5 Five: Keys to a door or to a heart?

"Again, whatever I say is what I heard from my ancestors," Kelly continued , "the rest is for you to decide." He stared at me then at my dad. We both nodded at him. He straightened his back and continued.

"The Baron Lucian rode his horse called Thor, after the Greek God. It was his favourite because it ran the fastest of all," we all tried to picture him straddling the creature, "the servants did not heed his request to not bring another rider. They called Claus to saddle up as well, they still worried that the Baron is not himself. By the time Claus got there, Lucian had already broken into a gallop. He immediately followed his friend who was heading towards the forest."

I remembered my dream, when Lucian had described the Alpine Forest. He told me the names of each tree he'd passed by, he'd described to me what they look like. While Kelly talked, I could see Lucian running away from Claus towards the forest. His hair flew against the wind along with his unbuttoned shirt but his thick brows remained shapely and unmoving. I could see Thor gliding smoothly towards the path, he knew it well. They had taken it several times. Both rider and horse looked magnificent.

Behind him, Claus was gaining, he was good with horses too. He called for Lucian but the Baron did not spare him a glance. They continued the chase deep down the forest, the afternoon sun was fading. It will be dark soon.

Kelly's voice broke my thoughts, "According to the servants, Claus chased the Baron until they reached the forest. Letecia sent for more men, they are to recover the Baron and his friend. And off they went, five able bodied men drove the finest horses the Norwood's owned. The women grew frantic, they felt something bad will happen." He loosened his tie and continued, "Darkness have arrived and still no men came back, Letecia had sent word for the authorities. They managed to gather volunteers to search the forest. They needed a lot, Alpine Forest is very wide. Armed with torches and gas lamps, they searched and searched. Men and women called for both Lucian and the Baron—"

"—but no one answered." Patrick couldn't help himself, he read that on the journal. "Claus wrote that he was found unconscious beneath a pear tree, his horse was gone and he was badly injured."

"That is true, he was taken back home and nursed by the women. When he came to, he wanted to go back and look for Lucian. It took three men to subdue him."

"A certain page on the journal had it too, 'My tears fell for my Lucian. My dearest Lucian, taken from my grasps. They won't let me go back to the forest and find him. They held me down and poured potion in my mouth so I would sleep. They do not understand, my Lucian needs me.' It breaks even my heart knowing he wanted to risk his life to go back yet he could not. It broke my heart before, thinking it was written by a woman, yet it affects me still knowing it came from a man." Patrick sniffled, I gave him my handkerchief.

"It was not his doing that Lucian had gone." Kelly said.

"But he was the reason he did," I muttered, "if he did not kill the girl, Lucian wouldn't be do anything like that."

"No one knows that Miss Neville. Lucian wasn't himself."

"Because he lost the woman he loved!"

"There, there..." Patrick was beside me, I didn't realise I was crying. "Think of it this way Krista, even if he was himself why would he go to the forest? The girl had no memories there."

That stopped me. Why indeed? I stared at Kelly.

"Letecia did not know as well. They were all puzzled why the Baron suddenly rode there at that certain time." Kelly's face had began to soften, "He knew the path well, he couldn't have met an accident or else they would have found his body. Yet no one has."

"But what about Claus? How did he lose his horse?" I managed to choke back my tears.

"Your guess is as good as mine, when Letecia asked him he said he could not remember."

"And on the journal he said it too," I was waiting for my father to say the words again, "'The servants have asked me how I ended up injured. I do not recall. I called for my Lucian but he would not hear me, Oh how I chased him with all my might, I reached out but I couldn't touch him. He was gone from the moment we entered the forest. He was gone from me.'"

"Just...gone.." I repeated. I had nothing else to say.

We settled in a comfortable silence, Kelly broke it first. "After that day there had been more volunteers who came to help them search the forest. They found Claus's horse but no sign of the Baron or Thor. The search went on for another month, until the people had began to lose hope." His voice was sad, "The men went back to their jobs, the women on their chores. And the authorities simply gave up."

"Can't blame them.. back then it was much harder to trace a person, unlike today." My dad was trying to calm be back to normal. His voice can do that, but I was too sad just yet.

"Then you knew what happened after that," Kelly urged on. "There were sightings of the Baron and Thor."

I gripped my dad's hand, he told me that part too.

