Episode 1: The Wakeman Farm
As Welstan rode up the long dusty road to the Wakeman farmhouse he had some time to think about things. Sammy was missing. Of course she was. It would have been far too simple for her to simply ride off into the sunset and have that be that. There was more of course. Turned out she had been seeing another man, a lord of some sort. Townsend was not going to be happy to have such a thing confirmed about the girl he loved... Then again, he wasn't really planning to tell him. At least, not until Samantha was safe again. He looked around to get his bearings. It had been a long time since he had been out to this particular farm. Scanning the horizon, he saw the farm he was looking for and began to ride towards it, keeping his eyes open for any sign of distress.
The Wakeman farmstead was on a wider plot of land than the Townsend's, as they were focused on several different types of crops, and had an extension that focused on livestock. The morning air hugged Welstan with muggy moisture, and there was hardly a sound, other than cows and horses of course. One horse stood out among the rest. Sammy's horse, which was hitched crudely to a post in front of the farmhouse, its rigging and saddle missing. He imagined they wanted to leave the horse as it was, in case the lady came back on her own. She was an only child after all. One look at the horse made it clear how much her parents loved her, as the horse she owned was no mere beast of burden, but a tamed stallion from the distant hills.
Welstan rode up to the hitching post, dismounting his own horse as he did so and giving the girls horse a look over. The horse was clean. Of course it was. No doubt it had been washed the moment it returned to the farm. The only visible mark was the saddle groove, worn into the beasts back. He hitched up his own horse and took a deep breath. Would the Wakeman family even remember him? Not that it would matter much with him being a watchman, but he hadn't seen Samantha's parents in years and even then he was merely a backdrop to Towns. He stepped up to the door and gave it a solid knock. Maybe he would get lucky and the girl would have found her own way back already, but the idea sounded silly, even in his head.
A gruff muffled voice responded to the knock from somewhere deep in the house. "Hold on!" The door opened to reveal the face of an older, red haired man. Samantha's father. He looked upset and his beard shows lines of grey which were not there the last time he and Welstan met. Yet, there was a look of recognition in this man's eyes and Welstan could not help but be a little surprised by it. "Welstan?" He inquired "Gods boy! It's early. Come in." The man hesitated a moment before stepping aside, revealing the elderly lady behind him who was crying fiercely. "Her mother…" thought Welstan.
Welstan smiled as he stepped into the room. "Thank you sir." he said "I only wish that I came on a better day." He offered the same smile to the lady, along with a small bow. "Good day, my lady." As he did so, he took a look around the farmhouse. He had forgotten how big it was. Then again he hadn't been here in, what, years? That seemed correct. Even though Townsend and Samantha had been together a long time, it was rare for Welstan to be here. In fact, if memory served him right, Towns had not been too keen on the idea. Townsend had a way of compartmentalizing his life. Simply put, the room he was currently standing in was marked "Samantha", not "Welstan". He didn't mind though as there were several places in which the opposite had been true. Somehow Townsend always had time for everyone.
The man's stare brought him back out of his reflective state. "Sir, I come in regards to your daughter. I have been told that she is missing and I would like to help. Any information I could obtain here would be quite valuable." said Welstan. The man brought Welstan into a sort of living room. Their home was far more refined than any house in the Townsend family, as their crops and livestock brought in far more profit. There were fine paintings, dishware, and furniture surrounding this place, and each area was color coordinated, though the rising theme was red and black. Mrs. Wakeman was sobbing over a box of some sort when Welstan was brought in. She calmed herself when he entered, blowing her nose into a black handkerchief marked "S.W." in red thread. Mr. Wakeman motioned for Welstan to take a seat, and he did.
