Warning: There is a bit of child predatory shit in this chapter, its subtle though, so read at your own risk.
Young Mallory sits in her favorite spot in a small rock isle near their house by the sea. In a low tide, she'll walk to and from the isle, in a high tide, she would swim across. When she is there, she likes to sing the song her mother taught her, she said that it was the song of the sea and when she sings it, the sea and the wind seems to sing along with her, and sometimes, when she sings, a single white seal comes and lay by the isle seemingly listening to her.
One day, while she was in the isle petting the seal, Mallory saw her father carrying a box or a chest and then threw it in the sea. That night, Mallory woke up hearing her parents arguing.
"Please, just tell me where it is.", she heard her mother say.
"I already told you, I don't know what you are talking about.", her father responded.
"You need to give it back, you don't understand, I'm..." at this point, her mother had noticed their young daughter awake and listening in their conversation.
"Mallory, dear, why are you awake." Her mother had offered her hand so she can lead her daughter back to her bed.
As her mother tucked her back in her bed, Mallory sleepily asked her mother, "Mama, are you and Papa angry?", in which her mother responded by shaking her head and giving Mallory a kiss on her forehead then sang her their song so Mallory could fall asleep.
Mallory's mother soon became very ill, delirious, and cold almost all the time. She would always ask for a coat, but when Mallory hands her one, she would toss it away while murmuring "not my coat". Soon after, her mother died from her weakened state.
Mallory's father had turned to drinking after her mother's death, often crying, staring into space, or talking to himself saying "It was my fault, I shouldn't have thrown it away."
One night, while Mallory's father was drinking his sorrows away in a local pub, he unfortunately had an altercation with someone that had a knife and stabbed him to death. At the age of 10, Mallory was orphaned.
During her father's funeral, her aunt and her husband came to see Mallory to talk about them moving in with her, it will be in her best interest that they stay with her, they do not have children of their own and Mallory is too young to care for herself. Being too young and with no one else to turn to, she agreed. She met them before her parents died, her father and aunt seemed to be in a good relationship, she thought that maybe this is a second chance for a family for her.
When they moved in, they were quite nice. Her aunt is a seamstress and she had started teaching Mallory her craft, which Mallory enjoyed very much, they started small, like mending clothes, and before long, making clothes and dresses, she was even able to make some clothes for herself. Her uncle is a fisherman like her father, so he started using the tools Mallory's father had left, like the boat and nets. The two stayed in her parents room, so she can still keep her own room.
For a time she was happy, however, as time passed by Mallory's aunt and uncle started to shed a little of their outward skin and shows her what they truly are. It was subtle at first, her aunt would give her more chores, more errands to do but would easily get mad when she makes even the smallest mistakes. Her uncle would pat her shoulder or her back in a way that made her uncomfortable. Mallory didn't think much of what they were doing, she just thought that they wanted to trusted her more to help around the house and her aunt's business. Eventually, it escalated. Her aunt would start hurting her when she makes a mistake, a slap on her hand, sometimes her face, strong enough that she would bruise, sometimes her punishments includes not feeding her for a day, while her uncle would try to caress her hands or legs whenever her aunt is not around or looking away and he kept giving her this look that felt like there was something crawling under her skin, since then Mallory avoids his uncle as much as she can and her fear has driven her to sleep against her bedroom door.
Despite Mallory's growing hardships, she was able to make a friend, Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, a noble girl from the Baron's manor. The manor stood near the edge of a cliff north of the town, the gates are black and tall, the garden is full of rose bushes that the Baron's grandparents planted in the estate when he was born, or at least that was how Coco had told her. The house itself is such a beauty, it's made out of bricks and stones, however, Mallory has never been inside before.
Mallory met Coco when she was ordered by her aunt to deliver some clothing items to the manor, Coco was about her age and the cousin of the current Baron. At first, Mallory thought that she would be a snob like any other women of her status, but she turned out to be nice, a bit talkative, but was kind in her own way.
Coco tells Mallory that it is boring in the manor, but she is sent there every summer and winter for vacations, but she never enjoys them, even though her and her cousin are nearly the same age, he is always away for his work and hates any social gathering that he almost always refuse to host any party in his home.
For all the times that Mallory visited the manor, she has never seen the Baron even once, Coco described the Baron as having the same hair color as hers, a family trait she guessed, with ocean blue eyes that he got from his mother. He is quite a desirable man and if he wasn't her cousin, and she was not betrothed to their family friend's son, Coco would fall for his looks easily, but would also easily hate him for his attitude towards people. Sometimes, Coco felt pity for the young Baron though, losing his parents at a young age had forced him to grow up too fast.
The last time that Mallory was ordered to go to the manor, Coco has grown concern for her friend, the young noble had noticed the bruises on Mallory's cheek and arms, she didn't mention it, Coco didn't want to seem to intrude, however, she made sure to make the girl promise to come to her if she needed any help with anything and she promised to help her in any way that she can. Mallory could only smile at her friend.
