Valerie didn't tell the family about it because she knew Oscar would never let her go, nor would he let his mother go. Still, she packed her bags and placed them under her bed. No one was home so no one would know she had packed her bags or that she would be leaving for the castle to be a maid in order to keep her family afloat.
'It's Thursday and I need to be at the castle by next Sunday. I'll say I'm visiting the orphanage for the weekend then leave them a letter telling them where I've really gone.' thought Valerie. She knew that they'd never let her leave to be a maid if she told them. Moreover, Robert wouldn't let her go because then he'd have to eat Margret's food.
The pure thought of her family made her laugh. 'Family, I- I have a family. I'm leaving my family...' Valerie started to tear up. All she wanted when she was younger was a family, the child her would have also done anything to help that same family but would never in her life leave the family.
Valerie was now having second thoughts. Though she loved her family so much she'd give her own life for them, she could never imagine leaving them still breathing.
Maybe she could make money some other way? Maybe she could work in a bakery, or be a librarian? Anything would be better than leaving her family.
Valerie spent the rest of the day listing jobs she could have to help her family. When she compared how much money she'd make from each job, being a maid came out on top. Somewhere inside she knew being a maid would make her the most money.
This what she was scared of, having to leave the best thing to ever happen to her. In the end, she decided that this was what she had to do, this was the path she had to take.
'It's not like I'm losing them, right? Maybe Malphus will let me come visit. Malphus...Malphus!' in the midst of all the chaos, she hadn't realized she'd be working for an old friend. It made her happy to know she'd feel somewhat at home with Malphus around to make her smile.
All these emotions floating around in her head made Valerie dizzy, so she went to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.
The rest of the Fin-Whip family had arrived without Valerie knowing. It made her wonder how deep in thought she was that she didn't hear them enter the house.
Oscar walked over and planted a kiss on Valerie's cheek.
"Good afternoon beautiful, how was your day?" Oscar walked behind Valerie and grabbed her waist.
Valerie swallowed her water, turned around in his arms, kissed him, and said "It was very eventful, I played with the neighbor's children as a favor today."
The neighbors had helped them with their last payment for the house because they didn't have enough.
"Speaking of children...?" Oscar lifted his eyebrows up and down and talked in a playful voice.
"Yes, we will have children, but only after we sort out the money problem," Valerie said as she sat her empty glass down on the counter and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear.
"Don't worry, we will have this sorted out by next month." Oscar gave Valerie a hug to assure her what he was saying was true.
"We sure will," Valerie said in a cold, stiff voice. It made Oscar think she thought he was lying, but then even when he said it last week she sounded like she believed him. That made him believe she was hiding something from him. He brushed it off and pretended to have heard nothing.
The next morning was when Valerie had planned to leave for the castle. She had grabbed her bags from under the bed and had taken $20 from their money jar, which was most of the money they had, but she didn't want to have to walk all the way to the castle. As she left the house she announced that she was staying at the orphanage for the weekend to help out with the children.
It hurt her to lie to her family, but she knew there was no other way she'd be able to leave as a maid.
She caught a coach and told him she was heading to the castle, he charged her $17 leaving her with only $3. 'It's quite expensive to get to the castle hm? Well, I do suppose an hour drive wouldn't be cheap.' Valerie thought to herself as the coachman started the coach.
Then Valerie panicked for a minute because she thought that she hadn't left the note for them to read. They'd go to the orphanage, and the head minister would tell them she never arrived and they'd think she got kidnapped!
Then she remembered she left the note flat in the middle of the dining table. That made her calm down, she'd feel horrible if they would think she got kidnapped and have everyone in town looking for her. They might think a black witch took her and killed her, leading to an innocent girl being burned.
The thought of someone dying for a mistake they didn't even make made her skin crawl. She turned her attention to the woods outside the carriage to settle her mind.
5 minutes later she had fallen asleep, then the coachman woke her up telling her she was at the castle.
There it was, the grand castle in all of its glory, even if she did want to go home now, the sun was setting and she didn't have enough money for the ride home.
She took every little strand of courage in her body and walked into the castle.