I know I haven't posted anything on this in ages... but if I'm lucky, someone out there is still willing to read and help me with this poor excuse to a start of a chapter... *puppy eyes*
Three
“Hold still, Addie,” my mother said with a laugh as I bounced impatiently.
I let out a sigh. “Are you done yet?” I tugged on her sleeve. “Mommy, are you done?”
“No, sweetie. Just a few more seconds.” Her blue eyes sparkled with amusement as she adjusted the pins holding together my “robe”—an off-white bed sheet.
“One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten… eleven… twelve… fourteen…”
“You forgot thirteen,” my mother said with another laugh as she pinned another place.
“This is taking too long!” I exclaimed, bouncing again.
“We’re done.”
“We are?” I jumped up and down in a circle, clapping my hands. “We’re done, we’re done!”
“Hey… no jumping, little missy. You’ll ruin that halo I spent so long getting straight on your pretty hair.”
I stopped and touched my halo, made of straw twisted together into a circle, with two fingers. “It’s pretty,” I told my mother authoritatively.
“Yes, it is. Now wait here and I’ll go tell your daddy you’re ready, all right?”
I nodded happily and watched my mother’s retreating back as she left the room. I could hear her speaking in an undertone to Daddy, both of them laughing before she returned. “All right, come on, darling.”
I stepped out of the room, keeping my steps slow and measured, making sure I didn’t trip over the somewhat long sheet trailing behind me and sagging around my ankles. My bare feet patted across the wooden floor and I stopped as I reached my father, sitting in his favorite chair, smiling at me.
“There she is,” he said. “My Christmas angel.”
“This is my present for you, Daddy,” I told him. “I’m gonna sing to you.”
“Go ahead,” he said.
I took a deep breath, and then began to sing a gentle Christmas tune that he’d taught me only days before. My voice filled the room, and the sweet, somewhat airy sound made my father’s eyes fill with tears.
When I finished, he and my mother applauded as I bowed again and again before I flung myself into Daddy’s lap. “Did you like it?” I asked him eagerly.
“It was the best present I’ve ever gotten, my Addie Bell,” he said, hugging me and kissing the top of my downy head.
I leaned my head against his chest. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too.”
My eyes flew open. I stretched out my legs slowly, groaning a little as my muscles screamed in protest. I realized I was cold, and my eyes found the fireplace, which held only the remains of what once gave off warmth.
I sat up tentatively, my left side cold from sleeping on the hard stone floor and put a hand to my forehead, which was throbbing with a headache. The night’s events came flooding back in a rush of pain that had nothing to do with my falling asleep on the floor. I stood gingerly, wincing as my cramped muscles suddenly had free reign again.
It was still dark. A glance out the window told me dawn was still minutes away, and after a moment of indecision, I pulled a cloak around my shoulders and made my way down to the kitchen. The dream had only sharpened my pain, and I struggled to push it from my mind, but to no avail.
The kitchen was quiet; only the head cook and a few scullery maids moved about, preparing breakfast. I let the warmth of the room seep over me as I looked for Flora. She was sitting in the corner, as close to the fireplace as possible without being in the way. She was rocking back and forth in the old rocking chair, singing softly to the baby in her arms, and I felt like I was twelve again as I looked at her beloved face, lit by the flickering light of the fire.
Flora had retired last year, claiming she wanted to spend the remainder of her time with her son and his wife and children. However, she still spent her mornings at the manor helping with small tasks to earn a small salary that she gave all of to her son and his family.
“Flora.”
She looked up and beamed with pleasure at seeing me. “Oh, Adelaide, sweet, it’s good to see you. Come sit by me.” She nodded her head to the three-legged stool at her side.
I did as she requested, and as always, she kept up a steady stream of conversation.
“Sweet Will here is Lori’s baby,” she explained, naming one of the scullery maids as she continued to rock slowly. “Poor dear hasn’t gotten a proper nights’ rest in weeks, and this sweet boy has got a nasty case of colic. So many mornings, the first thing I do is come and get him to give Lori an hour of good sleep. I sit with him and we talk and sing and tell stories.” She looked up. “Sometimes about you.” She winked at me and returned her attention to the sleeping baby in her arms. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s got you up before the sun or am I going to have to drag it out of you?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Flora knew something was wrong; she’d known me nearly ten years. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about it or not. I had only been looking for a friendly face.
I shrugged. “That depends.”
She looked up again. “On what?”
On if I can trust you. If you didn’t have anything to do with this. If I can speak without becoming hysterical.
Flora sighed. “You know about the letters, don’t you?”
“What?” Flora knew? How could she have known and not told me?
