Replacement Baby (16 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Would you like
to go out for a drive this afternoon?” Lionel suggested on a sunny day. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass had left for Scotland almost a week before.

“I’d love it!” Rose exclaimed. They had been spending more time inside the house than usual, so Rose was grateful for an outing.

Grabbing the keys, they hurried out the door . The car was a small convertible, and the wind blew through Rose’s hair as they drove with the top down. Lionel sped around twists and turns in the road. Rose figured that his daring moves were mostly to keep her entertained.

They drove in front of Buckingham Palace and by Trafalgar Square. They went all around the theater district and over the Tower Bridge. They drove in the tunnel under the Thames and went by the Portobello Road market.

As they drove, Rose reached over and grabbed Lionel’s arm. He glanced in her direction with a smile. With the wind blowing through her hair and Lionel beside her, Rose felt free as they sped through the London streets.

“I forgot to tell you, but Detective Hamilton called earlier,” Lionel told Rose. “I guess the police checked out the house in Bexley, the one where Rodney lives”

“Oh?”

“Well, he wasn’t there,” Lionel explained. “They found some evidence, but no Rodney.”

“Well, I sure hope they find him soon,” Rose told Lionel. “I’ll feel safer when all those people are locked up.”

“I don’t blame you,” Lionel replied, looking over at her. “Why don’t we go to Harrods and walk around?” Lionel suggested. “We can have tea and sandwiches.”

Rose agreed and they parked the car. The department store with bustling with crowds, so Rose and Lionel made their way to the tea room. They ordered Lady Grey tea and cucumber sandwiches, and talked casually about what Lionel was going to do now that he was done with school.

“After I take Julie to Sarah Lawrence, I’m coming back to London,” Lionel told Rose.

“So what if you still want to go to law school?” Rose asked.

“I think I’d like to go somewhere here,” Lionel told her. “I like London. I like the people here.”

Rose nodded.

“And what are your plans?” Lionel asked her. “Are you going to stay on after the summer? My mom always needs an extra set of hands around here. I know she loves working with you. She talks about it all the time.

Rose smiled. “Yes, I’d love to stay. It’ll be really quiet without Julie, though.”

“It’ll be like a cemetery.” Lionel laughed.

“Oh, hush!” Rose playfully smacked his arm.

“I’m glad you’re staying,” Lionel told Rose. “I like it when you’re around. I think I really realized that when you were gone.”

After a while, they got up to walk around the store. They walked by the jewelry counter and Rose stopped to admire a necklace with round, green glass beads.

“What a stunning color,” Rose mumbled.

“You like it?” Lionel asked.

Rose nodded.

“I want to buy it for you,” Lionel told her. “I heard you mention you never had jewelry growing up. You’ve been through hell and back lately. I think you deserve something special.”

“Please, Lionel, you don’t have to,” Rose protested.

“I want to,” Lionel insisted. “Please let me buy it for you.”

“Fine,” Rose said. “Thank you. I do like it a lot.”

Lionel motioned to the female clerk to show they needed assistance. The woman reached into the display case and pulled out the necklace, setting it on the counter. She lifted it up with a gloved hand and held it in front of Rose for her to view it. The beads were the color of jade.

The woman held the necklace out to Rose so she could try it on. Rose lifted her hair and Lionel helped her secure the clasp. The beads were cool on Rose’s neck and chest.

“You like it?” Lionel asked.

“I love it,” Rose replied. Lionel helped her undo the clasp and Rose handed it back to the clerk.

“Box it up, please,” Lionel requested.

The woman clerk took out a square white cardboard box with
Harrods
printed in gold lettering. She wrapped the necklace in crisp white tissue paper and gently placed it into the box. Then she closed the box snugly, set it into a bag, and handed the bag to Lionel, who paid in British pounds. Rose was happy to own such a lovely piece and thanked Lionel with sincerity.

