Just some fun with two of our favorite characters!
Review, comments welcomed if you have time.
Tell me what you think - leave it as is or keep going?
Myka's Family Tree - Branching Out
It was one of those beautiful Saturdays where the sunshine filled the B&B and the chill in the air was only hinting that fall was approaching. The agents had all been enjoying the day outside and now each retired to a part of the house to relax before dinner.
Myka went on the computer in the living room and started to research her family tree. HG had given her a gift certificate for her birthday for one of those ancestry sites and she had started researching her mother's side of the family.
Helena sat nearby, nose in a book about technology in the 20th century. Myka tapped the keys, accessing her account and working through the entries with what information she had. Her mother had given her an old diary that had been handed down through the years and it contained many entries of names and dates. She used it as a guide to find out information that could fill in the blanks about time and places.
"Wow!" she commented and HG picked her head up. "It seems my mother's great grandfather's family all lived in Ireland," she said.
"Lovely country," HG said.
Myka clicked away – digging further into the family's members.
"It says they had five children, my mother's great grandfather was the youngest," Myka moved her arm to click on more entries. "Hmmmm, they moved from County Clare in Ireland to live in England for a while and worked as … ," she stopped, waiting for the next page to come up.
"Ah, many Irish families came to England back in the day as….…" HG said.
And then together they both said the same word.
"Servants." Myka smiled at HG, thinking how adorable it was that they both said the same thing.
"They moved to England in the summer of 1887," Myka read with interest.
"Oh, I remember that year fondly," HG mused and it would have seemed an odd expression to hear of course, except to Myka.
"That year, my family stayed at the Rothschild's estate in Buckinghamshire. It was dreadfully boring except for the lavish parties in the evenings. But the days were at times, awful - as my parents insisted I be tutored in Greek and Latin, in spite of the fact I had mastered them," HG all but whined, deep in thought.
Myka smiled trying to imagine her friend as a dutiful daughter. She went back to surfing the site for information on her ancestors. It seemed that the family members were domestics at a summer estate and Myka was busy looking up dates from census records.
"But then one day," HG continued her thought. "….. as I was walking in the garden, I came upon the most divine specimen." The story teller was now lost in her thoughts, smile on her face.
"It says that my ancestor's siblings and parents all worked on the same country estate? How is that possible?"
"Oh, darling, it wasn't uncommon for servants to be members of the same family. The butler and cook might have children who then worked as maids or handymen," HG spoke with authority.
"Or gardeners," she said again out loud without realizing it.
"What's with the emphasis on gardener there HG?" Myka asked attuned to the fact she had just drawn that word with a deep sigh. She waited for an answer but when she looked up from the screen, she was surprised to find Helena seriously daydreaming.
"Earth to Helena, earth to Helena," Myka teased.
"Pardon? Oh, yes, sorry, love – lost in my thoughts," HG confessed and Myka could not get over the expression on her face.
Myka thought to herself – "I'll follow up on that later," and went back to her research.
She clicked on pages and had to enlarge them in order to read the handwriting of the old documents. It noted the names of the siblings of Myka's great-great grandfather and listed the sisters as having worked as maids that summer while the brothers also worked on the estate.
"It says here that there was terrible weather in England that summer with record heat and torrential rains." And then Myka smiled at the irony of actually being in the same room with someone who might be able to vouch for that that personally.
"Hmmm, let me think," HG said thoughtfully.
"Oh, yes, I do remember that now. I can say that with some certainty because I remember being very far out on the estate one day. I had been..… admiring the rose garden and stayed longer than I should. As I was walking back, the storm clouds came upon me and I was caught in a terrible downpour. I had ….forgotten ….….or lost…. my jacket. I was drenched and cold to the bone by the time I reached the house. My brother was furious that I had wandered off by myself and threatened severe punishment but took pity because, well, I looked so pathetic I imagine," HG said and now Myka was staring at her.
"What happened?" she asked wanting to know.
"Well, if I remember correctly, I spent the next few days in bed with a high fever. They called the doctor and he insisted that they bring the fever down with cold cloths which did seem to do the trick. Of course, they feared it was scarlet fever, which it wasn't, so the only person allowed in the room other than the doctor was the upstairs maid, who took it upon herself to nurse me back to good health," HG said with gratitude in her voice.
"Well, I'm very glad she did, too." Myka said.
"Yes, she was wonderful. A bit older than myself at the time and she had the most delicate hands and gentle touch," HG reminisced and again Myka felt as if her friend was off in another world.
Myka smiled and went back to her work. She clicked on town papers and church documents.
