Chapter 2:
The door to Rae's bedroom squeaked open and a tiny form crept in. Pulling herself awkwardly onto Rae's bed, Ann gently shook her shoulder. "Miss Rae.... Miss Rae?"
A single tear rolled down her face when she couldn't get Rae to wake up. With a sniffle she slowly slid off the big bed. She walked down the hallway as one would walk to their death.
She sniffled and then paused near another door. Was this where Mr. Spot was sleeping? After a moment, she slowly opened the door and peeped in. "Mr. Spot?" She crept further in, approaching the bed in the center of the room. "Mr. Spot?" She cautiously crawled onto the edge of the bed. "Mr. Spot?" she said a little bit louder.
Spot mumbled incoherently and flopped over in his bed. "Who'zere?" he asked drowsily.
Ann shrieked and slid off the bed in tears.
Spot jerked awake, startled. "What? What?" He glanced in the direction of the wailing. "Ann? Is that you?"
She sobbed louder and attempted to run from the room, but tripped on the hem of the huge shirt she was wearing.
Hastily, Spot scrambled from his bed. "Hey, hey, what's the matter?" He crouched down next to me. "Are you afraid of me?"
She nodded vigorously, huge tears rolling down her cheeks.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," he said firmly.
She whimpered suddenly and began sobbing again.
Spot put his arm around her. "Want to tell good ol' Spot Conlon what the matter is?"
"I can't get Miss Rae to wake up." She whimpered
Spot smiled. "She could sleep through anything. Is there something else you wanted to tell me? I can be just as helpful as Rae.... I think..."
"I had a bad dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She looked up at him and shook her head.
"Are you sure?"
She whispered something that he couldn't hear. "What was that?" he asked.
Ann sniffled. "It was 'bout you Mr. Spot..."
Spot closed his eyes. He should have guessed this. He sighed. "I'm sorry that I scared you, Ann. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."
"You promise?"
"Yes. I promise."
"I don't want to go back to sleep. That bad dream might come back." She said, as fresh tears rolled down her face.
Spot took her in his arms uncertainly and stroked her hair. "You can sleep with Miss Rae or me, if you want to."
She sniffled and looked up into his scarred face. "Can I sleep with you Mr. Spot?"
After a pause, he nodded. "If you want to."
"Do you want me to go sleep with Miss Rae?"
"Whatever won't scare you is fine with me."
"You won't scare me." she said.
Spot smiled. "I'm glad." He placed her on the bed and she crawled under the covers and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Spot smiled wryly, watching her. "Poor kid," he murmured.
When Rae woke the next morning she found the door to her room wide open. 'Strange!' she thought. 'I closed it last night.' Crawling out of bed and wrapping a heavy robe around her she walked out into the hallway. Noticing that Spot's door was open too, she decided to peek into his room. She smiled to see Ann asleep on Spot's bed, clutching his arm like a rag doll. She giggled suddenly and Spot looked up at her.
"Shh!" he said, "You'll wake her up."
"This is a new side of you, Spot," she teased.
"Well don't get used to it." he muttered.
She shook her head. "I'll go prepare some breakfast."
"Oh no you don't" he said, crawling out of the bed, careful not to wake the sleeping girl.
"Don't worry, I don't intend on cooking. I'm just going to set out some fruit... and some bread and butter."
"Good. But I'm going to teach you to cook, Kelly, if it's the last thing I do."
"It will be the last thing you do because I'll burn the house down with you in it!"
"You WILL NOT burn my house down, got that Kelly?"
Rae sighed and shrugged. "Well, since you're up, come and help me."
He cast one more glance at Ann before following her.
"She had a nightmare about me," Spot finally murmured during the preparations for breakfast.
"Why didn't she come wake me up then?" Rae asked.
He gave her a look. "Why do you think, Miss "No-I-Didn't-Hear-The-Big-Loud-Fight-Right-Outside-My-Door"?"
She wrinkled her nose. "There was a big loud fight right outside my door?"
"Back in Brooklyn?" When she didn't appear to remember, Spot shook his head. "Aw, forget it. You wouldn't wake up. She tried waking you up and you didn't."
