“Amanda, Maisy, where on earth are you?” Mrs Adley whimpered.
“Here!” I said running through the door “We’re here!”
“Yes, so what’s all the panicking about, mum?” Amanda gasped.
“Well, guess who isn’t here!?” Mrs Adley shouted.
“Who?” Amanda said innocently.
“Yes who?” I parroted.
“Your little sister!” Mrs Adley whimpered, pointing an accusing finger at Amanda.
“WHAT?!” Amanda said in her unknowing tone.
Mrs Adley sobbed “You better not be hiding her missy!”
“Mum, I have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about.” Amanda began.
“Then I should call the police!” shrieked Mrs Adley. “I was sure she would be here with you, playing a silly trick on me.”
“Oh gosh, no, mum,” said Amanda quickly, “There’s no need to panic. After all, she’s run off before, and she hasn’t been let out of the house for a while. Give it a couple of days, she’ll be back I promise!”
“Well she must be better to have climbed out of a toilet window,” Mrs Adley wailed. “That’s when she went missing, at the theatre!”
“What time was this?” I asked
“Does it matter?” Mrs Adley whirled “She’s gone!” She was so pale I thought she was going to faint.
When I looked over at Amanda for support I saw she too was a sheet of paper, so I suppose I had to be Sherlock! – No one else can be Sherlock, silly! I was merely acting!
Sure you were!
“Please!”
“2:05am I believe, Amanda. I warn you, if you are hiding her... ” Mrs Adley finished, hastily walking into the kitchen, presumably for some ice or a drink – I wouldn’t blame her. “Excuse me.”
***
“That would have left plenty of time for anyone to have gotten there from the house.” I whispered when we were alone.
No response.
“Amanda?”
“I’m fine Wo Sen, stop worrying!” And with that, she stormed off.
As I followed her, I saw with a jolt where she was going...
***
“Amanda.” Mr Rion said uncheerfully.
“Mr Noir.” Amanda said, her voice venom.
“Amanda STOP!” I screamed with horror before pulling her out of the room by her hair. Once she was sat on the floor with her head in her hands outside the room I went back in to explain her actions.
“Hi,” I said with all the control I could muster – I mean this man called me foreign! I mean it’s true, but he said it with such a poisonous tone.
“Hello,” He said his voice tight – well at least we knew we were right. “What on earth was all of that about?”
“Oh, that, that was just Amanda letting off steam about steam.” I said casually “I’m sorry you got the end of it.”
“And the Noir thing?” He said, his voice still taut.
“Oh, it’s in a book she’s been reading. I think he’s a kidnapper or something,” I lied. “Sorry again, I honestly don’t understand her mind. I also don’t read those books.”
“Oh ok.” He said, clearly wanting me to leave.
“Ok. Bye then, I better go and cheer her up.”
***
“I had him!” She moaned.
“No! You didn’t, he could have had you though, if you weren’t careful!” I protested.
“I need him to confess!” Amanda wailed.
“Well he won’t!” I shouted, fed up with Amanda’s sulking. “You will just be caught and be their next-“
I let the rest of the sentence hang in the air, for there was no need to say it...
“OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE!” she shrieked. “You automatically think she is dead – well I tell you now, I have faith and-“
“Amanda that is not what I meant!” I yelled back.
“Yes it is Maisy! You are officially off the society!” Amanda sobbed passionately.
“Fu’ermost!”
“You cannot know that term Miss Lui!”
“Amanda!” I stood there, alone in the corridor, unsure, guilty yet betrayed.
***
“Are you okay dear?” The maid said.
“I –err- Why would you ever ask?”
“Wow, aren’t you a mini Amanda!” She exclaimed “Possibly because you are stood in the corridor alone, shouting, with tears rolling down your flustered cheeks.”
“Oh!” I said wiping at my face “I – I fell, yes that’s it, I fell.”
“Okay... if you ever need anything, come to me.” The maid said and as she turned she added “Oh, and please tell Amanda not to freak out our guests too much.”
As the maid walked off I found myself wondering how stubborn Amanda Adley really was....
***
I headed up the stairs towards Amanda’s (and my temporary) bedroom. She was sat on her bed reading her sister’s favourite book, doing all the faces. At that moment I felt that I was intruding until I remembered that she was alone. I also noticed that my bag had been packed in quite an angry haste and was lying on the floor.
“Fu’er-“I began “Amanda, are you trying to tell me something? Because you know I can’t go home, you need me to-“
“NO!” Amanda shouted “I don’t need you! I’ll have you know, I am fine without people who doubt everything, including my sister’s existence!”
“Amanda...”I whimpered helplessly.
“You, Maisy are a –a –a –a –a “
“A smart, lovely person?” I said trying to lighten the mood – apparently it worked because a trace of a smile had touched her lips.
“Don’t joke!”
“Oh, right, how could I forget? The best Wo Sen in the whole entire world?!” I pushed.
“More like the non-fictional universe!” Amanda laughed.
Once again I was proud to be one of the only people who could make Amanda’s mood reverse in a matter of seconds.
***
A loud wail interrupted our laughter and we raced down the stairs. Once we were halfway there, we heard Mr Adley give a hoarse cry;
“AMANDA!”
“Yes daddy?”
“Your sister’s ransom call has come in, and spare me the joke of ‘I doubt you’d pay that for me’, this isn’t the time and I’m really not in the mood, and before you ask it was four thousand, now go with Susan! She’ll be escorting you, and no I am not coming, I trust you girls and I am terribly busy. The kidnapper has requested that it be you two and the maid – I have no idea why, but they say that if your mother or I go, then harm could come to Annabelle, so please don’t make a scene. Don’t even try to be smart. We need her back, you understand? She holds this family together; your mother’s having a mental breakdown, and to be honest I am on the verge of one too.”
As of my earlier comment, I, Mr Adley and Annabelle are the only ones who can change Amanda’s moods and read her like a book!
I object, I can too!
That’s because you are Amanda!
YOU ARE READING
Sisters and Stabbings
Mystery / ThrillerMaisy and Amanda are your typical teenage girls, living in their own fantasy world. But when that fantasy becomes a reality, is it really what they desired? As the old saying goes; Be careful what you wish for... Blurb: "I don't know, but I never fe...
