"What are you..." The old woman exclaimed in surprise but she composed herself almost immediately. "What do you young girls want? I doubt there is anything in this horrible run down place that could interest you."
The Voice was frantic. I could feel the thousands of ideas that were running through her head. The desire to hide a lot of things and also...The desire to protect someone. In my mind I could see the faded picture of a little boy, crying in the corner of a room.
"You know very well who I am." I stepped towards her. "And you damn well know I can sense the things going through your mind right now."
The woman took a few steps back. She was still desperate. Sill searching for a lie that would convince me.
"I don't care about the power...I don't care about the person you are trying to protect. Do you know this man?" I took out my cellphone and showed her my Dad's picture. "He was here, wasn't he? A few days ago?"
"He..."
"And I also think you know this woman." Nancy brought out the picture of Clara.
"He came a few days ago inquiring about my master." She said slowly. "And I told him he was dead and there was nobody here except for me."
I could sense the lie but before I could call her out on it Nancy stepped forward. "And this woman? How do you know her?"
"She's Clara." The woman said. "Your father came here with her years ago. She looked nothing like in the picture then. She was weary, looked ten times her age. Mr. Anthony was furious. He blamed my master for abandoning her after he got her pregnant."
"What!" I exclaimed.
"So...Your master was the one Clara ran off to and he turned her away..." Nancy said. "Don't you know what became of her?"
"I don't." said the woman."They never came back and my master never searched for her." She sighed. "He was not a good man. His poor wife had to deal with the fact he had affairs with many women. She just stayed with him for the sake of her son. Until one day..."
"What happened?" Nancy asked.
"He decided to break off their marriage and brought another woman and kid to the house.That was when she ended her own life taking her son with her."
I didn't know what to say to the family history she spoke about without being asked. I kept my eyes on her, feeling there were lies mixed with the truth.
"So...when your father came, I told him that there was nobody here. And he left."
"What about the other woman and kid?" Nancy asked.
"Shortly after the death of my mistress the kid accidentally fell down the stairs and died. The woman lost her mind after that. She's in a mental asylum now."
"If nobody's around...Why are you here? " Nancy frowned.
"I am the guardian, until..." She paused, thinking hard over what to speak next. "Until someone comes to claim this property."
"Who's going to come? Who did you master leave this to?"
"To Clara's child..."
To be continued...
ns 15.158.61.23da2
