A/N Well, everyone, this is the next to last chapter of The Masquerade. Thanks for all the reviews and adding to lists or just stopping to read. It's been fun to write and I hope you enjoyed the story. There will be more adventures to come so keep in touch.

Ch. 35 The Masquerade - Letting Go

"Uncle Ethan I am so happy we have time to visit the Academy before going back home. There won't be many girls there today since most are probably still on holiday. Classes start back next week though so all my friends will be back, at least I hope they will. You'll get to meet Madame Jacqueline and Madame Juliet since both were staying for the holidays at the Academy."

"It's so good to know you like the school, Claire. I was worried you wouldn't enjoy it but I see I had nothing to worry about. You seem to love it there, maybe even more than I wanted you to." Ethan teases the flushed young girl beside him.

"I miss all of you and Paradise when I'm here, but it is nice to be around people who love learning the way I do. The classes are all so interesting and I learn so much more than I did in regular school. I may have enjoyed school even more if I'd had a teacher like Mr. McConnell. If he's already teaching algebra to the kids then he might have let me do advanced studying."

Listening from across the carriage, Joseph speaks up "Claire, you wouldn't like it with Mr. McConnell. He's evil!"

At the stern reprimanding look he receives from Ethan, he defends himself "He is evil, Uncle Ethan! Only an evil person could be that mean and treat children so hatefully. He's always finding fault and punishes us for any little thing. I can't wait until summer comes and I don't have to see his hateful ugly face anymore!"

"Joseph, you've said enough. I understand how you feel but you must remember to be respectful. You are borderline here." Ethan says looking into Joseph's eyes.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry for being disrespectful by arguing back to you." Joseph says recognizing Ethan's words as a warning to stop or risk the consequences.

Just then Rob asks "Uncle Ethan, would you please ask the driver to stop at the trees up ahead? I feel slightly ill sir." He responds to Ethan's questioning look.

"I need to go to the necessary Papa." George whispers as he wiggles on the buggy seat.

"Driver? We need to stop at the line of trees ahead. We have a few problems that need to be taken care of."

"Yes sir, will do sir."

Joseph couldn't help but wonder if his Uncle plans to punish him after all, for arguing back a few minutes ago. He wonders if he is one of the "problems that needed to be taken care of." After several quick looks at his uncle's face and seeing Ethan nod at him, he decides everything is alright.

Rob, sitting beside Ben on the carriage seat, begins to groan slightly. Turning to look at him Ben can see he is sweating and very pale. "Pa! There's something wrong with Rob. He doesn't look right."

Ethan looks at Rob and turns to see how close they are to the trees. "Almost there Rob. Hold on son."

As soon as the carriage stops Rob bolts for the nearest tree to be sick. "Take the boys over behind those bigger trees to do their business, Joseph." Ethan says.

Not about to argue back this time, Joseph helps the boys down and follows George as he runs to the trees. "You know Ben I get a little tired of having to take the two of you to the bushes all the time. Why don't you speak up and say you're old enough to go on your own?"

"I thought about it but after he scolded you for arguing, I didn't want to say anything to make him mad. He seems irritable today and I'm going to "watch my behavior" as he says, so I don't wind up getting in trouble."

"You noticed that too? I wonder why he's irritable. The trial is over and we're going home tomorrow so what could it be?" Joseph muses out loud.

"I don't know unless he's still mad at Rob for yesterday or else he knows we were listening." Ben answers.

"I think it's something else, Ben. No, I don't think he knows we listened in yesterday. If he did we wouldn't be sitting comfortably in that carriage! You better keep quiet and not tip him off that we were listening!"

"Right. I need to go behind a tree, Joseph. Here comes George."

Back in the carriage a few minutes later, Ethan asks "Are you feeling any better Rob?"

"Some, sir."

"We'll see if the school has anything that will help when we get there."

Riding up to the school, the boys see a two story brick building with large windows. There is a pond, a lake in the distance and Ben sees some kind of wooden platform with a net stretched across it in the yard.

