Hey, everybody! Apologies for chapters being out of order and all...whoops...Anywho, it's all good now, and more is up! Yey! All right then...enjoy! Please review!
East of the Sun and
West of the Moon
By Jenny the chica
Chapter One: In which we meet Celia...
Voices from the house jerked Celia's thoughts away from what she had been distracted by. She gathered up her skirts, mostly rags, and scurried down the hill to the small cottage, more of a hut, really. Her mother, Clara, stood there, still holding her posture like a noble, and Celia immediately slowed when she saw the scowl beginning to spread across Mother's face. Mother believed that Celia was much too old to be running. "After all," she would say, "You're nearly seventeen, no longer a child."
As the youngest, Celia often had received the brunt of most punishments. The youngest of ten, seven boys and three girls, she had grown up with nine fingers always pointing at her.
It is not like Celia was a troublemaker. On the contrary, she was the sweetest thing for miles, but her beauty and innocent nature often had stirred up jealousy among her siblings.
But that no longer happened as much. Her seven brothers had grown out of tormenting her, and they loved their sister dearly. Her sisters, however, ignored her, and the two spent most of the day primping with their mother.
Celia didn't mind, really. Her brothers were dears, and they were very close, for the oldest was not much older than her sixteen. The group of eight hardly noticed the resentment of their twin sisters and mother.
To Celia's father, his family meant the world to him. This caused the wound that he could never fill with food or buy new clothes for his own children and wife to cleft even more deeply.
Celia heard Mother say something about Father almost here, but Celia had known that he would when Mother had called her down. She rushed through the house, continually tucking her straw-colored hair behind her, as her ribbon had fluttered free who knows how long ago.
Celia continued to run, down the path, for she could not wait to greet Papa, as only she called him. She saw him as she turned a bend. Strange, she thought, but Papa looks very troubled.
She called to him, and he looked up. A look of horror spread like a dark cloud over his face, and his lip quivered.
"Papa, what's wrong?"
Celia was very worried, but he just shook his head. "Papa," she repeated, "Tell me what is wrong."
He continued to shake his gray head, but he dismounted and stumbled over to her, where he embraced her tightly.
Celia hugged him back, but she had a sick feeling in her stomach that something was terribly wrong.
Papa pulled away and looked at Celia, cupping her two cheeks in his huge hands. Celia smiled, and he continued to look over and study her face for a few more minutes.
Celia was worried over her father's strange actions, and she took the harness of their mule in her hand once her father dropped his hands from her face. She held out her left arm, and Papa leaned on her shoulder. With her right hand, she led the mule and cart. After they had gone like this for a little while, her brothers ran out to greet them, and relieved Celia of the cart, but she continued to guide her Papa down to the house.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Papa's mysterious melancholy was soon forgotten in the joy of his return. Word had reached Papa while he was away that some of his merchant business had been salvaged, enough to be able to restart again. Needless to say, the joy in that home was purely indescribable, yet Papa's strange sadness remained.
Celia became very worried, for she loved her father even more than herself, but even she could not get a word out of him.
Her mother and sisters finally told her to "stop your foolish worries," and Celia calmed down a little, especially after confiding her worries in her brothers. They told her that it was just the shock and joy of the change from poverty to wealth again that was doing this to him. Celia didn't really believe them, but she didn't like how worried everyone was about her concern, so she calmed down a little.
Everyone, even Celia, adjusted to the old life of parties and such quickly. A few asked Papa how he had acquired this sudden wealth, but his monosyllabic replies ended the demands and nagging for answers.
With the worry for her father put aside slightly, Celia remembered her joyous old life when they had lived in the city. Every night it seemed that there was another party to go to, and her sisters were engaged after only a few months back. The life they had lived in the country for a few years was quickly fading until it only seemed to be a few memories from a bad dream.
About half a year after they returned to the city life, Thomas, Celia's oldest brother, was married. He married a close friend of Celia's whom Thomas had been about to propose to when the disaster struck. In the midst of the joy of wedding preparations, Celia could still remember that terrible day...
She had only been six years then, but it was still engraved in her childhood memory. She had comforted her father as much as she could, while her mother and sisters wailed in their rooms over their loss, but she had accepted her fate and come to accept it. One of the hardest things was separating Thomas and Kathryn. They had grown up together, and were never seen very far apart from one another. When the news reached Papa that all his merchant ships had been lost in storms or overtaken by pirates, the two were about to start making wedding plans even then, although only a few, including Celia, knew about it. Their parents did not yet know that it was official. Coming from high society, Kathryn's parents immediately broke off all connections between them, and the two were separated, until Papa brought the joyous news that all was not lost, and his ships had been found again.
Obviously, the wedding followed as soon as possible after that. Celia was chosen as the maid of honor, but she begged Kathryn to allow her sisters, Bridget and Elisabeth, to be included as well, for she was never one to leave others out of anything.
Celia's brothers, Henry, Edward, Bernard, Charles, William, and David all stood behind their oldest brother, and the wedding truly was a joyous celebration.
Yet, at the wedding, Celia noticed for the first time that either her father or one of her brothers was always right at her side. At first, it had seemed natural for one of them to be beside her, but she grew wary after noticing that it was constant.
'It is almost as if I am in some sort of danger,' she thought. 'I'll talk to Papa about it in the morning.'
After that, she took her mind off her suspicions for the wedding dances, but she couldn't escape that dreadful knot in her stomach, that seemed to be put there as a constant reminder that something was not right at all.
