Chapter Five
Conflicts
After arriving back at the manor, Jennifer had Megan and Alex help her look for Horus and the missing chess piece -as "punishment". Jennifer discovered Horus hiding in the manor's large and somewhat daunting attic. Jennifer frowned as she pulled the stairs down from the ceiling, listening to them groan as they unfolded in front of her. Alex and Megan joined Jennifer's side, looking upward into the dark attic.
"My mum and dad never go up there." Alex muttered. Despite the new appearing sun, the attic was filled with darkness and shadows around every corner.
Jennifer bit her lip. "I have no clue how Horus could have gotten up there." Jennifer muttered, speaking the last word with some apparent distaste.
"There might be a hole in the ceiling somewhere." Megan offered.
"Maybe." Jennifer muttered; whether there was a hole or not, Jennifer didn't want to retrieve her bird in the dark attic.
"Maybe you can whistle for him." Alex suggested, seeming to sense his aunt's fear of the dark and daunting attic.
Jennifer nodded and whistled; luckily for her, Horus flew down toward her. However, the chess piece was not with the bird, but Jennifer wasn't too concerned about that at the moment.
After putting folding the stairs back into place, Jennifer, Megan and Alex hurried away from underneath the attic stairs. They headed into the kitchen, where a seemingly irritated Cleo greeted them. Cleo meowed and hissed as she rubbed against Jennifer's legs, strange behavior for the usually placid cat.
"What's wrong Cleo?" Alex asked as he bent down to pick up the cat. Cleo hissed and darted out of the kitchen; Jennifer frowned as she watched the cat bound away.
Once Cleo was gone, the three paid the cat's strange behavior no more attention. Alex and Megan complained of hunger pains so Jennifer fixed everyone -even Horus- a bowl of ice cream.
No one talked while they ate, all seeming to be thinking different thoughts. Once Alex and Megan were finished with their ice cream, they bounded up the stairs to Alex's room to play a new game.
Once Jennifer heard the shutting of Alex's door, she began to feel uneasy again. A spider-like chill creeped up her spine as her the sounds of silence once again filled her ears. Jennifer couldn't shake her uneasy feeling, a feeling that hadn't just come to her; a feeling that had been with her around half a month ago. She knew these feelings were caused by her nightmares, the nightmares that made her skittish and caused her not to sleep. At the thought of no sleep made Jennifer's eyes hurt and her eyelids to become somewhat heavy; Jennifer frowned as she rubbed her eyes, blinking back sleep.
To keep herself busy and awake, Jennifer began to wash the dishes that had held the ice cream. Once those dishes were done and put away, Jennifer began doing other anomalous tasks around the kitchen; she refilled the water in the flower vases, rearranged the dishes in the cupboards, organized the food in the pantries and wiped the counters down with a wet dishtowel.
Once Jennifer was finished with the kitchen she moved into the sitting room, doing more atypical tasks; she polished the chess pieces (except the missing one) and arranged them on the board, she polished all the lamps and turned them all on -to keep her awake and to shut the darkness out-, arranged the pillows on the couch and fluffed them up. She moved into the parlor and polished the desks and bookshelves. Once she was done with all the odd tasks that could possibly be done, she selected a book from the shelf and returned to the sitting room. Jennifer sat down on the couch and opened her book; she leaned back against the back of the couch and began reading.
However, within five minutes sleep over took the exhausted Jennifer and she slipped into a deep sleep, despite her mental protests.
Upstairs, Alex and Megan had run out of games to play in Alex's room.
"I don't want to stay inside anymore, Alex, I wanna do something." Megan groaned as she pushed one of Alex's trucks the length of his room.
Alex's eyes followed the truck across the room before looking up at Megan, who was perched on the edge of his bed. "Maybe Jennifer will take us to the park." Alex suggested, wanting to go to the park and see Horus fly. He also wanted to play tag with Megan and Jennifer and maybe they would see some of his other friends at the park.
"All right, let's ask her." Megan said and jumped off Alex's bed and walked toward the door. Alex jumped up and joined his friend at the door and they headed down the hall and toward the stairs.
They creeped down the stairs and entered the sitting room, where they saw Jennifer asleep on the couch.
"She's asleep." Megan muttered, stating the obvious.
"I know that; she hasn't gotten much sleep for a while, she must be really tired." Alex muttered, understanding what it felt like to go sleepless for long periods of time.
"Why not? Why hasn't she been sleeping?" Megan asked, frowning.
Alex shrugged. "I dunno." He answered, looking from his friend to his aunt.
"She seems kinda weird to me; grownups aren't supposed to just fall asleep like that. That's weird." Megan said.
