The Life We Live ~ Part One

ALERT! New story!

I know, for those who know me, I should be working on my other main story but I just can't help but post these new ones that pop into my head.

Hope you like this and Happy Reading!

Also, if you have any title suggestions for me, that would be great!

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PART ONE

The floorboards creaked as he walked the air heavy with moisture as if a soggy blanket had been thrown over the area. He tugged at his collar, sniffing with distaste. His parents walked a few paces ahead of him, nodding solemnly as his aunt chattered receptively. Coughing when he bumped his elbow against an elderly tapestry as clouds of dust are inhaled up his nose. His mother shot him a glare when his coughing grew loud, echoing in the cavernous hall. Swallowing to silence the hacking, he turned away and headed back the way they came to wait out the stay in the parlor.

Easing back into a leather chair with antique décor, he sighed in irritation. His head felt like it weighed ten pounds more than normal and his chest constricted as if iron bands were being thrown across his body. Why they even brought him along is a mystery to him. It was his great-great-uncle, a man he had never met in his entire life. He died of lung cancer and now they were here on his behalf to help console his grieving wife.

What a load of bull, he thought menacingly, gazing up at the dusty ceiling. Cobwebs swung precariously from the chandelier, making the light appear ghostly. “What the hell? Don’t they clean this place,” he whispered harshly.

“Can I get you anything?” a sharp voice came from the hall opposite. Sitting up straighter, his eyes landed on an elderly woman with a severe face and pinched nose.

He rolled his eyes when he saw the familiar maid outfit he had seen in the family photos lining the walls. “No,” he said rudely, sniffing with an air of someone better. The woman forced a smile and exited swiftly, her one-inch heels clanking loudly on the wood floors. He cringed at the noise.

“It’s amazing how much history I have missed,” his father’s voice was heard from the hall.

“Yes, Frederick was quite the explorer in his youth,” his aunt said in her high-pitched squeak, sending his eardrums twanging.

They entered the room then. His aunt was a stout woman with a plump face and ashy-blonde hair that lay in wisps around her pale head. His father was at her elbow, his head reaching towards the ceiling, his lanky frame oddly mimicking the family pictures on the walls. His mother was near his aunt’s height with thick black hair that she always wore in a low bun at the base of her neck. “William, won’t you come and join us for lunch?”

He resisted the urge to decline, standing and plastering a smile on his face. “Of course.” Leaving the parlor behind, they entered the dinning room. It was slightly cleaner than the rest of the house with high-arched entryways and various maids running around. He spotted the pinched-nose woman and grinned at her, winking coyly. She frowned severely and kept walking, making him laugh.

Once they were all seated and enjoying a meal deprived of meat, his aunt being a full-blooded vegetarian, his parents announced the worst news Will had ever heard. “We have thought about it a lot, Ruby, and I think it would be wonderful to stay the summer with you.”

Nearly choking on his asparagus, Will gazed at his parents as if they had just lost their minds. “Excuse me?” he said with raised eyebrows.

His mother glowered. “You heard us, William. We’re staying here to keep Ruby company.” Ruby flashed him a welcoming smile but it did nothing to ease the pounding of his heart. This couldn’t be happening. First, they dragged him out of the city to his hick town with people who don’t clean their houses. Now, they plan to lock him in this hellhole for a whole three months.

Well, we’ll see about that.

“But you can’t? You know how I have those college trips set up and I can’t cancel them.”

“You can still go to them,” his father insisted.

Will breathed deeply, struggling to keep his feelings in-check. “What about Blair? Her party’s next Saturday?”

“You’ll just have to miss it. Blair will have other birthday parties. Our minds are made up. We’ll move in next weekend.”

And so the conversation was done.

- - -

All Veronica knew was the earth between her horse’s hooves and the sound of the animal breathing beneath her. Her body was hunched, pulled close to the horse’s body for added speed. She anticipated the moment, waited carefully, and then straightened, bending, flowing with the horse. She felt the muscles contract, expand, and contract again as they hit the earth, trampling the few strands of grass poking through the black dirt.

“That was good, but it could be better. Your landing is still off. Also, you have to ease Quin’s mind. He’s too jumpy and hesitates before the vault.” Veronica nodded towards her trainer, a young David Green. She patted Quin’s neck and he snorted up at her, perking up his ears when David approached.

“I’m not sure how to get him to stop fearing the jump. He was doing so good until…”

“You have to train that out of him. Make him strong. Maybe take him for a ride through the woods.”

“Yeah.” Veronica clicked her tongue, heading back in the direction of the barn. “See you later, David,” she threw over her shoulder as an afterthought.

David just grunted in reply, mounting his own black mare and heading off in the other direction towards his own farm.

In the barn, she laid out a fresh pallet of hay and a pail of oats for Quin to munch on before leading him into his pen. “Be good, boy,” she cooed, patting his nose before locking him up for the night. Stretching out her tried and stiff muscles, she removed her helmet and riding boots and returned to the house barefoot.

“How was training?” her mother asked upon entrance. There was a bowl of fresh chili laid out for her with a side of cornbread.

“Fine. David still says I have a long way to go.”

“You looked good to me.”

“Thanks, mom.” Digging enthusiastically into her chili, her mother took a seat opposite her. “I’m just letting you know now that Mrs. Robinson has a few guests staying at her house this summer so I’ll be working overtime at the shop.”

“Guests? The Robinson’s never have guests.”

“Well, after Mr. Robinson died, family is staying with her to ease her mind.”

Veronica snorted. “Yeah, right. More like waiting for her to pass and then they get the cash.”

“Veronica!” her mother admonished, her face wide in shock at her oldest daughter’s statement.

“What? You know it’s true.”

“All the same, I want nothing but kindness from you. No rude comments. Besides, that boy of theirs that they brought along is going to be working right along side of you.”

“Great.” Veronica pushed away her unfinished chili, no longer feeling hungry. “I’m just going to go to bed now, mom. I’m bushed.”

“All right, dear. Sweet dreams.”

“Yeah, sweet dreams.”

Up in her room, Veronica thought long and hard about the news of a family staying at the Robinson’s house. She had never heard of relatives coming and going from there. The house was a ghost in itself. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson never even left the house. Always locked up, scared of their own shadows. She wondered what the family was going to say when they found out about that.

Smiling to herself, she slipped into a heavy slumber.

**Not to be continued...