The two walked around a bit more and then left to continue their drive. Once in the car, Rose opened up the box with her necklace and Lionel helped her to fasten it around her neck. She shivered as the cool beads touched her neck in the hot summer air.

“Let’s swing by the house and get Julie,” Rose said to Lionel. “I want to show her my necklace. And as long as her weigh in was what she wanted, she should be off the vegetable diet.”

They drove down several residential streets until they reached the Douglass home. They parked on the street right in front of the house next door.

“Wait!” she cried in a whisper. “Duck down!”

Lionel gave her a curious look, but followed her orders without question. “What on earth are we doing?” he whispered as he was hunched over in the driver’s seat.

“There’s a man out there,” Rose whispered. “He’s wearing a dark coat, which is strange for such a warm day. And he has a fedora on. He’s standing by the iron gate, staring at the house.”

“Maybe he’s just a neighbor,” Lionel suggested.

“But why would he be stopped, staring at your house?” Rose pointed out. “And why the coat?”

“Okay, so you
do
have a point,” Lionel responded.

“Peek up and watch him,” Rose instructed.

“What if he sees me?” Lionel asked.

“If he’s here for trouble, he only wants me,” Rose whispered.

Lionel lifted his head just high enough to catch a glimpse of the man. He spoke down to Rose, who was still ducking down in her seat. Every time the man moved, Lionel informed Rose of exactly what he was doing.

“Okay, now he’s reaching up the scratch the tip of his nose,” Lionel said in a serious tone.

“Lionel!” Rose moaned. “I don’t need to know all that!”

“Well, now he’s adjusting his hat,” Lionel continued. “He’s got an umbrella hanging on his arm, and it’s swinging back and forth. This leads me to believe that he moved his right arm slightly.”

“
Lionel
!” Rose cried with exasperation. “Please! Is he doing anything
important
? Anything suspicious, maybe?”

“Not a single thing,” Lionel replied. “He’s just standing there, staring. Like he’s waiting.”

“Waiting for me, I’ll bet,” Rose said softly, trying to keep fear out of her voice.

“Oh, my!” Lionel said, his voice filled with excitement. “The front door is opening! And out comes… oh, it’s Mrs. Lang, our cook.”

“So what’s
he
doing now?” Rose asked.

“Well, he turned away as soon as the door opened,” Lionel told her.

“So he’s
not
just a neighbor,” Rose said to him in an I-told-you-so tone.

“Apparently not,” Lionel replied.

“He must be up to no good if he feels the need to hide from Mrs. Lang,” Rose suggested.

“Oh! Mrs. Lang walked up the street just now,” Lionel said with excitement. “And as soon as her back was turned, he started walking very quickly in the opposite direction!”

“Well, where’s he going?” Rose asked, frantic. “We can’t lose him!”

“Oh, up ahead a block down, I see a white car,” Lionel told Rose. “He’s beside it. Oh! He’s unlocking it. Now he’s getting in.”

“Well, let’s follow him!” Rose cried. “I’ll stay down and you just get behind him. I doubt that he would recognize you. He’s looking for
me
, remember?”

“Are you sure about this, Rose?” Lionel’s voice showed his hesitation.

“Please, Lionel?” Rose begged. “Please do this for me today.”

Lionel’s foot hit the accelerator and the tires screeched slightly as they took off. He slowed down as he approached the white car, which was now driving. Driving slower than normal, Lionel still kept a safe distance from the man, so as not to make him suspicious. He did not need to know that he was being followed.

Several sudden turns made Rose shift considerably in her seat. She hoped Lionel wouldn’t lose this man’s car.

Lionel cursed under his breath and slammed on the breaks. “I caught a stop light, but he made it through.”

Rose peeked her head up. “So we’ve lost him,” she said, her voice filled with disappointment.

“Apparently,” Lionel replied with sarcasm.

The light turned green and Lionel quickly moved the car forward. Rose sat back up in her seat and crossed her arms. They went around a corner and saw a line of cars up ahead. They were all stopped at a stoplight.

