[color=ec008c]Optional Reading. 

"Were you listening?"

Lillian looked up from her book "With fervent rigor, I assure you." She then turned the book to face the other woman to reveal she had been writing everything down that had been said, with notes in the margins, and the occasional diagram. It was all messy and difficult to read, but the woman with whom Lily was conversing had already admitted to not knowing how to read as her parents could only afford to send her sister to school, so its not as if she knew it was messy. 

"That is some messy hand writing you have there ma'am." Lily slammed the book closed with single smooth motion of her left hand and put the book away "...m-my apologies I meant no offence! Please I desperately need your h-" Lily cut her off.

"I would not turn away a person in need because they offended me, and your comment was hardly inaccurate anyway."

"So you'll help!?" The woman almost knocked her chair over leaping out of it in excitement and hope. Lily nodded and waved a hand in an attempt to signify it was obvious she would help but the woman interpreted it as giving permission for a hug, which she did rather tightly. The two watches Lillian carried around her neck dug painfully into her chest, and must have done the same to the other woman though if it did it failed to serve as a deterrent. Lily forcibly stood up, the woman continued to cling.

"I can't very well look for your missing sister if you keep me rooted here with hugs." 

"Oh gracious me of course!" the woman let go and took several steps back before giving a deep and practiced curtsy that was most assuredly only ever used for royalty. While still deep in her gesture of physically showing social inferiority she sputtered out numerous more comments of thankfulness. 

"Yes yes yes, please stop now. I have a job to do, and its bad for your calves, knees, and ankles to remain in that position for too long. Keep this up and you'll be in pain at work for the rest of the day. Now show me to your sisters house."

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Kateřina Kucera had managed to get word to Lillian through her personal maid. Apparently the maids of the city all have their own little interconnected network. Normally used for gossip and sharing tips on how to be a better maid, but sometimes served a far greater purpose. Kateřina's sister, Tereza Kucera, had gone missing a week prior, and according to Kateřina the authorities had had no luck -or more accurately no interest- in tracking her sister down. Dominika, Lillian's personal maid, happened to be friends with an acquaintance of Kateřina and asked if Lily would have any interest in helping. Lillian of course agreed to help in exchange for access to the maid network when ever she needed. There was a brief one hour period where the terms of her assistance where sent out across the city, presumably to the other maids, before it was determined Lilian's terms where acceptable. Lily of course would have helped had they declined but only a fool would ignore the chance to gain access to a well spring of knowledge when it presented itself. She did however feel bad for asking as the hour wasted on confirmation of the terms was another hour Tereza spent missing. Had she known events would go that way she would have simply agreed and made her way to help. 

No sense lamenting past mistakes, best to learn from them and push forward. 

Tereza Kucera's house was modest to put it lightly, though still shockingly nice for an un-married part time maid. Her home was a small apartment above a bakery and so the entire place smelled of fresh bread and trdelnik. Depending on ones disposition this feature could have been either amazing or a minor curse. 

Lilly bit into one of the croissants she had purchased from the baker on her way up. Not as good as what she could get at home, but still flaky on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Some of the crunchy crust flaked off as she bit into it and fell to the ground. "Perhaps I should consume these outside." she put the treat into the same deep pocket as the other croissants and quickly cleaned the mess she had made. Then she got to work examining the apartment; checking every nook and cranny, knick-knack and doily, floor board and door hinge. She found no signs of a struggle, forced entry, picked lock, or even signs Tereza left in a hurry. All in all the home looked as though Tereza would return at any moment, which by all accounts meant the home was not where Tereza had gone missing. Kateřina mentioned her sister had to make a five kilometer walk to work and back every other day, so there was a lot of ground to cover in regards to where she may have gone missing. To make matters worse, apparently Terzea was prone to change her route home for the sake of something different. Lillian could understand and empathize with the instinct though under the circumstances cursed the woman for her whimsy. 

Even though the apartment had proved a bust, Lily was still rather intrigued by it. Kateřina's house, though larger, was not as nice as her sisters. It was in a worse part of town, had numerous structural issues, ill-fitted windows and doors, everything creaked, and despite the size there was barely any furniture. Kateřina was also married unlike her sister, which meant extra income. Compared to her neighbors Kateřina and her husband lived like kings, yet it paled in comparison to her sister who by all accounts should have been living out of a hostel. The obvious answer was that Tereza was getting help, and the most likely culprit was her employer. It would not have been the first time in history a rich man gifted his mistress with extravagant gifts. 

Lillian was about to leave the apartment, her hand on the door knob, when a sudden thought had accrued to her. She returned to Tereza's bed room, barely large enough for a bed with a slanted roof so one had to crouch. The mattress was the typical cheap sort for someone of her financial standing, yet the sheets were heavy and well made, and the pillow was clearly down. Her purpose for returning to the room was that 
there was one item every woman, even if she lived alone, would hide; Especially if they were the gossipy sort. 

It didn't take her long to locate Terza's journal, which had been placed beneath a loose floorboard. Truly a hiding spot so over-used it was almost as bad as leaving it out in the open. Lillian shook her head and clicked her tongue in frustration, though the juvenile attempt at concealment might help her find the missing woman she couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of creativity. Journal in hand she made her way to the modest living room and sat in the only chair in the apartment. It was simple but very comfortable. She opened the book and began reading. As expected, the journal went back in Tereza's life rather far, and did not detail every event in her life. Even blank books were a rather costly gift for those who were poor so young girls lucky enough to receive one as a gift made sure it lasted. One could get a rather meaningful snap shot of a woman's life by reading through their journal. Only, of course, if they were poor. If they were a rich girl they would probably have many journals, each one filled to the tits with the most boring day-to-day drivel one could imagine. 

Lily flipped to the back of the book and opted to read it in reverse as that would be the most up to date. About three-quarters of the book had been used already, which was a tad unusual but not that out of place. Simply meant Terza was a woman with a lot to say. 

[b][i]August 8th, 1884

The images are back, and this time they're coming to me every few hours. I can barely get a wink of sleep because I keep being woken by these visions. I don't know if its the god or the devil sending these to me but I can't live like this anymore, I need to do something about it. Tomorrow I am going to follow these visions and see where they take me. I don't care if I lose my job, or if Alexander no longer wishes to lay with me. I need to see where this all takes me, even if its leading me to my own death. [/i][/b]

"Ah..." Lilain grunted "I did not see that one coming..."

To be continued. [/color]