Flora reached out to put her hand over mine, but I snatched it back. I instantly regretted the action when I saw the hurt in the old woman’s eyes, but I had to know the truth.
“I found out what your uncle was up to nearly a year ago,” Flora said as she began to rock Will back and forth again.
“Was that why you retired?” I demanded. It had seemed so odd at the time, especially when she didn’t leave the manor altogether.
Flora nodded her head in time with her rocking. “Yes. Your uncle swore me to secrecy, but I knew I’d never be able to keep it from you as such proximity. I didn’t want to leave you either, so I retired from my ‘official’ duties,” She glanced down at the little boy in her arms. “And told that uncle of yours that I would have no part in his deceit and certainly no part in keeping a girl from her father.”
“Your silence was part enough,” I said bitterly.
Flora nodded. “That’s probably true, but I wanted you to discover the truth for yourself. Besides, I doubt you’d have believed me anyway. You see the good in people, first and foremost.”
“Yes, well maybe I ought to start looking more closely at the bad,” I said nastily. “That would probably prove more practical.”
I’d hurt her feelings. Though her face betrayed nothing, I could tell.
“Perhaps,” she said lightly, kissing the baby’s brow.
I blushed with shame. “I’m sorry, Flora,” I said softly. “You know I don’t really mean it. I’m just having trouble… taking it all in.”
She nodded her gray head serenely. “I know, love, and I hope you know that I believed I was doing what was best for you. Part was my own weakness—the fear of hurting you kept me from it. But now I wonder if I hurt you more in keeping you from the truth.” She looked up at me, and I was awash with guilt for hurting the woman who had cared for me after I moved to Obelin and still took care of me today.
She smiled, looking a little wistful. “But I’m fast learning that I can’t keep you a little girl forever, my Addie.”
The baby in her arms began to fuss, and Flora shook her head. “I’d better get some milk for this little one,” she said as she rose with some effort. “Stay strong, Addie. Keep your wits about you and you’ll know what to do.”
I watched her retreating back for a moment, and then rose and left the kitchen. I padded softly back to my rooms and slipped inside just as a pink hue began to glow on the horizon.
I pulled down the covers on my bed and rolled back and forth on top of it, smacking my pillows and making certain some of the blankets hung to the floor. I righted the chair I had flung the night before and looked into the fireplace, where I could still see the ashes of the parchment I’d burned the night before. I wasn’t sure what they were, and shifted uneasily, hoping it hadn’t been anything important.
I washed my face and had changed into a warm dressing gown when my maid entered. She looked surprised that I was awake; she usually had to fling open the curtains, steal my blankets and offer me a cookie to coax me out of bed.
“Good morning, Mistress Addie. I’m glad you’re awake; your aunt has quite the list of things for you to do today. We’ve seven maids out sick, one’s in labor, and one has a sprained ankle.” As she said all this, Arête was busily laying out my dress and straightening pillows. She shooed me away from my bed and began to make it up. I grimaced at the irony of it all.
I hooked my arm around the bed post and leaned my head against the ornately carved wooden pole. “So… what am I supposed to do?”
Arête never looked up as she fluffed a pillow and tossed it to the head of the bed. “You’re to supervise the flowers coming at ten, and oversee the arrival of the desserts to the kitchen at one this afternoon. Your breakfast will be in less than half an hour, so we have to move quickly. Also, Lord and Lady O’Connery will be here for supper, and are staying the week. You and Lady Gaia will be dressed together, beginning promptly at three so that you may be finished by five-thirty and be downstairs in plenty of time to greet guests beginning at six.” She looked at me. “What are you doing? Get dressed, mistress.”
“But… I don’t have anything to do until ten.”
Arête looked very frustrated with my lack of attention. “Mistress,” she said with incredible patience as she waved her hands to send me to my dressing table. “Your breakfast will be in less than two quarters of an hour. Your aunt has already dined, and your uncle won’t eat until around nine. Please brush your hair.”
I sighed and ran the brush through the dark waves inattentively, and it was only when it caught in a tangle that I winced and was more careful. I twisted my hair into a single braid down my back and took the dress Arête handed to me. I dropped my dressing gown on the stool next to me and pulled on the gown.
The maid buttoned the back of my dress with adept fingers, and I caught the slight frown at my messy braid, though she refrained from commenting or insisting I re-do it.
She shooed me from my room so she could continue to tidy up and I made my way down to the smaller dining room that we used for informal meals. I ate alone, and since I didn’t have a book handy, quickly.
I avoided my aunt and uncle in the library until ten, when Arête was sent to fetch me.
lol... Very good. Although there certainly weren't any heart racing moments in this chapter, I still enjoyed it, and I liked the scene with Flora.
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