“There he is!” Lionel cried. “Whew. Now get back down, Rose.” Rose ducked back down in her seat quickly.

After several more minutes of driving, the car turned onto a secluded residential street. Huge trees lined both sides and cars were parked along the road. The man stopped in front of a tall, stately-looking blue house. It was not the home of an incredibly wealthy individual, but it was still large, well kept, and cared for.

Lionel slowly stopped by a house that was several homes away. Rose could tell he was watching the man. Her heart began racing.

“He’s going inside the house,” Lionel whispered. “We should call the police and tell them that we’ve potentially found the hideout spot.”

“No, I want to sneak around back and peek through the windows first,” Rose protested.

“
What
?” Lionel laughed. “Rose, have you lost your mind?”

“Yes, you heard me!” Rose said with a coy smile. “How dare that guy spy on me? I’m ticked off. I’m sick of being used and lied to and abused. I deserve much better than this. I’m just fed up with being jerked around and I’m sick of being afraid.”

“Wow, I’m impressed!” Lionel responded, grinning. “I like this bold new you.”

“You should be,” she replied. “This is the new Rose. This is it. I’m not going to run away ever again.”

“So you’ve been keeping all this feelings inside?” Lionel asked.

“Yes, I have,” Rose realized. “And I’m ready to let them go. So you can stay behind if you want, but I’m going to look in those windows. I might even go inside.” She opened the door to exit the car.

“Wait,” Lionel called after her, putting his hand on her arm. “I’m not gonna let you go alone. I’m coming with you.”

“You sure?”

“You aren’t going to do this by yourself.”

“Thanks, Lionel.” Rose smiled.

“Hey, it’s starting to get dark out now,” Lionel said, looking out the car window and up toward the twilight sky.

“So we should wait, right?” Rose said.

“
Now
you are thinking like a true detective!” Lionel responded to her question.

Together they leaned back in their seats and stared up at the darkening sky. Stars crept up and appeared beyond the nighttime clouds. It seemed peaceful on this quiet street. Rose savored the peace, not knowing what the rest of their evening would entail.

Time seemed to pass quickly as they waited in the quiet stillness of the evening, whispering in conversation here and there. Rose felt safe just to be near Lionel, and she was overcome with a boost of courage to know that he would be with her as she went up to the strange house. As she sat there, staring at the sky, she began to wonder.

Is Mother really a jewel thief? Will I find her with a room full of jewels? What exactly does a real jewel thief do with the stuff they steal, anyway?
Rose wondered. The more that she thought about it, the more than it seemed like some sort of a sort of fantasy.
Jewel thieves? Really?
The more that Rose thought about the whole situation, the more strange it all seemed. It seemed too fantastical to even be true.
Maybe this is stupid. This could be dangerous. They probably have knives and guns. Maybe we shouldn’t go. Maybe we should just leave it to the police.

“Well, I’d say it’s dark enough,” Lionel commented, glancing over at her, interrupting her thoughts. Rose could see his face in the pale lamplight.

“I guess so,” she said with hesitation. Her heart was pounding and her face was flushed.

Do I really want to do this?
Rose thought frantically.
What if these people tried to kill me? Should I risk my life?

“Come on,” said Lionel. “If you are sure.”

“Do you think we are stupid for doing this?” Rose asked him before exiting the car.

“Probably,” Lionel replied. “I guess we are going to do something completely stupid and careless.”

“But maybe we will always regret it if we don’t,” Rose reasoned.

“Famous last words,” Lionel replied with a grin.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lionel and Rose
crept toward the tall blue house in the shadows, avoiding the beams of light from the street lamps. They whispered back and forth as they dashed toward the house. When they reached it, they ducked down behind the black iron fence and hedges, which were in front of the house. They could tell that many lights were on, but thick curtains were drawn over all the windows.

“Why don’t we go to the back of the house?” Rose suggested in a whisper.

