Chapter 13
The reconciliation of Kelsus
Tanyah was once again in the garden trying to break
down the barrier that was prohibiting her from seeing what
was hidden on the other side of the gate. Every night she
would get her stuff and sneak out to try and break the chains
and locks without making any noise. The only option left for
her was to get a machine to get the job done, however, that
would draw a lot of attention to her and people would start
questioning her obsession with that gate.
There was no explanation she could give as an assistant
for trying to cut and vandalize a small garden gate that she
wasn't even supposed to know about? She doubted even the
people here even knew it even existed.
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For her to be able to work faster she needed to fairly set
her priorities straight. First, she had to complete what
Nicholas had assigned to her, then figure out the story about
the sudden replacement of workers in the mansion. Maybe
she would find someone who knows about the hidden
entrance in the garden and where it might lead to.
The little gate wasn't the only thing that was giving her
trouble as the butler had now joined the equation.
Her movements were very restricted and acute with her
role of an assistant. She had no access to much information
or conversations with any of the workers outside of things
about work. Access to the mail or important documents was
also restricted, it was as if he was on a mission to cut off her
arms and wings.
The butler made sure she was not wandering or
touching anything inside the mansion without Nicholas's
provision. Even though he was now a rare occurrence, the
times he appeared at the mansion he made sure to enforce
order and his usual strictness. The last time a maid tried
talking to her it was cut short and the poor woman got into a
lot of trouble.
In other words, her source and accessibility to
information was very poor. She doubted the case would be
solved if she remained under the guise of being an assistant.
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One afternoon she was summoned by Nicholas to get
some work on his behalf. At first she was scared because she
thought that after all the trouble she had caused around here
the butler had probably placed a complaint against her and
Nicholas was considering firing her. He had spent quite
some time without talking to her so her first thought was the
next time they talked would be to fire her. But she was
relieved when she was told the reason why he wanted to see
her.
Nicholas asked her to go and check on a certain project
that his uncle had left unfinished. It was the most recent
project Charles worked on and visited before he died. As
soon as Tanyah heard that, she knew she had to pay that
place a visit, and maybe this cosplaying of an assistant might
actually pay off.
She was given all the necessary papers and information
on the project required from that point going forward. As
she was going through the papers she saw the reason behind
the project and why Charles had taken great interest and
investment in it.
According to the papers, this project, which was the
construction of a school, was related to the Sinclair family
and a tragic incident that happened some years ago. There
was a school that was burned down, killing and injuring
many people who were working there. There was
identification as to who was behind the fire, but Charles took
responsibility for settling the issue without it being over
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publicised. He then decided to rebuild the school as a way to
make things right and prevent anyone from shedding a bad
light on his family name.
As she was going through the papers, Tanyah saw
something which was different from the rest of the paper.
The other papers were strictly business and were only about
the project, however that certain document was more of a
personalized letter from Charles.
In the letter, Charles was saying how important building
this school was for him.
'This construction isn't just placing bricks, cement and
materials together but also placing relations and people into place.
In this project I wish to bring together everything that was burned
down and destroyed, rebuild and put together what had fallen and
scattered on the ground.
This project isn't just the physical and placing one thing after
the other, each brick represents a bond and heart being brought
together and also my dream and yearning for a stronger and more
beautiful community coming together. On this new ground I want
to build a new community, and each brick placed and passing day
is a leap to my dream coming true.'
Towards the end of the letter, Charles makes an apology
for letting the school get burned down and getting innocent
people involved. This part of the letter was different from the
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rest, it was as if Charles was talking to a very good friend of
his, and at the end of that part was the name James Amare.
At the end of the letter there were some more names and
none of them belonged to anyone she had ever met. One
which really caught her attention was Riley Harris.
This was the first time running into that name ever since
she started working on this case and in all the days she
worked here it was never mentioned by anyone. Even when
Victor talked to her he never mentioned this name.
Tanyah finally arrived at the project site and she met the
construction manager and she got permission to see
whatever she wanted. As he was showing her around she
noted a couple of things that needed to be done. There were
only a few touches left on the roofing and tiling, as well as
painting, other than that everything else was going just fine.
Given a couple more months, the whole project would
finally be completed and the hard work will pay off.
When she was about to leave, the construction manager
approached her wanting to say something. He seemed really
tense trying to relay his message.
"The statue that was to be set at the central point has
collapsed once again. We tried lifting it up at all angles but
it's not possible to bring it up as Sir Charles would have
desired. It was a very important part of his plan for the
school, but we are going to be forced to have it removed."
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Tanyah wanted to say something but then she didn't
have any say or right to whatever happened in this place.
Such decisions will have to be passed to Nicholas as he was
now in charge of it. In response to the manager's request
Tanyah only nodded her head to show that she was listening
and she would then relay the message to Nicholas so that he
would have the final say.