"It was said that the children saw him first, the Baron riding Thor in the dark. It was easy to spot them because Thor was white." Kelly exhaled, "Then it was the servants who worked in Penthurst Manor, the men at the stables swore they saw him riding towards the house. They even shouted in joy, because their master have finally returned."

I looked up at him, his gaze met mine. "But as he neared the house he was just gone, again." It was Kelly speaking, yet I see Claus. I do not know what Claus looked like, but at that moment I could feel his suffering. To see the man he loved finally come back but never to him. I felt another drop of tears fell, Dad brushed it away.

"Like he was a...ghost." Patrick said.

"Yes. Like that. People thought that he's dead and is haunting the Manor. But no one found the body, so the others did not believe them."

"And some had speculated the devil took him." This was from another evidence Dad found in one of his expeditions. "I found letters, I believed it belonged to someone who volunteered in the search." He explained to Kelly.

"Did it have a name?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I only have two pages of it. Or perhaps it is a letter with no other content and there's nothing more to it. It was that entry that led me to look for clues here in Winter Falls. Then I stumbled upon Kelly's ad."

I recovered my posture, my breathing has calmed down as well.I faced Kelly, "So your ancestor—Letecia managed to keep the house and hand it down to your family?"

"No, not that simple," he said. "When the baron started showing up as a "ghost" and no body was found, his title was passed down to the nearest male relative. Gavin Trilby became the next Baron."

That was true, Gavin Trilby was on the history books. But his inheritance of the title did not tie it to Lucian, the books only said it was an unexpected inheritance.

"But, he wasn't known as Baron Lucian" I said. "He was called Baron Lakewood."

"You are right Miss Neville. This is because the family refused the Lucian property after the incident, the crown gave them another property. The Lakewood." Now it was clear how Kelly's family got the house. No relatives wanted it. Just like Patrick said, 'Can't blame them.'

"If the house had been in your family for generations, why are you selling it just now?"

"There were times my ancestors had the notion, it was Letecia's word that kept us holding into the house." Kelly tried to put on his cold gaze again, but failed. "On her deathbed, she made her descendants swore to never give up the house. That it was our duty to maintain it, clean it and not to make changes —not if it will benefit the house."

Ah, that explained the electricity. The wall papers, the clean carriage house and empty fountain. Was Letecia waiting for the Baron to come back? After all these years, will the house stand and wait for its master's return? I dared not ask, I was afraid of the answer.

"Kelly-" I began.

"—Tristane please, Miss Neville."

"Then call me Krista," I gave him a smile, "Tristane, why are you selling the house now? You would be breaking your promise to Letecia."

He sighed, "I did not promise her that I will keep the house and stand guard all my life. My ancestors did that, long ago." He took off his glasses again, this time tucking it in his pocket. "I am the last Kelly living, I have no siblings or other relatives connected to the Mayers—to Letecia. It has fallen into my shoulders what to do with the house."

"And you've taken the responsibility to sell it." There was bitterness in my voice.

"I don't expect you to understand me..Krista, I am alone in this life. I have dreams I want to pursue. I cannot do that here, if I keep watch over the house. I can use the money to start a new life, get a degree and be more."

I saw the sense in that, he didn't have to suffer alone. But do we have to? Now that Dad is buying the house, will it be our responsibility to await the Baron's return? I closed my eyes, wanting to erase the pain.

"Do you want to talk about the arrangement, Tristane?" I heard my father asked, he meant to pay him as soon as possible.

"Perhaps it can wait another day. Its getting late, I will leave you for now." He began to rise, I felt dad stand as well. I did not. I didn't want to, not yet.

"I'll see you then, you have my number."

"Yes Patrick, thank you." They shook hands, I can tell because Dad's bracelet jiggled. "One more thing though," Kelly walked towards me, he got down on knee because I was still seated, "I'll leave these to you." He gave me the keys of the house. I opened my palm and accepted them, their weight felt comfortable in my hand.

"If you want Krista, I can show you around the house tomorrow." He said this with such emotion I thought I was going to cry again. He's giving away the house. That saddens me.

"I, uhm.." What do I tell him?

"Call me." He patted my shoulder and left. Dad walked him out, I heard their footsteps drifting away.

I was left in the study, with the keys on my hands and the pain in my heart.