"She continued to nurse me well after the fever had passed. I dare say, that was a summer of awakenings," HG mused with a broad smile.
And now Myka did not like the sound of HG's story.
"What are you saying exactly, Helena?" Myka said her voice a bit more tense. But it was lost on HG.
"Pardon? Oh, about the upstairs maid? Well, she took very good care of me and saw to my complete recovery," HG answered not sure she wanted to divulge any more and stuck her head back in the book but her mind was far away.
Myka went back to the computer. One of the siblings had been employed in the stables and there was a local newspaper account of a fire that had started in the stalls and that it was he who saved the entire herd of thoroughbreds.
"I was well enough in a few weeks' time to return to my passion of horseback riding," Helena volunteered. Once more, Myka looked up from her computer.
"I never knew you liked horses," Myka said thinking how funny it was that Helena should mention that just as she was reading about a stable fire.
"Well, how could you not, darling, when the stable hand was tall, dark, handsome and very good at riding lessons?" Helena asked, her eyes rolling in complete dreaminess.
"OK, Helena. Conversation getting a little uncomfortable over here," Myka complained unsure if it was out of jealousy or not.
"Oh! Sorry, darling. I didn't mean to impose these memories. I mean, it was a long time ago, a different time of course." She tried to smooth over Myka's obvious ruffled feathers.
"Hmmm," was all Myka could utter and went back to her work. The pages on the screen continued with information and Myka learned that her great great grandfather's other sister was a seamstress.
"Did families have their own seamstresses?" Myka asked out of curiosity.
"I don't think that would be their only job but yes, women were often employed by families to maintain the clothes or sometimes, even make them if they were very good," HG said.
"That summer in the country, we had a wonderful young girl who showed tremendous promise as a seamstress. I often wonder if she could have gone on to design things she was that good. Of course, that was a different time and there was very little chance of a woman of her status ever making it out of her lot. Still, she did have incredibly gifted hands," HG said again lost down memory lane.
Myka smiled politely but was feeling irritated at the continuing interruption by Helena's remembrances.
"She made me a whole new outfit one time after….," and the HG stopped obviously editing herself.
"My brother would have been so angry if he had known what happened to them," she said disjointed in her recall. "But this woman, God bless her, took some material and made a new pair of riding breeches and a blouse that fit beautifully just by …," but again she stopped short and seemed to repress her next sentence.
Myka was starting to sense that maybe HG thought she would be uncomfortable with the details but her curiosity was more than aroused by these purposeful cutoffs.
"Out with it, Helena. How did the seamstress make such a great outfit? I know there's more to that story you're not telling me," Myka said, resigned to the fact that Helena had a past she knew very little about yet.
"Well, darling, when I say she was very good with her hands, I mean she did all the measurements by hand," HG said and sounding a bit uncomfortable for the first time.
Myka thought for a second. "So she….," she said running her hands over an imaginary outline of an hourglass figure.
"Yes," HG answered and put her head back in her book.
"Sounds as if you remember a lot about this summer," Myka said going back to her screen.
"How could I not!" HG thought she said under her breath.
Myka smiled and returned to her work at hand. She wondered about the people she was reading about - Parents, five children, all working together. Her great-great grandfather would have only been seven that summer –his siblings much older. Change of life baby? All distant relatives – lost in time. What were they like? Would she have been able to have lived such a stifled existence – always working for someone else? Did they stay with the same family? She looked further and further into her past looking for their present.
"My relatives worked for a family in …." Myka read.
At the very same time as Helena said, "I will never forget my summer in …."
And together they uttered "Waddesdon Manor".
"What?" Myka said unsure she had spoken the same thing as the Brit.
"The summer I spent at Waddesdon Manor," HG said. "What?"
"Helena, this says my relatives worked at that Manor!" Myka said scouring the pages to make sure she was right.
"Could there be more than one?" she asked and HG laughed at the absurdity of her question but quickly tightened her lips to suppress it.
"Oh, darling, I doubt there were two Waddesdon Manor's. That would be like asking if there were two Eiffel Towers, two White Houses, two…." But Myka cut her off.
"OK, I get it. Only one Waddesdon Manor."
Then continued her rant with, "…but that's not possible. You? They? They couldn't have been there the same time!" she blurted out shuffling through pages of notes to check dates.
Her questions were lost in the distance between her and HG because Helena was already back in that summer, knee deep in memories of some of the most exquisite….
"HELENA!" Myka now yelled to get her attention.
"What were their names, Helena?" Myka asked now coming to sit on the couch with her. Her swiftness caused HG to sit up straight, at attention.
