Chapter 3 – Jane
Elinor's room was a mess; her clothes were spoilt and dumped in a heap on the floor; her bedside lamp was no longer at her bedside, but sprawled on the floor, the bulb shattered into a million pieces and her normally white, clean, wallpaper was ripped from the walls and spread all over the wreaked carpet; Elinor had cracked.
She lay on her bed, eyes wide open, unblinking, if anyone had walked in and seen her then, they would have thought she was as dead as she felt. She hadn't moved all day, and it seemed no one could make her. It had all happened last night:
Just as she was making herself a cup of tea; out of the kitchen window she'd seen a girl of about 12, staggering up to the front door.
'MEGGIE!' She had gasped, her heart pounding,
'DARIUS LOOK, LOOK WHO'S COME BACK TO US!' Elinor had dashed to the door and unfastened the chains that were locking it, her fingers fumbling, she threw open the door just as Darius appeared at the top of the stairs.
There stood a girl, dressed in a brown shawl and a ragged dress with a nametag pinned to her breast that read 'JANE', her hair was up in a bun net, and her leg was dragging behind her. She was holding up a tin labelled 'help the children, we need you.' As she saw the girl standing there, Elinor's smile diminished and she found a tear sliding down her cheek, Darius stood at the top the stairs, watching helplessly.
The Girl started to speak, when Elinor finally snapped back to her senses.
"Oh hello dear," she said, "is it money you're after?" her thin lips stretched into a pained smile; the girl nodded shakily. Elinor peered at her over her glasses, and noticed that she was shivering from the cold; her feet were bare and scratched, probably from the jorney up to the house Elinor thought with a sigh, she really must hire someone to clear up all the weeds. After a slight pause Elinor took a twenty pound note from her purse and stuffed it into the tin (noticing that so far all that had been collected were a few pennies and a button),
"There you go darling, go and buy yourself some new clothes, heavens above, you must be freezing." The girl, peeped into the tin, to see how much she had got this time, and seeing the twenty-pound note she gawped at it in wonder. Then without warning, she threw herself on Elinor, almost knocking her glasses off. After she'd got over the shock, Elinor smiled and patted the girls back awkwardly.
"Now, now dear, no need to get silly," She said, her voice wavering, as if it were likely to break any second. She carefully extracted the girl off her and waved her goodbye as she limped back down the pathway to the road.
Elinor shut the door behind her and leaned against it for a while, her eyes squeezed, tightly shut and her forehead creased. Darius was still positioned like a statue at the top of the stairs, not knowing quite what to do. A few minutes passed and they just stood their, motionless.
Just as Darius was about to speak, Elinor put her hand up, as if to silence him, she opened her eyes, and her glasses misted over.
"Don't," she whispered
"But…"
"Just don't Darius, please just don't," she said, sucking her lips, trying to keep the tears in.
"There's nothing you can say," she sniffed, her face crumpling up
"Surely there must be something," Darius pleaded,
"no. nothing,"
There was a pause as Darius fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, wondering what to say,
"I'VE BEEN SO STUPID," Elinor cried, cutting through the silence,
"no, no you haven't," Darius said, abandoning his spot on the stairs and running down to comfort her, "anyone could have thought that, that girl was Meggie, and you've been waiting for her for so long that you just….
"EXACTLY," Elinor sobbed, "I'VE JUST BEEN WAITING, WAITING AND MOPING AROUND THE HOUSE, I SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING, TRYING TO GET THEM BACK!"
Darius was at a loss for words, he never had been good in a crisis and Elinor was breaking down.
"IT'S BEEN TWO WHOLE WEEKS SINCE THAT STUPID MAN VANISHED, VANISHED IN FRONT OF MY EYES," she carried on, "HE'S IN INKWORLD NOW, WITH MY FAMILY; MY MEGGIE AND MY SISTER, AND WHERE AM I," she bawled, "I'M STUCK HERE, IN THIS HUGE HOUSE, WITH NO ONE BUT YOU FOR COMPANY, AND YOU, YOU DON'T EVEN DO ANYTHING, YOU WON'T EVEN TRY TO READ ME INTO INKWORLD, YOU STUPID, COWARD…" She broke off, realising that she had offended him, and ran up to her room.
Darius heard Elinor's wild screams and ornaments being smashed against the walls. He knelt down by the banister and quietly shed his own set of tears.
