Manchester family affairs
The distance from the manor to the mine site was 20 minuets, on the way nobody spoke instead they all had their attention on the city landscape as they passed, compared to Moonridge, Denil was a far superior city the tall but elegant buildings in the industrial district had a strange charm to it, even the workers here seemed to be in a much better condition than the ones from moonridge, law officials were on each and every corner of the city and the city had many residents compared to theirs.
The mine site was located just on the edges of the industrial district not too far away from the Ironworks, at the gates two guards stood outside,chatting, dressed in a black uniform the guards had guns resting inside the holsters on their waists, and a spear in one hand which they now used as a balance tool. Noticing the approaching carriage and the crest it bore the guards stopped talking and they stood up straight, they had seen that carriage plenty of times before and it meant the big boss had arrived but now the big boss,was gone? So who was in the carriage? The only family member the boss had was a prodigal daughter who left just when she had turned sixteen to go be with a farmer boy in a backwater city, could that be the one inside the carriage? With nothing else to do other than wait they patiently waited for the coach to arrive.
Withing two minutes the carriage had stopped right infront of the gates, one of the guards moved to the coach and noticed the familiar coachman to whom he greeted with a slight nod before going to stand near the coach door "Good morning to you, can you please show me your identification documents before I can allow you entry." Simce he could not see who was inside he decided to be polite and direct.
The door opened up Sligh and a male handed him a few papers, quickly scrolling through the papers, he smiled awkwardly seeing that he had hut the mark with his assumption. The person inside was the prodigal daughter of the big boss. Returning the papers, he moved aside and took a nod at his partner who quickly moved to open the gate.
"Welcome back Mam, and my condolences your father was a good man." The guard spoke taking a few steps back in order for the coach to pass.
Watching the coach leave the guard's smile turned into a slight frown, his partner noticed it and approached after he had closed the gates again.,
"So, what? Is it her, the prodigal princess? Patrick?" The other guard asked, he nodded and he paused briefly before moving to stand by the gate
"A storm is coming." His partner looked at the sky in confusion.
The mine site stretched across a rough piece of land. At its center was the pithead, where a tall wooden tower with iron wheels helped pull up carts from underground.
Surrounding the pithead were several small, simple buildings made of wood. These ore processing shed's had smoke coming out of their chimneys and made loud noises from the machinery inside.
Tracks for small rail carts crisscrossed the ground. These carts, pulled by mules or pushed by workers, carried loads of rocks and ore to different parts of the site.
On one side, a row of workshops and storage sheds stood. These buildings, also made of wood with metal roofs, were used to fix tools and store equipment.
A bit away from the busy area was the main officebuilding. This brick and wood structure had a simple design, with a sloped roof and small windows. The entrance had a large wooden door.
Next to the main office were smaller buildings: the manager's cabin, where the boss worked, and clerk's quarters for paperwork. Each was made of similar materials, looking plain but sturdy.
A high wooden fence surrounded the whole site, with large iron-banded gates that creaked when opened. Beyond the fence, the groundwas muddy and bare, showing the effects of the mining activity.
Everyone within the vicinity of the site paused what theywere doing when they saw the familiar coach and coachman approaching the main office building. The coach stopped infront of the building and the coachman stepped down to go open the door, everyone stared in anticipation they all wanted to see if the rumors were true that, the owner's prodigal daughter had returned. News in denil traveled very fast, someone working in zthe Manor had disclosed news of Sarah's arrival.
The door opened and a handsome young man in his mid twenties stepped out wearing a butler's uniform with the Manchester family's crest, behind him another handsome young man stepped out wearing identical set of clothing with the coachman, the butler extend his hand out and a small petite hand took it, stepping out of the carriage Sarah had a calm expression on her beautiful face, lookingbeautiful in her deep blue silk dress. The dress had a tight top that fit her waist and a wide skirt that flowed to the ground.
The skirt was full, held out by crinoline, making it bell-shaped. The neckline and sleeves of the dress were decorated with fine lace, and small pearls were stitched onto the bodice.
