Dartho

Chapter 1: The Dark One...

The night was quite chilly. Tabitha did not notice, even though she was in beggar's rags. She was too frightened to take notice of the cold. She glanced behind her in fear. The stories she heard were true.
Suddenly, Tabitha bumped into a man in a black overcoat with a black top hat and wearing dark grey trousers.
She did not observe his clothing at the time, as she backed away, or tried to. The man had a hold of her shoulders.
"I say, steady on there, Miss!" stated the gentleman, but Tabitha hardly heard him.
She kicked the man in the shins, making him let go of her. Tabitha heard shouting behind her but she kept running. Ducking into a side-alley, Tabitha stopped as she reached a dead end. A shadow loomed over the ten-year-old girl. Turning around, gasping in short but heavy breaths, Tabitha fainted from fright, believing her persuer had caught up with her at last.


Tabitha awoke in a warm bed. She was in a strange room. The walls were white and the room looked moderately clean. The bed cover covered her body. Then, Tabitha noticed she was wearing some sort of dressing gown, her size too.
As she sat up, Tabitha noticed sunlight coming through a window.
It beamed down upon a writing desk against the wall of the window. A boy Tabitha's age was asleep in the oaken chair. His clothes were slightly dirty and torn from wearing on the street.
Tabitha glanced around for her clothes, but did not see them anywhere.

Suddenly, the boy stirred awake and opened his eyes. He glanced at Tabitha sleepily and then glanced at the door on the opposite end of the room as it was pushed open.
The door leading into the room opened and in stepped a woman of a plumpish but kind-looking manner. She wore the clothes of a servant. She was carrying two trays piled with food. She beamed and smiled at the two children who were awake.

"Oh, hope you slept well, my dears," she exclaimed with happiness.
She set the two trays upon the desk; the boy was almost drooling as he smelt the food. Tabitha blinked slightly in response.
"Don't mind me, dears. Go ahead and dig in!" exclaimed the jolly maid.
The boy did not appear to be told twice. He grabbed a bun from one of the plates on a tray and started biting into it with gusto.
Tabitha ignored the food and continued to look at the woman. She had grey hair under a bonnet and her wrinkled but humble face looked like the kindly old lady she appeared to be.
"Aren't you hungry, dearie?" the old woman asked Tabitha.
Tabitha merely shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Truth be told, she was starving, but Tabitha was still in a sense of shock of last night.
The boy, with his grubby hands clasping the half-eaten bun and mouth still stuffed with food, glanced over at Tabitha. He merely chewed some more and then swallowed the mouthful of bun in his throat. Without saying a word after a few seconds, the boy returned to his feasting, this time taking a bite out of a hot sausage, not seeming to care if he burned his tongue on the delicious food.
Tabitha understood why the boy was pre-occupied with eating. He was skinnier then she was, which was saying something. His raggedy and baggy clothes seemed to be his only salvation from cold weather. Even his cap had quite a few holes within it. He was a beggar, probably an orphan like Tabitha aswell.
But, behind the dirt, Tabitha could see sparkling blue eyes, almost like sapphires. His black hair was a mess of straight tangles.
The old woman had nodded almost sagely and had left the room via the doorway she entered, closing the door behind her.


Glancing back at the boy, Tabitha finally realised how hungry she was. But, she did not feel comfortable to the cosy lifestyle. A warm bed, clean and soft clothes and a lovely feast every time you woke up.
She decided to ask the boy a few questions. Maybe he'd know what was going on.
"Hey," she stated in a light and soft voice.
The boy glanced at her, his mouth full once more.
"Yeh?" he asked rather crudely before swallowing the food in his mouth.
"Do you know where we are?" Tabitha asked.
The boy shrugged his shoulders.
"Ain't got a clue," he replied, eating the rest of his sausage that was in his right hand.
After swallowing the sausage after chewing, the boy paid his attention once more at Tabitha.
"All I know is that this 'ere house is the bestest place fer grub!" exclaimed the boy as he stood up from his chair, sighing in content of a satisfied meal.
He walked to the door. Turning, he glanced at Tabitha.
"Me name's Sammy Gibb by the way," he stated, almost proudly.
"I'm Tabitha Swanson," stated Tabitha.
Tabitha wasn't really called Swanson, but she felt it good and proper to answer with a last name, since the boy had told her his last name.
The boy smirked slightly.
"Well, see ya around, Tabitha. Have somewhat to eat, tis a grand brekky!" exclaimed Sammy Gibb, opening the door.
He left without another word, shutting the door behind him. Tabitha glanced over at the trays that were upon the sunlit table. Sammy had been considerate enough to not touch a single piece of food upon the other tray. When Tabitha noticed how empty the plate on the tray Sammy had eaten out of, she saw naught even the slightest crumb left.

Feeling her stomach start to pine for something to eat, Tabitha pushed back the cover that was over her body. Dangling her legs over the edge of the bed, Tabitha set her feet down upon the wooden, polished floor. Amazingly, it felt warm, even though her feet were already warm from sleeping in the comfy bed.
Making her way to the table, Tabitha sat down within the chair Sammy had been sleeping in and delicately reached out and grabbed a sausage from her plate upon the tray. Eating the sausage, Tabitha was thoughtful over last night's events. The only logical reason why she was here was because someone had found her in the darkened side-alley. But, who?

