THE DISAPPEARING SISTER
Chapter 1: The Truth Be Told
After the accident in the factory, Annie knew she had to get Jordan away from there, away from a home that had been barely that for either of them. Annie was now sixteen, and knew that her life with the Morrisons had come to an end. They had already told her that she needed to find a job elsewhere so that they could make room in the large Long Island house for other children who worked in the factory, and Annie had talked them into letting her stay long enough for her to find a proper job.
In the room she shared with Jordan, Annie watched the little girl sleep, and wondered how she managed to survive, really how any of them survived. They were more or less slaves, and from a very early age taught how to take care of themselves, and how to work. Before Jordan, Annie had only cared about herself, but she guessed she took care of the dark headed, blue eyed little girl, because she had been the one to take her that night almost nine years ago, from a hospital in London England.
That was how all the kids came to live with the Morrisons, by steeling them from hospitals in different countries, where parents were less likely to find them, here in the United States. They had been in London and there had been a boy baby with Jordan, her brother, Annie guessed, but Mistress Belle said to take the girl baby, so while she distracted the nurses, Annie had easily stolen Jordan from her bassinet, and after that had taken to her, and kept the name that was on the bracelet the hospital had put on her.
Jordan thrashed about in her sleep, and Annie got up from her bed, and walked two steps to her, reaching out to rub her back. That touch calmed her, and Jordan remained asleep. “I’ve got to get us out of this place,” Annie muttered softly as she went back to her bed. She was tall, and skinny, like most of the children forced to work in Mr. Morrisons factory. Annie had brown eyes, and strawberry blond hair that hung down to the middle of her back, the same length as Jordan’s. The room they shared was one without a window. It had two lumpy mattresses, and two dirty blankets. Annie often wondered what it was like to sleep in a nice bed, like the ones on the second and third levels of the Morrison home, but she guessed she would never know.
Tomorrow would be the day they left. Annie was taking Jordan, and the money she had easily stolen from the safe, which the Morrisons didn’t know she had found, and was going to London, to try and find Jordan’s family, hoping that they would want her. Jordan had stopped speaking a year ago, after watching a boy she worked with behind the huge machines get shocked to death. Her job in the factories, since she had been three years old, was to set rat traps, and to patch bare wires behind the assembly machines. Annie had known something was happening to her from an early age, because she stopped smiling, then talking and most mornings she fought, trying not to have to go there. Lately she had refused to do her job, and had been locked in the Cellar several times.
Annie knew that Mr. Morrison was getting fed up with her, and when he got mad, he did things that were not nice, did things to make troublesome kids disappear. That was why Annie felt it time to get her away, for fear that Mr. Morrison would kill her, because she wouldn’t do her job. Knowing that a new day was quickly approaching, Annie scooted under the filthy quilt and went to sleep, hoping, and praying she could pull off this escape.
~*~
Morning arrived when Mistress Belle opened their door. “Get her dressed, today you are going to get her to do her job,” she said coldly. Mistress Belle was gentle and sweet only to the babies. Once they got older she didn’t love them anymore.
Annie arose from her bed, and picked out the cleanest dress she could find for herself, then after she was dressed walked over to Jordan. She sat on her mattress and shook her “Jordan time to go.” Instantly Jordan sat up, and when Annie handed her the dress and her pantaloons, she put them on without hesitation. Annie was the only person she trusted, and for her she did pretty much anything asked. Once she was ready, and once Annie had pulled her hair back, tying it with a dirty piece of string, they headed for the kitchen to have breakfast with the rest of the children they lived with.
Breakfast lasted ten minutes, then all of them piled into the old red Ford truck, and were driven into the Big City. On the drive, Jordan sat on Annie’s lap, holding tight to her hand, always uneasy about riding in the truck. Their trip took thirty minutes, and when they arrived, they all piled off the truck, ready to go in the factory to do their individual jobs.
Annie kept a tight hold on Jordan’s hand, and just before the big gates closed at the factory, she pulled her through, and they ran. Both of the girls heard the shouts of angry men, and Annie quickly realized that Jordan was slowing them down. Quickly she knelt down, and told Jordan to get on her back. Once she had, Annie ran as fast as she could, ducking into the first alley she could find, hiding them behind a dumpster.
