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“What Arthur is trying to say is that we are looking for anything out of the ordinary you might have noticed yesterday,” she announced, glancing at everyone in the order they were standing. He noticed that no one looked away. They all kept her gaze for a few moments then she went on to the next person. “Whatever struck you as unusual, please, feel free to speak it. Nothing is trivial at this point.”
He looked at her gratefully. She returned his gaze. She worded it perfectly. She did not point the finger of blame at anyone. She asked for their help, accentuating the fact that they were all together in this. They were all allies, trying to find out how the fire came to be.
His eyes traveled over every single face in the row. He knew all of them. Some, he had known ever since he was a small boy. Others were new additions in the household, but he had still known them for longer than two, three years. He trusted them all. He doubted that any of them purposely did it. However, he also knew that accidents happened. It was crucial that they found out who was responsible for this so that similar accidents could be avoided in the future.
Unexpectedly, one of the newest additions in their household, a young girl of sixteen, stepped forward boldly. Her hands were crossed in front of her body. Her hair was braided on both sides of her face, giving her the impression of a frightened little girl.
“Elsie?” Mrs. Collins turned to her left, to take a closer look at the girl. “Do you know something?”
Suddenly, all eyes were on the girl, piercing right through her with their inquisitive gazes, demanding to know exactly what she knew. Only, she could not force herself to start speaking. She simply nodded, her eyes accentuating the notion that she knew something crucial.
It was at that moment that Arthur remembered Elsie was mute. Mrs. Collins had brought her in, vouching for her. Elsie’s mother was Mrs. Collins’ best friend when they were younger. Arthur had no problem with the girl being mute, especially seeing that she was very hardworking. Such servants were always a valuable addition to a household. That was what Arthur’s mother always claimed, and he wholeheartedly agreed.
“Have you seen something, Elsie?” Amelia asked, her gentle voice guiding the girl softly. Elsie’s eyes focused on her. She nodded.
Amelia released Arthur’s hand from her grip, and he was now watching her communicate with Elsie, trying to extract as many details as possible.
“Can you… explain somehow what you’ve seen?” Amelia asked again, sounding hopeful. It was this hope which gave Elsie the strength to express herself.
Arthur remembered that she was also shy so speaking to her was almost impossible. She understood everything, but her shyness was so prominent that it sometimes rendered her unable to respond in any manner. However, with Amelia, she seemed to be at ease. Arthur was amazed. Amelia simply had that effect on people. She somehow showed them that they could trust her.
Elsie pointed at Arthur then lowered her hand all the way down to her waist.
“A short man?” Amelia wondered.
Elsie shook her head. She showed a small amount of something with the tips of her index finger and her thumb.
“Something small?” Amelia continued. Elsie nodded this time. “A small man?” Elsie nodded again. “A boy?” Elsie nodded more fervently than before. “You saw a boy? Here?” Amelia’s questions fell like rain, but they didn’t make Elsie pull away. Amelia’s desire to find out the truth was contagious. It was obvious that Elsie wanted to do everything in her power to help. She kept nodding then pointed at the window.
“You saw him outside?” Amelia asked. Another nod followed. “When?” Elsie thought for a moment then showed the number eight with her fingers. “Around eight o’clock?” Elsie confirmed with another nod.
Amelia turned to the rest of the staff. “Has anyone seen a strange boy wandering about?”
Most of the servants shook their heads. It seemed that no one else had seen this boy. Amelia focused on Elsie again.
“Are you certain that you saw him? And you didn’t recognize him?” she wondered. They needed to be sure. Elsie gave an affirmative nod.
“Sometimes, boys play in the nearby woods,” Mrs. Collins explained. “Occasionally, one of them will get lost and find their way to the house. It hasn’t happened in a while because the woods have grown deeper and far too convoluted to be a children’s playground, but it did happen before.” Elsie quickly nodded to this as well.
“I remember,” Arthur added. “I used to play there as a boy as well.”
“So, it could be nothing then,” Amelia pointed out. “No one important?”
Elsie shrugged. Then, she suddenly seemed to remember something. She pointed her finger at Amelia, silently rounding her lips to the wordboy.
“The boy?” Amelia echoed.
Elsie nodded quickly. She curled up her fingers into a fist then gently punched herself in the eye. Amelia frowned.
“He tried to punch you?” she asked.
Elsie quickly shook her head. Her finger pointed at herself then she shook her head again, rejecting this theory as false. She mouthed the wordboyagain and repeated the action.
“Someone hit the boy?” Amelia tried the other version. Arthur listened intently, along with the other servants who were so immersed in the story that was developing before their eyes that they were barely able to breathe.
Elsie quickly nodded again. She pointed at the eye she mockingly punched then at Amelia’s dress. It was an almost purplish hue of blue.
“The boy had a black eye?” Amelia was very successful in detangling the story in Arthur’s opinion. He doubted he would have been able to extract all of that out of the poor girl. Elsie smiled as she nodded.