"What's that wooden thing with the net, Claire?"

"It's a place to have badminton matches, Ben. It's a game you play with racquets and a shuttlecock."

"What's a shuttlecock?"

"Some people call it "a birdie".

"You take a live bird and hit it with something? That's being cruel Claire! Papa! You should SPANK Claire for that!" George says angrily just as two older ladies walk up to their group.

"George! HUSH, before I spank you!" Claire whispers to her youngest brother hurriedly. "Behave yourself, these are my teachers!"

"Mademoiselle Claire! Comment vas tu? Est-ce votre familie?" Madame Juliet asks.

"Ja vais bien. Oui, c'est mon oncle Ethan Cord. Ce sont mes frères Rob, Joseph, Ben and George." Claire answers.

"What did you say? I couldn't understand anything anybody said!" George asks gaping up at his sister.

"They asked me how I was and I answered I was well. They asked if this was my family and I answered yes and introduced all of you. I told her you are my brothers. I was speaking French, George.

"Well don't! It's not polite to talk when nobody can understand what you are saying. Speak English like a regular person would!" George says haughtily.

At a titter from Madame Juliet and seeing his Papa's face he quickly apologizes. "I'm sorry for being rude, ma'am." He didn't think she could understand him.

"Come with me young man. We need to have a talk." Ethan says sternly as he takes George by the hand. "Excuse us Madame, we'll be back in just a moment. We have been looking forward to touring this fine Academy, Claire talks about so lovingly."

As he walks George over to the closest trees, Madame Juliet says "Well everyone, welcome to The Colorado Academy for Academic Excellence. We just call it "The Academy" for short. Would you follow me inside? I imagine something to eat and drink would be nice about now. It's a long ride from the city."

Joining the rest of the family a few minutes later, George sits quietly in the chair Madame Juliet pulled out for him. As he eats his sandwich and sips his hot tea he feels Ben looking at him. Ben asks silently "Did Pa spank you?"

"No, but he said if I acted out again, he would. He told me I had better show my best behavior and manners or I would be across his lap when we got back to the hotel."

Seeing Rob turn pale again, Ethan asks "Madame could you direct us to the nearest washroom please? My eldest son is feeling ill today."

"It's down the hall, the third door on the left. Is there anything we can do to help him?"
"It's just a brief stomach problem. He should be fine by tomorrow. If you happen to have any coffee that might help him." Ethan replies following Rob down the hall.

At the washroom door he can hear Rob losing whatever bits of lunch he consumed. Well Rob, it seems you are learning a good lesson on what happens when you drink too much liquor. Ethan thinks. As the boy comes out, he puts his arm around his shoulders for a brief hug. "It will be over soon Rob. Maybe the next time you think about drinking you will remember how you feel right now and decide not to."

"Yes sir, this is worse than getting a thrashing. I think I'd rather have to stand up all day than be sick like this. My stomach and head are whirling and my eyes feel like I rubbed dirt in them. Why couldn't I have stayed back at the hotel? I needed to sleep today."

"You needed to be watched today. You drank so much you made yourself very ill. I was worried you might be too sick to look after yourself and needed help. I'm here to help, Rob. Now try to hold yourself together for Claire's sake. She wants this to be a special day. Let's don't spoil it for her."

"Yes Sir and thanks for taking care of me. I won't be drinking like that ever again. I swear!"

"I hope you won't Rob. I'm your parent now so of course I'll take care of you in any way you need it." Ethan answers, giving him a look. "Let's get back so Claire can begin her tour."

Turning red in the face, Rob nods his understanding of the unspoken threat of punishment. He follows Ethan back to the dining room area.

"Claire, we would like to see more of your school if you wish to show us." Ethan says coming into the room.

"Yes, let's go up to the dormitories. I can show you the classrooms on the way."

