Thanks to hells666angel, princessbleachhead, and LoneWolf-234 for reviewing. This story has a remarkable 3,354 hits. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading. I really appreciate it.

Okay, so this is probably going to be my last chapter for a little while because it is NaNoWriMo time and I'm busy working on that novel since I only have 30 days to write 50,000 words. There will be more of this story when I've finished that novel.

Thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy.

Forbidden

New Year, New Life

Greenlee

I couldn’t help it. I broke down on Charles that day. I told him everything: my fears, my wishes, my need to put some distance between us, just until things die down. I couldn’t help it; it just poured out of me. It was a stupid move, especially being out in the open like that. But it was what I needed then.

The past few days he has respected my wishes and we have kept our distance from each other. We settle for momentary glances across the room. I am grateful for this as the glances give me hope. Our lifestyle isn’t typical, especially now but I can’t think of a person who doesn’t want that fair tale happy ending.

I hope Jackson is getting his happy ending. Both Jackson and Master David disappeared days ago. Master James was upset but I feel his reaction would have been stronger if it had been Charles that ran away. I guess now I see why Jackson acted the way he did, why he gave me those sympathetic looks because of all the rumors. Since they both ran away the rumors about Charles and I have failed, as the gossip now revolves around David and Jackson.

If we’re lucky then the rumors will die entirely and we can go on with our lives. I look up from the spot on the floor I’ve been scrubbing and smile over at Charles. As is typical of this time of day, he is leaving the library to get a snack from the kitchen. Looking at me he then glances back at the library before heading down the hall. Very simple to comprehend. He has a message for me that he left hidden in the library.

I turn my attention back to scrubbing the floors. The message will be there when I get to the library. I’m not going to jump up and go check right now; people would notice that and wonder what is going on. Instead I concentrate on my work, which I’ve really been doing the past several days. Now when I leave the Sawyer home at a late hour Ana makes no comment as she has heard from the other house slaves how diligent I have been with my work.

She still doesn’t talk to me and our home is typically quiet. The cold shoulder/silent treatment is sometimes so great that I feel like I’m going to explode. I would love to be able to talk to Ana, tell her everything, and ask for her help and advice. But considering what she has said and the way she has acted around me I know it would be pointless to even try. To tell her now would just lead to more problems, more accusations. It is something I don’t wish to deal with, not now.

The only people I can talk to are Charles and Emily, and neither of them would understand my viewpoint. They don’t know what it’s like to be a slave. And for that I am somewhat grateful. The thought of Charles having no freedom and having to obey a master’s orders…or Emily; she is much too sweet and kind. She wouldn’t last long as a slave.

My thoughts drift and I soon find that I have finished with the floors. Trading out the scrub brush and bucket for a feather duster I move into the library to straighten it up. It is never very difficult for me to find the book Charles has hidden the note in; it has always been moved to the wrong location, making it easy for a bookworm to find it.

I open the note and glance over Charles’ hasty penmanship.

Greenlee, meet Emily in her room tomorrow morning. You will accompany her into town. Or at least that’s the excuse we’ve given our father. Really it is a chance for you to see your parents and find the truth you desire. Charles.

I can’t believe he’s done this. I never expected it, particularly not this soon. Then again, with David gone, Master James has been setting up searches to go find both David and Jackson and bring them back. This means he isn’t really paying as much attention to everything else. The tasks he has forgotten about have fallen to Charles.

I slip the note into my apron pocket and continue dusting and straightening the library. When I finish with my cleaning I head to the kitchen to help them with dinner preparations. Beth doesn’t speak to me except to issue orders. Tyler and Jenna at least make small talk while we work.

As it typically does, my time in the kitchen passes quickly. I grab some of the spare food and head back to my home. Walking inside I take off my apron before carrying the food to our small kitchen.

Ana walks in as I am dividing the food into two portions. For a moment I think she’ll ignore me as she has the past few days. Instead she walks over to the kitchen and stands near me. “Is the dinner good today?” she asks.

I nod and hand her the portion set out for her, the larger portion. “I think it’s the best meal so far this week.”

“How do you think Tyler is adjusting to his extra work?”

“Jenna has been spending extra time in the kitchen and I’ve been helping whenever I can. I think everyone is pitching in to pick up the slack.”

She says nothing and just stands there, holding her plate. “Greenlee, I…I’m sorry for my actions the past few days.” She pauses and looks down at her food. “It’s just…I was…”

“Angry, I know. You had a point. I wasn’t doing everything I could or should have been doing. I was making life harder for the rest of you and I’m sorry for that.”

She shakes her head and looks up at me. “It was wrong of me to say all of that to you. I know you’re working all the time now, even when the others say they can handle it. And you look more and more miserable each day.” She sighs. “It’s worse than when you were brought here and the first time you were reprimanded. I’ve never seen you this bad before and I can’t help but think that it’s my fault.”

“No, it’s no one’s fault but my own. Don’t blame yourself.”

“But I do. I hate seeing you like this. I’ll do anything to see you happy again.”

Maybe I could tell her, confess to her that the rumors that had been going around, well that some of them are true. If she wants to see me in a better mood then she could help me keep out of the rumors again so that I don’t feel as bad whenever I see Charles. I know this separation is hard for both of us and we’ve both been working so much harder in the past few days. We need a break, a chance to relax, to be together.