Lionel nodded. They walked through the next door neighbor’s side yard to reach the back, because the iron fence went entirely around the blue house. They found a short stone wall by an herb garden in the dim moonlight. Rose could smell the fragrant parsley, thyme, peppermint, and rosemary as they walked beside the small, square garden. She and Lionel both hopped on the wall and gripped the spikes on top of the iron fence.

“Should we hop over it?” Rose asked with hesitation.

“I don’t see why not,” Lionel responded.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Rose questioned.

“Look, Rose,” Lionel whispered to her. “If we are going to do this, let’s do this.”

“You’re right,” Rose muttered. “I just don’t want to get impaled by a fence.”

“We’ll be careful, Rose,” Lionel reassured her. “Haven’t you ever hopped over a fence before?”

“Not that I can recall,” Rose confessed. “I lived a very sheltered life.”

Suddenly they heard the loud, monstrous bark of a dog. Rose’s heart dropped, expecting to see the dog charging at them from the blue house. Lionel grabbed her hand. But after several seconds, Rose realized with relief that the dog was in the yard of the neighbors behind the blue house.

Rose and Lionel waited for a few minutes for the barking to cease. Pressing their bodies up against the iron fence and staying in the shadows, they waited with their chests heaving from the frightening sound of the dog. The barking became less and less frequent and finally after about five minutes, it stopped completely.

Walking by the other side of the garden, Rose found a narrow gate. It seemed to be almost rusted shut, but Rose and Lionel were able to push on it so that it opened a little. The opening was just large enough for them to slide through.

Bravely, Rose and Lionel crawled toward the house. The reached a door that seemed to go into the cellar. It was an old wooden door, and it seemed to be rotted out at the bottom. They pulled on it and it slowly opened. Thankfully, instead of creaking, the rough bottom scraped against the small cement slab underneath.

Inside, they entered the dark and musty cellar. There was a lone window, which let in a faint bit on moonlight. Lionel pulled out a match from his pocket.

Behind them, they heard movement. Then an object fall to the floor with a small crash. Rose and Lionel froze and did not move for several seconds.

Then they heard a
meow
sound and realized that there was a cat in the cellar. Once again, they sighed a breath of relief. The cat seemed to be minding her own business.

“Are you sure we should do this?” Rose asked with caution. “I don’t know if I have the same courage I had earlier,” she confessed.

“You can do it,” Lionel said. “If you want to, that is. If you want to turn back now, we’ll turn back. Logically, turning back is the safe thing to do. But if you are in, I’m in. This is our adventure. If we stay, you need to do this for you.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Rose admitted, though part of her wished to turn back, go home, and get into her soft, safe bed.

Lionel lit a match. They saw up ahead a narrow, wooden stairway. They followed it up, careful to make as few creaking noises as possible.

When they reached a door, they peeked through the large keyhole. The room was dimly lit, but they could see that it was a kitchen. It was empty, so they slowly opened the door and entered. Thankfully, the door into the kitchen did not creak at all.

The kitchen had a black and white checkered floor and white and grey marble countertops. They silently investigated the room and soon found a back stairway behind a door. It was a spiral staircase. It was probably built a century ago for the servants, Lionel explained in a soft whisper. They entered into the stairwell and shut the door behind them. There was a window somewhere near the top, which was letting in a faint light. Together, they climbed the staircase.

Inside the closed area of this stairway, Rose felt a little safer and less nervous than she had been out in the more open kitchen area. After climbing up four flights of stairs, they reached another door. They peeked through the keyhole and saw a long, narrow hallway. It was lit with a few wall sconces.

They opened the door, and again, to their relief, it made no sounds. They crept down the hallway, which was lined with simple doors on both sides. Rose’s heart began to pound as she imagined one of those doors opening at any moment and a person stepping out, discovering them.

Curious, Lionel peeked into one of the rooms. Inside the room was a simple white iron bed, a cherry dresser, a wardrobe, and a rag rug. He peeked into two more and they were almost identical.

“It looks like these are the old servant’s quarters,” Lionel whispered to her. “Let’s move on.”

