a quintet of voices from downstairs, “Fourth Mother is looking for you!”
Llewellyn’s
eyes went wide and his grin threatened to engulf his face, “Sorry, girls, I
need to go. We’ll talk about it later.” He turned to leave and made
it all of one step down the hall before he turned back to face Chloë. He
pulled a doll out of one of his long pockets and held it out to Chloë, “Gavin
found this when tracing your path. I do believe it belongs to you.”
Chloë’s
fur stood on end as she laughed with a single tear in her eye, “Yes, I thought
I had lost that for good!”
Llewellyn
stepped forward, handing Chloë the doll before kissing her on the head.
“It’s
kinda stupid, still having a doll around at my age, but it is all I have to remember
my mother by,” remarked Chloë as she tried to maintain composure.
“Hey!
It’s okay!” beamed Heather as she hugged Chloë. “I’ve got my own doll
collection that I won’t let go of. That one was special to you; why
shouldn’t you keep it?”
Chloë’s
eyes flashed with worry, “Um, is it bugged, like my clothes were?”
“It
was, past tense. We took care of that,” replied Llewellyn with a fatherly
smile. “I’ve got to go, take care you two!” With that he spun and
skipped down the hall toward the stair landing.
Chloë
hugged the doll and sighed deeply before neatly setting it on the pillow of her
bed, “Some of the stupidest things get you worked up the most…”
“So
you grew up without your mother? That seems terribly sad,” offered
Heather.
Chloë
smiled at Heather as she sat on the bed and looked up at her. Sincere,
concerned, supportive, Heather was all of those things and more so. Chloë
was so used to the happy/silly side of Heather she kept forgetting she was so
much more of a person. Just the person Chloë needed, “When I was around
six, something happened between my parents, I never found out what. But
she was packed up and moved out of the…well…”
“Palace?”
offered Heather.
Chloë
tried to smile, “Yes, palace. I wanted to say house, but it was never a
house. A house becomes a home. This place is most definitely a home .
The palace never was. It never had that warmth or liveliness, that extra
bit of depth that made it feel… alive.”
“Well,
liveliness we have here in spades,” offered Heather as she tried to lighten the
mood.
Chloë
finally smiled again, “Yes, yes you do!” She brightened as she finally
managed a laugh, “Okay, enough of this. Where is that other dress?”
8
Chloë
came down for breakfast only to find Heather missing. Gwen and the mob of
younger teenagers were already busily devouring the morning fare but Heather
was nowhere to be seen.
“If
you are looking for Heather,” began Lilac (or was it Violet?). “She is in
the library,” finished Violet (or was it… argh! Twins!) with a grin.
Chloë
bobbed politely as she turned and started for the library; it was just barely
down the hall on the right. Just before the Great Hall. A few quick
skips and she found herself at the library, but paused before going in.
She could hear voices and they weren’t nearly as happy as the previous few
mornings.
“Heather,”
came Maria’s voice from the library, “you are sixteen years old. You have
gone through three apprenticeships in the last six months. That is
unseemly. You don’t help Gwen with the younger children, so I’m still
working under the assumption that you aren’t wanting to be a Second
Mother. That’s fine, but you need to pick something !”
“Mom,
I tried! Okay maybe not so hard with the first two, but with Annette, I
did try hard. Remember, she dumped me, not the other way around this
time. It wasn’t my fault she was a lousy teacher. I’ve already
taken over two of her classes. That’s progress, isn’t it?”
“It
is a start,” agreed Maria, “but only just
Llewellyn’s
eyes went wide and his grin threatened to engulf his face, “Sorry, girls, I
need to go. We’ll talk about it later.” He turned to leave and made
it all of one step down the hall before he turned back to face Chloë. He
pulled a doll out of one of his long pockets and held it out to Chloë, “Gavin
found this when tracing your path. I do believe it belongs to you.”
Chloë’s
fur stood on end as she laughed with a single tear in her eye, “Yes, I thought
I had lost that for good!”
Llewellyn
stepped forward, handing Chloë the doll before kissing her on the head.
“It’s
kinda stupid, still having a doll around at my age, but it is all I have to remember
my mother by,” remarked Chloë as she tried to maintain composure.
“Hey!
It’s okay!” beamed Heather as she hugged Chloë. “I’ve got my own doll
collection that I won’t let go of. That one was special to you; why
shouldn’t you keep it?”
Chloë’s
eyes flashed with worry, “Um, is it bugged, like my clothes were?”
“It
was, past tense. We took care of that,” replied Llewellyn with a fatherly
smile. “I’ve got to go, take care you two!” With that he spun and
skipped down the hall toward the stair landing.
Chloë
hugged the doll and sighed deeply before neatly setting it on the pillow of her
bed, “Some of the stupidest things get you worked up the most…”
“So
you grew up without your mother? That seems terribly sad,” offered
Heather.
Chloë
smiled at Heather as she sat on the bed and looked up at her. Sincere,
concerned, supportive, Heather was all of those things and more so. Chloë
was so used to the happy/silly side of Heather she kept forgetting she was so
much more of a person. Just the person Chloë needed, “When I was around
six, something happened between my parents, I never found out what. But
she was packed up and moved out of the…well…”
“Palace?”
offered Heather.
Chloë
tried to smile, “Yes, palace. I wanted to say house, but it was never a
house. A house becomes a home. This place is most definitely a home .
The palace never was. It never had that warmth or liveliness, that extra
bit of depth that made it feel… alive.”
“Well,
liveliness we have here in spades,” offered Heather as she tried to lighten the
mood.
Chloë
finally smiled again, “Yes, yes you do!” She brightened as she finally
managed a laugh, “Okay, enough of this. Where is that other dress?”
8
Chloë
came down for breakfast only to find Heather missing. Gwen and the mob of
younger teenagers were already busily devouring the morning fare but Heather
was nowhere to be seen.
“If
you are looking for Heather,” began Lilac (or was it Violet?). “She is in
the library,” finished Violet (or was it… argh! Twins!) with a grin.
Chloë
bobbed politely as she turned and started for the library; it was just barely
down the hall on the right. Just before the Great Hall. A few quick
skips and she found herself at the library, but paused before going in.
She could hear voices and they weren’t nearly as happy as the previous few
mornings.
“Heather,”
came Maria’s voice from the library, “you are sixteen years old. You have
gone through three apprenticeships in the last six months. That is
unseemly. You don’t help Gwen with the younger children, so I’m still
working under the assumption that you aren’t wanting to be a Second
Mother. That’s fine, but you need to pick something !”
“Mom,
I tried! Okay maybe not so hard with the first two, but with Annette, I
did try hard. Remember, she dumped me, not the other way around this
time. It wasn’t my fault she was a lousy teacher. I’ve already
taken over two of her classes. That’s progress, isn’t it?”
“It
is a start,” agreed Maria, “but only just
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