Her father was livid.
He paces through the house angrily, entering every room, slamming every door, as if he was searching for something. His loud stomps and the crashing of the doors as he opened them, made Sophia come out of her room, interrupting her daily sowing. Her father's face turned red with fury, his eyes full of hatred as he opens the armoire down the hall.
"What's happening father?" she asks as she slowly walks towards him but he doesn't hear her, instead, he pulls a rifle from the armoire, making Sophia tremble in fear.
From downstairs, she could hear her mother's consoling words. Sophia walks down the stairs and finds Lucia crying into her mother's arms. What happened to Lucia? Did someone hurt her? Her father rushes down the stairs heavily as he murmurs angrily to himself.
Her mother stands rapidly leaving Lucia crying alone. "Derek, please try to calm down," she begs but he dismisses her. Sophia sees her father charging his rifle, she gasps. "Don't do anything you might regret, please, give me the gun," her mother says fearfully.
At last, Mr. Willis turns to Sophia. "You are not marrying that coward," he says firmly, making her heart stop. She turns to look at Lucia who was still crying, that's when she realizes she is faking it. Tears weren't coming out and her cries were too loud. What did she do?
"Father, what's happening?" she asks anxiously.
"He is a coward who doesn't know how to respect my daughters," he replies but mainly to himself, he opens the front door and walks out angrily. "And to think I was going to let him marry my daughter, that bastard," he grumbles under his breath.
Sophia lifts her skirt as she runs after him. "Father please, tell me what's going on," she begs as she tries to pulls his arm.
He turns abruptly. "Get back home, Sophia," he orders.
"Just tell me what he did," she says rapidly.
He looks down at the ground then at her. "That bastard took advantage of your sister."
Sophia can't believe her sister had said such a lie. "No father, that's not true," she tries to explain but she can't keep up with him.
The second her father sees the Lancaster house, he shoots the rifle into the air, making the people around him scurry for safety. "Come out you coward!" he yells.
Sophia sees that the house is empty. She then remembers that Adam's parents weren't in town, she comes to the conclusion that Adam is at the carpentry. But before her father can come to the same realization, she runs towards the corner of the street heading towards the street behind it where the shop is located.
Her hands are getting tired from holding on to her dress so tightly to facilitate her movements, her feet are hurting from her foot wear, but she keeps running as fast as she can. The run seems eternal but when she sees the Lancaster's carpentry sign, she feels her heart race.
"Oh God," she whispers as she speeds up.
She rushes to the door as she screams his name. Adam appears from the back door, he sees her blushed cheeks and her rapid breathing. Alarmed, he runs towards her holding her arms strongly.
"Mr. Lancaster," she says between breaths. "My father thinks you took advantage of Lucia. He has his rifle and he's looking for you. You must leave," she says rapidly not wanting to waste any more time.
"What? Why does he think such a thing?" Adam says fearfully.
"Lucia told him," she says then she hears her father's angry voice. "You must leave immediately," she says desperately, but her father is already through the door.
"Don't you dare touch her," he yells as he grabs Sophia by the arm and pulls her away.
"Father please don't hurt him..."
"Go home at once," he screams not allowing her to finish. He grabs his rifle and hits Adam across the face making him crash against a table and down to the ground.
"No, stop!" Sophia screams trying to pull his arm back but he pulls away and kicks Adam on his stomach, leaving him breathless. Adam winces on the ground with pain.
At the sight of blood dripping from his mouth, Sophia gains the last of her strength and pulls his father away from Adam as he attempts to strike him again. "Stop!" she cries and rushes next to Adam. She turns him around and tries to wipe the blood from his lips with her handkerchief. He looks up at her with his tender eyes; she sees that his whole left side was starting to swell.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry," she whispers as she places her cold hand on his face hoping that it would make it feel better.
"Sophia. Get away from him," she hears her father from behind her.
"So you can kill him?" she replies angrily.
Adam turns and spits blood from his mouth. "Do as he says," he whispers weakly.
Sophia starts shaking her head when she feels his father's hand tugging on her arm harshly making her wince in pain.
Adam stands weakly as he screams, "Let her go!" but her father ignores him.
"Get home right now," he says through clenched teeth as he shoves her towards the door.
"No father, please stop!" she screams as she sees him walking slowly towards Adam who struggled to his feet.
Her father holds the rifle under Adam's neck, Adam doesn't move. "You steal my daughters' virtue and expect to get away with it?" He walks closer without leaving his gaze. "I don't want to see you near my daughters, understood?" he orders and before he steps back, he hits him once more throwing him back.
He walks away and takes Sophia with him dragging her out to the streets. "Father please listen, he didn't do anything..."
"Don't defend him Sophia."
"He couldn't have taken advantage of her, he is incapable of such thing..."
Her father comes to a halt and shakes her violently. "How can you be so defending over that stupid man, he abused Lucia, your only sister."
"But that's not what happened!" she screams. "Can't you see she lied to you?"
In that moment she feels his stern hand hitting her across the face. She feels the shooting pain from her father's grip as he lets go of her. As he notices what he had just done, he starts hurriedly, "I'm sorry Sophia, I shouldn't have done that." He attempts to hug her but she pushes him away.
"I can't believe you refuse to see what is right in front of you," she retorts and heads firmly back to her house.
Ò Ò Ò
She runs up the stairs, directly to Lucia's room. She bursts inside and finds her brushing her long blonde hair serenely. Sophia feel her anger rise up to her chest wondering how she can be so calm. She wants her to feel what poor Adam felt, she wants her to know what pain is, to know that not everything could be done with such a malicious manner without consequences.
