Page 33 of Zenith
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After the remainsof the painting had been resolved to ash, Edward and I parted ways.
I felt I’d softened a little toward him, and the destruction of the portrait had lifted the weight John Rivers had piled upon my shoulders. I still worried about Blanche and her intent to destroy Edward, but I knew I must place my faith in him. He said he’d been waiting for her to make her move, and I assumed he was formulating a plan. I didn’t know what I could do to help, so I decided to watch and wait.
Returning to my room, I thought of Adele and the staff at The Gossiping Shrew. I’d been spirited away quite suddenly, and when I did not turn up for my shift the following night, they would be wondering where I had disappeared. I was the kind of person who turned up fifteen minutes early like clockwork and remained an hour after I was supposed to leave. Not arriving at all was uncharacteristic.
Then there was Rivers and his past familiarity with Adele. I worried about her after his attack on me and knew she had to be warned in case he came looking. She was a strong sort of character, and I knew she could look after herself, but they had been friendly. If he chose to take out his frustrations on her, she would not see it coming.
Opening my bag, I rifled through the contents and found the little phone Georgiana had picked out for me last Christmas. Now it was summer, and more than six months had passed. Was it really so long since I had seen my cousin?
Turning on the phone, I held it up as it attempted to connect to the network, and after a while, it was clear it wasn’t going to find anything. The reception was terrible inside Thornfield—there were only a few select corners where one bar turned into two—but outside, I knew there was no hindrance.
At first, I didn’t want to go back to the garden and be reminded of the bittersweet memories of last summer, but when I opened the window and leaned out, I discovered there was no reception at all. The house was a solid barrier between the past and the present. It was allergic to technology it seemed.
I stole through the hallways, unheard and unseen, my eyes tired and my limbs rubbery. Sleep had done nothing to re-energize me. In fact, it had done the opposite. Too much and I’d wasted away into a shadow. I had to get moving again.
Outside, I walked and walked until I found myself in the orchard, the scent of flowers heavy on the air. Apples sat upon branches in their hundreds, ripening in the sunshine, birds flittered through the leaves, pecking at the cornucopia of fruit. Continuing through the trunks, I found myself at the very bottom of the garden before I realized how far I’d come.
Emerging through the hedge, my gaze lingered on the stump of the great chestnut tree, which had once stood tall and proud. All signs of the lightning strike, which had felled the behemoth, were long gone. Memories flooded my mind as I approached, and I curled my hand into a fist as I felt the ghost of Edward’s missing ring. The jewel had felt alien as I never wore any to begin with, and its absence was even stranger again. It made no sense.
Sitting on the trunk in lieu of the bench seat that had once circled it, I took out the phone and saw I had full reception Perhaps the lightning strike had left some of its energy behind, or maybe it was a place of spiritual energy considering the things that had transpired here. Another myth turning into reality.
I was far enough away from the house that no one would see or overhear me, and I listened for a while for sounds of lingering eavesdroppers, but there were none. Satisfied, I dialed Adele’s mobile phone number.
“Hello?”
“Adele?” I asked, relieved to hear her thick French accent sounding so unharmed.
“Jane! My goodness, I was worried about you. What has happened? When you did not show up for your last two shifts, I went to the studio…”
“He did not hurt you, did he?” I asked, beginning to fret.
“No… He seemed rather irritated. He said you had left after the opening but didn’t know where. He had a horrible black eye.”
“Rivers is not to be trusted,” I rasped.
“Jane, you sound terrible. I’m beginning to worry quite completely about you. What has happened?”
“Adele, you must distance yourself from him,” I pleaded. “He is not a good man.”
“Jane, what did he do? Where are you?” There was a rustling on the other end as she moved her phone against her ear. “I will skin him alive!”
“I’ve returned to the north,” I replied. “After the opening, Rivers attacked me.” There was an audible gasp from Adele, but I did not stop and allow it to sink in. “When he found out I did not love him in return, he became spiteful and attempted to choke the life from me. I withheld the truth about my circumstances, and it was enough to push him over the edge into anger. I fear I have not been honest with you, either.”
“The dog!” she said, seething, her French accent becoming thicker. “How dare he raise his hand to a woman? I will have his—”
“Please, Adele,” I begged her. “Stay away from him.”
“You have my word, Jane,” she replied after a brief pause. “Where are you? Are you safe?”
“I am at a place called Thornfield,” I replied. “It is a long tale, and I’m afraid my voice fails me.”
“As long as you are out of harm’s way, the story can be saved for another time, yes?” She sighed. “We were worried when you did not arrive for work. It was very unlike you. Even Mr. Gibbons was fretting, and it is not in his nature. I will tell him you are well. Rivers will not be welcome here or anywhere in Shoreditch after this.”
“Please, don’t go on some crusade because of me,” I pleaded. “I only wish for you to be safe.”
“I know, Jane. I will be okay, so don’t you worry about me. I’ve been in far worse situations and come out the other end smelling like roses.” She laughed, most likely at some memory her words had conjured, and added, “What will you do now?”