"Welstan, I know you arrived here for one reason or another, but we need to talk to you. We know you're not Garret, but the fact that you're here is actually better..." He said as he sat down, and cleared his throat. Garrett was Townsend's first name, though none of his friends would use it. In fact, it was customary to simply refer to him as "Towns." Then again, these were Samantha's parents and "Garrett" seemed about right in that situation. Welstan opened his mouth to speak. "To be honest sir, I was not planning to tell him about any of this. The last time he saw Samantha things were...unpleasant. Couple that with information I have been told about Samantha being involved with a certain lord and, well, I'd not do such a thing to my friend sir." He paused here, letting the information sink in. "Having said that, Samantha was a friend and I will do everything in my power to insure her safety. So, what is it you would have me know?"
"Well…" said Mr. Wakeman, looking at his wife and rubbing her back as she continued to finger whatever was in the box on her lap. "I actually agree with how you're proceeding with this. According to Melonee She ran off two days ago and… never came back. Well... There's something we need to show you." The man looked to his wife at this point and muttered something to her whilst pointing at the box in her lap. She stood up, sniffling lightly and taking the box with her. She was obviously hesitant about something. Mr. Wakeman watched her move with a quiet sadness. The woman crossed the room and placed the small box lightly on Welstan's lap.
Welstan took a look inside the box and found it to be quite different than he expected. It was lined rather nicely with a black cloth. Sitting atop this cloth were 2 necklaces that he recognized instantly. The first one was flashy. It was the same pearl and ruby encrusted necklace Samantha had been wearing the last time he saw her… the last time anyone saw her really. The second was a simple gold chain with a pendant and a piece of amber. That one was Melonee's. It was the one she had been wearing the night she came to him about Samantha's disappearance. He had sent her home from the Prancing Pony with it still around her neck. Melonee may have been a Townsend, but as far as Welstan was concerned, she was family.
Mrs. Wakeman spoke with obvious sadness, "We just .. found this in a package on our doorstep, early this morning. Our stable hand, he... said he saw no one drop it off before the sun rose, so..." She sighed, stepping back and slumping into the couch she was sitting on. "Could you help us? Please...?" She began to tear up again. This box of necklaces very clearly terrified her. If Welstan was being honest, it scared him too. He picked up the pendant and began to examine the chain it was on. "Please just be removed.." he thought to himself. It seemed that his wish would go unanswered however, as it seemed that it had repaired near the clasp. Some sort of weight on the chain had broken is and caused some of the links to be ever-so-slightly misshapen. A bit of golden hair is caught in the newly repaired clasp. The hair was fair yet broken, as though it had been pulled out. If this was the same necklace Melonee had been wearing when he saw her last, she might be in trouble. Welstan's next stop would be the Townsend farm, that much was decided.
However, Welstan did not ignore the people in front of him. Towns had his talents and Welstan had his. Welstan was great at inspecting evidence without diverting his attention from the matter at hand. "So this box, you simply found it? Do you trust the stable hand in question? Often times when someone disappears, it was someone who knew them..." he said, trying hard not to let his voice betray the rising terror in his gut. Mrs. Wakeman responded, seemingly unaware of his fear. "The boy is our ward, a troublemaker of the Whiteweed family, far too young and busy to be involved in a bad crowd with how much work we have him do..."
Welstan placed the first necklace back into the box, sliding his hand over to the other one. "Samantha's..." he thought, picking it up in much the same way, again hoping not to find any signs of an attack. Though, after the first one, his hopes were not high. His was right to doubt. On the left side of the mantle, a few of the pendants that should have been linked together had different, newer sets of links holding them together, which did not match the silver chain links on the necklace. This necklace has also been repaired.
"Do you know anyone who might want to hurt you or Samantha? Anyone she has made angry recently? Possibly someone you folks owe money to?" He looked around the well-kept farmhouse. "I wouldn't be surprised if this is a money thing" he thinks. "No, of course not." replied Mr. Wakeman. "Samantha was loved by all her peers, in her studies, on the farm… Garrett." Mr. Wakeman stops talking, a hint of regret in his look. "She was seeing that new boy, Lord West." Mrs. Wakeman chimed in, talking to her husband. "I know Garrett loved her, but you don't think he would do anything like this…" Mr. Wakeman shook his head firmly at this, as though he knew Towns far too well to believe such a thing. "He's right." Welstan thought, placing the second necklace back into the box.