As they walk past the first of the two big rooms near the stairs, Claire explains "These are our classrooms. We split into two groups and have our classes. The first classroom is Madame Juliet's and she teaches us Literature and Mathematics. The second classroom is where we study etiquette and French with Madame Jacqueline. In the afternoons we swap classrooms so everyone has the four classes each day."

"Joseph, Rob, someday I want you to read Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. I think you would like it. I like Romeo and Juliet the best of the two. We've only studied those two. We read them together. It's not hard to understand if someone reads it aloud and translates it for you. We could read it together and talk about it."

"Maybe sometime, Claire. Right now I want to read Robin Hood. I don't need to have it explained to me. I understand it just fine." Joseph answers, grinning at his sister.

Listening to all of this, Ben decides to ask what he's been wondering about. "Claire? Can I ask you something?"

"It's 'May I' and yes Ben you may." Claire smiles at his expression. She knows how much he dislikes being corrected on grammar.

"What is etiquette? Is that the game you told me about with the wooden balls and the mallets?"

Trying to stifle her giggles, she answers "No Ben that is called croquet. Etiquette is learning good table manners, polite ways to conduct yourself with other people, learning about the proper ways to do things."

"But Claire, you already know how to be polite and well behaved. You don't need a teacher to teach you that." Ben tells her.

"Thank you Ben. You are such a young gentlemen at times." Claire says reaching out to rub his hair.

"Claire? Where is your bedroom? You said you sleep here too." George asks looking around.

"The bedrooms are upstairs George. Come on I'll show it to you. "

At the top of the stairs they see many doors leading down a long hallway. Walking to the third door Claire opens it to reveal a large bedroom. The bedroom has five beds with a chiffarobe and a small stand next to each bed. The beds are all large with different colored bedspreads on each bed.

"Which bed is yours?" George asks.

"The one with the yellow bedspread George. See my trunk is right at the foot of the bed again. I like to keep it there."

"Why is your trunk here Claire? Aren't you going to need to take it tomorrow when we go home?"

Realizing her mistake, she glances at her Uncle for help. George wasn't supposed to find out she was staying until later that day.

Walking over to the bed Ethan sits down and calls George to him. "George, Claire has to go back to school just the way you do when we get back home. Her classes start back soon. She is going to stay here and we'll see her when she visits us the next time."

"NO, PAPA! NO! Claire can't stay here! She has to come back home with us. You have to tell her she can't stay!"

"George! That's enough! Stop this behavior right now! You know better than to act this way. Claire is staying here and you just have to accept this fact. Now behave."

Sobbing hard George throws himself into Claire's arms. With his head buried in her waist he sobs out "Claire, please listen to me. You have to come home. You can't stay here. Please Claire! Please come home with us. You aren't safe here." He whispers the last words just for Claire to hear.

Standing up Ethan walks over and picks George up. "That's enough young man. Your sister feels bad enough without you making her feel worse. Now either hush or I'm going to take you over my knee and give you a spanking right here! Which one is it to be?"

"I'll be good Papa, please don't spank me. I'm sorry." George says trying to stop the tears that insist on rolling down his cheeks.

"Let's go outside George and everyone else. I think you will like this George." Claire says taking George by the hand.

When they get outside, she leads them to the pond. "Look Ben and George. There are ducks and they'll come to you if you hold out your hand. I brought out some bread crumbs to use to feed them with. Hold out your hands and I'll give you some."

When the boys hold out their hands over the water two large ducks swim up and nibble the crumbs right out of their hands. Giggling Ben asks "Where do they go when it's really cold out?"

"Ben, look over on the other side of the pond. Do you see that wooden house?" When both boys nod, Claire continues "Well just like we have a hen house at home, they have a duck house here. The ducks go inside to get warm. They have nests in there. If it gets so cold they can't stay in the duck house then the groundskeeper takes them into his own house where they can stay warm. That's where they stay during the winter. I think he only brought them out today because it's not so cold."

Looking back to check to see where his Papa went and not seeing him George says "Claire, please listen to me. I have to tell you something and it's important." When his sister looks at him he says "You aren't safe here anymore. Please Claire, you have to leave with us. You just have too."