Alex turned toward his friend. "Jennifer is not weird. Take it back. She is not weird." Alex said, sticking up for his aunt.
"Make me." Megan dared, hating it when anyone told her what to do, especially her best friend.
Alex was infuriated by Megan's behavior; she had no right to call his aunt weird. "Take it back." Alex commanded and gave Megan a push. It was easy for the two old friends to fall back into their normal style of brawls and fights, it was almost normal yet childish.
Megan pushed Alex back, a little harder then he had pushed her; Alex glowered at his friend and shoved her, harder then before. Quickly, Megan and Alex had engaged in a un-friend like fight of pushing and yelling.
Once Megan and Alex started yelling at each other, Jennifer was brought for her sleep. Not a moment too soon, either, because she was in the middle of another nightmare.
Jennifer awoke with a start, her heart beating; she was greeted by the sight and sound of the two quarreling children left in her care. Jennifer sat up and stood up, walking over toward Alex and Megan just as Alex gave Megan a semi-hard punch on the arm.
"Alexander O'Connell, we do not hit." Jennifer snapped, as though Alex was still a toddler.
Alex and Megan were so surprised by Jennifer's appearance that they stared at her, dumbfounded, for several seconds before they began shouting at her the reasons for their fight.
The only words Jennifer was able to pick out of the yelling were yelled by Megan, but they were spoken to Alex. "I hate you!" Megan yelled at Alex, the words sounding harsh and as though she meant them.
"I hate you too!" Alex yelled back, the words sounding just as harsh and meaningful as Megan's had.
"Okay! Okay, everyone calm down," Jennifer tried to put an end to Megan and Alex's fight but it just seemed to get worse.
"All right! SHUT UP!" Jennifer screamed, her voice rising above Megan and Alex's.
They turned to face her, growing silent. Jennifer stared down at them, her face angry.
"What's going on here?" She asked, aware that it was a fight but still unaware of what had caused the fight.
Neither Megan nor Alex seemed to have an answer for Jennifer. "You guys apologize to each other, right now." Jennifer commanded.
"No! I hate her!" Alex yelled.
"I hate you too!" Megan yelled back.
"Enough. Alex up to your room, now. Megan into the parlor; let's go, both of you." Jennifer commanded.
Both of them marched to their punishment spots without another word or a backward glace. Jennifer knew that babysitting these two wasn't going to be as easy as it had seemed before.
Conflicts
After arriving back at the manor, Jennifer had Megan and Alex help her look for Horus and the missing chess piece -as "punishment". Jennifer discovered Horus hiding in the manor's large and somewhat daunting attic. Jennifer frowned as she pulled the stairs down from the ceiling, listening to them groan as they unfolded in front of her. Alex and Megan joined Jennifer's side, looking upward into the dark attic.
"My mum and dad never go up there." Alex muttered. Despite the new appearing sun, the attic was filled with darkness and shadows around every corner.
Jennifer bit her lip. "I have no clue how Horus could have gotten up there." Jennifer muttered, speaking the last word with some apparent distaste.
"There might be a hole in the ceiling somewhere." Megan offered.
"Maybe." Jennifer muttered; whether there was a hole or not, Jennifer didn't want to retrieve her bird in the dark attic.
"Maybe you can whistle for him." Alex suggested, seeming to sense his aunt's fear of the dark and daunting attic.
Jennifer nodded and whistled; luckily for her, Horus flew down toward her. However, the chess piece was not with the bird, but Jennifer wasn't too concerned about that at the moment.
After putting folding the stairs back into place, Jennifer, Megan and Alex hurried away from underneath the attic stairs. They headed into the kitchen, where a seemingly irritated Cleo greeted them. Cleo meowed and hissed as she rubbed against Jennifer's legs, strange behavior for the usually placid cat.
"What's wrong Cleo?" Alex asked as he bent down to pick up the cat. Cleo hissed and darted out of the kitchen; Jennifer frowned as she watched the cat bound away.
Once Cleo was gone, the three paid the cat's strange behavior no more attention. Alex and Megan complained of hunger pains so Jennifer fixed everyone -even Horus- a bowl of ice cream.
No one talked while they ate, all seeming to be thinking different thoughts. Once Alex and Megan were finished with their ice cream, they bounded up the stairs to Alex's room to play a new game.
Once Jennifer heard the shutting of Alex's door, she began to feel uneasy again. A spider-like chill creeped up her spine as her the sounds of silence once again filled her ears. Jennifer couldn't shake her uneasy feeling, a feeling that hadn't just come to her; a feeling that had been with her around half a month ago. She knew these feelings were caused by her nightmares, the nightmares that made her skittish and caused her not to sleep. At the thought of no sleep made Jennifer's eyes hurt and her eyelids to become somewhat heavy; Jennifer frowned as she rubbed her eyes, blinking back sleep.