The necklaces were broken, but had been repaired to make it look as though they had not. Welstan was now fairly certain that whoever had found Samantha, had a similar run in with Melonee. The fact that such a valuable piece had been returned told him that this wasn't about money. That was bad, since if it wasn't about money, it was usually about revenge.
Welstan turned his gaze to the woman. "Madam, I have to agree with your husband, it is unlikely that Garrett would do anything so rash. Besides, he has spent much time doing things for the watch and would have little time for any side content. However, lets focus on something else. Specifically, I would like to know more about this Lord West. Have you ever met the man? What do we know about him?" The couple look to each other, and Mrs. Wakeman nodded to her husband, who looked at Welstan and began to speak.
"Samantha started feeling rather down a year into Garret leaving for Kingsfell with his parents. He stopped writing to her after she told us she professed her love to him in a letter. She was lonely, and against our wishes, she started traveling to Bree-town, and going to taverns and bars. A few weeks into this sadness, she started seeing this.. 'Lord West'. She told us he has an estate at the borders of Bree, off in the woods... We never met him, or even saw him for that matter, but she would come home every night after dark, later and later each day. This has been going on for almost a year. However, this 'Lord' fellow... She told us she was just friends with him, and was taking her in as a student of the sword. She was far too excited when she came home, however... We assume they're courting... When Garret got back to Bree, she was extremely excited. It's all a bit confusing, and we don't mean to drag you into her drama. We didn't even know he was called 'West' until we peeked inside her journal." Mr. Wakeman pursed his lips at this point. "In it... it chronicles a far deeper relationship than just swordplay, but it.. doesn't tell where he lives."
Welstan took a deep breath. If there really was a lord involved in all this, it was going to get very complicated, very fast. "You understand, I am going to have to read the journal?" he said, obviously uncomfortable with the idea. "...Any information that it holds may prove to be invaluable to the investigation. Do you have it handy?" Mr. Wakeman stood up and headed over to the fireplace nearby. He opened a small strongbox resting on the mantelpiece, and looked inside. He jerked his head back a bit, looking confused. "Uhm... Ehum. No... We don't." he said, closing the box and turning to Welstan. "One moment." He looked to his wife, who immediately said, in a desperate tone, "I didn't move it, love." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It seems to be missing. When we find it around here, I'll have it sent to you." As he was saying this as he began checking all around the mantel, the tables nearby, and the couch cushions. "Hrmm.." Mrs. Wakeman watched her husband sadly, dropping her eyes to the box the second she realizes that Welstan was looking at her. Welstan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. "Surely the Wakemans wouldn't keep information from me… would they?" he thought. In any case, all he could do was hope that the journal eventually showed up. "I Suppose that will have to do then." he said "However, I must insist that it reaches me as soon as possible."
Welstan stood up, surveying the room once more. "What of her room?" he asked. "Surely there might be some clue in there. May I see it? After I am done with that I will want to speak with this farm hand of yours." Mrs. Wakeman stood up quickly, seemingly eager to help him now. "Come with me dear Welstan. It's upstairs." She crooned as she began to ascend the flight of stairs on the opposite wall. The stair case was beautifully crafted with wood which has been well sanded. Welstan followed the woman up the long stair case, eventually reaching the main hallway of the second floor. Once there, Mrs. Wakeman opened the first door on the right, revealing a large bedroom.
