the door. She was in her late forties with the same facial bone structure of deep dimples and a strong line as Sam. She was wearing an expensive blue gown and black shoes. She looked me up and down intimidatingly and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Sam's fiancé," I replied.
The red headed woman laughed and walked over to the edge of the bed and woke the sleeping man. "Samuel, wake up honey. Mommy's has arrived for the wedding, and what on earth has happened to your eye?" she said shaking him and poking the bruised eye.
He growled at the women and said, "Mother, please. I'll tell you later."
"You are getting married in three days and I must meet this beautiful women of yours," she said slapping his chest hardly and he sprang up from the bed wide eyes and bushy tailed.
"I don't care that your sleeping with the help who seems to have huge since of humor but please teach her some mannerism," she said, as she peered back to glare at me and I folded my arms hastily.
Sam shook his head and his mother grabbed it and halted the motion. "Well who is she?" she asked.
"You've already met her," he said smiling at me.
"Well don't be so novice," she said.
"The beautiful woman is standing right behind you," he said gazing at me. The small red headed woman looked back and forth from Sam to me several times before succumbing to her shock. She passed out across the legs of her son. Flat out, stone cold, and horrified.
I quickly rushed over to aid Sam who was frantically fanning his mother. After a few moments her eyes started to flutter, and she returned to consciousness. I grabbed my glass of water intended for my herbs and it forced it into her frail hands. "Mother are you okay?" He asked worriedly.
She nodded and replied, "Yes, I suppose I'm just a bit parched," she said looking down at the glass of water.
She took a small gulp and cleared her throat. "Well, she is lovely," she said moving her pupils wildly around the room.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. West," I said extending my arm and smiling politely.
"It is most certainly nice to you too. Rain is it?" She asked, and I nodded my head.
"Sam had written about you in his letters but had yet to mention what you looked like?" she said embarrassingly.
"Well I'm pleased my inner beauty is just as meaningful as my outer beauty to him," I replied and she bulged her eyes uncomfortably. The uncomfortableness rubbed off on me and then onto Sam who shifty oddly in the bed.
The conversation fell silent for a few moments until Sam broke the silence. "Well mother, we have some great news," he said rubbing her back and smiling at her. She uncomfortable smiled back at him and waited for the news.
I could tell she wasn't happy about her son marrying a black woman, but I had to give her credit for trying to accept the fact. He eagerly glanced at me and then back to his mother and finally said, "You're going be a grandmother, Rain is pregnant" He forcefully and joyfully wrapped both arms around his mother. She blankly stared and only returned his hug with a simple pat across one of his arms that clung around her.
"Well, don't you want to touch her stomach and feel the baby," he asked, and she nodded her head still gazing and bulging her green eyes.
I uncomfortably moved closer to her and she hesitated to touch my unnoticeable swelled stomach until Sam encourager her on. She barely touched my stomach before her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fell unconscious again
"I'm sorry Rain," said Sam as we waited outside the guest bedroom in the dark and gloomy hallway for Mrs.West to awake.
"It's okay. Her reaction is understandable, and she did try her best to be kind," I replied
"No it's not okay and I'm going to have a talk with her," he said gripping my shoulders and kissing my lips. He returned a few moments later and decided we should all have breakfast together as a family.
I skipped the invitation to eat breakfast with Sam and his mother. I insisted it was important for them to spend quality time together without my presence and I doubted Mrs. West could withstand me for much longer, after her fainting spells. I thought it was best to let Ms. West digest the situation without my overwhelming presence and Sam hesitantly agreed.
I decided to eat my breakfast in the infirmary to keep an eye on Teal. Amber the nurse, informed me her condition had not changed since she had arrived last night and she refused to eat anything. She was sitting strait up in bed gripping the ends of the white quilt with same lifeless stare. She wasn't moving, acknowledging, or hardly breathing. The white and blank room made her condition on hand all the more sinister and ironic.
I walked over to the bed with my breakfast tray intended for my own stomach and placed it beside her. I sat down beside her. Her dark and thick hair had been groomed and her body had been cleaned of the contaminates of nature.
I brushed my fingers through her dark hair and she tensely moved her fingers from her quilt to her night gown. I kept caressing my fingers through her hair until she finally had enough of my unintentional annoyance and pulled away and I stopped. I attempted to force some food into her mouth but she would not budge.
"Teal," I said looking into her lifeless eyes. "You have to tell me what's wrong," I demanded and she turned her head away from me. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me. "Teal was that your sister in the stables, who wore my pink diamond around her neck? Did something happen to her last night? Did Grant hurt her?" I asked.
She folded her arms across her chest, furrowed her eyebrows and turned her head away from the grasp of my hand and my eyes. She was lucid and there was an ounce of life in her eyes and I took advantage of it.
I gripped her arms and shouted, "Teal, you must tell me what wrong!" She didn't answer but the frustration in her eyes indicated she would break her silence or composure at any moment. I shook her shoulders and yelled in a more authoritative tone, "Teal Avus Navaz, look at me! Tell me what's wrong, Right this instance!" I yelled.
