Time Will Tell [Complete]

Chapter Eleven

  That night, Lizzy sat in the loft with Amanda, who was crying. She had admitted to everything after some prodding, and Lizzy had ordered her to leave first thing in the morning. Marjorie, Alexander and Patrick had backed her up.

What they had learned was this: Amanda had been feeding information to the enemy. She was a double-agent, and Lizzy had felt like kicking herself when she had figured it out. She had told Amanda everything before she left – she had admitted all her lies, all the secrets she had kept from Madam Daphne – who also worked for MNT – no matter how hard her old employer tried to pry them out of her, she had stood her ground – just to have Amanda tell her anyway. Lizzy had been a humongous fool.

Amanda had told MNT their plans, their problems. If anything changed, the other side got informed. All along, she had been taking orders and Lizzy hadn't seen it. She had thought Amanda her friend, the best friend she'd ever had, her only friend who had never betrayed her. The friend who never would.

But she had been wrong.

Even worse, the fire wasn't an accident. Neither was the loose, cracked wheel. Amanda had vandalized both, and she had risked Patrick and Lizzy's lives in the process. In fact, Lizzy could have died in the barn fire, luckily Amanda was not committed enough to purposely murder, and she still viewed Lizzy as a friend. But Lizzy hadn't suspected anything, and that was worse than Amanda's betrayal – Lizzy's instincts had been dulled, she had been blinded by her friendship, and she knew she couldn't let it happen again. Lives could have been lost – her life could have been lost. The world could have been lost.

Never again.

Now Amanda was trying to, at least partly, save their relationship. She wasn't asking for pardon, but she didn't want to leave on such a bad note. She had taken the time to know Lizzy, even though she knew their friendship wasn't permanent. She understood her nature – Lizzy held grudges for an extremely long time – the only person Amanda knew who Lizzy had forgiven after a severe offense was Alexander, and Lizzy still wasn't completely over that. She doubted she ever would be.

So Amanda knew she had to try. She also knew it was a long shot, but maybe Lizzy had changed. Maybe she had opened up – Ireland was a magical place, a place of luck – if there even was such a thing – and Amanda had noticed that Lizzy was a bit more... content, if that was the word for it. Her eyes had softened, and she seemed to trust people more easily. She seemed comfortable with herself, and comfortable with their position, like there was no way they wouldn't win. She seemed confident. That was the word. Confident and stronger than ever.

"I don't think I can go back now,"

Lizzy rolled her eyes, but inside her heart was breaking. She had loved Amanda like a sister, and love doesn't fade that quickly – it had only been a few hours, and the pain hadn't dulled one bit. She had tried to push it down, of course – her instinct was to ignore it – but she had promised herself that she would be soft-hearted, and, unfortunately, that meant she had to feel all the hurt.

But just because she felt it didn't mean she couldn't hide it from others. All afternoon she had acted cool and reserved towards Amanda, no matter how hard she tried to bridge the gap.

And the pain hadn't lessened.

"Well, Mandy, you can't stay here. Maybe the sheep across the road will take you in." Lizzy replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Amanda frowned, blinking back the tears that had been gathering in her eyes all evening. "Lizzy –"

She paused, looking at Lizzy for acknowledgement. She only moved her head slightly in Amanda's direction, but she didn't sound discouraged as she commenced talking.