No, I can’t tell Ana. This has to stay a secret. “You can’t do anything to make me happy again. I’ve come to terms with my life, with who I am, and the position I’m in. I was foolish and naïve to think that things could be different.”

Then I turn and head over to the table, sitting down to eat my dinner. Ana doesn’t move; she eats her meal at the counter. We say nothing to each other and after dinner I wash my dishes and head to my room. I change into my nightgown and lay down on my bed. Perhaps things will be better tomorrow. After all, a new year is starting. Maybe that means there could be a change, for the better.

When I wake up, I get out of bed and pull out my nicest dress, which also happens to be the cleanest one I have. I know my clothes still mark me as one without money, which in and of itself pretty much marks me as a slave. I guess it’s just the thought of trying to look nice considering I’m going to visit my “parents.” I can only hope that they will tell me the truth, that I can find out who my real parents are.

I slip out of the house silently and head over to the Sawyer home. Once inside I go upstairs and down the hall to Emily’s room. Knocking softly on the door, I wait for an answer. “Come in.”

I open the door and walk inside to see Emily dressed and ready to go. Today she is wearing a simpler dress than usual. “Good morning, Greenlee.”

I give her a small smile. “Morning Emily. I see you’re ready to go.”

“Yeah, sorry. Marie already came to help me to get ready for my big day out.”

I raise an eyebrow and look at her. I thought it was going to be a big day out for me.

She sighs. “Yeah, it’ll be the first time I’ve gone out without my mother or Marie with me. It’s quite an accomplishment since I’ve only been trying for well over a year now to be allowed to go out without one of them.”

“And how did you manage this?” I ask.

“Charles. He’s in charge of a lot of things since father is…looking for David and Jackson.” She smiles. “So, are you ready to get off the plantation for a little while?”

I nod, eager to know the truth. She turns and I follow her out of her room and downstairs. Then we go outside to get to the cars. Our driver, Victor, is already waiting and I give a polite nod of recognition to him as Emily and I get in the backseat.

The drive is mostly silent. I think both Emily and I are too busy looking out our windows to really be able to hold a decent conversation. It’s kind of a pseudo freedom, for both of us. Emily doesn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances in front of her mother or Marie. I’m getting away from the plantation, learning about who I am, no longer going to be confined by the lies I grew up believing to be true.

Soon enough the car slows and stops. I look out the window to see the house I had lived in the first few years of my life. It really hadn’t changed much from how I remembered it, small but nicely furnished and taken care of. From just the outward appearance it would seem that they were living fairly decently.

Emily looks at me. “Would you like me to go with you?” she asks.

“I…I don’t know. I mean, this should only take a few minutes, right?”

Emily nods. “I’ll keep the car running.”

“Thank you.” Then I open the door and step out of the car. This is it, a moment I have dreamed about for the longest time, getting to see my family again…but they aren’t really my family. Things have changed since they sent me that letter.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. It’s now or never. I walk up the sidewalk and knock on the door. There’s no turning back now. It’s no surprise when my ‘mother’ answers the door. “Yes, can I help you?” she asks.

I look at her for a moment, astounded by how much she has seemed to age. She almost looks like Beth and Marie, women who have had to work all the time. Is she forced to work now? “I…I’m hoping so…Mother.”

She gasps and looks at me, her eyes sweeping my figure. “Greenlee, is that really you?”

I nod, unable to form the words I need to say. She looks like she wants to just wrap her arms around me and hold me close. I guess I understand that, even if she isn’t my birth mother, she did raise me. But then again, she also did nothing as I was sold away.

She moves out of the doorway, inviting me inside but I shake my head. I do not want to turn this into some drawn out visit. I just want to get answers and leave so I don’t have to be reminded even more of when they sold me.

“But…won’t you come in and stay a while?”

“I can’t. My Mistress is waiting for me,” I answer. “I just wanted to know why you sent me that letter. What did you hope to accomplish with it?” I pause for a moment. “And if you aren’t my real parents then who is?”

“Oh Greenlee…we’ve been sending that same letter for several years now. We were trying to find a way to get you to come visit so we could explain everything to you. It was so difficult and…”

“Please, don’t draw this out any longer than it has to be. Just answer my question. Who are my real parents?”

She shakes her head. “We never really knew. Your mother stopped here one day. She had been out taking a walk and needed to rest so she knocked on our door so she could sit down. One thing led to another and she gave birth to you right here.”

“Well, what happened? Why did she leave me here?”

My ‘mother’ sighs. “She never left you here, Greenlee. It wasn’t really her choice. Your mother, she…well she died shortly after childbirth. She told us what she wanted to name you and that was it. We just…we knew nothing about who she was or anything. All she ever told us was her first name. We sent out fliers about her and someone answered but he didn’t give his name and he sent a slave to pick up the body. No one ever inquired about you and we didn’t say anything. It…it was probably wrong of us to do so but…I didn’t know if your father was a nice man or not and so…so we just kept you.”

I stare at her, shocked. “And…my…my mother’s name…what was it?”

My ‘mother’ looks at me, tears in her eyes. “Rose,” she says softly. “Her name was Rose.”