The Legacy of Jane - Part One: If You Are Gone

Chapter Three

After a long night of barely sleeping, and thinking about my what ifs, I sit up in bed with sunlight streaming through the curtains. I wish it was all a dream; I really do. and for a few brief moments I convince myself that it was just a bad dream, but it wasn't. I just hope that it's going to all be over and I will find mother and father downstairs in the kitchen just as I always do. 

I quietly get dressed just like any other morning, and make sure to close the door softly behind me, because Ruby is still asleep. I go downstairs, with anxious anticipation. It almost feels as if I were going downstairs on Christmas morning, after a sleepless night of wondering what surprises lie in store downstairs. This has the same feeling, but the opposite; it's dreadful. 

Please be here, I pray. I continue the few steps left down the stairs, and down the narrow hallway to see Dinah asleep in the parlour. I try my best not to lose hope at the sight of her still there. I continue through the dining room, and through the doorway into the kitchen to see that mother and father are nowhere to be found.

I could feel my desperation growing, and my heart is pounding. I go back through the parlour, intending to go back upstairs to see if mother and father are in their bedroom. I stop as I see Dinah wearily sit up. I see the saddened look on her face, and the small shake of her head and I see that there is no need for words. 

I solemnly sit on the sofa next to her and say, "We have to look for them. We can't just sit around and wait for them to walk through the door."

"I know," Dinah answers, rubbing her eyes, "that is why I won't be going to school today. I am going to go to the dance hall to see if mother and father are there. If not, I will go to the police."

“I’m going too,” I say, quietly. 

Before I can finish, Dinah cuts me off, “no, you have to go to school.”

“To do what?” I snap, “I can't focus on school at a time like this! I have to help find them. I need answers!” 

“We all do, Jane,” Dinah retorts, “that is why I am going as soon as possible, I barely slept all night”

“And that is why I’m going too,” I explain as gently as I can, “you can’t possibly do this alone.”

“Jane, I’m tired. I need to get this done, and you simply can’t miss school,” Dinah sighs, “I really don’t have the energy to argue about this.”

“Good,” I say standing up from the sofa, “I’m going with you and that’s final.”

I head back to the small kitchen, and get ready to make breakfast. Honestly, I cannot believe Dinah could even think about sending me to school at such a time. Even though I know that I want to try to convince Ruby to still go to school, because if Dinah and I find something disturbing, I would not want to put Ruby through that. Perhaps that is what Dinah had in mind with me.

I cook some eggs, and find some sausage to add to it. I make toast, and I even end up finding some bacon in a wooden barrel that we use to preserve meat to cook. I decide that I might as well make a nice breakfast, to take our minds off of the whole situation. Meanwhile, Dinah was upstairs bathing. 

Ruby comes downstairs in her nightgown, with a confused expression. 

I set the numerous plates of eggs and bacon on the table, and beckon Ruby to sit down.

"Are Mama and Papa still not here?" Ruby asked. 

Hearing Ruby say this makes me stop in my tracks. She always calls mother and father 'mama and papa,' but hearing it this time hits differently. We don't know where our parents are, they could be hurt, suffering in pain for all we know. Hearing Ruby call mother and father that reminds me that she is too young to go through this, too innocent to see such cruelty in the world. I have to protect her from it.