East of the Sun and
West of the Moon
By Jenny the chica
Chapter One: In which we meet Celia...
Voices from the house jerked Celia's thoughts away from what she had been distracted by. She gathered up her skirts, mostly rags, and scurried down the hill to the small cottage, more of a hut, really. Her mother, Clara, stood there, still holding her posture like a noble, and Celia immediately slowed when she saw the scowl beginning to spread across Mother's face. Mother believed that Celia was much too old to be running. "After all," she would say, "You're nearly seventeen, no longer a child."
As the youngest, Celia often had received the brunt of most punishments. The youngest of ten, seven boys and three girls, she had grown up with nine fingers always pointing at her.
It is not like Celia was a troublemaker. On the contrary, she was the sweetest thing for miles, but her beauty and innocent nature often had stirred up jealousy among her siblings.
But that no longer happened as much. Her seven brothers had grown out of tormenting her, and they loved their sister dearly. Her sisters, however, ignored her, and the two spent most of the day primping with their mother.
Celia didn't mind, really. Her brothers were dears, and they were very close, for the oldest was not much older than her sixteen. The group of eight hardly noticed the resentment of their twin sisters and mother.
To Celia's father, his family meant the world to him. This caused the wound that he could never fill with food or buy new clothes for his own children and wife to cleft even more deeply.
Celia heard Mother say something about Father almost here, but Celia had known that he would when Mother had called her down. She rushed through the house, continually tucking her straw-colored hair behind her, as her ribbon had fluttered free who knows how long ago.
Celia continued to run, down the path, for she could not wait to greet Papa, as only she called him. She saw him as she turned a bend. Strange, she thought, but Papa looks very troubled.
She called to him, and he looked up. A look of horror spread like a dark cloud over his face, and his lip quivered.
"Papa, what's wrong?"
Celia was very worried, but he just shook his head. "Papa," she repeated, "Tell me what is wrong."
He continued to shake his gray head, but he dismounted and stumbled over to her, where he embraced her tightly.
Celia hugged him back, but she had a sick feeling in her stomach that something was terribly wrong.
Papa pulled away and looked at Celia, cupping her two cheeks in his huge hands. Celia smiled, and he continued to look over and study her face for a few more minutes.
Celia was worried over her father's strange actions, and she took the harness of their mule in her hand once her father dropped his hands from her face. She held out her left arm, and Papa leaned on her shoulder. With her right hand, she led the mule and cart. After they had gone like this for a little while, her brothers ran out to greet them, and relieved Celia of the cart, but she continued to guide her Papa down to the house.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Papa's mysterious melancholy was soon forgotten in the joy of his return. Word had reached Papa while he was away that some of his merchant business had been salvaged, enough to be able to restart again. Needless to say, the joy in that home was purely indescribable, yet Papa's strange sadness remained.
Celia became very worried, for she loved her father even more than herself, but even she could not get a word out of him.
Her mother and sisters finally told her to "stop your foolish worries," and Celia calmed down a little, especially after confiding her worries in her brothers. They told her that it was just the shock and joy of the change from poverty to wealth again that was doing this to him. Celia didn't really believe them, but she didn't like how worried everyone was about her concern, so she calmed down a little.
Everyone, even Celia, adjusted to the old life of parties and such quickly. A few asked Papa how he had acquired this sudden wealth, but his monosyllabic replies ended the demands and nagging for answers.
With the worry for her father put aside slightly, Celia remembered her joyous old life when they had lived in the city. Every night it seemed that there was another party to go to, and her sisters were engaged after only a few months back. The life they had lived in the country for a few years was quickly fading until it only seemed to be a few memories from a bad dream.
About half a year after they returned to the city life, Thomas, Celia's oldest brother, was married. He married a close friend of Celia's whom Thomas had been about to propose to when the disaster struck. In the midst of the joy of wedding preparations, Celia could still remember that terrible day...
She had only been six years then, but it was still engraved in her childhood memory. She had comforted her father as much as she could, while her mother and sisters wailed in their rooms over their loss, but she had accepted her fate and come to accept it. One of the hardest things was separating Thomas and Kathryn. They had grown up together, and were never seen very far apart from one another. When the news reached Papa that all his merchant ships had been lost in storms or overtaken by pirates, the two were about to start making wedding plans even then, although only a few, including Celia, knew about it. Their parents did not yet know that it was official. Coming from high society, Kathryn's parents immediately broke off all connections between them, and the two were separated, until Papa brought the joyous news that all was not lost, and his ships had been found again.
Obviously, the wedding followed as soon as possible after that. Celia was chosen as the maid of honor, but she begged Kathryn to allow her sisters, Bridget and Elisabeth, to be included as well, for she was never one to leave others out of anything.
Celia's brothers, Henry, Edward, Bernard, Charles, William, and David all stood behind their oldest brother, and the wedding truly was a joyous celebration.
Yet, at the wedding, Celia noticed for the first time that either her father or one of her brothers was always right at her side. At first, it had seemed natural for one of them to be beside her, but she grew wary after noticing that it was constant.
'It is almost as if I am in some sort of danger,' she thought. 'I'll talk to Papa about it in the morning.'
After that, she took her mind off her suspicions for the wedding dances, but she couldn't escape that dreadful knot in her stomach, that seemed to be put there as a constant reminder that something was not right at all.