"The statue is of the late Mrs Penelopy Harris, Sir
Charles Sinclair's late sister," said the project manager,
pointing in the direction of where the statue was.
While he was talking, Tanyah was thinking of something
with what the project manager said. If her brain cells were
functioning properly, the statue that was being mentioned
was of Nicholas's mother. With that information, Tanyah
wondered what Nicholas's decision would be; this was his
mother after all and he surely would love to have her image
at the center of this project. But since it was hindering any
further progress it had to be removed.
Even though it was a difficult decision for both Nicholas
and the project manager, she hoped that they would make a
compromise and keep the statue.
When she arrived at the mansion, the first thing she did
was report to Nicholas on the important details the project
manager told her. She found him in the library which was
next to the study room by himself going through a book.
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After the initial details she finally told him about the
collapsed statue.
He gave a long sigh before he stood up from his chair
and placed the book he was holding on the table. He was
very tall compared to her and when he looked down at her
she was merely a small mouse compared to him. She was
sometimes annoyed by the fact that she had to look all the
way up most of the time he was standing.
"I will have to consult the construction manager to see if
there's any compromise to be done…, " before he could finish
his sentence Nicholas paused for a moment. His eyes became
distorted and it was as if his entire being had left his body.
The more she watched him, the more she became concerned.
What happened to him?
"Sir, you were saying something."
Nicholas didn't respond to her as he was completely
zoned out. She quickly approached him and held his arm
and sharply called out his name, only then did he respond.
"I'm sorry, I...that statue...whose statue is it of?"
"Penelopy Harris," as soon as that name left her lips the
atmosphere in the room completely went cold and stale.
Nicholas's demeanor went from distant and dazed to
angry and annoyed. Noticing this, Tanyah quickly took a
step back to give him some space.
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Later that evening after her work for the day and the
initial encounter with Nicholas, Tanyah quickly made her
way to the guest house. She still couldn't shake off his
reaction to the mention of Penelopy Harris.
What happened to warrant such a reaction from him?
Was it her? No, it can't be her. But of course, it's her!
All these thoughts were rampaging in her thoughts as
she walked up and down her living room. She couldn't
understand or even comprehend how the conversation even
ended in Nicholas having a complete malfunction and
making him really upset.
Before she left he told her to have the statue completely
removed and he didn't want to ever hear anything about it.
His expression was so grave and dark that she could only
accept his order without questioning him about it.
While in the midst of her thoughts, Tanyah received a
message from Nicholas responding to the issue of the statue.
And to her surprise he said he wanted the statue completely
removed, anything that had to do with that name was to be
removed and remodelled immediately.
Why did he want the statue of his own mother removed?
What caused such a harsh and drastic decision?
No matter how much she tried to join the dots and figure
out the full story, it was never enough. Tanyah still didn't
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know that much about the Sinclair family for her to be able
to understand what was happening with Nicholas. Digging
information about these people was almost impossible,
especially with the stern butler swatting her down every
chance he got.
As she continued to pace in the living room, she saw
someone from her window. She slowly walked towards the
window and opened a small portion of the curtain that she
could see. Her eyes widened as she saw it was the butler. He
was walking towards the garden from the mansion in
hurried strides.
This got her even more curious because why was the
ever so perfect butler walking around at night with so much
speed. She never thought she would see the day that man
was in such a rushed situation, but there he was right before
her
He was holding a few papers and what looked like
letters in his hands. She kept looking at him walk by, and as
if the heavens were on her side something fell from several
things that the butler was holding. She gasped when she saw
this, the papers were left all alone on the ground. Looking
back at the direction the butler had gone, she saw that he
didn't notice the letter had fallen or check if he had dropped
anything.
As the letter laid on the ground, Tanyah knew she had to
get her hands on it. She quickly went to change from her
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formal clothes and wore some dark clothes to hide her
appearance and avoid anyone from seeing her in the dark.
When she arrived at the spot where the letter was
dropped, she was glad nothing happened to it and it was
still there on the ground. She went to pick it up and she was
a bit surprised by the way the envelope was.
Remembering that she was outside and the butler might
be coming back this way, she quickly picked it up and bolted
back to her house to avoid being seen. She went into her
room and started her analysis of the letter.
It was white in colour and had small web designs
running from each corner to the centre. It was exactly like the
letter Victor received with the threat to kill him if he
continued pestering about Charles's case and the Sinclair
estate.
Her mind quickly began to race again wondering who
could have received the letter this time. The butler? It would
be understandable for him to be the next target because he
was the only one in the mansion remaining who was present
during the days following up to Charles's death. Victor is
already out of the picture and Nicholas isn't much of a threat
anyway, which leaves only the butler as a threat.
The thought of going to talk to the butler made her want
to scurry away, he was a very rigid person and talking to
him would be like trying to move a mountain