Before Tabitha could think anything more, she heard the door behind her opening. Swallowing her chewed up sausage, Tabitha turned in the chair and glanced at the person who had entered the room. It was a rather pale-looking and thin woman wearing a long black homely made dress. She wore an apron tied around her waist and was wearing a small white hat, the kinds servants wear. She was obviously a maid. Tabitha reckoned the woman was maybe ten years older then herself. The maid was carrying some clean linen for the bed.
"I'm sorry fer troubling you, Miss," stated the forlorn maid. "I'm just needing to make your bed for you."
"That's quite allright," stated Tabitha, almost surprising herself with the tone of authority in her voice.
"Continue as you please," Tabitha said more meekly.
The maid nodded curtly and went over to the bed. Tabitha watched her while continuing to eat her breakfast. The maid pulled down the large cover and removed the bed sheet. Putting aside the bed sheet, the maid deftly folded it over a chair that was beside the bed and unfolded the new sheet. Deftly lifting the corners of the bed one at a time, she tucked the bed sheet under and smoothed out the top. Taking the pillows, the maid took off the covers and put on some new pillow slips, fluffing up the pillows before arranging them at the head of the bed. Pulling the cover, she tucked it in at the sides and smoothed it out once more. After picking up the bed sheet draped over the chair and the pillowcases, the maid curtsied to Tabitha and left the room, closing the door behind her.


Tabitha sensed an eerie peace about herself as she was alone once more. Silently continuing to eat her breakfast, Tabitha recalled last night in a flash of her mind. A shadow, looming out of the darkness, Tabitha turning and running, after that, it was all a haze. As if from a dream. She had no recollection of bumping into the man or of a mysterious stranger whom saved her after she fainted in the alleyway. It was all a blur of grimy black. Nothing before that night seemed to dawn upon her, unfortunately. So, she was as much in the dark as the shadowy figure that had been persuing her.

Shivering slightly, Tabitha pushed back the tray, not wishing to eat anything else. She was not up for it. Of course, she felt grateful for her mysterious host or hostess, whomever that was that owned the house, but her stay was graciously overdrawn and she needed to get back out into the streets.
Standing up, Tabitha turned away from the sunlit window and walked towards the wooden door. Turning the copper handle, she opened the door slightly, hearing a small creak from the hinges as she partially opened the door and peered out. What struck Tabitha's eye mostly was the red velvet rug that seemed to go past her door. There was a finely crafted banister that curved downwards to what Tabitha reckoned was a stairwell that led to the lower area of the abode.
Opening her door fully, but gently, Tabitha stepped out into the hallway and glanced to her left. There was a few more doors past hers and at the end there was a wall that had a vase of flowers on a small table against it. From what Tabitha could tell, they were bright tulips. Glancing to her right, Tabitha saw some more doors and another wall at the end with flowers on the table. These flowers were also tulips. Finding it a bit odd that the flowers were identical in every way as the other ones, Tabitha felt another slight shiver of uncertainty about the house she was in.

Stepping out of her room, Tabitha walked across to the banister and crouched down. She looked down and saw the main hall, the front door was closed, but Tabitha knew it was the front door because of the muffled noise of the busy streets of London.
Suddenly, Tabitha saw the front door open, the noise of the street entering. A man stood in the doorway. He looked about twenty years of age, ten years older then Tabitha. He was what one would call a handsome man. A man with a dark blue jacket with tails and a cream coloured silken shirt. His jacket pocket had a blue carnation pinned upon it. He sported a black top hat and had a dark brown cane. His gray trousers were wrinkle-free and looked hardly worn. To complete his ensemble he wore spiffed-up black shoes that also looked hardly worn.
Taking off his top hat, Tabitha noticed he had rich dark brown hair slicked back and neat upon his head. His blue eyes were almost like sapphires, gleaming brightly as he gazed around. He was about five feet and nine inches in height, his frame was hard to judge because of his clothes, but he looked about average weight.
The man walked out of Tabitha's view, possibly going down a corridor beneath the stairwell. Tabitha heard his footsteps continue along until she heard a door opening and shutting. The man had obviously went into a room. Tabitha glanced at the front doorway the man had left open, that led out into the streets of London.

Tabitha was hesitant at first, but ultimately decided it was her best chance to leave the house. Hurriedly going down the carpeted stairwell, Tabitha found herself at the foot of the stairwell, the surroundings looking more differant then from above. An old-looking grandfather clock in one corner ticked as the seconds went by. Tabitha saw a cloak stand and upon it was a fur coat, obviously a woman's. Tabitha helped herself to it, knowing it was foolish to just go into the streets wearing only a nightgown. Putting the coat on, Tabitha went upto the doorway. Glancing back slightly, Tabitha wondered if it was the right thing to do. Brushing away these thoughts, Tabitha knew it would not be safe, the shadow would find her, no matter where she went. She had to keep running. Stepping out into the cold street, Tabitha closed the front door of the place she almost felt was like Home....

End Of Chapter One.

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