The room was magnificent, lined with silks of black and red as well as other fine linens. There was a desk near the window which had been outfitted with a chair as petite as Samantha. The bed was made up properly and sitting next to it was a fine wooden nightstand and a set of drawers. The closet was the only think that seemed a bit off, since it appeared to have been left open ever so slightly. A stark contrast to the neatness that permeated the rest of the room. Welstan stepped into the room. "If the girl was hiding something, there are only a few places where she might have put it.." he thought, heading for the closet first. Inside he found cloaks, work clothes evening gowns, and night clothing. The closet was completely what he had expected, except for the strongbox would had been stuffed into the back of it. It poked out from a pile of underwear, as though it had been cautiously watching the door when he arrived.
He grabbed onto the small box and gave it a tug, freeing it from its garment filled prison and placing it on the bed behind him. The lock had already been jimmied. However, it had also been painted over, as though whoever did it didn’t want anyone to know about it. "Just like the necklaces.." he thought as he cracked the lid open and checked the contents. In side were dozens of envelopes address to Townsend. Some said Garrett D. Townsend, others Garrett Dean Townsend, and still others G. Townsend. They all had one thing in common though, the letters themselves were missing. Each envelope now contained a blank folded piece of paper. Welstan pushed the box away from himself, now completely certain that all evidence had been removed from the area. "Tell me lady, has anyone else been in this room since your daughter went missing.. or even just before?" Mrs. Wakeman, who had been watching him work, frowned at the question. "No, not that we know of. She kept to herself mostly, except with Garrett and after he left… she never brought anyone here." she said, leaning on the doorway and hugging herself a little. Welstan continued the line of questioning "What about your husband, yourself or the cleaning staff? Have any of you gone through her stuff since the disappearance?" "Mervin and I only checked her dressers and that's it. We left it how it was otherwise." She responded, pursing her lips.
Suddenly there is a rumble in the farm beyond the window and Mrs. Wakeman stands straight up. The rumbling is accompanied by the sound of upset cattle. Welston stood and made his wat over to the window, hoping that the thief had left some clue when they broke in. The window was starting to seem like the most likely point of entry. There were a few flakes of the same black paint used to repair the strongbox on the windowsill, and a small divot in the wood just against the bottom, where it would open. It seemed like a slender tool had been used to break in. Outside, there was a stampede in progress. The corral holding the cows had been opened, and there was a huge spot of blood in the middle of the frenzy. The cattle were quickly escaping. Mrs. Wakeman rushed over to the window and gasped at the scene outside. She then turned and rushed out of the room. Welstan heard her clamoring down the stairs moments later.
"How did the thief get up here?" Wondered Welstan as he poked his head further out the window. The answer quickly became apparent. Conveniently Samantha's window was above a trellis with climbing roses growing on it. Climbing roses were a harsh plant to climb through, but it could be done. "Our thief was determined…" Mr. Wakeman, having heard the stampede as well, was already outside yelling orders to a couple of teen boys who looked to be farm hands. He was getting a handle on the situation quite quickly and was even having some success corralling the cattle away from the bloodied area. "Not bad, sir." thought Welstan as he turned to leave. He headed down the stairs and out the front door, circling around to the trellis below Samantha's window. He finds some light blue thread on the ground and a few snapped branches but nothing that could identify the thief. Still, it suggested that the window had been used and that was a start.
There was a scream from the direction of the stables. Welstan whipped his head in the direction of it. There stood Mrs. Wakeman shaking. She had her hands over her mouth and she was obviously transfixed by something inside the building. Unfortunately, Welstan could not see what it was from his current position. He dashed toward the barn, quite certain that someone had died. "Possibly the thief even…" he thought as the scene comes into view. Hanging from the rafters near the center of the room was the body of a young girl. The rope around her neck gave an eerie creak as a breeze moved her a bit, causing her to swing a little. Welstan is overcome with a sudden panic the second her sees her clothing. The flowing white dress, the gold and brown bodice. He knew who this particular outfit belonged to. His mind panicked "Melonee!"
(To be continued in Episode 2)
(Written Via a Skype message between Townsend and Welstan, then edited to be more like a story by Welstan.)
Please send me a message if you like what you have seen so far or if you have any questions about the story. There are many episodes still in the works!