To keep herself busy and awake, Jennifer began to wash the dishes that had held the ice cream. Once those dishes were done and put away, Jennifer began doing other anomalous tasks around the kitchen; she refilled the water in the flower vases, rearranged the dishes in the cupboards, organized the food in the pantries and wiped the counters down with a wet dishtowel.
Once Jennifer was finished with the kitchen she moved into the sitting room, doing more atypical tasks; she polished the chess pieces (except the missing one) and arranged them on the board, she polished all the lamps and turned them all on -to keep her awake and to shut the darkness out-, arranged the pillows on the couch and fluffed them up. She moved into the parlor and polished the desks and bookshelves. Once she was done with all the odd tasks that could possibly be done, she selected a book from the shelf and returned to the sitting room. Jennifer sat down on the couch and opened her book; she leaned back against the back of the couch and began reading.
However, within five minutes sleep over took the exhausted Jennifer and she slipped into a deep sleep, despite her mental protests.
Upstairs, Alex and Megan had run out of games to play in Alex's room.
"I don't want to stay inside anymore, Alex, I wanna do something." Megan groaned as she pushed one of Alex's trucks the length of his room.
Alex's eyes followed the truck across the room before looking up at Megan, who was perched on the edge of his bed. "Maybe Jennifer will take us to the park." Alex suggested, wanting to go to the park and see Horus fly. He also wanted to play tag with Megan and Jennifer and maybe they would see some of his other friends at the park.
"All right, let's ask her." Megan said and jumped off Alex's bed and walked toward the door. Alex jumped up and joined his friend at the door and they headed down the hall and toward the stairs.
They creeped down the stairs and entered the sitting room, where they saw Jennifer asleep on the couch.
"She's asleep." Megan muttered, stating the obvious.
"I know that; she hasn't gotten much sleep for a while, she must be really tired." Alex muttered, understanding what it felt like to go sleepless for long periods of time.
"Why not? Why hasn't she been sleeping?" Megan asked, frowning.
Alex shrugged. "I dunno." He answered, looking from his friend to his aunt.
"She seems kinda weird to me; grownups aren't supposed to just fall asleep like that. That's weird." Megan said.
Alex turned toward his friend. "Jennifer is not weird. Take it back. She is not weird." Alex said, sticking up for his aunt.
"Make me." Megan dared, hating it when anyone told her what to do, especially her best friend.
Alex was infuriated by Megan's behavior; she had no right to call his aunt weird. "Take it back." Alex commanded and gave Megan a push. It was easy for the two old friends to fall back into their normal style of brawls and fights, it was almost normal yet childish.
Megan pushed Alex back, a little harder then he had pushed her; Alex glowered at his friend and shoved her, harder then before. Quickly, Megan and Alex had engaged in a un-friend like fight of pushing and yelling.
Once Megan and Alex started yelling at each other, Jennifer was brought for her sleep. Not a moment too soon, either, because she was in the middle of another nightmare.
Jennifer awoke with a start, her heart beating; she was greeted by the sight and sound of the two quarreling children left in her care. Jennifer sat up and stood up, walking over toward Alex and Megan just as Alex gave Megan a semi-hard punch on the arm.
"Alexander O'Connell, we do not hit." Jennifer snapped, as though Alex was still a toddler.
Alex and Megan were so surprised by Jennifer's appearance that they stared at her, dumbfounded, for several seconds before they began shouting at her the reasons for their fight.
The only words Jennifer was able to pick out of the yelling were yelled by Megan, but they were spoken to Alex. "I hate you!" Megan yelled at Alex, the words sounding harsh and as though she meant them.
"I hate you too!" Alex yelled back, the words sounding just as harsh and meaningful as Megan's had.
"Okay! Okay, everyone calm down," Jennifer tried to put an end to Megan and Alex's fight but it just seemed to get worse.
"All right! SHUT UP!" Jennifer screamed, her voice rising above Megan and Alex's.
They turned to face her, growing silent. Jennifer stared down at them, her face angry.
"What's going on here?" She asked, aware that it was a fight but still unaware of what had caused the fight.
Neither Megan nor Alex seemed to have an answer for Jennifer. "You guys apologize to each other, right now." Jennifer commanded.
"No! I hate her!" Alex yelled.
"I hate you too!" Megan yelled back.
"Enough. Alex up to your room, now. Megan into the parlor; let's go, both of you." Jennifer commanded.
Both of them marched to their punishment spots without another word or a backward glace. Jennifer knew that babysitting these two wasn't going to be as easy as it had seemed before.