Chapter 1
"Our backgarden is not an ordinary garden, it is the very Garden of Eden herself, plagued with bugs and fruits, with only us as the mortals instead of Adam and Eve!" Ejaculated a cherub angel to me, her dark brown eyes merrily flitting to my face and back to the garden. The cherub angel is named Elizabeth. I laughed along with her, she is so queer with her language as i am yet i do not make mine so known, only in leafs of books i keep hidden away at home. She has seen them most of them, for we keep no secrets from each other, after all, she is my companion in this life, in birth and (hopefully in death). We had hoped to never surpass each other in age, like our mother had done with father, he an absent figure in our lives. Twins we are, inferior in only not being able to be heirs of the little money my mother had left us before her death.
Our aunt Estelle has swooped in like a bird meant to capture two lovely flight companions, only to find two earth bound companions instead rather like two rabbits or cats. She declared us messy, a little too uncultivated in manners, and all around undecipherable in mind even though she found us pleasant to be around. So, she let us out into the garden of her estate to release our energies into the grass to have us more lady-like on our return. "I declare, this garden may be Eden but we have explored it many times but as of yet, never found something new!" I said. "Dont lie, Emily. I did find two grown female rabbits and showed them to you yesterday!" Cried Elizabeth. "Yes, yes, i know," i said, stifling a yawn. "But I want more beyond this garden."
"What can you mean,beyond this garden is only the St. John Chapel and that has never been occupied even before Aunt Estelle came to settle here?" Elizabeth queried. "I only mean, don't you ever want adventure or travels, to see what the lands have to offer concerning amusement and homes?" I inquired of her, i wanted to know if she and i thought the same. A moment of silence, save the birds and bees, came from her. "Why, no. Only with a man, if i dared to marry. The true adventure lays at home and in garden for me, i swaer you must be a fine nomad in our past lives!" Said she. I grew red at this and said nothing more.
"Emily, think nothing of the fine compliment i paid you, if you be a nomad, i be a housewife that had waited for you to come home, and now you have in birth, only a mere two minutes later!" Said she. I couldnt help but to smile, she is truly my dearest companion. She alone knew how to affix my querilous moods as I her. "Do you wish to help me procure more of these rabbits? Aunt Estelle said she would like these." Asked she. "I would, but i would like to explore beyond the Garden a bit." Said I. She furrowed her eyebrows at this, an idea lightened on her face. "Ten minutes, not any longer, or aunt Estelle solid will find us and hand us a smack on our bottoms!" I descended from her quick as lightning, seeing the rolling hills of the knotty grass that was a bit beyond the perimeter of our garden.
From here, a five minutes walk to the St John Chapel would be grand, the place had a haunted quality to it, not having any resident in it for many years and yet, it looked glorious with its wrap around porch with white gilded and stone railings and the wood planks a dusted gray. The house itself used-to be a church until people began to procure more babies as is told me by my aunt. The house is a two story home, the house is made of groutless bricks painted a tawny brown color, only 'eyes' it held was the grimy large two paned windows in the front and two in the back. Unfortunately, the only ones i was closest to was the back windows, the dirtiest of all.
Sighing to myself, I delighted in enabling my imagination to wild fastasies of fairies and goblins occupying the deserted home while peering through the windows. I could only see the sitting-room, a hearth for-the fire, a small kitchen with pots and pans, and crimson rugs everywhere and lovely gilded oak chairs with large table alike, four rooms i daresay was within vicinity, the doors closed to me. The groutless bricks did nothing to assuage and persuade me otherwise than what i thought of it: of a a most dark abyss; it seemed a most lovely room if only there were people in it!
A drastic surprise came to me when i had heard the chatter of people, cant have been more than five people at most, two men, two boys and a woman. I supposed i shocked myself into freezing into that of a statue. It couldnt be! No one was supposed to have occupied the home! The door opened and walked in a tall man with tight dark curled hair and well rounded physique, strong as an ox i could say, if i were to guess. He was behelding a most cheerful disposition, he was dressed like a Gentleman, although the fashion was as of last year. I could tell through the dirty window it was a bit shabby.
Behind him passed a young girl of sixteen, meek and looking slightly to the servant boy who walked alongside her. She went into a room to clean up the rooms as bid by her master. The Master Gentleman had called back the boy who was walking with her to him. The boy looked up at him uneasily, a worry on his slight face, a glimmer of his eyebrows furrowing. "Yes, Master Chesterfield, you called me?" Said he as he came near. A smile lighted the Master's face at this. "Now, now, Little Joshua, have you no worries upon your face, you are only fifteen, a young man, if i remember your age correctly." Said he. "Yes sir, and my time with you as a servant have been met with pleasant days and nights for you are quick and fair to us, pray am i doing anything wrong?" Said the boy.
"Young Don, why no, my son and I find in you a most pleasant spirit, I only wish to--" The Master paused when the maid came out of the room to clean another, humming a song, when he was sure she had closed the door behind her, he spoke a bit lower to the boy. "I only wish you to go ahead and clean up the rooms with the maid, Miss Cleare, I will not miss out on any chance of a little romance you two are having, it is most sweet to see so after the long years ive endured after the death of my love, your mistress Mrs. Chesterfield!" Said he. The young lad blushed at this, his cheeks a bit lighter than his skin. He walked away with a small smile on his face. What idle madness the man must have to concern himself with his servants as so! He (Don or whomever) had disappeared into a room with the maid, intent on cleaning or flirting, i did not know.