"Hang on, I want to know about this fight that I slept through."
"Well... 'Sippi and I were actually the ones to get into the fight..."
Her eyes grew wide. "You and Sippi fighting. Too bad I missed that. Do tell me more."
"Right after you and I had that big fight last spring, Sippi and I got into a fight when he said I was being to hard on ya."
"You and 'Sippi fought over me?"
"Well... 'Sippi fought over you.... I fought against you." He grinned.
She cocked her head to the side. "I feel so...special."
"You should.... he gave me a black eye."
She giggled. "So that's where that came from."
Spot made a face. "You don't have to rub it in."
"I only do it because I love you Conlon."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, shaking his head.
"Breakfast is ready, so I'll go get Ann and Andy." she said. She walked up the stairs and went to wake Ann up first. She sat on the edge of the bed. "Good morning, sunshine!" she sang cheerfully. Ann whimpered and rubbed her eyes, sitting up slowly. "Spot told me what happened last night, sweetheart. I'm sorry you couldn't wake me up." Rae said, brushing the hair from the little girl's face.
Sniffling, she nodded. "I'm hungry..."
"Spot's downstairs in the kitchen with breakfast. Go eat and then we need to find you and your brother some better clothes."
Nodding eagerly, she slid off the bed and scampered down the hall.
Rae walked into the other bedroom just as Andy sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes. "Mornin' Andy." she said, leaning against the doorframe.
"Morning," he murmured sleepily
"Breakfast is ready if you want some." she said
Sleepily, he rubbed his eyes and nodded. Then he reached for Rae's hand and together they walked downstairs.
Several hours later Spot walked into the study to find Rae curled up on one of the sofas reading a book. She had a bright red bandana holding her blond curls away from her face. "I figured that I'd find you cleaning." he said.
"I was. But I found this book under the couch and it looked interesting, so I started to read it." Rae explained, pointing to the cleaning supplies still sitting on the desk.
"Is it? Interesting, I mean."
"Very. It's about this prince who lived in a castle in the woods. One day an ugly old woman comes to the door, begging for food, but he refuses to give it to her. She's really a witch and she turns him into an ugly monster and says that only his true love can break the spell."
Spot nodded vaguely. "You know what would be more interesting?"
"What?" she asked skeptically.
"You learning how to cook."
"Oh no. I told you that I was not going to cook." she protested, attempting to go back to her book.
Walking over to her, he took the book from her and snapped it closed. "And -I- told YOU that you WERE." He smiled smugly.
"Since when do I listen to you?" she asked, reaching for her book.
"Since now."
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I am NOT going to learn to cook."
"You are so, woman. Otherwise you're not getting your book back," he taunted with a smirk.
"I could so kill you right now." she muttered, reaching for the knife she kept hidden in her boot.
"Not with children around. And besides, you know you want to learn."
"I do NOT!" she said, waving the knife in his face.
Grabbing her arm, he wrenched the knife from her hand. "Knock it off and just learn it for goodness' sake! You don't want to burn down the house when you marry 'Sippi, do you?"
"I'm not going to marry anyone, Conlon." she said through clinched teeth.
"Awww, you don't know that. Now come on... if you want the book AND the knife back, you're going to learn to cook." He motioned for her to follow and headed into the kitchen.
"CONLON, GIVE ME MY KNIFE BACK!" she yelled, chasing after him.
"Like I said, you'll get it back once you learn to cook." He shoved the frilly apron he had worn the previous day into her hands. "Now, let's get started."
"I'm not wearing this!" she protested.
"Oh come on Rae, it's not going to kill you to wear it!"
"NO!" she yelled. By this time the twins had heard the yelling and gotten curious. They crept into the kitchen to watch.
"What's the big deal? It's an apron. If I can be man enough to wear it, I'm certain you can be girl enough to."
"I will not, not, NOT" Rae shook her head firmly. "You can just forget about it."
"Just put it on Rae!"
"No!"
Ann and Andy glanced back and forth between the two as if watching a tennis match.
"PUT IT ON, KELLY." he said, using a low, threatening tone, that scared her for the first time.
Ann and Andy looked at him wide-eyed, lips trembling.