"Oh, Sophie, what happened to your face?" she asks with a patronizing tone.
"Why would you tell such a wicked lie?"
Lucia turns back to look at herself in the mirror. "Our dear father had to know," she simply replies.
"He didn't force you and you know it."
"He didn't have to know that part. What? Are you going to tell our father? Will he believe you after I tell him about your little escapades?"
Sophia rolls her eyes, she knew Lucia was going to use that against her one way or another. "I sometimes wonder about you Lucia. Do you not care about Adam? Father almost killed him, did you not think of that?"
Lucia's smile fades. "I do care for Adam, let's just say that I was trying to... save him, from his future."
"You are unbelievable," it's all she manages to say. As she sees her brushing her hair conceitedly, with a proud smile on her face, it made her feel sorry for her, was she really that heartless? That selfish? She turns towards the door without looking back, not noticing that Lucia gazes at her angrily, with a hint of envy in her eyes.
Ò Ò Ò
Sophia lies down on her bed later that night. She stares at the fireplace absently, thinking of Adam. The image of him bleeding as he lied on the floor intruded her mind. He didn't deserve any of it. She felt so guilty, she wishes she could've stood up to her father, that she could have told him the truth. Adam wasn't a coward, he was a gentleman who respected her at all times. She assumed he was the same with Lucia, but Lucia was dissatisfied and convinced him to do what she wanted. Sophia preferred to believe that Lucia was the brainwasher that she was the one that insisted, but she knew that wasn't the case. The feeling was mutual, Adam made it clear. She shuts her eyes and tries to unravel her thoughts, whatever happened was in the past. What satisfaction could Lucia get coming out with it after five years? And how she mislead their father like that, made Sophia furious.
Gilda walks in with a bowl filled with cold water. She pulls a chair in front of Sophia and holds the wet rag in her hand. "How are you feeling?" she asks as she pats the rag on her cheek. Sophia closes her eyes feeling its coldness.
"You should have seen my father. I've never seen him so angry," she says monotonously.
Gilda dips the cloth in the water slowly squeezing the excess out. "Your father would do anything for you girls."
"I know. But I also know that Mr. Lancaster didn't do what Lucia said he did. It's unthinkable that he would do anything of that sort."
Gilda looks at her attentively, like she wanted to say something but she decides against it.
Sophia raises her head slightly. "You believe me, don't you?"
Gilda considers it. "You really don't think he did it?"
"I know he didn't." She lays her head back down. Gilda kept healing her red cheek. "You know Lucia's reputation, I'm not saying it's her to blame, I just don't think she was forced," Sophia finishes carefully.
Gilda gives her a weak smile. "I'm sorry for the wedding," she whispers.
Sophia hadn't thought of the wedding cancellation at all. "I don't care for the wedding. You should have seen how my father hurt Mr. Lancaster. I found myself unable to stop him."
Gilda puts the rag down and pats her shoulder softly. "You really like him don't you?"
Sophia can't believe her question. Of course she did, what kind of girl wouldn't? "It's not a matter of like, he was beaten unfairly. He didn't deserve it."
"Maybe he did. We don't know what really happened, so we can't say."
Sophia does know but it wasn't for her to say, was it?
Ò Ò Ò
She couldn't sleep at all that night, thoughts of the cancelled wedding made it impossible. She sits on her bed looking out the window, the quiet town of Lakewood slowly coming back to life. Adam probably hates her. Her father acted like such a brute, why wouldn't he hate her? How will they react if they saw each other around in the village? She takes a deep breath fighting back tears, she first lost Daniel who lied to her mercilessly; now Adam, who gave her a glimmer of hope that she could forget Daniel and perhaps start all over again. Now what will she do? Her father will search another suitor, then the whole process will be repeated. She exhales wearily, she was exhausted by this arrangement, and she doesn't know if she can stand another one.
She hears a knock and after it, her father spoke. "Sophia, may I come in?"
She didn't want him to come in, she doesn't want to see him ever again. "Yes, you may," she replies but she doesn't dare to look at him. Instead she stays where she is at allowing the wind to slightly play with her long hair.
He sits by her side, making the bed shake. "Sophia, I want to apologize." She doesn't answer. "I know I overreacted, and I am very sorry, I should've listened to you."
At that she turns to see him, did she hear him correctly?
"I was very unfair to him. I should've listened to the whole story before making any rash decisions."
Sophia furrows her eyebrows and wonders if Lucia did do the right thing after all.
Her father continues, "Mr. Adam Lancaster is very fond of you."
"Is he?" she asks in disbelief.
He nods. "Why else would he come even after what I did to him, if not because he really cared about you."
"He came?" she asks in shock.
"He is waiting for you outside."
"What about Lucia?"
He exhales sharply. "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine."
"Will she be punished?" she asks feebly. It doesn't matter what kind of person her sister is, Sophia still loves her.
"Yes, she will be punished. I should have been stricter with her. I could see her flirtatious attitude since an early age; I should have stopped her as soon as I noticed it."
"You can't be so hard on yourself, she has always been good at disguising her intentions."
Her father watches her caringly. "You are a good daughter; I don't deserve you." He touches her now healing cheek. "Do you forgive me?"
Sophia nods. Yes, he acted in an impulse and very violently. Yes, she was angry at him. But he was human and a father. She couldn't possibly guess how else she would have acted if she was in his position.