“Perhaps she had not been lying after all,” Ophelia whispered to herself, walking towards the vegetable stall.
She placed Amy on the small holding at the side of the stall, placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Stay here comfortably, my darling. It will only take me a few minutes.”
Ophelia quickly began to pick up the vegetables, finding the freshest ones from the available batches. She wanted everything to be perfect for the dinner. After buying and paying for the vegetables, she turned back towards Amy and to her horror, Amy was no longer seated at the holding.
Her world came crashing down as panic filled her throat.
“Amy?” Ophelia began to call loudly, and everyone around her immediately became attentive.
“Amy?” she called again, looking here and there to see if she had wandered away to look at something, but Amy was nowhere to be found.
Ophelia already knew that Amy was not one to wander away unless someone was with her. She could barely even walk, and if she were crawling, Ophelia would have seen her. Hence, it was impossible for her to get away alone.
No, Amy couldn’t have wandered off.
“What is the matter, Miss?” a young man asked as several people gathered around her.
“A little girl was with me. She has disappeared.”
“Yes, she was just here a few moments ago,” a woman said, “did anyone see her walk away?”
“Or did anyone see someone take her?” Ophelia asked, her fears coming true.
It could be no one but Alice. No one had anything to do with Amy except for Alice, and the simple fact that Alice was present in her village was enough to tell Ophelia that something was bound to go wrong.
“We will look throughout the market,” another young man said as everyone divided, calling out to Amy.
Ophelia, too, continued to look, but she knew it was not going to be effective, since Alice had already taken the little girl. That was clearly the only explanation. Tears stung her eyes at the horror of the situation as she worried for Amy’s well-being, but Ophelia knew she was not going to let anything happen to Amy, no matter what she had to do to make it happen.
She was going to find Amy, but for that, she needed to return home at once.
***
Edward had only taken a sip of his tea when a loud banging on the door shocked him and everyone else at the sound and urgency of it. Mrs Jennings stood up to open the door, but Edward stood before her, motioning for her to stay at the back so he could check who it was.
“I will see.”
He walked towards the door, opening it, and to his surprise, Ophelia stood there, her blonde braid pulled apart as golden tendrils framed her flushed face. Edward could see she had probably run here, her entire face a complete mess. Her eyes widened upon seeing him, but she was already worried about something else. His heart grew worried seeing her in this condition.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly realizing Amy was not with her.
His panic grew even more as he walked back inside, pulling Ophelia inside the house as well. Mrs Jennings, Sarah, and Amelia also crowded around her while Ophelia tried tocatch her breath enough to speak. However, she simply turned towards Edward.
“Amy,” she whispered, words not coming to her as tears began to fall down her face.
“What happened to Amy?” Edward’s heart was beating fast, his fear escalating with every passing second.
He could not afford anything happening to Amy. He realized how much he had come to love her.
Oh God, please let her be alright.
“She … she,” Ophelia could not stop crying. “Amy just–”
“Ophelia, calm down.” He held her shoulders, making her look him in the eyes. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was buying vegetables, and I placed her on the side. I turned back just a few minutes later, and she was gone. She was not in the market. Someone took her.”