Rae picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and threw it at his head. "I'm NOT putting it on!"
He caught the fruit and threw it back at her. "Put it on!"
"MAKE ME!" she yelled.
Grabbing a fist full of flour in the open bag, he approached her. "If you don't put the apron on, you'll be sorry."
"You wouldn't throw that at me and you know it." she taunted, picking up another apple.
"Do you REALLY wanna try that theory, Rae?" he asked.
"Yes I do!"
He approached her, smirking when she didn't even flinch, and opened his fist, showering flour all over her.
She shrieked. "You are so DEAD!"
With a gleeful shriek, Andy grabbed a handful of flour and showered it over Ann's head. "Now you look like Miss Rae!"
Spot rocked back on his heels, laughing.
Rae took that opportunity to tackle him. "You won't get away with that!"
"Yeah!" echoed Ann and she pounced on her brother.
Spot managed to grab another fist full of flour and smeared it in Rae's face. She spat the flour out, blinking blindly, and he took that as an opportunity to escape. He seized a cup of water. "Ah ah," he said, grinning impishly, when Rae rose to chase after him again. "I pour this water on you, and you won't get that flour out of your hair for weeks."
She grabbed an apple and threw it at him, narrowly missing his head. "I won't miss next time." she warned.
Spot grabbed a hold of Andy. "You throw an apple again, and I'll get my little partner here to help me double up on you."
"Oh really!" She said, reaching for Ann and another apple.
"We can beat a couple of girls, no problem," Spot replied, handing Andy a cup of water.
"Yeah!" he echoed, grinning happily.
"This means war!" Rae yelled, throwing the apple. It hit the glass in Spot's hand, shattering the glass.
Shrieking in delight, Ann threw an apple at her brother, missing wildly, but happy all the same.
"Oh, that's it." Spot kicked the broken glass aside and grabbed the entire tub of water.
"Spot Conlon, DON'T YOU DARE!"
He grinned evilly. "Oh, but I think I do. Don't I, Andy?"
"Yeah!"
Rae shoved Ann behind her and grabbed a knife she had seen laying on the counter. "Don't take another step, Conlon, or you WILL be miserable."
Spot arched a brow. "You know, you really have to get over your obsession with knifing people."
"OBSESSION? I just do what I must to defend myself." she said, glaring at him.
"It's just a bit of fun! Anyway, I'M not the one throwing apples. Just some harmless water and flour!"
Rae slammed the knife down on the counter and turned to pick up Ann. "Come on sweetheart. Let's get you cleaned up."
Shaking his head and rolling his eyes- what was WRONG with this woman?!- Spot took Andy's hand and led him from the kitchen.
"Why did Miss Kelly take out that knife at you?" Andy asked, after a moment.
He shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
After cleaning up Ann and herself, Rae walked back into the kitchen and sat down on a stool at the counter. She sighed. She was going to have to get this over with. "Spot!" she yelled.
"What?" He ran into the kitchen. "Jeez woman, I thought you were being murdered. What is it?"
She grabbed the apron and tied it on. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
A compliant Rae? Unheard of! With a nod, Spot grinned. "All right then. Here's what we're going to make." And so the lesson began.
Later that night Rae was sitting in the parlor once again reading her book while the twins played quietly on the floor.
Spot glanced over at the large grandfather clock in the corner that he had tuned earlier that day. "Looks like it's bedtime."
"Five more minutes?" Andy asked.
"Nope." Rae said, closing her book. "It's bedtime."
"Please Mr. Spot?" Ann looked at him with a pout.
"Nope, you heard Rae. To bed with the both of you." The two children slowly left the room and made their way upstairs. Rae picked her book back up and began reading again. "That book must be really interesting with the way you're reading it." Spot said.
"Oh it is."
"What's it about again?"
"A handsome prince who gets turned into an ugly beast by a witch and only his true love can break the spell. This beautiful girl just stumbled upon his castle."
"What happens then? Or have you gotten that far?"
"Right now he's lurking in the shadows watching her as she explores his castle."
Spot stretched and yawned. "Sounds interesting."