She finally cracked and turned her attention towards me. She opened her mouth and then closed it. She peered deep into my eyes and pointed towards the door. She dropped her hand and fell back into her dazed state of an emotionless zombie.
I annoyingly threw my hands up in the air giving up and turned to the doorway to see Grant hiding his hands mysteriously behind his back and I gasped in shock at the sight of him. He was unsupervised, unchained, and to say the least mentally unhinged. He was completely naked and only wore a pair of devilish eyes and a devious smile.
I squealed and told myself to scream louder but I froze in fear. "I've got a surprise for you Rain," he said revealing the hidden hands behind his back that clung tightly to a pink diamond necklace-my necklace.
He dangled the necklace in the air and smiled harder and proceeded to walk towards me. I started to hyperventilate and found myself just as helpless myself as the zombie beside me. My heart was pacing fast, I couldn't breathe, and every I tried to make my vocal cords work, but no sound came out.
He finally reached his destination and kneeled down and placed a hand on my knee. He peered up at me and said, "Shhhh, I'm not going to hurt you. Not with my baby in your stomach," he said caressing my knee.
My adrenaline finally disbursed throughout my body and I managed to say, "It's not your baby." I swiftly kicked him in the stomach with my foot and he stumbled back laughing.
"You crazy bitch," he said gripping his stomach and standing to his feet. "I said I wasn't going to hurt you," he said as he walked over to me and caressed my face.
His devilish face leaned in for a kiss and spat on him. He annoyingly wiped the disrespect off his face and grabbed my neck. I tried to escape but he was too strong, and I tried to gasp for air.
"I said I wouldn't hurt you but maybe I should...." he said, then he paused to think. "Maybe just enough to get my point across."
He let go of my neck and I breathed in the oxygen essential for my burning lungs. I felt an unexpected slap across my face that hurt so bad, I nearly fell unconscious. Followed by another, then a hand over my nose and mouth. Then that was it, I blacked out.
I woke up in the infirmary on the bed next to Teal who was still sitting up on the bed not moving or talking. I frantically looked around the room for Grant, but he was gone but not in vein, and I sighed in relief. I glanced at the clock ticking by the wall and realized I had only been out for a for at least an hour. My face stung like hell and I walked over to the mirror placed above the desk to inspect the damages.
There were no evidences of abuse to my face, only the fear in my eyes gave way to my torture. I glance down to notice a sparkling pink diamond on my chest and quickly ripped it off and flung it across the room.
"Rain," called an older woman by the doorway. It was Ms. West and she was looking more pleasant and happier to see me since the first time we met. She briefly acknowledged Teal with a smile and returned her attention back towards me. "I was hoping to have a moment to talk before I leave, perhaps?"
I nodded and asked, "Aren't you staying until the wedding?" I asked and she nodded her head. I hoped she was not leaving because she did not support the marriage between a white man and a colored woman.
A lump of adversity formed in my throat and I bravely peered into the green eyes of the women and asked, "Is because of me...I mean, Is it because of my skin color?" I asked.
Ms. West shook her red head no again and replied, "I never intended on staying at the residence, but I will attending the ceremony, if that's okay with you?" she asked and I nodded my head yes.
She walked towards me and picked up the pink diamond necklace on the floor. She smiled at it and handed it to me, forcing me accept the vile ruminant. "Well Sam must really love, as I have the exact same diamond," she said to me as she revealed the identical diamond necklace from underneath her gown.
She smiled once more and grabbed ahold of arm leading me to the doorway of the infirmary. "Perhaps we should talk outside?" she asked.
"Yes, but Grant. He's escaped."
"Not to worry dear. That bastard is locked away in the stables with ten men guarding the door. I was just there five minutes ago to give that bastard a piece of my mine," she said balling her fist into the air.
An unsettled feeling formed in the pit of my stomach and wasn't due to sickness.
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We walked arm in arm throughout the estate talking and getting to know one another. It was much milder than the days before and I enjoyed cool weather against my skin. "I have my own things to attend to at my home in New York before the ceremony. I decided to come down to meet my son's future wife before the wedding," she explained. She squeezed my arm and I acknowledged her with a warm smile.
"I have to admit your skin color was a shock, but then I realized it was not about me, nor my life," she admitted to me.
She stopped abruptly forcing me to imitate her movements. She faced me and peered deeply into my eyes. "I want you to know Sam and I had a talk and as long as he loves you, I love you too. Your family now, regardless," she said touching my stomach. "You'll always have a place in my heart."
"You'll always have a place in my heart as well Ms. West and I love you too," I said embracing her in my arms.
Our embrace was quickly interrupted by by Allen who was attired in his usual uniform. He cleared his threat and we both turned our attention towards him. "Ms. West your carriage awaits to take you back to New York. If you'll be so kind to follow me?"
She quickly hugged me goodbye one last time before following behind Allen. I watched as she them walk away until they disappeared into the faraway distance.
I was weary of my surroundings and of being alone for the fear of Grant. He escaped once without anyone noticing, he could surely do it again. I thought about bringing the idea up to Sam, but he would only think I've gone mad due to stress. There was no logical way he could have escaped, but yet he did.