The gentleman had sait on the chair for only a few minutes in peace when a fourth prescense made itself known into the home, a boy that looked alike to him, surely this must be his son for he had jumped unto his lap without an uttering of a warning. "Papa, cant I play outside with Mr. Stevens? He says no i cannot and ill shall be bored to death forevermore unless i have a friend to play with!" Said the boy. "Cade, mind your manners as such, Mr. Stevens is our field worker, the foreman, he only means to survey the land and bring back wood for the fire so that Ree would make us dinner!"
"But papa, am i to be friendless, only to wander about the gardens with no one to commune with other than Joshua our servant and Ree? They are good companions but do not match up to me when i want to explore." Said Cade. I stifled a laugh, he would not see that very soon he'll be prompted into the barbarous society of gentlemans sons here. "Cade, calm yourself, you most self tortuorous child! There is neighbors all around us, even girls nearby, we have yet to make the home clean for thirty minutes and yet you want guests and play mates over." Jested Mr. Chesterfield with a chuckle.
"Girls, what good are they but to make clean and whimper over soft animals and the like?" Quiered Cade to his father. Mr. Chesterfield began to take a pipe from his pocket and put tabacco in it, lighting it with a match, half heartedly looking upon the hearth. I could tell he wished Mr. Stevens home already, the place was cold even though the weather was a bit warmer outside due to the rain from last night. "Girls grow into women, my dear boy, and women melt the hardest hearts there are in men, they forgive us our sins when it is paramount to theirs. Remember this, my lad." Mr. Chesterfield said.
"Our neighbors, only to the back of this home, was once what was called a Mrs. Baz of spanish descent and supposedly Mrs. Baz was a beautiful woman, it is a shame we did not meet her, it would be sufficient to have her as a neighbor, not to see her only in paintings." Mr. Chesterfield said to his pride and joy, his son Cade Chesterfield. Well, it appeared to me by their interactions, he treated him as such! I peered a bit harder on Cade, he appeared to me eleven or twelve years old. He was slight in width and a bit bigger than an average sized boy. His large brown eyes stared up at his papa. To me, he was handsome, tight curls and slight bushy eyebrows, but not like my sister and I.
"Do you think she would have given me sweets if i was nice to her daughters or sons?" He asked him. Mr. Chesterfield let out a laugh. "She has only daughters, twins, quite a spectacle, that! In our village, twins--especially that of the inferior sex are treated with scorn but not here, they are revered with good luck, my dear lad!" I could see them through the dirty four paned window, the grime was now on my fingertips, i resisted the urge to wipe it away on my dress. I could see Cade's eyes widened, it appeared he had never met twins, it appears to me they are considered very bad in his village as his father said.
"Will i have to marry one of them?" He asked him with a groan. Mr. Chesterfield laughed again. "Why no, dear lad, not unless you desire to, and if you do , you must find your own way because i have squandered what half fortune i had left to help us along this trip to Nottingham, if you are lucky, the money youll have when you turn eighteen will be enough for you to work, not marry." He told him. Cade's eyes glared up at him. "I will not marry if i can help it, Papa, that i can assure you!" The father laughed again and in they went further in the house that i could not see what they-did inside it.
I wondered briefly if Cade would prove him self a Gentleman's son or prove be as 'one of the boys' from the society balls my aunt Estelle throws every six weeks to socialize us into decent ladies. Foul odious boys they were, pulling my hair and crowding around my sister with reverence and admiration when she set away from a small group of girls. Only one that would play with me was our other neighbor that lived within 15 miles whom was of the Vincent family, the only child whom was called Victor. He was only a little taller than me, a solemn eyes whose eyes trailed after me with a sort of gayness, i supposed he seened me a cherub angel, treating with me with kind words, showering them in me occasionally as to let me get a big head. But i merely deemed him a worthy playmate, how wrong would i be proven in a decade!
Seeing that there was no more interactions, i turned away from the window, rushing home to the garden that lay uphill to where Elizabeth was, i must tell her the news! She'd be delighted in a new play mate if he was nice enough to do so. When i have tumbled and climbed up, the strain ground me a bit further to the grass for i was constantly falling, my dress was dirty, grass and dirt sticking to it. I reached the garden and found Elizabeth with two new male rabbits in her arms, a black one and a gray one woth white dots on its fur. She looked clean save a few patches of dirt. I declare my dress is worse. Oh, i would never hear the end of it from aunt Estelle, surely!
When we entered the premises, we were, as i feared, screeched upon by our aunt. I merely looked upon the floor sullen while Elizabeth openly peered up into our aunts face, not turning away. "Dear aunt, forgive us. I have brought you those what you asked for, two rabbits: one with black fur as the darkest night to persuade you to sleep wonderfully, one with gray fur that has dappled white on it like the first drops of snow in the beginnings of cold weather that promises you such joy!" Said Elizabeth after Aunt's lecture speech. Aunt Estelle's eyes fluttered, noting the two large things in her arms. "Very well, place them in the kennel with the other two, go upstairs and wash, soon we shall have guests over for our party!" Said Aunt. Elizabeth and i eyed each other with a great annoyance, the party was tonight and we were to make of ourselves ladies in waiting of womanhood instead of what we are, girls in the faint throes of girlhood. We walked upstairs with heavy hearts. I hoped nothing can change from here on, too much of it breaks me!
