Matters of Chance

Chapter 24

Kitty dropped her metal fork onto her ceramic plate with a loud clang and tugged her legs into her chest. She released a shaky breath. "This is all my fault."

Jane, always the angel, shot up from her spot and ran over to Kitty. She wrapped her arms around the younger girl. "It's not your fault," she said, "You didn't know."

Kitty unfurled and pushed Jane off of her. However, instead of sadness, Kitty's swollen red eyes were filled with frustration. "I did know!" Kitty yelled. She quieted down as everybody stared. Her breath trembled, uneven. She looked around the room at her older sisters.

"I knew," she said, "Lydia and I are best friends, she told me everything a week before." She brushed her brown hair out of her face, tucking the strands behind her ear.

Silence passed as they stared at Kitty. Lizzie expected to feel anger, but instead, she felt empathy. Elizabeth also had information that could've stopped Lydia, but she didn't say anything until it was too late.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Mary stood up and stared down at her younger sister. Her jaw was rigid, her fists clenched.

Kitty looked down, covered in Mary's shadow, "I don't know."

Mary crouched down and grabbed Kitty's shoulder, gripping them, hard. "What do you mean you don't know?" Her face started turning red. "Lydia's gone with some predator and we might never find her again!"

Lizzie jumped up from her seat and grabbed onto Mary, pulling her off Kitty. Mary hardly resisted, though she kept her angry gaze on her younger sister.

"She didn't know any better, Mary," Lizzie said, "I made a big mistake too."

"Don't say that either, Lizzie." Kitty said, "I did know better."

Mary relaxed in Lizzie's arms and Lizzie let go. They all looked at Kitty.

Kitty gestured to her sisters. "You all treat me like I'm some naive child," she said, "But I'm 17. I know what grooming is. I knew that Lydia and George talking was wrong and illegal." She looked at them all. "Lydia's my little sister too, and I let her get kidnapped. All because I wouldn't open my stupid mouth."

The room was filled with stunned silence. Nobody said a word. Several moments passed as their food got cold, unforgotten on the plates.

Kitty stood up, grabbing her plate of half-eaten pasta. "I'm going to my room," she said. She opened the door and walked out, only turning back briefly to thank Jane for the dinner, and disappeared down the hallway.

Mary left soon after with a confused expression on her face. This left Elizabeth and Jane alone again in their room. Jane took Lizzie's plate from her without a word and left to go do the dishes in the kitchen. It seemed like Jane needed alone time also after all that transpired. It was late, and Elizabeth still needed to catch up on sleep, but her sticky clothes reminded her that she needed a shower. Besides, the steam and water would help clear her mind.

Hot water pummeled her back and the smell of lavender filled the air. She lathered the scented conditioner into her hair. Elizabeth thought Lydia would be the one on her mind, but instead, it was Kitty. The words of her sister's outburst echoed in her mind. Elizabeth realized that she didn't know her family as well as she thought that she did.

Elizabeth had thought of Kitty as young and dumb, never taking her seriously. She had been wrong to think of her sister in such a one dimensional way. Of course Kitty knew about sexual assault. The news was plastered with it every day. Yet Elizabeth never bothered to get close enough to her sister to notice. Another thought tugged at the back of her mind.

Maybe Kitty didn't say anything because she thought none of us would take her seriously.

The more Elizabeth thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Elizabeth might believe her, but only because of what she learned about Ginny Darcy. Jane might have given Lydia a gentle talk, but not much more than that. After all, she had been working in New York. Mary never even tried to listen to Kitty or Lydia. Their father brushed off everything as a joke, and their mom would have likely just assumed Lydia was having some innocent fun.

Guilt twisted in her stomach. The entire family didn't take Lydia nor Kitty seriously and treated them like shallow people. Their mistake could have cost them a family member. Elizabeth let the conditioner rinse out of her hair and onto the tub floor, the suds collecting at her feet.

Hyper-analyzing everything that could have been done wouldn't help Lydia now, though. While Elizabeth intended to talk to Kitty later and apologize, for now, they were just waiting for any sign of hope to pop up.

That sign appeared a couple days later as Elizabeth was about to go to sleep for the night when Mary barged into her room.

"Elizabeth! We found Lydia!"

Elizabeth busted out of her bedroom and sprinted to her father's office in her pajamas.

There, her sisters were gathered around Mr. Bennet's desk. Their father sat in his office chair, eyes on his computer. Everybody turned to the door when Elizabeth walked in. Their expressions were filled with anxiety of what their father was about to say.

Elizabeth inserted herself into the semi-circle of her sisters. She stared at her dad. He still looked exhausted, but his stress had been replaced by relief. Elizabeth wanted to smile, but she held it back. She didn't have the full story yet. The office was quiet as the girls waited for their father to start speaking.

"I got a call from the Oakland police department," he said, "They found Lydia and now have her in police custody."

Jane smiled and looked at her sisters, "That's great!"

Elizabeth's shoulders relaxed. Her sister was safe. She wasn't letting her guard down completely though. "What about George Wickham? Did they arrest him?"

Mr. Bennet nodded. "Yes, they caught him. He's being charged."

Elizabeth exhaled, relieved. George was in a place where he couldn't lay a finger on another teenager.

"But is she okay?" Kitty asked. Her question cut through the aura of relief in the room, "What did he do to her?"

Mr. Bennet looked down, a bleak expression on his face. "I don't know, but apparently she was found with injuries."

Nausea filled Elizabeth's stomach. She leaned her hand against the desk to steady herself. Ginny Darcy had money when Wickham contacted her. Elizabeth couldn't imagine how he treated Lydia, who was penniless.

Elizabeth all but slammed her hands on the desk as she stared at her father. "When are we getting her back home?"

"I just ordered a plane ticket," he said, standing, "I'm heading to the airport in an hour on a flight to Oakland."

"Do you have tickets for the way back too?" asked Mary.

"Of course," he said, "We'll be back early tomorrow. I have to talk to the police before anything."

With that, Mr. Bennet walked out of his office to get ready to leave. His daughters all went back to their bedrooms.

Elizabeth sat on her bed and looked across at Jane. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight."

Jane looked back at her. "Dad is going to get Lydia," Jane said, "We should be well rested to help both of them when they get back." She reached towards the lightswitch and gave a questioning look to Lizzie.

Elizabeth nodded, signaling her to turn off the light. With a soft click, the room was cloaked in darkness. She slid under her blanket, pulling it around her like a shield. Jane was right. There was nothing Lizzie could do right now about the situation. She was better off well rested than exhausted.