“Look in that alley and find them before Morrison has our heads,” One man called out. Jordan clung to Annie starting to cry, and Annie put her hand over her mouth. “Shut up, and be still, if they hear you, they will find us, and kill both of us,” she whispered in her ear. Jordan held on to Annie and took a deep breath, then relaxed when the voices of the men passed them by.
~*~
Night arrived, and the girls had eaten some food out of the dumpster to tide them over. Annie knew how to use a taxi, and had it take them to the docks, and once there she found a shipping schedule. Her job the past few years was to help with incoming shipments of supplies for Morrison Furniture Assembly, therefore she knew how to find out where ships were going. It was a busy place, and Jordan stayed glued to her leg as they hid behind some large shipping boxes. When Annie found the ship they needed, scheduled to depart for London in an hour, she picked Jordan up, and with some very careful maneuvering, got them aboard the ship they needed to be on.
The crewmen were on land, so Annie quickly found the mess hall, and got dried beef and a bag of potatoes, some bread, and some water, as well as a lantern and some matches, then went down into the large cargo hold. She was happy to find it already loaded, and found them a safe place to stay, in the back of the large space, behind several crates which were tied down. Annie set Jordan and their food down, and found some old burlap sacks, and within minutes made them a home.
“Now eat some of this, then we need to get to sleep,” Annie said. “When we get to where we are going you have to start talking again Jordan. I know where we were was a bad place, but if you want your family to love you, then you have to act normal, and acting normal means that you talk.”
Jordan ate all that Annie gave her without a word spoken, and once she had eaten, she lay next to her friend and went to sleep.
~*~
A great deal had changed since returning home from Ahm-Shere. Evelyn had declined taking the job of Curator at the British Museum, and though she still kept her old job as head of the Egyptian section, she did more, and more work from home. They had all come to realize how close they had come to losing one another, and each of them was doing their best to cope in their own way.
Alex had just started to sleep in his own bed at night, the nightmarish faces from Egypt finally settling in his mind. He was a smart boy, and brave, but there was only so much he could take, and all he had seen, had left a lasting impression on him.
Summer had arrived, and that left the family time to do things together. One day after taking a ride in the woods, on Seti, Alex walked inside the large Manor home, into the parlor, and found his parents sitting on the sofa against the far wall. His mum was resting her cheek on his dad’s chest, and Alex could tell she had been crying. Both of them were asleep, so he quietly went to his room and plopped down on his bed.
This wasn’t the first time he had found them that way, his mum crying, or asleep after she had been crying. Always when he had asked about that, they had told him that it wasn’t anything to worry about, and always before Alex had left it at that. Now, however, he was certain that something wasn’t right. His mind quickly made up, Alex decided to go ask the one person he could bribe into telling him.
~*~
After getting back from Ahm-Shere, Jonathan had sold his diamond for an ungodly amount of money, and had purchased an old run down hotel, which he was now renovating into what would be the best resort in all of London. As much as he had loved sponging off of Rick, and Evie, he wanted a place to call his own, so that when he wanted to have lady friends to his room, he wouldn’t get threatened by Rick for doing so.
Now in his room he lay in his bed, hungover, hearing the pounding in his head get louder, and louder, then realized that someone was pounding on his door. “All right All right keep your bloody wits about you,” he yelled, then regretted it as his head hurt worse. When he opened the door, he was surprised to find Alex standing there. “Your mum and dad aren’t with you are they?” he asked, not wanting to be lectured by Evelyn for being a slob.
Alex pushed past him. “Just me. Uncle John, I know, you know why mum cries sometimes for no reason, and I know its not something that is nothing to worry myself over. I am worried, because she was crying, and dad, and she were asleep on the couch.” Alex turned to face him. “She has always done that, cried for no reason at all, and then told me that she was all right, and I think I should know why she does that,” he said as he sat down on his uncle’s bed.
Jonathan sobered fairly quickly. He knew why Evelyn cried, and knew why they hadn’t told Alex, but he also knew they couldn’t hide what had happened all those years before, forever. “Partner first of all do they know where you are?” he asked. Alex shook his head. “Then you, and I need to get you home before your dad warms your bottom,” Jonathan said, delaying the inevitable. If anyone were to tell him, it was going to be his parents, and after getting dressed, Jonathan, and Alex went out of his building, to his car, and left for the Manor.
