Doubt Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO
He ran through the trees, checking periodically over his shoulder. Once he was sure no one was following him, he laughed and spun around in quick circle.
"Ha." He breathed, to no one in particular.
In front of him loomed a miniature cathedral. The towers hovered against a gray sky, making the tall building seem imposing and mysterious. Following the mystery, he jogged towards the large brown doors.
The facade of the church was covered in different reliefs depicting the religion of the village. Neatly trimmed rose bushes stood as sentinels, surrounded by a curious gate, too small to keep out anything but rabbits. Curious, he made his way to the fence and bounded over it. The rose garden was beautiful, he had to admit, but nature didn't do much for him.
"Who are you?" An angry voice shouted at him. He jumped and swiveled to see who it was, and nearly tripped backwards in surprise. It was a girl. "Who are you?" She asked again, her brown eyes sparkled dangerously.
He held up his hands, a gesture of surrender, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." He flashed his most cavalier smile.  
The girl had black hair that swam in dark tendrils around her delicate face, carried by the gentle wind. Her eyes were scrunched up in anger and she had her hands balled into fists. "Answer my question! Who are you? Why have you come here?"
He slowly, as if approaching a dangerous animal, stepped forward with an extended hand. "My name is Roy. As to why I'm here, well, I was in the neighborhood for a stroll. I saw these lovely roses and decided to take a closer look."
She looked at his hand contemptuously, but her expression softened when he spoke of Christian's flowers. "The roses? That's the reason you're here?"
He nodded, unsure of what the girl was thinking. "Well, you know more about me now that I do of you. What is your name?"
Her eyes clouded and she looked past him. "Lucy. Lucy Grey."
The strange girl seemed to be seized upon by some depression. Her face fell and she wandered away as if she did not touch the ground.
"Wait!" Roy called after her. She turned around solemnly, as if fulfilling a great duty. "Miss Grey, please wait!" He caught up with her again and looked down at her tiny face. Her large brown eyes waited patiently for what he was to say. "Who are you?" He asked with a breathless smile. "What are you doing at a church on Wednesday? Do you live in the village?"
"You don't know?" She asked in amazement, like he were suddenly an angel come down from the heavens, flaming sword in hand.
He shook his head. "I'm a stranger here Miss Grey. I have not even been to the town yet."
The stranger girl studied his face with a fierce expression that seemed to pin him against the rose bush at his back. "Honest?" She sounded hopeful. He nodded, amazed at this person, and wondered if the entire town were the same. "We live here." She smiled for the first time. "Inside this church."
"We? Who else lives with you?" He asked with a grin.
"Well, Father lives here and Christian and Jessica. We think there must be some other servants but we don't know for sure. We haven't seen them."
"I see." Roy's eyebrows rose. Suddenly the deep resounding toll of the church bell startled them both, and the girl turned to scurry away. "Where are you going?" He called after her.
"We've got to get inside or Father will be angry! He mustn't know we've spoken to you!" She exclaimed, turning back to look at him once more before rushing inside the large oak doors of the chapel which shut behind her with a clang.
For a moment he stood there in silence and the only sound was the breeze rustling the bushes and the deeper rushing of a nearby stream. "How odd." He wondered to himself and hoped over the small little fence once more, heading towards the village. The darkness of the church seemed comforting to us then, familiar and safe. Our heart beat wildly in our chest and our hands trembled. That man... He hadn't known us. He hadn't known to be afraid. Roy... that was his name. We felt the word on our tongue. That was the first new name we had uttered in our life. Roy. Simple and lovely.
"Miss?" Elizabeth's voice broke us out of our day dream. "You're back just on time Miss. Usually I have to beg you to come inside. Did something frighten you?" Her voice was the compassionless voice of a servant paid to be compassionate. "Oh… Yes." We told her haltingly. "There was a stranger walking down the path. We, well, we decided it would be best not to dally today. What with the night coming on so fast…" Elizabeth nodded disinterestedly and with more apathy than was usual for her. "Father wishes to see you tonight Miss. He's waiting in the library but he says first you must wash up and have dinner. Then you are to meet with him about a matter of great importance." It is pointless to acknowledge her, as she was already walking away before we could move our head to nod. So with a sigh, we followed her down the dark hall and to whatever lay in store for us in Father's library.
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