Key:
'...'
Thinking
"..."
Talking
horizontal line Scene change
>>>
Time change
::::::::::::::::::
Flashback
italicized
Onomatopoeia
Truth Be Told
Chapter 1: Letters
"Kate! You can't just encourage the child to wear slacks!" Leopold told his wife, trying his hardest not to raise his voice.
"Well why not? She's 14 for God's sake. She should have some choices, and pants over dresses is a lot more reasonable than some people in say, 2017!" Kate replied. They had been married for nearly 16 years and had 3 children. No matter how much time had passed, neither seemed to age more than a year or so.
"Katherine, it is 1892 not 2017. Dresses are customary for her. She's the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Albany, she can't be flouncing around in pants and a T-shirt!" Leopold told her sternly, he was starting to lose his patients.
"2017?" A voice whispered quietly to itself from the hallway, trying not to be heard.
Vanessa listened intently to her parents bickering. She had come by to tell her mother that she had received a letter from someone named Charlie. She had stopped outside when she realized who they were talking about. She thought back to earlier that day when her mom had let her try slacks.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.Flash Back.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Vanessa!" Kate called to her youngest child. Vanessa walked in and looked up at her mother. Vanessa had straight brown hair reaching her waist, and the same eyes as her uncle. Her skin was tan due to the fact that she tried to spend as much time as possible outside instead of in.
"Yes?" She had asked. She had no idea why her mother would want to speak to her. "If Elizabeth or Cynthia told you anything I swear I didn't do it!" She told the older woman, she was always getting blamed for her older sister's deeds.
"They didn't say anything, I want you to try these on." Kate held up a pair of black slacks. "Liz and Cynthia both detested them, so I thought you might like them."
Vanessa looked at her mother's smiling face and gave in. "Alright, I'll be out in a minute."
Kate smiled even brighter and left her daughter to to try on the pants. A few minutes later Vanessa came out of the room in the slacks and a white blouse her mother left for her. Kate couldn't help but notice how much easier she moved in them.
"I love these!" She had shouted and embraced her mother. "I can walk better and there's less a chance of me tripping in them." Vanessa, though born into the 1800s, was fit for the future. She had always been the opposite of her 2 sisters, much more like her mother. The child hated dresses and loved her straight hair, she was clumsy at some points but always looked towards the future. Leopold always felt if he looked close enough, he would see Kate shining back through them.
While the two talked for a moment together in the hallway, Leopold came round the corner. He had been looking for Kate all morning but couldn't seem to find her. When he did, he wished he hadn't.
"What's going on here?" He had asked his wife, eyeing the black pants his daughter was wearing
"Hey daddy. Where have you been all day?" Vanessa asked her father, oblivious to the shock he was in.
Without another second he turned to Kate, "Kate darling, could you come speak with me for a moment?"
Kate, though bewildered why he would want to speak with her in private, agreed and followed him down the hall. Leaving Vanessa alone as she watched their retreating forms down the hall.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.End Flash Back.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Look, Leopold, I've been thinking." Kate began. Leopold rolled his eyes, her ideas usually ended up as trouble. "What if we let Vanessa stay with Charlie for a while? He is my brother, and from the last letter he threw through the portal he's married Patrice." (sorry if that's spelled wrong)
Leopold stared at Kate in utter shock for the second time that day. "Katherine, that is the most absurd idea you have ever had." He stated plainly.
"Now why is it so absurd? Charlie's always mentioning he would like to see the children and Vanessa's by far the most willing to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge!" Kate protested, she truly saw no absurdity in her idea.
"That's just it." Leopold began. "What do you think it would look like if we allowed our youngest daughter to jump off a bridge?" Without waiting of an answer he continued, but the child in the hallway had stopped eaves dropping to comprehend what he had just said.
Vanessa looked down at the letter she held between her hands. 'Maybe if I read this it will tell me a little more about what those two are talking about' she thought. Without wasting anymore time she turned and ran quietly to her room and locked the door behind her.
She sat on her large bed and carefully opened the envelope. As she took the letter from it's cover she noticed that this was definitely not any type of parchment or stationary she had ever seen. She slowly unfolded the letter. Her fingers trembled slightly, she had never read through anyone's mail and she was sure her father would not approve. When she finally finished opening the letter and reading it, she just stared blankly before rereading it.
Dear Kate,
How are things in 1892? Heh, I bet your
dying without your cell. Stuart says hi also. Did I tell you? Patrice and
I are gonna have a baby! I supposedly passed out for a minute when we found
out. Or so the doctors say!! There is no way that I, Charlie McKay could
pass out like a little girl!! MAN!
