"Well you shall not hand in your notice; I will not have it, are we understood Miss Stewart?"

"But sir I..."

"Miss Stewart you have proven yourself invaluable to this household according to my doctor, to Mrs. Hall and I and so we will not let you depart. If you wish to blame somebody then only blame yourself, for if you had not excelled at your job then I would be more than happy to part ways with you."

"Yes sir."

I agreed though despairing to stay put and when he touched his beard I focused on it, he had groomed it, it was smoother, shorter and so was his hair, it had been also been cut a little. Though only if you had memorized how it looked like before you would notice the freshness of the brown tips descending like twigs and branches from his head to and fro intertwined.

"How is the master?" Mrs. Hall asked when I got back with the plates.

"Well."

"Miss Stewart now you look sickly, what is the matter?" She took the plates from my hands.

"Not a thing Mrs. Hall," I saw Gertie looking disapprovingly at my mood which only irritated me further because when one is weary nothing is tolerable.

"But you have been like this the whole day, what happened?"

"Would you allow me to be dismissed for the night Mrs. Hall if I am of no further use?" Mr. Eugene and Gertie began to shake their heads and talk of me no doubt.

"Uh yes Miss Stewart good night then," Mrs. Hall was at a loss of my black mood but I was only going to make a bad situation worse if I stayed.

The dinner was over, the work was done, and the house had fallen to a quiet clear sky I went to visit my favorite place where the curtains remained open before heading up to sleep. The scalp of my head hurt from the tight work hair style throughout the day so I loosened my simple brown hair and ran my fingers through it to undo it. If there was something I missed from being a little girl was this being able to run free with my hair everywhere, my father called childhood the fresh drops of heaven on earth and I thought of how my little sister Joan made him laugh. But here the nights were longer at Stanley Hall, the sun light was an occasional visitor and so I stood there against the window for a while thinking of father until a candle came closer and closer.

"Mrs. Hall said you ran off to sleep," Mr. Howard questioned before I could make him out.

"Sir?" I tried to tidy up my hair holding it by the hand though making a mess of it, "how may I help you?"

"I should ask you the question, what can I do Miss Stewart, it seems Mrs. Hall and the others agree you have had a tough day."

"Forgive me for being disagreeable sir."

"Are you apologizing for being disagreeable in your bad day?"

"Yes sir and I promise to apologize to the staff tomorrow."

"Of course you shall, but for now tell me this, do you miss your family?"

"Oh I am fine sir."

"It has been established you are not fine but if not your family then what or who?"

It was odd but I wished to be candid and say it was my father I missed, I did not wish it often I had someone to confide in but there it was, a need to disclose, a need to share confidences and I could see how loneliness was so different from solitude. Solitude I rather enjoyed, it was a part of me and who I was, loneliness was a hollow sadness, looking everywhere and finding no one close enough to open your heart to. And this disclosure could not be with him, this was my employer, the master of Stanley Hall so I silenced my need for what was right and acceptable.

"I... Uh miss a dear friend sir."

In a way my father was my friend, a best friend I had lost, the fondest memories of him was when we walked side by side, hand in hand, half talking, half silence and through my growing years it was always the same, him, a book and me.

"Then write to them, Mrs. Hall can help you."

Even though it was less than popular for lower classes to know to write it was even less for a low born young girl and he did not know this or that earthly letters seldom made their way to heaven but I obliged him

"I can write sir."

"Uh where did you learn?" The master intruded more and I knew many masters wished their staff to be ignorant and if he was one of them then this could help me lose favor with him so I made it known I was not as ignorant as I should be.

"At home, my... um father sir" I was hard pressed to say the sacred name out loud.

"Your father was an intelligent man then?"

"Yes very much sir."

"You will find paper and ink at the library, help yourself to it then."

"The library? Would it not be better if I..."

"The library Miss Stewart, it seems you do have it in you to debate after all."

"Forgive me Mr. Howard and thank you."

"It is the least I can do if I am to hold you hostage out here and your friends and family seem to be the sort of institution you miss when apart."

"Yes thank you sir."

"Here keep it," he gave me his candle and moved away from the light, "I know too well my way around this house of horrors."

"Mr. Howard wait," and maybe it was the flickering candle but maybe there was a smile, well not quite a smile just an upturning of the lips on his face before a strong wind blew open the window and I was left without any light.

"Oh God help me," I then sprinted back to my room looking back and at every turn until I hit my room and locked the door behind me, it was the same kind of fright I felt in the woman's room. I drank the entire water cup before going to sleep and laid on the bed with both eyes wide open until a nightmare set in.

A woman with fair hair and red eyes walked right through my doors and stood hovering over me then jumped at my throat to choke me and when I fought her off I had no strength for it, the scream was silent so I stared up waiting for the end in agony.

"No! No! No!" I did not know I was shouting 'til Mrs. Hall was by the bed holding me down by the arms.

"Miss Alice, everything is fine, everything is okay, it is me," she said and when I saw her I fell back on my bed relieved to be out of the nightmare.

"Oh yes Mrs. Hall it is you."

"Miss Stewart why are you yelling bloody murder?" Gertie complained by the door.

"My apologies Gertie it was a nightmare," I drank from the cup Mrs. Hall handed me with a worried look on her face.

"Well child what else did you expect when you came to work with us?" Gertie scoffed at it and Mrs. Hall looked back at her with a serious face asking her to shut her trap.

"Gertie go back to your room if you wish to help!" Mrs. Hall was a bit nervous and Gertie rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I will go away, but we cannot say the same for the ghosts," Gertie left us and I did not want to inquire about the story if the result of it would be more fear, I had enough of that to last me a lifetime.

"Pay no attention to Gertie she is just old and likes to scare the new staff if given a chance," Mrs. Hall said wiping the sweat off my head.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Hall for the assistance, I should rest a bit before it's time again for work."

"Yes you should, and if you need anything I am next door."

"Thank you Mrs. Hall," I nodded and she closed the door behind her but what had happened in Stanley Hall that they both knew about but did not dare repeat? The day soon came out and I tied on my uniform again, cleaned my face, teeth and used an oil to keep my lips from bleeding as they were as rough as the winter outside.

"Now I wake and see the light, God has kept me through the night, Make me good oh Lord I pray, Keep me, Guard me, through the day, Amen..." I got up from kneeling and kissed the Bible before heading out for another day.

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No part, character, names, plot, setting, conflict or resolution, point of view, theme or symbolism of this story may be replicated.

Copyright: All Rights Reserved to A. Sena Gomes.