~*~
When they arrived, Jonathan sent Alex to his tree house, telling him that he needed to talk to them on his own, and now stood before them. “Look, I’m just his uncle, and I know it hurts you to talk about her, but he is afraid for you, and after all that has happened to him don’t you think he deserves to know about Jordan?” Jonathan asked, directing his words at his sister.
Evelyn, and Rick sat together, neither realizing how upset Alex was until Jonathan told them. “Is he in his room?” Rick asked.
“Tree house, I’ll fetch him, but you two need to talk to him, and tell him why Evie cries,” Jonathan said as he left the room.
When he was gone, Evelyn took a shuttering deep breath. “Were we wrong not to tell him?” she asked uncertain of the decision they had made so long ago. They had decided to wait until he was old enough to comprehend things, without it scarring the living daylights out of him, but now it looked as though the waiting was over.
Alex walked into the parlor by himself, and his parents made room for him to sit between them. “Mum are you sick?” he asked, as he took a seat on the couch. Since their return from Ahm-Shere, he had been terrified that she was sick, and that he would lose her again.
Evelyn wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him, kissing the top of his head before she made her reply. “No baby, I’m not sick. I’m sorry if my crying scared you, and this may be difficult for you to understand, but your father and I love you very much,” she said not really knowing where to start. She felt Rick’s arm go around both she, and Alex, and his touch gave her strength. “Alex, you have a sister, to be precise a twin sister named Jordan,” Evie said.
For a moment Alex thought they were kidding, and he looked from his mum to his dad, noticing the serious expressions on their face. This was real. “Where is she?” he asked, wondering if something had happened to her, wondering why his mum had said that he had a sister in the present tense.
Rick spoke next. “When the two of you were born, even before that your mum and I didn’t know we would be having two children. She wanted to have you here, but there were complications, and Dr. Brigman had me take her to the hospital, and that is when we found out that your mum was having two babies,” Rick said. As he told Alex the story of his birth, a story his son had heard before, but not the entire story, both Rick and Evelyn were transported back to that time.
~~**~**~**~**~~
Rick and Evelyn had gotten used to the idea of having a baby, and the last few months they had discussed names for their baby, and had decorated the room just down from theirs for their bundle of joy. Now there were two of them. Alexander Jonathan, and Jordan Christine. In the small comfortable hospital room, as comfortable as it could get, Rick sat next to Evelyn’s bed holding Jordan while she nursed Alexander who up until a moment ago had been quite loud, letting them know that he wanted to be fed. They had been born almost six hours ago, and night was closing in on them.
Evelyn looked down at her son holding his tiny hand as he drank her milk. “I don’t want them to go,” she said as she looked over at Rick.
He knew how she felt, but the hospital had a rule that the babies had to sleep in the nursery at night, so that they could be looked after, and examined to make sure they were healthy. “I know, but just think of it this way. When you wake up in the morning, and as soon as they let me in, we will get them ready, and take them home, then they won’t ever be away from us again,” he said. Rick felt Jordan shifting against his shoulder, and stood up. “I think she’s ready for dinner,” he said as she began to whimper.
Alex was still nursing, and Evie, being a new mother, wasn’t sure how to handle things, so when Jordan began to cry loud cries, they were both glad when Wendy came to help them. Out of all the nurses who had been with them since their arrival, Wendy was the most helpful. “Here now, lets show your mum and dad how to nurse two babies,” She said. First she helped Evelyn sit up more then moved Alex so that his feet were pointed out, away from Evelyn’s other breast, and then she took Jordan and put her on the free breast and all was well.
“I’ll be back in an hour to take them to the nursery,” she said, then left.
Evelyn leaned her head back against the pillows exhausted and happy. This was how life was meant to be, and though it was still overwhelming to be taking care of two tiny babies at once, she was prepared for that, and was looking forward to watching her children grow up.
Beside her Rick sat placing his hand out, letting Alex hold on to one of his fingers with his entire tiny hand. He had wanted a son, and was pleased to have both a son and a daughter. He and Alex would likely do things to drive Evelyn mad, and Jordan he was sure would get her way with him since she already looked so much like Evelyn. Their life was complete now and he was looking forward to the rest of it.
~~**~**~**~**~~
Right now Alex didn’t know how to feel. His parents had kept this part of the story of how he was born from him, and he felt as though he had been lied to. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about her?” he finally asked, hurt evident in his voice.