"It really is. Everyone has turned their backs on him except a few faithful servants. His heart has become bitter, but all he has to do to break the spell is learn to love."
He frowned. "Aww, a girl story..."
Rae rolled her eyes. "I bet if you sat down and started reading it you would enjoy it too. It's not just a girl story."
"Well, it sounds like it. Show me the real adventure and then we'll see."
"I'll let you know when I get to the real adventure...it's still pretty early in the book." A small sound at the door to the parlor interrupted their conversation.
Spot looked up, arching a brow. "I think someone is up past their bedtime," he remarked to Rae, standing and heading towards the door.
"Now Miss Ann, what are you doing out of bed?" he asked, stepping into the hallway.
"Can I sleep in your bed again Mr. Spot?" she asked, whimpering.
"Ann, you need to sleep in your bed." he said, taking her into his arms.
She began to sniffle. "I know but... I'm scared... And you keep all the monsters away." Huge tears dripped down her cheeks.
He fought the urge to laugh. Instead he rested her head on his shoulder and stroked her hair.
"Can I, Mr. Spot? Can I?"
He sighed. "I guess so. But you need to learn to sleep in your own bed."
After another sniffle, she nodded. "Yessir."
He carried her up the stairs and placed her in his bed. She crawled under the covers and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow
Spot smiled in spite of himself and headed back downstairs. "Kid fell asleep the moment I put her down."
"I figured she would." Rae said. "You really do have a way with them."
"Me?" He gestured to himself. "No, I don't think so."
"She idolizes you." Rae said. "Anyone can see it."
"She has nightmares about me Rae. About this." He pointed to his severely scarred face.
"I believe that she said, you scare away the monsters." Rae protested.
"With this scary face." Spot smirked, as if to say 'try to one-up THAT!'
Rae shook her head. "I give up. You're too pig-headed."
"Oink, oink," he replied sarcastically.
She giggled and attempted to go back to her reading, but was soon rolling in laughter.
Spot arched a brow, but grinned a little anyway.
She yawned. "I'm going to bed." she whispered, standing.
"Sleep well," he replied, kicking his heels up onto the couch. "And don't sleep so deeply that the kids can't wake you up. I don't want BOTH Ann and Andy sleeping with me!"
She smiled. "That I'd like to see."
"I'm sure you would..."
"Goodnight." she said slipping from the room.
With a sigh, Spot leaned his head back. Rae had left her book, he noticed, glancing out of the corner of his eye. 'Well,' he thought, 'maybe I can be nice and give it to her.' He went over and picked it up. "Wonder what's so great about it," he muttered, opening it to the first page. Slowly, he sat down, suddenly hooked by the first page, and began to read.
* * *
Rae woke early the next morning, dressed and slowly made her way downstairs. As she passed the parlor door, she noticed Spot, sound asleep on the couch, her book resting open on his chest. She smirked. 'Not interested in a girly book, eh?' she thought, gently prodding his shoulder to wake him.
He stretched and the book fell onto the floor. He bent to pick it up and noticed her standing there for the first time. "Good morning Rae." he said softly.
"Morning, Sunshine. My, did you stay up reading all night?" She glanced pointedly at the book.
"I guess I did." he said.
"Hmm, that's curious... I seem to recall you claiming it was a girly book that you wouldn't be interested. Explain that?" She arched her brow.
"I decided to see why you were so interested in it."
"Ahh." She nodded. "And what did you conclude?"
"I don't think I got any further than you did, but what I did read was pretty good."
She held a hand to her chest. "Then I guess that means..." she gasped, "that I was right!"
He rolled his eyes. "Knock it off, Kelly."
"No, no.... I think I'm onto something. I mean... if I'm right, then you must be... hmm, what is it? It's on the tip of my tongue- rhymes with song?"
"Ok, I was WRONG!" he said
She grinned gleefully. "Boy I wish everyone was here to hear you say that."
"If you don't knock it off, you won't be able to tell everyone." he threatened, heading for the door.
Rae shook her head and rolled her eyes. "And he says -I- have an obsession with threatening people."
Ann stumbled down the stairs, sleepily rubbing her eyes. "Mornin' Ann." Rae said with a smile.
