The Victoria Era

Caleb in Trouble

Out of no where, Henrietta burst forth. " Clarissa! Liam! Oh God! Nathaniel! Anybody!"
"What, Henrietta?" Liam said running through the crowd.
I cursed quietly in Italian. "Henrietta, I am here!"
She was gasping for air, "Caleb... Raven... Alistar!" Shockingly, she undoes some buttons on her dress, rips off corset again, and throws it into the arms of an attendant. "Come on!"
"Is undressing really necessary?" I said exasperated and hiking up my dress and main my way through the crowd who had already resumed their affairs. "Where, Henrietta? Where?!"
"I nearly passed out, Miss Grace! And on the road in a carriage!" She said rather irked.
"Come!" I yelled. The scene that unraveled before me was a gruesome one. My brother's carriage sat lifelessly in the gutter of the street. As I ran closer I saw three twisted bodies sprawled across the street. Quickly, the gnarled face of Alistar came into view and my stomach plummeted at the thought of who the other two bodies were. To my relief the two other bodies stood and I recognized the distraught faces of Raven and Caleb. What came next into my view made vile burn the back of my throat and choked me making me gag. A knife handle protruded from Caleb's left thigh. "Caleb!" As soon as I came within arms reach of him, I caught him as he fell again. "Your leg!" I wailed then looked to Alistar. "Is he killed?"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Liam pull Raven aside. "Lady, this will not be a pleasant sight. Stay put." He ran to Caleb. "Clarissa..." He began.
"Shush, Liam!" I yelled cradling Caleb.
"And this is why I am moving to America!!!" Raven screamed and ran off.
In shock, I just sat still for a moment until her words seeped into my brain. "America?!" I stood and ran after her. "America?!" I looked back to my brothers my mind scattered. I watched Liam pick up Caleb and run him to a horse just to find Mr. Wilksin. Mr. Wilksin beckoned Liam inside and I watched my brothers disappear with the mysterious man.
"Leave me be! It is all my fault he's in this state! I will never leave the inn until it is time to go!" Raven's sharp words snapped me back to focus just in time to see a ticket slip out of her purse and dissolve in a puddle.
"That was God, Raven! Caleb knew the risk and he put himself out there. It is not your fault! Stay, Raven. You must." I cried.
"NO!!!" Raven screamed before running to where Caleb was with me following close behind. "I am sorry..." She stooped onto her knees and cried on his nearly still chest.
"Caleb!" I exclaimed but Liam took hold of me and I cried in his chest.
"Shhhhhh...." He cooed rubbing my back comfortingly. I turned to watch Mr. Wilksin. He put Caleb on a table.
"Attendant, get me water and rags. Boy," he looked to Liam. "get me whiskey." He then used a knife to cut off Caleb's pant leg then he used a strong rope to tie Caleb's leg to stop blood flow as much as possible Mr. Wilksin put up Caleb's leg.
"Here." Liam said handing Mr. Wilksin the things he asked for.
"Good." Mr. Wilksin said grabbing the bottle before pouring whiskey on the wound causing screams from Caleb. "This is going to hurt now."
"More?" Caleb groaned through gritted teeth.
Mr. Wilksin looked at him. "No," he pushed a pressure point and Caleb passes out. With a quick flick of the wrist, Mr. Wilksin removed the knife before cleaning the injury again. "It is not deep so we are lucky." He began to sew it up.
"Is he going to be alright?" Liam said flatly.
"Only time will tell." He looked to us. "My friends, I will watch over him. He will be fine in my hands. Go now, this is a night to remember and not for this."
Raven pulled up her head. "I am leaving to America TOMORROW I decided. Goodnight friends."
I was too weak to try to fight her and all I could muster was "Li-Liam..."
Raven walked out but stood in the doorway and yelled "I will write. Goodbye." And with that she left.
Henrietta then entered the room with her family in tow. James held her hand and supported her. "How is... everything?" She said horrified at the scene.
Mr. Wilksin saw her and approached. "Mademoiselle, this is not a place for a lady's innocent eyes. Come, he will be fine. Go back to the party or chase down your friend." He bowed to her.
She curtsied. "Thank you for your kindness. I owe you very much."  She retreated.
"Madame, I know now is not the best of times but I invite your family to my house whenever they need. Preferably, tomorrow, if they could come for a dinner, I would love for you to attend." Mr. Wilksin said to all of us.
"We would be very honored, thank you." Henrietta said speaking for all of us.
"Thank you, madame." He said with a small bow. With that, the night of the ball had ended and unlike any of us had foreseen.