It was Evelyn’s turn to talk. “We didn’t want to scare you, and we didn’t want to give you hope of finding her. Your father and I have detectives looking for her, and the trips your father has taken with his business, he has also looked for her the places he has gone, in orphanages, and in hospitals. Our most important job as your parents is to protect you, and if we hurt you then we apologize,” Evelyn said.
“So what happened after they took us to the nursery?” he asked wanting to know the rest of this story, this nightmare.
~~**~**~**~**~~
No one could have prepared the O’Connells for the events which followed, and the next morning when Rick arrived at the hospital he found several of the Constable’s men in the lobby of the hospital. Still in the haze of being a new parent to two of the most beautiful babies he had ever seen, he started down the hall leading to the Maternity Ward, when two officers stopped him.
“Just a minute sir you can’t go back there,” one of the men said.
“My wife and my children are back there,” Rick said suddenly realizing that something was wrong. When they asked to see his ID, he gave that to them, and was more puzzled when they led him back up the hall to the front office where the Constable himself was waiting.
Constable Mathers was someone Rick knew well, they were friends due to their wives being childhood friends. “George what the hell is going on?” Rick asked.
George Mathers had been dreading this since he had been called in. “Rick take a seat,” he said. When his friend did he told him the facts. “Last night late, a woman came into the Maternity Ward yelling that her baby had been killed. She was extremely upset, and it took several of the nurses on duty to calm her down to talk to her. At the time we didn’t know it but she was a distraction,” George said as Rick began to pace.
“So what does this have to do with Evelyn and my...Oh god no,” he said as he stopped and suddenly realized what George was saying.
“Jordan was taken last night,” he said. Rick sat down hard. “Does Evelyn know?” he asked as he tried hard to keep composed. “And is Alex safe?” he asked as he stood up.
“No Evie has no idea, and Alex has been under the watch of my men since finding out that Jordan was taken,” he said. Rick left to go check on his family, and to try and find a way to tell Evelyn that their baby girl had been taken from them.
~*~
It was aggravating to Evelyn, that the nurses wouldn’t bring her babies to her, but they had said that she had to wait until after breakfast, and after Dr. Brigman arrived to make one last check on them. She had finished her breakfast of bland tasting scrambled eggs and toast, and was about to get out of bed and go see what was taking them so long to bring her babies, when Rick walked in.
“Good, I was about to get up and go take Alex and Jordan from...Rick?” she asked as she noticed tears in his eyes, then she suddenly began to panic. “Where are my babies?” she said as she stood up. Standing hurt her but she wanted her children with her now.
Rick went to her and gathered her in his arms and his next words felt like a thousand nails stabbing into her heart. “No, she isn’t gone,” Evelyn said as she pulled away from him. She ran for the door and out of the room.
Rick quickly went after her, and got to her as she fell to her knees sobbing. He knelt down, and took her into his arms and carried her back into their room.
“No Rick no,” she sobbed as he held her. “We are going to get her back baby. George and his men have been here since she was taken, and they are already looking for her,” he said praying to god they found her.
Before either of them could say another word, the approach of a crying baby got their attention, then Wendy, who had just come in for her shift brought Alex to them. Evelyn wiped the tears from her eyes, and took her son from Wendy. Not knowing what to say to either of them she left feeling sad for all of them.
Alex cried until he had a breast then he calmed down, clinging to Evelyn’s finger as she offered it to him. “Why is this happening to us Rick? Haven’t we been through enough?” she asked as she looked up at him.
He watched her with Alex, then came to the bed and sat down next to her. “I don’t know why sweetheart, and I won’t stop looking for her until she is home safe with us where she belongs,” he said.
~~**~**~**~**~~
He could tell how sad this made his parents and it was just as upsetting to him, but something ate at him. “You said you wouldn’t stop looking until you found her,” Alex said as he looked at his father.
“I was gone for the first three months of your life. I went back to Egypt, to Cairo and looked for her in the orphanage there, and in the cities surrounding there. Then I went to Bangkok and to India, but I never found her.” he said, not sure how to tell him this next part. He felt Evie take his hand and looked at her as she took over.