Ann waved and yawned. "Morning Miss Rae. Morning Mr. Spot."
"Come here Ann." Rae said, motioning for the child to join her. Ann walked over to her and Rae pulled the girl into her lap. "How about you and I go into town and get some things to make you some new dresses?"
She brightened immediately. "Really? New dresses for me?"
"Yep. We don't have anything here that would fit you, and nothing we can cut down, and that dress of yours won't hold up much longer."
Ann began to bounce around gleefully. "New dresses for me! New dresses for me!"
Spot laughed. "I guess we found out what makes her happy!"
Rae grinned. "I guess so. Come on, let's get some breakfast in us, and then we can go."
Ann squealed excitedly and ran for the kitchen.
"You want to come Spot?" Rae inquired, grinning.
"Not with this face." he said. "Andy and I will see what we can do around here, while you are gone."
Rae sighed, muttering about his absurdities and headed into the kitchen.
Later that morning Rae walked into the store holding Ann's hand as she skipped alongside her. Cooking, she knew nothing about, but Rae could handle make a few dresses for the little girl.
She shifted a bit uncomfortably as people walked by staring and stood off in corners whispering. 'What are they staring at?' she wondered.
She walked over to the clerk who had made fun of her the day before, as he was the only clerk in sight. "Good morning, Tom!" she said cheerfully. "I'd like to see the fabrics please."
Tom looked at her, slightly stunned. "Um... right." He seemed a bit skittish which Rae found a bit odd.
Rae followed him to the far corner of the room, trying her best to ignore the stares and whispers. She felt a small tug on her hand. "What is it Ann?" she asked.
"Everyone's staring..." she whispered.
Rae knelt down next to the girl. "I know sweetheart. Just try to forget about them alright?"
She clutched Rae's hand tightly and nodded timidly.
Rae scooped the girl in her arms and followed Tom. Once at the fabric counter she quickly placed her order and waited for Tom to cut the fabrics. By the time he had finished, Ann had fallen asleep on her shoulder.
Hastily, Tom took care of it, charged her the proper fees, and ushered them out the door.
Before he could turn to go back inside she roughly grabbed his arm. "What is going on here?"
Tom blinked, startled. "Wha-what do you mean?"
Her grip on his arm tightened. "Why are they staring at me and whispering?"
"I uh... I don't know..."
Rae's grip tightened further.
"Someone said there were folks living in the old Kringler house outside of town with a beast!" he yelped in a high voice.
"Maybe they should stop gossiping about things they don't know."
"This man who told us is very respectable young lady.... He said a man with a disfigured face lived at that house and that you lived with him!"
"That MAN happens to be my brother." she lied.
Tom paled considerably. "Well I..."
"Yeah, that's right." She released his arm with a scowl and pushed him back into the store.
Shifting Ann slightly in her arms and tightly clutching the fabric, Rae stormed out of town. She couldn't believe the audacity they had! This was exactly the thing Spot feared. Turning the events over and over in her mind she came to a conclusion. She couldn't tell Spot.
When she arrived home, Spot and Andy were outside playing a game of catch. They both waved between tosses.
"What's got you so glum, Kelly?" Spot asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing. I was just a long walk and Ann's getting heavy."
He glanced at her. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
With a shrug, he said, "All right then. You girls care to join us men for a game of catch?"
She set Ann down on the ground and then depositing the package on the porch she walked back over to them. "Let's play."
Ann squealed. "We got such pretty fabric, Mr. Spot!" She spun around in her ratty dress. "I'm gonna have some pretty dresses!
Spot laughed. "I'm sure they will Ann." he said, messing her hair. She skipped over to Rae. "Can we get started on them right now, Miss Rae?"
"Did you want to do that or play with Andy and Spot?"
Ann looked at her brother and Spot and then back to Rae, "Can I stay here and play and you go work on the dresses?"
"Let me get your measurements first." Rae took her by the hand and led her into the house. Ten minutes later the little girl came running out and joined in the game.
After a minute or two Spot left and walked into the house. He found Rae in the parlor, sitting on the floor cutting the fabric. "What is it that you wouldn't tell me?"
She looked at him innocently. "What do you mean?"