One day, Mallory's aunt left the house to do some business in another town, leaving only Mallory and her uncle at home. When they bid farewell to her aunt that morning, his uncle held onto Mallory's should that send an uncomfortable chill down her spine. In that entire day, she had avoided him like the plague, the way that he had been looking and talking to her had her almost vomiting from disgust.
That night, Mallory had forgone sleep out of fear. She had locked the door and placed a table against it, the she sat over it to add a bit of weight. When she dozed off, she heard the knob being unlocked, she quickly hopped off from the table and pushed on it to stop her uncle from opening the door, however, she was not strong enough, she was being pushed back.
"Mallory, are you awake, it's just me", he said in that gruff honeyed voice that disgusted her to the core. Mallory didn't know what to do and the only escape she had was through her bedroom window, when she can no longer stand her ground, she lets go of her hold on the table and ran towards the window, as soon as she was outside, she ran as far and as fast as she could and never looked back.
As soon as she felt that she was as far away from her home as possible, she took a moment to rest. She didn't know what to do now, she couldn't go back, she was too afraid of what may pass if she did. However, she had remembered Coco's promise to her so Mallory quickly head to the manor.
As Mallory nears the manor, a carriage passed by and she saw a person with a long blonde hair riding inside, she got worried for a moment that it might have been Coco and she had missed her, however, the young noble suddenly embraced her while she was still looking at the carriage.
Coco had felt that there was something off with her friend's sudden visit so she does her best to let the girl relax enough to tell her what happened, So she offered her to eat breakfast with her. Mallory didn't want to accept the offer at first, but the noble girl was very persistent, telling her that she would not eat if Mallory does not join her.
As they finished breakfast, Coco asked Mallory of why she visited, reluctantly, the young girl told her what happened last night, Mallory was visibly shaking that the noble girl assumed was fear. Without a heartbeat, Coco offered Mallory to stay in the manor with her and that she will keep her safe for as much as she can. The young girl couldn't help the tears that spills from her eyes from the relief that she felt.
However, the maid that had served them breakfast and tea quickly informed the head maid of what she had heard. The head maid, Ms. Cordelia Goode quickly went to the young lady's room to confront her.
"Lady Coco, what is this I have heard that you are taking in the seamstress's niece, I cannot allow this, the young master would not approve".
Coco clasped her hands in front of her begging the head maid to reconsider, "Please let her stay, she can be my personal maid, I won't bother the staff and I'll keep myself out of trouble if you let her stay, please Ms. Goode".
"And what will you do when you need to go home, you cannot just bring her with you or leave her here, what of her family, they will surely come and look for her, what will you do then."
This time it was Mallory who now begs for the head maid to reconsider, "Please ma'am, I can work, I'll work for my keep even after Coco has to go home, I can clean, cook, run errands, make and mend clothes, please I cannot go back to them".
The head maid looked at the two young woman in front of her with a scowl on her face. After a few more minutes, she took a big sigh and relented. "Fine, but you my young lady, you will keep her out of trouble and keep her out of the young master's way, if she even steps out of line just once, I will not hesitate to throw her out on the streets and it will be your responsibility to tell the young master of this, understood". Both young woman smiled brightly and thanked Ms. Cordelia.
Cordelia looked at the younger woman and gestured for her come with her. "Come on and lets get you cleaned and dressed", Mallory followed the head maid and waved goodbye to her friend, as they walked out the room, Cordelia asked her name, which Mallory promptly answered.
Cordelia guided Mallory to the back of the manor where the sleeping quarters for the house help is located. She ordered a girl with a long brown hair named Zoe to get a uniform for the new girl, then she guided her to the bathing area where she was left to clean herself. She had met Zoe before, when she runs errands for her aunt, she was also nice and has a beautiful smile. Mallory remembers that Coco once told her that Zoe is betrothed to the baron's coachman Kyle, she smiles at the thought that he maybe the reason for Zoe's smile.
Afterwards, Zoe was waiting for her outside the bathing area with a clean towel and the uniform which Mallory immediately wore. However, since Mallory's aunt and uncle had not taken care of her properly, she was a bit small and thin for a 16 year old so the uniform did not fit her very well. Zoe only smiled at Mallory and took out a sewing box from a cabinet at the corner of the room and helped the younger girl to fix up the dress to fit her better.
When they were done, Zoe started to teach Mallory the basics of working in the manor, what she needs to do and her duties when serving the young Lady Coco. The young lady will be going back to her home in a few weeks so Mallory will have to do her share of the work in the manor when Lady Coco goes home.
All day Mallory was following Zoe around, learning from the older girl.
Notes:
Michael will be in the next chapter, he was mentioned here, although not by name, just some hints on who he is.
I hope that you'll enjoy this fic, your comments and feedback are most welcome :)
(This Chapter was published on my AO3 account on 2019-05-12.)