Anyway, I got my first real job today! I'm the
star of a new soap opera called "Time after Time". Suites you better than
me eh?! Also, before I forget to write it, Stuart gave me a list of openings
if you wanted to come by for a while. Here they are if you wanna know:
Friday June 24
Sunday July 24
Wensday August 17
Love From,
Charlie
Vanessa reread the letter a few times before it finally started to sink in. She gaped at the note, clearly confused. "Charlie, Charlie..." She repeated the name a few times befor she finally remembered. "Uncle Charlie! But mom said he died in a freak accident." Vanessa spoke softly to herself, she'd be busted if one of the maids or butlers caught her with her fater's mail. The only person she could honestly trust with anything was Odis. She new he was the closest with her dad, but Odis would never tell her parents anything she told him without permission.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Vanessa looked up quickly from the letter. "Coming!" She yelled to the person behind the door. She stuffed the letter under her pillow and opened the door. It was her father.
"Vanessa, can I talk to you for a moment?" Leopold asked her.
"Sure. Dosn't bother me." Vanessa answered. She caught a blimpse of dark curly hair, Elizabeth and Cynthia. She glared at them, though she couldn't see them she knew they were waiting for her to get busted.
"About this whole slacks business, you can't really wear these. You know that don't you?" Leopold asked his daughter.
"Yes, but could you close the door, I don't appreciate
Liz and Cynthia eaves dropping on me." Vanessa raised her voice enough
for the two girls in the hall to hear perfectly. The next thing they heard
was the slamming of their little sister's door.
"Dad, do you know who Charlie McKay is?" Vanessa decided to come straight out with it instead of beating around the bush.
Leopold was shocked to say the least. How had she found out about Charles? This was way to many surprises for one day. He glanced over at Vanessa's bed and caught a glimpse of paper petruding from beneath the pillow. "What is that?" He finally asked.
Vanessa looked over at her pillow and visibly paled. 'Oh no! He can't find out I've been reading their mail. Think Vanessa, think!" she thought rapedly to herself. 'I got it!' Vanessa grabbed the letter, glanced over it and sighed. "This is just an assignment I need to turn in for lessons tommorow." She explained to her father.
Leopold merley nodded before speaking again. "Where did you hear of Charlie McKay?" He questioned. Vanessa thought back to earlier.
"I was walking by the room you and mom were talking in and just happened to pick up the name Charlie McKay. Also, if I'm not mistaken, McKay is mom's maiden name."
Leopold couldn't believe that his child could put together something of that logic together so quickly. He nodded again before staing he had to leave and they would talk about this later.
Vanessa knew he was lying and just couldn't think of a good excuse. No matter, she was going to figure it out herself, by jumping the Brooklyn Bridge. For tonight was Friday June 24, and she was not going to pass up a chance to meet her supposedly dead uncle. So she got out a quill and peice of parchment, wrote a small letter to her parents, and headed out the door in her blouse and slacks.
She reached the Brooklyn Bridge in no time, and had
managed to get out of the house by claiming she needed some fresh air.
She stood atop the bridge staring down at the water below her, 'What if
it dosn't work?' she thought.
"Vanessa? Are you in here darling?" Kate asked as she entered Vanessa's room. She looked over the room and stopped at the small desk. On top of it lie a sheet of paper and a sheet of parchment. Recognizing Charlie's hand-writing she ead that one first. "He's always trying to get us to come see him." she said lightly to herself.
Next she picked up the peice of parchment. Like Charlie's letter she immediantly recognized her daughter's hand-writing. She read it quickly before turing white.
"LEOPOLD!!" She screamed as she ran from the room, letter clutched tightly in her hand. She ran straight into him as she rounded the corner of the study. Behind him he saw Liz and Cynthia standing beside each other, both of them looked a little frightened.
"What is it Kate?" Leopold asked her, she seemed to be on the edge of hysterics. She didn't say anything, just thrust the letter into his hand;
Mother and Father,
I am leaving for 2017. I will be jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge and seeking out uncle Charlie form his letter. I'll be fine and I will be back within a month.
Love,
Vanessa
"Come on girls!" Leopold shouted to the three females in the room. He
then fled out to a carriage, all of them behind him. Without hesitation
or expanation, he set the carriage on it's way as they rode towards the
Brooklyn Bridge.
Vanessa was just about to step off when she heard rushed hooves below her. She looked down in time to see her father and mother bolt from the stopped carriage followed quickly by Elizabeth and Cynthia. "No! I've got to do this!" she told herself sternly.
"Vanessa! Don't!!" Her mother called after her. Vanessa
turned to flash them one last smile before she jumped, and was gone.
A\N: What will happen to Vanessa? What will Kate and Leopold do aboput it? Is Charlie ready to see his 14 year old neice? Will I ever stop talking? All this and more in the next chapter! Also!
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!