Her hair was neatly pinned up with jeweled combs, andwore a stylish hat with a satin ribbon and a fewfeathers.
She had white lace gloves on her hands, and she held a small handbag in one hand and a lace parasol in the other. A pearl necklace and diamond ring added a touch ofsparkle. Behind her a teenage boy climbed out of the coach, looking a bit nervous but excited. He wore a neat wool coat that was a bit too big, reaching past his knees. His trousers made of sturdy cloth and tucked into tall, shiny boots.
His shirt was plain white, buttoned up to the collar, and he had a simple cravat tied around his neck. Over his shirt, he wore a waistcoat with small brass buttons, adding a touch of color with its deep green fabric.
The boy's hair was neatly combed and parted to the side. He had a small cap tucked under his arm, which he put on his head after he straightened his coat.
And this boy resembled the woman who had just stepped out of the coach, so the rumors were true.
"We are here guys, Salim gold mine, my father's source of wealth, shall we?" Josh almost eye rolled at her words, it was clear Sarah did not know who her father was, but focusing on the task at hand he nodded and walked slightly ahead in order to open the door to the main office building for his Mistress. Under everyone's gazes they entered the main building, after the door was closed chatter ensued, many men had fallen for Sarah at first side and some of the few women here could not help talking about her two servants the butler and the coachman. But amongst those who were watching two men, one a bald middle aged man with a scar on his left cheek and a strong build and a fairly odd young man with feminine features and long flowing hair stood amongst the crowd the middle aged man's eyes sparkling with intensity.
"We should head back and report our findings, Sergio, this is bad news." The middle aged man's voice was surprisingly soft, Sergio the young man man shook his head
"Let us wait and see first, she does not seem like a threat but I could be wrong, so let us observe first before reporting anything." He answered calmly but then a short pause ensued as if he was thinking of adding something before shaking his head slightly "the coachman does look a bit familiar don't you think so piet?" Sadly piet's attention was only on the woman at the time so he did not get a look at her servants, the two took their separate ways as they resumed to work. The crowd dispersed and everyone returned to their jobs
Outside of the manager's office Josh knocked two times before they got a response, "Come in, but leave your servants outside."The voice reminded, Sarah shot the guys a look.of apology before stepping in with Derrick.Josh didn't mind standing outside plus he trusted in his ability to eavesdrop on the conversation about to take place inside, and apparently so did Simon for some reason he seemed a bit relieved.
"Finally, some space." He spoke with a smile, Simon and Josh needed to talk about their way forward after all Timothy had people after him and with the murder of Judith and him as the prime suspect they had to come up with a plan of advancement, a way to lure out their enemies and find out their true nature. Josh was nervous because he knew the whole truth to some extent, and the fact that their enemy might not even be human scared him even though it won't be the first time he had met such an enemy, he was scared because now he was being hunted and without any information about his pursuers the only two things he could do was run or try to set a trap.
"Indeed, I believe you want to talk about that matter?"Simon nodded making Josh sigh
"This is not the place, walls have ears." Josh reminded Simon that they were in an unfamiliar territory and for now they had to keep a low profile.simon understood and kept quiet listening to the conversation being held in the closed room besides them.
"If it isn't the prodigal princess,Sarah f***** Manchester." In the office they were three people all dressed in expensive clothes with the youngest of the three a young man in his early twenties seated infront of the two middle aged men, his presence was commanding and his green eyes were sharp and smart. He had a mole on the left side of his bottom lip, his eyes went from Sarah to Derrick who immediately retreated behind his mother.
Sarah knew all three of the them since they were members of her family, cousins. The slim middle aged man on the right was Rob Manchester, and the fat one onthe left was Steven Manchester, even though the other was slim and the other fat their identical features gave away the fact that these two were twins. As for the one in the middle it was her younger cousin Cyrus, the child of her father's younger brother Daeron.
Sarah was mentally prepared for this and today she would show them that it was her who now called the shots, after all she could not let herself be bullied infront of her son.