"George!" Ben scolds "Do you want to get a spanking? If Pa hears you still talking about this he's going to wallop you! So you had better stop! Claire can't come home with us. You heard what Pa said! Now hush up before you get in big trouble!"

"George? Come with me I have a game to play with you and Ben. I want to teach you croquet. If you like it we'll try to set up a game when I get back to Paradise. It's really fun. What you do is choose a colored ball and then try to be the first one to get your ball through all the little wire hoops until you reach the post. The fun part is you can even hit your ball into someone else's and knock them off the course. If they get knocked off they have to go back and start again. Come on let's try it."

After a few times of trying to hit the ball but not succeeding, George says "I can't hit it good enough to get it through the little hoops. Can we go see the bird game now?"

Listening to Claire explain the game of badminton, Ben says "Come on George, let's try it. I'll hit it over and you try to hit it back."

When George misses the birdie three times, he just puts down the racquet. "It's no good Ben. I can't hit the stupid thing! I'm no good at these games. I'm no good at anything! I can't even get people to listen to me when it's important."

"What's so important that no one is listening to you about George?" Ben asks.

"I keep trying to tell Papa that Claire isn't …" He stops as he sees Ethan walking towards them. Remembering Ethan's promise to spank him if he kept fussing he quickly closes his mouth.

After finding the boys on the badminton court, Ethan tells Claire they need to get ready to leave.

As he sends the boys inside for one last trip to the water closet Ethan says "I wish we could stay longer sweetheart but we need to start back to town. I don't want to be riding in the carriage out of town after dark. Rob isn't feeling well at all and needs to go back to the hotel. We'll send you a wire as soon as we get back to Paradise. I loved visiting your school and again I'm so pleased you enjoy it here. Your teachers are very nice and we all enjoyed the tour."

When the boys come back outside Ethan tells them "We need to get back to the hotel, boys. We have to finish packing and get to bed early tonight. Our train leaves at eight o'clock in the morning. We'll be in Paradise by early afternoon. I sent the Andersons a wire saying to expect us by three o'clock if not earlier. Say your good byes so we can get going."

Joseph hugs his sister and says "I miss you when you aren't home. It's hard not having you with us. I could really use your help with my school work. I'm not passing my Math as you know. If I don't get my grades up, I might not be promoted! Uncle Ethan would thrash me until I didn't sit for a month if that happened!"

"I miss all of you too. I'll be home again in March for two weeks. I'll work with you on the math then. If you'll send me some problems I'll try to help you by mail." Claire answers surprised to see the tears in Joseph's eyes.

Ben grabs his sister around her waist and hugs her. Then letting go and looking up at her he says "I really miss you too, Claire. Nobody can cook fried chicken as good as yours. Joseph burned it three times before he ever learned to cook it right. It still doesn't taste like yours does. He can't make biscuits at all. Every time he tries they come out like rocks. Even the chickens won't eat them they're so hard."

Claire giggles at this as Joseph sputters out "Ben, that's supposed to be our secret! You weren't supposed to tell her I can't do biscuits. Now she'll tease me forever because I used to do it to her when she made rock biscuits!"

"I'm sorry I ever teased you Claire. Biscuits are really hard to make. I'll never ever say another word about your biscuits." Joseph says smiling now.

"I won't tease you Joseph. George? Aren't you going to say good bye to me?"

"Yes. Claire will you do me a favor? Will you tell Mama I miss her and I love her? I love you too and I'm really going to miss you. Good bye Claire. I'll see you again when you come check on me like Mama does." George says as he grabs her around the waist and buries his head in her dress sobbing loudly.

Wondering about that last part about their Mama, Claire holds him tight stroking his hair. "Shh, hush George. You know I'm coming back. I'll always come back to see you. Now stop crying before you get me all wet."

Ben says "Come on George, stop crying before you get me to crying too. We'll see Claire again when she comes home next time. She just said she would be home in March remember?"

TBC last chapter