Brother and Sister

School was out. Not letting her father keep her little brother locked up in a school during the summer, Fan remembered mouthing off at him for the first time in her life.

So, now, her father sent someone to go pick up little Ebenezer, who was only five. As soon as he was old enough, Mr. Scrooge sent his only son to that...that...school that Fan cursed in her head every day. She was a sweet girl, kind and gentle, unless it came to her father sending her little brother to that horrible school. It really wasn't Ebenezer's fault that their mother had died. Fan remembered the screams. Remembered her mother about as white as a bed sheet. The massive amount of blood. The memory haunted her.

But she would never blame her little brother, an innocent little baby at the time their mother had died.

Fan scrunched up another paper, another drawing she had screwed up that day. She sighed, frustrated, and then rested her head on the desk. Her window was open, letting the warm summer breeze in, along with the sounds children playing in the street. She got up, went over to the window and sat down. She let down her flowing brown hair and smiled as she felt the wind caress her face. She shut her eyes, and then heard horse hooves in the distance. Her eyes snapped open, and the twelve year old smiled.

"Ebenezer." She muttered, got up, and ran out of the room. The door opened, and her little brother walked in. "Oh, Ebenezer!" she picked him up, held him tight, and swung him around, brother and sister both giggling with glee. They stopped, and Fan just held him while Ebenezer had his arms around her neck. Her little brother was quiet child, not much for conversation. But Fan was the only person to get him to actually have a real conversation. "Look at how much you've grown! You're practically a man!"

"Really?" Ebenezer beamed. "Like father?"

"Yes. Yes, just like father! I bet he'll be shocked at how much you've grown! My goodness, look at you!" she laughed whole heartily.

"Fan? Can I get down? This is high and I'm scared of heights..."

"Of course." Fan set her brother down carefully. She took his hat off, and put it up on the hat rack, and then ruffled his hair, making him squeal.

"Where is father?"

Fan didn't look at her brother for the first time that day. She knew that, sooner or later, Ebenezer would find out that their father didn't care for him. But, only at the young age of five, she didn't have the heart to tell him. She knew he was a smart lad, a very smart lad, but at this age, she felt that he would never understand. Not until he got older, like around ten or eleven. Maybe a bit older. "Father...Father is out." Fan told him.

"When will he be back?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh." He seemed to shrug it off as nothing. With an attention span of a squirrel, Fan noticed her little brother's face light up and he ran after something.

"Ebenezer." She said. Her brother stopped and looked at her. "Be careful. It went under the chair."

"I will." Ebenezer nodded his head, and got on his knees. Reaching his hand in, his face twisted into one of concentration. His brown hair, especially his bangs, fell into his face, shaggy from no haircuts. His blue eyes were shut tight and the freckles that dotted his face scrunched together. He squealed in pain, and yanked his hand out from under the chair. Fan ran over to him and sat next to him.

"Let me see." She said, and Ebenezer showed her the small bleeding wound. "What bit you?"

"I don't know."

Fan got up, got a hot towel, and came back. She pressed it on his finger, making Ebenezer squirm. "Shh. It's almost over." Fan cooed. "It's almost over." After a few more minutes, she removed the towel. The bleeding, which was small to begin with, had stopped. She kissed the wound, and then looked under the chair. She squinted her eyes to see anything, but couldn't make much out. Fan got up, went behind the chair, and moved it, and saw a rat sitting there, glaring at her. "Ew, a rat." She muttered.

"I'll be back!" Ebenezer ran off.

"Where are you going? Ebenezer!" she called. Her little brother came back with a broom that kept weighing him down every five seconds. He raised it over the rat and right before he could bring it down, Fan grabbed the broom. "Don't hurt it!" she said.

"But you said you don't like rats!" Ebenezer defended.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean you have to hurt him." Fan knelt down, and held out her hands, smiling. She looked at the rat, trying to reassure it. "Come here. It's okay." The rat's fur bristled, and it began to get angry. Fan crossed her arms, wondering how she'll get the rat out of the house. Finally, she picked it up, put it in her hands, and walked over to the door. As she set her hands on the ground as she kneeled, the rat didn't move an inch in her hands, but its fur was still bristled. "Go on." She said. She heard Ebenezer walk up behind her. "Don't make any sudden movements." Fan told her younger brother. She moved her hands a bit, trying to get the rat to get off of them. But instead she accidentally irritated it and it bit her. Fan bit her lip, and stopped. The rat let up, stopped biting her, and then scampered off. Fan stood. Ebenezer looked at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. All I have to do is wash my hands, stop the bleeding, and then you can kiss it better, okay?"

Ebenezer bobbed his head, smiling. Fan left his side, and washed up. She grabbed another hot towel, put it on her wound, and groaned. She bit her lip and then let up a bit. She looked at the wound, and pressed the towel on her hand again until she was for sure the bleeding stopped. She walked out and saw Ebenezer trying to find the rat. She giggled.

"Ebenezer!" she called. Her brother turned and ran to her. He hugged her and smiled.

"Father's home!" he said, jumping up and down. Fan watched her father get out of the coach, and walk up. "Hello, Father!"

"Fan." Her father looked at her. "Have you done your daily chores?"

"Yes sir." Fan said, nodding her head.

"Good girl." He smiled.

"Father, look at how much Ebenezer has grown!"

Mr. Scrooge looked at down at his youngest child, no emotion in his eyes. Ebenezer smiled at him, and Mr. Scrooge looked away from him. "Yes, he's grown immensely." He muttered a dull and bored tone in his voice. He made his way inside the house, and Fan's lips thinned in irritation.

"Stay here, Ebenezer." She whispered to her younger brother and then stormed in after her father. "Father, why are you so mean to him?" she demanded. "He has done nothing to you; all he wants is your love."

"He killed your mother. It's his fault she died." Mr. Scrooge looked at his older child, anger in his eyes.

"No father. You're wrong. Ebenezer was a poor, innocent baby when mother died. The doctors most likely didn't do anything right and she lost a lot of blood."

"From having that...thing."

"That thing is your son!" Fan's eyes turned cold and hard towards her father.

"Don't test me, Fan. Not today."

"Why can't you just accept him? He loves you with all his heart!"

Mr. Scrooge looked at his only daughter, and then left the room. Fan's fists clenched and she bit her lip from saying what she wanted to say. It wasn't ladylike, and it wasn't appropriate for someone her age. This was the only thing she hated about her father.

Because he would never give Ebenezer a chance.