A Visitor

My Dearest Stephen,

My search for Sarah is not going well. I have been all over New England and still I cannot find one trace of her. I am starting to believe that she told me a lie about her going to Maine. I am also starting to believe that I will never find her, and I am not sure what frightens me more. As of now I am heading to New York, I think this is where she is, something I think I have known all along. Where else could she be so well concealed? My train should arrive at Grand Central sometime this evening. I am planning on staying at the Plaza Hotel; you know the one that opened a few years back? I know back when we said goodbye that I told you I wanted to do this alone, but I fear that I must abandon my pride and say that what I said then no longer applies. I miss you so very much. Please, my love, I need my port in the storm. Please come to me, joining me in New York my dearest friend. I will send you more details upon my arrival. I hope to see you soon.

All my love,

Ramona

Stephen felt a grin stretch across his face. She wanted him to join her! He was happy that she had had the experience of independence that she had needed, yet Stephen had missed Ramona with every breath he had taken since she had left Boston in search of her half-sister. He raced with boy like speed to find his trunk. He dove under his bed, and found it, coated in dust when the bell rang.

“Damn!” He swore as his head collided with the bed bottom. Emerging from beneath his bed, and covered in dust, Stephen nursed his bumped head. He heard the Butler answer the door below, but could not hear who was being greeted. Stephen lugged his trunk to the top of his bed, and began to hastily pile clothes into it. So emerged in his packing he did not hear the door to his room open, and was taken by surprise when out of the corner of his eye he saw a shape in the doorway. He jumped, making a yell of surprise and amazement when he saw his brother, Eric standing in his room.  Eric looked very much like Stephen. His hair was lighter, and he had gray eyes, but he was still sturdy and strong like all Scots men. He was dressed in travel clothes, and had his hands in his pockets.

“Eric?” He said, sounding more confused than jubilant. His last encounter with his brother had not gone well. Eric had stormed out of the house after an argument they had had about his studies and money. He had not seen his younger brother in months, nor had he any idea he was coming home to Boston, for they did not keep a correspondence.

“Hello Steve” Eric said, a tone of cockiness in his voice that Stephen loathed. He supposed the tone was due to the fact that Stephen, covered in dust and shirt un-tucked, looked a mess. Stephen squared his shoulders, and straightened up.

“What are you doing here, Eric?” He asked, bitterness clinging to every word. The euphoria that had held him captive with the reading of Ramona’s letter was evaporated, now all he felt was the pent up resentment towards his brother that had held him captive before he had met Ramona. Eric gave him a coy smile, and walked farther into the room.

“Mother wrote to me, and I have business with a… a friend of mine.”

Stephen took that to mean that Eric had some rendezvous with a woman he had met in college, that or worse.

“You know you are not welcome in this house.”

Eric smirked at him in response. “Mother told me to come, and this is her home.”

Anger boiled through Stephen’s veins. “You know as well as I that this is my home now, Father left it to me in the will.” Stephen saw Eric’s brows crinkle at this retort. He hated being the younger brother, and Stephen, always playing the role of the elder brother played off this hatred like a game. He knew it was childish to play off his brother’s childhood resentment, but at this moment he did not care. The minute Eric had taken his inheritance and abandoned his family; Stephen had all but counted his brother as dead.  It was taking every fiber of his being from beating Eric to a pulp where he stood.

“Where are you going?” Eric asked, looking at the trunk, overflowing with clothes.

“Not that it is any of your concern, but I have business in New York.”

“Oh?” said Eric, sounding amused. His tone perturbed Stephen to no end. He turned his back on his brother, attempting to continue packing.

“Out of curiosity Steve, would this “business” happen to include a Miss Ramona Ramsey and a Miss Sarah Turner?”

Ice flooded Stephen’s veins, as he quickly took control of his fear. He was a lawyer after all. He would put his education to use. Slowly he turned to look at Eric.

“What do you mean?”

Eric’s smirk reemerged on his face. “You know exactly what I mean. And there is no use in pretending you don’t know. You see I have had a letter from darling Sarah.”

And the cool disposition Stephen was trying to exude escaped him.

“You … you know Sarah?” He stammered. But how? When? None of this made any sense.  Eric walked over to Stephen’s dresser and picked up a baseball that had been sitting there. They had played catch with it years ago. Now his brother tossed it up and down, as if the ball was Stephen himself. “How do you know Sarah?” Stephen asked, trying to sound as assertive as possible.

 “In the biblical sense.” Eric replied, chuckling as he continued to toss the ball up and down. Stephen’s heart began to pound when it dawned on him what his brother meant. Stephen looked into Eric’s cool calculating gray eyes.  Regardless of how Eric knew Sarah, one thing concerned him above all else.

“How do you know about Ramona?”

Eric stopped tossing the baseball, and looked at his brother.  A grin as cold as his eyes spreading across his face.

“Oh Stephen, the question is not how I know what I know, but how much I do know. And more importantly, what information I have that can reunite you with your darling little ginger girl.”

“It seems we have much to discuss.” Stephen said through clenched teeth.

“It seems we do,” said Eric. And with that he placed the ball back on the dresser and exited the room. Stephen looked at his trunk, then at the ball, and finally at the door. Sighing and saying a silent prayer for strength, he followed