THE MYSTERY

(fanfiction on “the companion”)

By Errandonea Gabriela 

One Saturday evening I was having dinner with a group of friends in my house when Miss Helier asked Dr Lloyd if he had a creepy story to share. He had travelled a lot around the world, that’s  why we always expected thrilling stories from him. He thought for a while and suddenly said, “Yes, of course, I’ve got one.” All of us were excited at listening to him so we went to the drawing room and sat in a comfortable chair. Dr Lloyd explained that the story he was about to tell, had happened when he was practicing in Las Palmas, the capital of Grand Canary. He began like this, “This is a story about two pretty English ladies, Miss Mary Barton and Miss Amy Durrant.”

Dr. Lloyd continued, “One summer morning when I approached the beach called Las Nieves, I saw a tremendous commotion. Two ladies had gone swimming, one of them had swum out too far from the shore and got into difficulties. The other woman had gone after her and had tried to bring her in, but her strength in turn had failed. She also would have drowned if a man hadn’t rowed out in a boat. It was a terrible tragedy, Miss Amy Durrant died that day. After that terrible circumstance, I offered my help to Miss Mary Barton, the dead woman’s companion, and as a matter of fact the situation made me fall in love with her,” he explained. I suddenly told him that  the story was interesting; However, I wondered  why he called it a creepy story because ,in fact, to me it was a tragic one. But he emphasized that it wasn’t the end of the story. He remarked an unpleasant discovery. A notebook that had been hidden in a drawer in Miss Barton’s bedroom which he found by chance. That notebook contained some confidential information related to Miss Amy Durrant`s dead. It  said, “I’m very sorry but I have to murder Amy to protect my family, I have to do it.” After reading, he  waited for a long time until Miss Mary Barton arrived at her home. As soon as he saw her, he desperately asked for explanation. Dr Lloyd expressed it using her  own words, “ I know it’s difficult for anyone outside to understand but I am the eldest of a poor family with three young siblings who were delicate and needed expensive medical treatment, money was wanted desperately!” We wanted to know what had happened to her. He continued explaining that the following day he realized that she had vanished. There was a note which said, “I can’t stand it any more.” She committed suicide but her body never was recovered. 

Finally Dr Lloyd expressed, “To be perfectly honest, I am not sure if Miss Mary Barton is dead or alive. she may be  somewhere around the world looking for a new victim. Who knows?” he concluded.