The first thing Rose saw, when her eyes fluttered open, was the small white vase on her bed table. Someone had put fresh flowers in it, she thought and stared at the riot of colorful wildflowers as her mind slowly came awake, reminding her of the ordeal she'd endured. Home … I don't know how, but I'm home. She sat up slowly with a groan, her body protesting the movement. Vague images of what happened flashed past, and she tried to make sense of the jumbled memories.
After her hands had been freed from the ropes, someone had come in and cleaned her wounds, her face. The cool cloth had felt like ice against her hot skin, and she struggled to get away from it. “Poor girl's delirious,” someone had said, “if we'd gotten to her much later ...” She felt herself lifted up in a pair of arms.“We didn't though.” Was that her father's voice? She couldn't tell, everything was spinning … blackness took over …
“No, everyone can stay out here right now. Even you ...” a voice said from the next room. Mother. Always in charge when it came to people. “But ma'am, we need to ask her some questions, get her testimony. What these fellows have told us ...” “You'll get a chance to question her to your heart's content, I'm sure. But for now, my daughter needs her rest.” Male voices grumbled, denied access to Rose. Later, Rose thought, and went back to sleep.
Now, she thought as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, I imagine later has arrived. She'd barely stood up, grasping the bedpost to steady herself, when the door opened and her father looked in. She stared at him for a moment, her eyes widening at his face, the lines deeper and more haggard than she recalled, before finding herself enveloped in his arms. “Father, you're squeezing too hard!” she gasped out, even as she wrapped her arms around him.
Tallandan relented and loosened his hold, though didn't let go of his daughter. “When we came home and didn't find you …” his voice cracked. “So much has happened in the last week since you went missing.”
“A … week? I couldn't tell how long, but ...” Rose shook her head against her father's chest and looked up at him. “What happened? How did you find me? I thought for certain I would ...”
“No!” Tallandan said harshly, placing his hand over Rose's mouth. “Don't say that. You didn't and we did find you. And that's all that matters.” His gaze was hard and cold, and Rose shuddered. “Come, your mother made you some supper, before heading to market. I'll tell you more while you eat.”
Rose opened her mouth to protest but, at the mention of food, her stomach cramped painfully. “Alright,” she said, and followed her father into the living area.
As she ate, her father told her how they'd returned from Talleine's dinner to find no sign of either her or the cash box. At first, her father had said, he thought she'd simply gone off to think and had headed to her usual hiding spot. When he didn't find her there, he returned home and retraced her usual routes from the market.
It was passing Talleine's house that he had seen the burglar sneaking out a window, and he'd given chase, but the man had been quick for his size and managed to slip away. But Tallandan had been certain he knew who it was.
“I was wrong.” he said simply, lowering his eyes to his lap.
“Gillis was arrested, spent the day in jail, arguing his innocence,” Tallandan continued, his face turning ruddy as he saw his daughter's jaw drop at the news. “Yes, I did think it was him, I'm ashamed of it now. We fought,” Tallandan reached up and rubbed his jaw, absently, “Throws a hell of a punch, I have to say. I finally demanded to know where he'd taken you. Never seen a man go pale so fast in my life when I said those words. I realized … he had no idea where you were, that you were even missing. That I was wrong about him.”
Rose listened quietly as she ate, her eyes widening at her father's confession for he rarely admitted when he was wrong. “But, you found me. How? You couldn't have had any idea who it was … I didn't even know until ...”
“No, we didn't have any idea. And I'm still not bound to believe the tales of the men sitting in jail right now. That little Maliennde would do such a thing, be behind the burglaries ...”
“She was there. I heard her,” Rose replied quietly.
Tallandan placed his hand over Rose's, enveloping it as he continued. “The watch'll need to know that then. I'm sorry for Talleine, I am, that her daughter was mixed in such going ons, but not so much for the girl. Her and her friends almost killed you.”
“I think … they argued about it. Whether to kill me or not. I think they would have.” Rose's voice was flat. “But still, how did you find me? I don't … I don't even know where I was.”
“Once we released Gillis, everyone started looking for signs of you, or the burglar. His uncle, Cale, turns out was an old tracker. He found where you'd been taken, but said the trail grew cold in the woods. All we could do was keep our eyes open. And wait.” Tallandan's hand tightened against Rose's, causing her to flinch, but she held silent.
“And waiting paid off, for the burglar didn't wait long to try again. Bold as brass too, right at the market. One of the children saw him calmly pick up a bag of coins set aside for delivery, and ran for a watchman. Bright kid, she didn't let on that she'd seen him at all. But from her we got a description. Finally we knew who to look for, it was just a matter of waiting him out and following him.”
Rose furrowed her brow, something tickling at the back of her mind. Unable to place her finger on it, she simply nodded and set her bowl of stew aside.
Tallandan patted Rose's hand, before sitting back once more. He grabbed his pipe from the near table and began to prepare it. “The watchmen, to their credit, also didn't let on that they had a description, only kept an eye out for the man. And Gillis and I took turns walking the neighborhoods, looking in every empty and abandoned house we could find, hoping … The more days past though, the sicker I felt.”
Rose watched as her father raked his hand over his face and through his hair, before reaching forward to pat his arm. “Father … it's okay. I'm okay now. And the men, they were caught.”
Tallandan stared at his daughter's hand and nodded. “They are …” he said finally, harshly. “Led us right to you, the fool. Gillis took one look at you, and went back outside … took three watchmen to pull him off. It's too bad I didn't get to him first.”
Having never seen her father so angry before, Rose simply nodded, at a loss for what else to say.
Setting his half filled pipe aside, Tallandan pulled at his daughter's hand until she was sitting in his lap, much as she would when she was a small child. “Doesn't matter now,” he said, stroking her hair as he hugged her. “You're alive, that's what matters. Now, I know the watchmen want to talk to you as soon as possible, but if you need to get more rest ...”
“No father,” Rose shook her head, her mouth set in a determined line as she stood. “Let me go freshen up and we can go. I'd rather be done with it.”
Tallandan stood and grabbed his pipe and pipeweed pouch. “I'll wait for you outside then,” he said and watched his daughter head to her room before turning towards the door.
