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

Chapter Five

I pace across the parlour, over and over again, looking at nothing but the carpet. In a few minutes, Dinah will be back home with Ruby, after retrieving her from school.

We're all alone, I keep thinking. We don't know where our parents are. The police refuse to help us, and our extended family that we know absolutely nothing about are back in Ireland. It is up to us to find our parents. We have to stay together and survive. This means that we have to take care of ourselves, get money, pay rent and other expenses, and balance school on top of it. Where are we supposed to start?

The door closes, and I hear footsteps near the entrance. I see Dinah and Ruby come through the doorway and into the parlour. Ruby's eyes are shiny and puffy, which I can only guess was because she was crying earlier. They both sit on the sofa, and I sit on the floor.

"Alright," Dinah says, "we have to come up with a plan."

"Starting with remaining calm," I add, hinting at Ruby.

"Right," Dinah answers, "We have to save as much money as possible, and I will keep my job to make it so."

"I can get a job too," I interrupt, "I'll be able to find something."

"That sounds good," Dinah says, "and whenever we have the time, we will look for mother and father. Today, We should spend the afternoon looking for mother and father, we will come home, eat dinner, and I will go to work."

With that, we left the house once again and decided to go to father's workplace. Father works at a bank in Roath, a few miles north of Splott and Adamsdown. I have only ever been to his workplace once or twice, and I'm not even sure exactly what he does there. I can only hope that it will lead us to some answers.

***

We wait on a bench in the silent hallway of the bank father works for, waiting for his boss to beckon us into his office so we can ask him questions. I figured that if father was indeed as drunk as the bartender had said, maybe something has been going on for quite some time. We had figured that a good place to start was his office.

I look down at the shiny wooden floor, curiously observing how the wood might have been constructed, when I hear a door open and heavy footsteps come toward us.

"I was told that there were some young ladies who wished to speak with me," the voice says. I look up at him, to see a clean, middle aged looking man wearing a suit with his dark hair combed back. He definitely looks high status.

"Ah, yes," Dinah stands up, holding out her hand to shake, "I am Dinah Evans, and these are my younger sisters, Jane, and Ruby. Our father works for you."

The man nods his head and lets out a sigh, "you must be John's children. My name is James Wright."

"Yes," I answer, "we have quite important matters to discuss regarding our father."

"In that case," Mr. Wright replies, "We should discuss this in my office."

We go inside his large office, with an extensive number of windows and bookshelves. He sits at a desk, and Dinah and I sit as well, and Ruby finds a chair behind us.

"It appears," Dinah begins solemnly, "that our parents have gone missing. They left last night and never came back. We would like to know if he had any unusual behaviour of the sort while at work."

"Oh dear," Mr. Wright sighs, "I am very sorry to hear it. Your father was a hard-working man."

Hearing Mr. Wright say this feels like a punch in the stomach. I feel slightly dizzy hearing him say such words of sympathy, almost as if our parents were already dead.

"I am afraid that our company has been doing poorly, financially speaking," He continues, "I am in charge of your father's department in the bank, and I was told that I had to let a great number of employees go, including your father."

"He was fired?" I ask quizzically.

"I am afraid so," he answers, "just like everyone else, he has been very tense, you could say, and on edge about his job. I never wanted to fire him, but I simply had no choice."

"Have you personally spoken with our father in the past week?" Dinah questions.

"No," Mr. Wright answers, "I'm not sure who your father has spoken to, as we were all extremely busy. I am terribly sorry, but I know nothing else."

The room is quiet for a moment, as I'm trying to process my thoughts.

"When did you fire our father?" I ask.

"Just yesterday," he replies.

Dinah stands up and sighs, "thank you for your time, sir. You have no idea how much that helps."

***

"...And please be with our dear parents, and keep them safe, wherever they might be. Amen."

"Amen." Ruby and I finish for Dinah. We're in the dining room at home, for supper.

The room is silent, except for the occasional clinking of plates and silverware. None of us know what to think. Everything is happening so suddenly, it's so overwhelming. My mind keeps reeling back to just the few hours before, when we were looking for answers, I realised that just yesterday everything was normal. We were sitting at the same table we are now, as a whole family. After I did my evening chores. After Ruby and I came home with- wait, that's why father needed the guarana seed! It's why father went to work early the past few days, and was acting stressed. It all connects, and I keep putting the pieces together. The answer is there, I know it. I just need to find the details, and make the connections. Maybe we can find them. Maybe we can be together again, and everything will go back to normal.

"After supper, I need to go to work," Dinah says, "by the time I come home, I expect that homework and chores are done."
I look over to see Ruby sit back and slouch in her chair, and I roll my eyes. Who does Dinah think she is, trying to mother us?
"Fine," we say.

After dinner, I clean up the table as Dinah is upstairs, getting ready for work. As soon as I finish cleaning, I sit with Ruby in the parlour. Dinah comes downstairs and stands in the doorway.
"I'll be back in a few hours," she says, "remember what I had said to you earlier."

As soon as the door closes, Ruby lets out a bored groan, "Why does Dinah have to have that stupid Welsh teacher job of hers? She is so busy all the time with it."

"You know why," I explain, "Dinah learned Welsh when she was small and became fluent. Besides, it is good that she has it because we're going to need the money until mother and father come back."

"When do you think they will come back?" She asks.

"Soon, hopefully."

***

Ruby and I spend the rest of the evening rather peacefully. Ruby was out working in her garden while I would hang up laundry to dry in the small backyard. I finish my homework and work on some embroidery as well. We spent the final minutes lounging in the parlour, and Dinah finally came home from her work. Ruby and I get ready for bed, and after Ruby is asleep, I go downstairs in my nightgown with a candle to see Dinah sitting at the dining table, staring silently down onto a pile of papers.

"Dinah?" I ask as I approach the table. I set down the candle and sit next to her.

"You couldn't sleep either?" She asks.

"No," I answer, "what's the matter?"

"I don't know if we can do it," she blurts. I see a tear roll down her face as she looks up at me, "I don't know if they'll come back. They could be dead. We don't have anyone to help us."

"Have you thought about hiring a private investigator?" I question.

"Jane, we simply don't have the money. Private investigators are expensive. I do not make a lot of money from my job, and looking at the rent of our terrace flat, I'm not sure how we'll get by."

"We'll make it work," I say, "I can help. We will look for answers when we can, but we have to stay together."

"I appreciate the help, Jane," Dinah smiles, "soon, this will all be over, and we'll all be together again."