"Don't give me that act Rae. You're hiding something and I know it."
She sighed. There was no way she was going to tell him the WHOLE truth. "The people in town have figured out that we are living here and they are saying some things about...well....you...and me...LIVING together."
Spot scratched his head. "And there's a problem with that?"
She gave him a look.
"All right, all right, I see what you mean. Did they say anything to you about it?"
"For the most part they stood and whispered and stared. They scared Ann pretty bad. But I finally forced Tom to tell me what was going on."
"Tom? Who's Tom?"
"That clerk that I was telling you about."
"What did he say?" Spot looked somewhat apprehensive and a bit angry at the same time.
"Just that someone had seen the two of us here."
"And that's why they talked and whispered?" He arched a brow. Something wasn't adding up. "There had to be something else for you to look that mad."
"You really don't want to know." she said, going back to cutting the fabric.
Now his interest was piqued. "No. I do. Tell me."
"You DON'T want to know."
"Don't tell me what I do and don't want to know. Now tell me!:
She sighed. "Someone caught a glimpse of you through the trees."
Spot opened his mouth to speak again and then closed it. His expression darkened. "That gossip... was about me then, wasn't it?"
She looked up and caught his eye, slowly nodding her head.
He made a disgusted sound and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I should have known." He growled.
"Spot..." Rae said cautiously.
"What?!" he roared.
"We aren't leaving. We are staying HERE in THIS HOUSE!"
He looked at her, confused. "What does that got to do with anything?"
"I saw that look in your eye. It was the same look you had in your eye when we left Brooklyn."
He scowled. "I know what they think of me. I can tell by the way you won't tell me... They think I'm a freak! Just like everyone in Brooklyn would have thought if we had stayed!"
"It's not like you have to see them anyway! I'm the one who buys the groceries! If you want to leave, FINE, but the twins and I are staying right here."
"Fine!" Spot yelled back, balling up his fists. He looked like he intended to scrap, but at the last minute he turned and stalked from the room.
"MEN!" Rae yelled, throwing her pin cushion across the room.
By the end of the evening, Rae and Spot were still on no-speaking terms.
The tension was thick through dinner and the twins felt it. The spent little time eating and most of their time looking from Rae to Spot and back again. By the time the meal was finished Rae and Spot were glaring at one another across the table, unaware of anything else going on in the room. Spot felt a small tug on his sleeve. "Mr. Spot?" Ann asked timidly.
Fighting back the snappish reply that was on his lips, he replied a simple "Yes?"
"Can I sleep with you again tonight?" she asked, her lower lip trembling.
Softening a bit, he nodded. "Sure kiddo."
Andy grabbed his sister's hand and dragged her from the room. "Let's go play!" As they left, Rae stood and carried her plate over to the sink.
Spot glanced at her, glared, and then looked away.
She threw her plate into the sink, shattering it.
"What in the world are you doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she yelled throwing another plate in the sink.
"Smashing all the dishes!"
"I wish these were your head!" she yelled, throwing a third plate in the sink.
"I wish it they were your face!" he retorted.
"Oh right, so then you wouldn't have to feel so sorry for yourself."
"Oh yeah, Rae, life is just one big pity celebration for me, isn't it? I moved because I thought I'd be pitied. I don't NEED pity! Not from you, not from those STUPID TOWNSPEOPLE!"
"I DON'T PITY YOU! I'm trying to HELP you!" she yelled.
Spot didn't know what to say so he just glared at her, growled briefly, and then folded his arms over his chest and sulked. Sometimes he felt women- Rae in particular- were put on this Earth to torment him.
Rae sighed. "Look, you can't spend the rest of your life sneaking around in the shadows. You're gonna need some help."
Spot glared at her. "There isn't exactly anything that can help my face Rae."
"But if you stay here at least you've got someone to get some FOOD for you!"
"What are you- Rae, I never said I was going to leave!" he snapped. "You just JUMPED to conclusions!"
"You had that same look in your eye as you did a few nights ago when we left Brooklyn!"
"That doesn't mean anything!"
"I give up!" she yelled, stomping from the room and up the stairs.
He growled loudly. Women!