At the end of the hallway was a door. Again, they peeked through the keyhole. This time they saw a larger, and more elegant looking staircase going down. The staircase had walls on either side, so Lionel suggested that they venture downstairs.

They quietly plodded across the carpet on the new staircase. Then they reached a landing with another hallway. Sensing that this was a more frequently used floor, they ducked into a room that was behind a closed door.

Inside the room was a fireplace, an elegant looking leather sofa, a wooden side table, and a small desk and chair. A few paintings of pastoral scenes in gilded frames hung on the wall. A thick green carpet was on the floor. The only light came from a single desk lamp, which had been left on.

What was curious about the room, however, was that all over the sofa, the side table, and on the desk, as well as on the floor, were various sizes of black boxes. They were stacked in a neat way.

“Oh,” Rose cried, in a voice too loud. “Wow, oh my. You aren’t going to believe this. I remember these boxes.”

“What?” Lionel asked curiously.

“When I was a little girl, after those men would visit Mother, there would be boxes like these in our house,” Rose whispered. “She usually kept them in her study. Once I asked her if they were presents. She snapped at me and told me that no, they were not presents. Then she told me that these boxes were for grown ups only, and that if I ever touched one I would be very, very sorry.”

“So what do you think is in them?” Lionel asked.

“No clue,” Rose replied.

“Are you ready to finally found out?” He whispered to her, a mischievous grin filling his face.

Rose nodded, eager to discover the contents of the boxes. She bent down and picked up a box on top of a large stack that was on the floor. The box was not heavy as she held it in her hand. She plopped down on the edge of the sofa and set the box on her lap. As her heart began pounding, Rose slowly pulled off the lid.

Rose gasped when she discovered what was inside. A gold necklace with large round diamonds all around it was resting inside the box. The jewels caught the light of even the small desk lamp and they shimmered.

Lionel opened another box, and this time he found an emerald bracelet. They opened several more boxes, each time finding a new piece of jewelry. Rose began to have fun, opening each box and finding what new surprise jewels were inside.

“I’m not jewelry expert,” Lionel whispered. “But my mom and grandmother have some nice pieces of jewelry, which are family heirlooms. And from what I know, these are some very,
very
expensive pieces of jewelry.”

“What do you think we should do?” Rose asked in a soft tone. “I think we should probably go to the police right away. That’s probably better than me facing my fears here. I think maybe we should go now. This place is kind of giving me the creeps. What if they find us here?”

“I think you’re right,” Lionel replied in a whisper. “Should we go back the way we came?”

Rose nodded. Her heart was beginning to pound again. What if someone heard them? What if these people were truly dangerous? Rose tried to force herself not to think about these things.

Lionel peeked out the keyhole of the door and, seeing nothing, stepped outside. Rose walked behind him, clinging to his arm. She was suddenly overcome with fear and clung to Lionel’s arm more tightly. This tall, dark house seemed to ominous, with its dim, empty halls and rooms.

They walked back up the stairs with small, quiet footsteps. Rose began shaking. In her chest, she could feel her heart racing. It pounded in her head and she began to get dizzy. Noticing that she was upset, Lionel opened one of the doors to the servant’s bedroom and led her to sit down on a lone chair.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her in a whisper.

“I don’t know,” replied Rose. She began shaking her head. “I just feel like we are in danger.”

“You’re just worrying,” Lionel reassured her. “We’ll be fine.”

Rose nodded, but she was still scared. Lionel put his arm around her and gave her shoulders a squeeze. Rose looked up at him in the moonlight from the window and forced a smile.

“Here,” Lionel finally said. “I’ve got an idea. I’ll go back down the back staircase and check in the kitchen to make sure the coast is clear. Then if it is, I’ll come back and get you and we’ll leave. How does that sound?”

“That’s a good idea,” Rose admitted.

“Good,” said Lionel, reaching for the doorknob to leave. “Now wait here. I’ll be right back.”