The Haunting Of Hastings House

Chapter 20

By
Brynn Morgan

Copyright © 2023 by – Brynn Morgan – All Rights Reserved.
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Chapter 20

It was hushed in the room. None of the women made a sound. They had no words. What Elizabeth had put this innocent girl, this child, through was simply wrong. 

"There is no doubt that Elizabeth raped by James was a terrible thing, but nothing excuses her behavior. No child deserves to be beaten and mistreated." Lainie said.

They left Clarrisa's apartment and drove back to the house. Both women were so silent.

Davis walked in the back door, into the mudroom, and removed his boots. He walked into the kitchen, where Lainie and Emily sat around the island and noticed their grave faces."You can hear a pin drop in here," he smiled. "How did tonight go?" "Did y'all find out anything?" he asked curiously.

Lainie and Emily were sitting at the island, heads bowed in contemplation and expressionless.
Lainie finally spoke up. "Davis, Elizabeth was brutally abusive to Penelope."

He grabbed a chilled beer bottle from the fridge and sat by Emily. His knee brushed against her leg, and Emily felt it. She did not move away.

Davis's voice was deep. "I'm sorry. Who is Penelope?" "I'm trying to catch up," he added.

Lainie responded softly. "Elizabeth never gave her daughter a name. She just called her the girl. She had a servant girl whom her husband, James, was sleeping with. And she took pity on the child and named her Penelope."

Davis picked up one of the journals and flipped through it absentmindedly. Emily spoke up. "We honestly do not know where to go from here. We feel like we have hit a major dead end. The journals ended, and we know that Elizabeth died, but what happened to Penelope?"

Lainie agreed with her. "Yeah. Not sure how to figure the rest of this out."

Davis stopped riffling through the pages and flipped the journal over in his hands, running his fingers over a small gold label. "How about here?" he said. He shoved the book over to Emily. She read the label aloud.

"Property of: Cynity Goldsborough Hastings"

Lainie's eyes widened. "Cynity Goldsborough Hastings it is. We will reach out to her tomorrow morning, and hopefully, she is still alive and will talk to us. She lives in Crosswind, which is close to here."

***
Emily could not sleep. She was so disturbed by Elizabeth's treatment of The Girl. Davis had insisted, since the night of the attack, that Emily was not to sleep alone anymore, so he made a pallet on his floor, and she slept in his bed. Emily felt horrible about it, but there was no arguing with him.

She rose from the bed, tossed back the covers, and climbed out, trying not to make any noise. Emily looked back at Davis lying on the floor and, placing her hand on the knob; she turned it slowly.

"Where are you going, Emily?" Davis's voice was low, a whisper in the dark room.

She jumped, startled. "To get some water."

Davis sat up and grabbed his cell phone to supply light; he stood up and walked over to her. "I don't want you alone for even one minute, Emily, not after what happened the other night." He spoke softly, raised his hand, and cupped her cheek, brushing a finger over her high cheekbone. Emily shivered from his touch.

She gasped lightly. "Even to go to the bathroom?" Emily teased, and there was just a hint of a smile on her lovely features. Was she flirting with this man?