Chapter 40: ONE PLAN AFTER ANOTHER - 1

Gilbert did not waste his time any longer when he heard that a girl was indeed living in the forest. He gathered all his men to ride into the forest and he, himself, went along them. It was not his first time to directly involve in a mission to catch a person. He had done it before. However this time, it was more personal than the previous case. It was about his son. He believed his death was because of the girl in the forest, whom he thought was looked after by the woman he thought he had killed years ago.

"Gilbert!"

The man turned around to greet his own wife who came running towards him with a handkerchief on her hands. The woman had not stopped crying — mourning over her son.

"Gilbert, you need to be careful!" She exclaimed. Her voice was shaky and full of concern. "Promise me, my dear, that you'd come back."

"I won't die, Sybil." He sighed in annoyance but then he stepped forward to give a brief hug to his wife. "I'll see you later."

"Wait!" Sybil hold his arm, stopping him from going. She slid her free hand into her dress pocket and pulled out a black shiny stone. She handed it to her husband who was now frowning, looking at her quizzically.

"What is it for?" He asked.

"It's a magic stone I acquired from the market few days ago." She replied, receiving a scoff from her husband. "Trust me, it might help. When you and your men feel like you're lost in the forest, throw this stone up into the sky and everything will be revealed."

"Who told you this nonsense?"

"The seller of this stone. I trust him. He is trustworthy."

Gilbert shook his head and then shrugged. Even though he was not sure about the stone, he put the stone inside his own pocket and then he left his wife behind, to get into a carriage that had been waiting for him at the front.

Another man, who was none other than Samuel West, was sitting comfortably in the same carriage as Gilbert. His eyes studied the mayor's stoic expression, who sat quietly in front of him. Samuel had known Gilbert for so long that he knew Gilbert's loyalty was only to him. It made Samuel want to always help the man and make him depend on Samuel some more. Samuel used this for his own advantages. The more Gilbert depended on him, the more he could use Gilbert to help him achieve his mission.

"How's your wife doing?" Asked Samuel.

Gilbert shrugged his shoulder. "She's coping, I think."

"Do you want me to send someone to help her?"

"No, Sir. That won't be necessary. Thank you." Gilbert declined his offer. Right now, he did not want anybody to interact with his wife who often threw a tantrum. It was a humiliation for him. "Thank you for sending Newton's team to investigate my son's murder."

"Don't mention it." He waved his hand off casually in the air. "I'll always help you. If the rumour was true about the girl, our suspicion on the return of the white witch could be as well true. Better to finish it off as early as possible. Newton's team is more capable than others."

"But they're still new." Gilbert snorted.

"Who cares. The fact of the matter is, that young man is as smart as me." Samuel chuckled. "I heard he's been trying to court the governess that you hired for William."

"I did not know that." Gilbert pressed his lips in a thin line. The thought of Emma Bell was irritating him. He felt lucky that he did not have to deal with the young woman anymore as he no longer required her service. That way, he would be free from having to answer questions about the abandoned land that the woman's family still wanted to have a claim on.

"What is it, Gilbert?" Samuel, who noticed the change of Gilbert's expression after mentioning about the governess, turned curious of what might have occurred between the mayor and the governess. "You don't seem very fond of our best governess."

A loud exhaled escaped Gilbert's lips. He looked away from the man in front of him and fixed his eyes on the scenery that passed by through the window.

"That woman was asking me, if I could do something about involving the survivors of the abandoned land on the council's decision to build the school there."

Samuel raised his right eyebrow. "Is she one of them?"

Gilbert nodded. "The only one who doesn't want to shut up."

"Ah, I see." Samuel sighed. "The building is starting tomorrow. No one can say nor do anything about it. It has been finalised already. I signed it."

"Did Mr. Clark refused to sign it?" Asked Gilbert which caught Samuel by surprise. But Samuel quickly hid his surprise away and smirked.

"What do you think, Gilbert?"

Gilbert gave the man a knowing smile. "Here I am wondering why Mr. Clark died out of poison."

Samuel laughed. "Pity, isn't he?"

While Samuel, Gilbert and their men were still on their journey to the forest, an old man walked stiffly towards the big tree near his house. His fatigued eyes caught a sight of two mean leaning against the tree. His steps turned cautious and slower as he saw that the men were tied and seemed unconscious.

The old man bent down lowly, ignoring the pain he felt in his back from doing that. His hand went to check the pulse of the blonde hair one. He felt relieved that the blonde man was alive. He shook the blonde man lightly, slapping his cheek gently to see if he would wake up.

Newton felt a sharp pain on the back of his head which made his head felt heavy. His eyes fluttered open and he groaned. When he was trying to move, his muscle felt rigid and he felt like his movement around his arms was restricted. He groaned some more.

"Let me untie you, young man." Said the old man.

Newton's shoulder grew tense as the old man started to untie the rope. He looked at the man from the corner of his eyes suspiciously.

Noticing how the young man tense, the old man spoke, "I mean no harm. Someone else did this to you. Not me."

Newton knew who tied him up with the rope. It was the lady in the forest. He hoped he was not too far from the forest for he would definitely go back there and arrested the lady.

"Do you know this man?" Asked the old man, raising his chin to point out at the other man who was still unconscious.

Newton who nearly forgot about Turner, cursed. Once he was free from the rope, he turned around to look at his second in command. He hoped Turner was alright.

"He's with me." Answered Newton. "Do you live around here, Sir?"

"Yes." The old man said as he stood straight back. "Your friend seems more unconscious than you were."

"Aye, he is. I need your help, kind Sir."

"I'm Sebastian. Call me Sebastian." Said the old man. "We better hurry. Come."

Seeing Turner who was still unconscious, Newton lifted him up to a standing position. He put Turner's one hand on his shoulder and he started to drag him into Sebastian's house.