"Their names? Myka, you're not suggesting that ….," and for the first time, Helena started to put together the possibilities.
But she was caught between the sweetness of those memories and the fear that dots could be connected to Myka's family. The thought of that young man in the stable that night of the blaze….she had never felt such heat before.
"HELENA!" Myka shouted now certain that HG was busy dreaming about what could possibly be a nightmare from her own roots.
"What were their names?" Myka pressed her.
"Myka, the chances that your ancestors were my servants are remote at best," HG stumbled and Myka saw right though the lie.
Helena was smart enough to know two things – Myka meant business. And there was no one in the house who would stop her if she decided to kill her. HG swallowed hard.
"Myka, I can't possibly remember that far back. I mean, there were many. No, I don't mean many. I mean others." But the more HG opened her mouth, the deeper she dug herself in.
"Connolly," she finally said in almost a whisper and then waited. But Myka didn't react and HG finally let out a sigh of relief. Prematurely.
"What were you doing in the rose garden that day when you got caught in the rain?" Myka asked pointedly.
"That day in the rose garden? Oh, I was admiring the garden …" but HG was getting nervous and her voice cracked.
"Helena?" Myka said, her voice filled with warning.
"I was with the gardener! There! Are you happy?" HG replied, irritation in her words.
"What was his name?" Myka asked, eye narrowed on her subject.
"Collin," HG said with great fondness and Myka caught it.
"And the maid who nursed you back to health?"
"Mary," HG said almost too quickly for Myka, proving these memories were close to the surface.
"And the stable boy?"
"He was no boy, Myka. He was ….," HG said and the caught the look on Myka's face and wiped the smile off her own.
"How did the fire in the stable start?"
Helena couldn't piece together how Myka had that info.
"How did the fire in the stable start?" she reiterated, stalling for time. But Myka's expression told her time was up.
"I kicked over a lamp and set the straw on fire. We put it out …" this time HG cutting herself off.
"Is that how your clothes got damaged?" the experienced Agent asked putting the pieces together adeptly.
"Yes," the guilt easily surfacing in her voice.
"What was his name?" and Helena answered - "Michael".
"And the seamstress who had the talented hands, Helena?" and Myka shuttered to think she was discussing her relative.
"Anne," she said. "She was very gifted…" HG attempted to point out the positive but Myka flashed her hand up and she stopped talking. In fact, for a brief moment, she stopped breathing, unsure of what was going on behind the eyes that held her in an awful stare.
"Myka, I know this is a bit awkward," HG said repeating one of the first things she had said to Myka when she returned to the Warehouse.
"Do you know what this means?" Myka asked but did not wait for an answer.
"Helena, you slept with my relatives! You fooled around with my great great grandfather's siblings. You, you … used them because they were just servants," Myka seethed. But she had struck a nerve.
"Myka! How dare you! I never used them. I cared a great deal for each of them," HG said wounded.
This was all too much for Myka to piece together.
"Myka, please try to understand. You are going back to a very different time. Yes, they were servants but I was very fond of them. They were wonderful people. It was a summer of magnificent memories for me. I opened myself to each of them and they were kind and caring individuals who did what they wanted to do. They were not coerced, Myka. I give you my word. I had never been with a woman before ….," but she stopped deciding she had said enough.
"So you're saying that the upstairs maid …." Myka said not wanting to put words to it.
"Yes, darling," HG confirmed.
Myka slumped back and groaned out loud; "Oh my God! Helena, there were no …., I mean you didn't get ….." Myka's worst fears rising up in her thoughts.
"No, darling. We're not related, if that's what you mean?" Helena eased her mind.
"I'm going to need time to process this," Myka confessed and Helena simply didn't agree but held her tongue. It was after all, a very unique situation to be in.
Myka closed her notes and shut the computer off, thinking she would get back to it another day.
"Are you upset with me, darling?" Helena asked sincerely.
Myka stared at face drenched in concern. "No, Helena, I'm not upset with you," she assured HG.
"It's just a little weird having a window into my past like this," Myka added.
"What can I do to help?" her friend inquired and Myka was struck by how affected HG was by all of this.
"Well, you can start by keeping your stories of past love lives to post 1887," Myka said smiling.
And the teasing brought HG great relief. They laughed at being caught in this predicament, Myka easily understanding why anyone would be taken by the beauty of her raven haired friend. And Helena was certain that she saw the same kindness in Myka's eyes that she had seen those many years before.
"Myka, have you ever worked in a garden?" Helena couldn't help but ask.