“Your father had to stop looking because of me. Alex I loved you so much, and I love you still, but I didn’t know how to deal with my life then. I had never been a mother, and I didn’t have Jordan, or your father, and that made me very sad, so sad that I stopped taking care of you the way I should. I stopped talking to your uncle, and I wouldn’t eat, because I felt like I had failed as a mother. I hadn’t protected Jordan, and because of me she was gone,” Evelyn said.
~~**~**~**~**~~
Jonathan had done all he could do for his sister. He had yelled at her telling her she was being stupid and selfish, because she still had Alex, and due to that she locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come take care of her baby. Jonathan had left messages at Rick’s hotel in India and was now taking care of his nephew. Dr. Brigman had told him what he needed to start bottle feeding him, and the first few times Alex had not wanted what was in the glass containers with the rubber nipples. Now two days later he had seemed to accept drinking the milk from those bottles.
Jonathan had just put him down in the cradle he had moved into the parlor, and after putting the half empty bottled down he went to the kitchen to fix himself some coffee, and wait for Dr. Brigman to get finished with his sister.
After getting what he needed he went back into the parlor and sat down on the sofa next to his nephew, and drank the strong black brew, then set it down on the coffee table. He looked up as Dr. Brigman walked down the stairs.
“She needs to eat Jonathan. I told her that if she doesn’t start taking care of herself then we will have to put her in the hospital where they will force her to take care of herself. Have you heard anything from Rick?” he asked.
“Not a damn thing. I’ll try to talk to her,” he said. He got up and as he was walking the Doctor out of the house, his brother-in-law ran in. “Oh thank god. She’s in your room. Don’t worry about Alex, I’ve been taking care of him,” Jonathan said as Rick ran past him.
~*~
In the bed where she and Rick had held one another, making love into late hours of the night, Evelyn now lay thinking about how much she had failed her family. Her daughter was gone, and her husband was doing all he could to find her, while she stayed here doing nothing. She had no desire to go to the hospital, but she didn’t have the desire to eat anything or to take care of herself either. All she wanted to do was just to sleep and put this nightmare away, to wake up and find her babies, both of them, home safe where they belonged. Thinking of Jordan brought on a fresh set of tears, and she softly wept into her pillow.
When Rick walked into the room and saw his wife his anger at her for pulling him away from the search for their daughter evaporated. He crossed to room, going to their bed and sat down reaching out to gather in his arms. “Shh, I’m home now,” he said as he pulled her to sit on his lap.
“I should have been stronger,” she said as she sobbed against his blue button down shirt.
“No honey, you did all you could and as much as I want to keep looking for her, I need to be here with you and Alex for now. I’ve been thinking,” he said as she began to calm down. “I think the best thing to do is to hire detectives to try and help find her. When Alex gets older, we can look on our own,” he said.
Evelyn lifted her head from his shirt and looked at him. “Why would they take her?” she asked.
“I don’t know honey, but if we find the ones who did it, then they better pray I don’t have my guns with me,” he said. Someone knocked on their door, and Jonathan stuck his head in.
“He’s hungry,” Jonathan said of three month old Alex.
Evelyn got up from her husband’s lap, and walked to the door. First she hugged her brother, and thanked him for taking care of her baby, then she took her son, and settled down in the rocking chair and let him nurse, and from that day on she promised never to let her baby go without knowing how much she loved him.
~~**~**~**~**~
It was sunset when they finally finished telling him about his sister, and Alex sat between them not angry at them anymore. “How long are you and mum going to keep looking for her?” Alex finally asked as he looked at both of his parents.
Evelyn lifted him to sit on her lap and wrapped her arms around him. “For as long as it takes baby,” she said.
They had dinner together, and the meal was eaten in silence, then Rick and Evelyn waited for Alex to get his bath, and when he was ready they both tucked him into his bed. “Mum dad?” he asked.
Both of them knelt down, and Evelyn leaned in and kissed his cheek. “What is it angel?” she asked as she stroked her fingers through his sandy blond hair.
“Is it all right if you keep your door open, and mine in case I get scared?” he asked, already feeling afraid. He was drained from the days events, from feeling angry and sad about his sister, and his eyes slid shut as his father told him they would do that.
After he slept, both Rick and Evelyn stood watching him, both thankful they hadn’t lost him in Egypt, both hopeful that one day soon they would have Jordan home safe, and have their family back together as a whole.
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