Secrets of Sloane House(18)

Nanci felt the same way. “It’s a shame we can’t come back again tomorrow,” Nanci said with a pout. “We’ve walked so far and have only visited a few of the states’ buildings. I’ve a mind to visit Pennsylvania’s display next. We need to see the Liberty Bell, don’t you think?”

Nanci had been that way all afternoon, holding her Columbian Exposition newspaper tightly in one hand while pointing out sights and sounds with the other.

“Perhaps one day we’ll get to come again. You never know,” Rosalind ventured, though in truth, she had no idea how she would ever get to visit again. She’d neither the funds nor the opportunity to visit twice.

“Perhaps.” With a sigh, Nanci reached for her hand, and together they traipsed over gravel walkways and picturesque bridges. “Since the newspaper says the lines are long for the Liberty Bell, let’s make our way to the midway. I hear Blarney Castle is right magical.”

Their journey to the other end of the park took quite some time. It was impossible not to stop often to investigate different sights and sounds.

It was also impossible for Rosalind not to scan every face that passed, on the off chance that she’d find her sister. She carried the small photo she had of Miranda in her reticule, though fearing she was on a fool’s errand. The one time she dared show it to a vendor while Nanci was looking elsewhere, he laughed heartily at her question, saying thousands of people passed him each day.

The situation felt overwhelming. Rosalind wasn’t very brave. She wasn’t very good at subterfuge. Every time she left the confines of the grand mansion, she became more and more aware that she had a very limited view of the world.

In Wisconsin, she’d spent the majority of her time with either animals or her family. Here in Chicago, it seemed very few people ever spent time with their own kin. Instead, they chose to flit here and there, to accept jobs in a city that was dangerous and exciting. They’d made the choice to try something new, to be in strange surroundings.

She, on the other hand, was there only because her family was that desperate. After her father made a short trip to Chicago and could not convince either Mr. or Mrs. Sloane or the police to help him find Miranda, she’d been the only person in her family who could leave the farm and look for her. So she’d gone, not because she was the best choice, but because she was the only choice.

And now, as each day passed, she worried that perhaps she was merely making things worse. In many ways, she feared she was going to let her parents down, her whole family down. And most of all, Miranda herself.

As the sights and the sounds of the fair surrounded her, Rosalind’s earlier fascination disappeared. She felt almost claustrophobic. There were too many people, too close together.

Nanci, however, seemed to glow from her excitement. “Do you hear them folks behind us?” she asked when they were standing in a line of at least twenty deep for cider. “I think they’re speaking Chinese!”

“How do you know what Chinese sounds like?”

“I don’t, but I’ve got a good imagination!”

Despite her fears, Rosalind laughed. “That you do, Nanci. You have a very good imagination.”

“You need to relax and learn to look around you a bit, you know,” Nanci warned. “Here you are at the one place in the world where everyone is coming together, and you’re looking as if you’re about to jump out of your skin!”

Rosalind was in awe of the many foreigners who wandered through the buildings. But instead of looking at them like prospective friends as Nanci did, she looked at them as possible kidnappers. She couldn’t help it. Her sister’s disappearance made her fear and distrust almost everyone.

“I can’t wait to see the belly dancers,” Nanci whispered. “I heard the women wear veils too.”

After they each got a cold glass of cider, they sipped their drinks near one of the many parks and viewing areas. “We need to see as much as we possibly can, Rosalind.” Without stopping for air, Nanci continued. “And, of course, I’m eager to see all the curious people and animals. Do we dare visit the Egyptian temple?”

At last, Rosalind felt herself getting more excited about their adventure as well. “I’ll go wherever you would like.”

“There’s a girl. I knew you’d get the hang of things sooner or later.”

“I guess it’s finally happened then.” Picking up a handout a previous visitor had tossed to the ground, Rosalind’s eyes grew wide. “But perhaps we could take in one of the many shows today? I see there’s an opera here.”