A/N: Sorry I took so long in updating. I was gone for five days and I meant to update the day before I left, but Mom had me labeling candles and soap for her business for five hours and I didn't have time. Soooo, here it is. Hope you all enjoy it. OH, and before I forget, which I have been for the last two chapters, a big thank you goes to Vous Savez who has kindly betaed my chapters and given some nice constructive criticism.
CrystalLili- I'll have to give my mother credit for that line. She always referred to doctors as people who had 'I am God' stamped across their foreheads. I thought it would go well with Matthew's personality. (No offense to anyone who knows, is, or is related to a doctor.) Thanks for the review.
Duchessedie- Thank you, I will.
BrilliantCrescentStar- She may. *winks* And I doubt all men are like Matthew and must die. Thanks so much. I love your reviews.
Black Jaguar12- Don't worry. He is a…what you said. Through and through. Thanks!
Ally- I'm so glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing.
Cherrychica- Silly girl. It wasn't that sad. Thanks!
Eris- No, it wasn't poison. Just a sleeping draught so Rahlei could say goodbye to her mother with out him around to yell at her. Thanks for the review.
Eva Maddison- Ok, here's more. Thanks so much.
Rahlei of Her Own Destiny
Chapter Three
Grief
A sound unlike anything she had ever heard in her entire life awoke her the next morning.
Her head shot up and she saw her father kneeling beside the bed, weeping over his dead wife.
It all came back to her. She glanced down at the corpse and shuddered as she slid off the bed, silently attempting to creep away from the body.
Matthew heard the bed creak and he looked up suddenly.
"You," he said hoarsely. "This is your fault, you did this," He spat, rising to his feet.
Rahlei's brow furrowed. "What?"
"GET!" he screamed, coming at her with his fist raised.
She ducked the first blow and dashed to the door. He slammed it behind her.
Rahlei stood trembling in the hallway, feeling utterly lost and alone. She would leave her father be for a while. Hopefully he would come to his senses soon.
She went outside to feed the animals. It occurred to her that she should tell someone about Yelda's death so funeral plans could be made. After she fed the animals, she began walking to Miss Lena's house, trying to keep herself from crying and trying to ignore the painful ache in her heart.
Miss Lena opened the door before Rahlei had even knocked. She took one look at Rachel's face, and she knew.
"I'm so sorry, child," the older woman said, wrapping an arm around Rahlei's shoulders and hugging her close.
Unable to contain herself any longer, Rahlei began to sob uncontrollably into Lena's shoulder.
"What am I going to do?" she asked, blowing her nose on a handkerchief that Lena had given her while choking back another sob.
Few people knew what went on in Matthew's household. But Lena had been there often enough in the past fifteen years since
Rahlei's birth that she had a pretty good idea of what the man thought of his daughter.
She remembered the day Rahlei had been born. Yelda had been married to Matthew for exactly nine months, to the day almost.
He had been away, plowing fields when Yelda had first felt the labor pains early that morning. Not knowing what else to do, she had walked the three miles to Lena's house for help.
Lena had been sweeping her porch when the girl, barely more than sixteen had stumbled through the gate. Lena had known at first glance that the next few hours of Yelda's life were going to be more than just difficult. Dusk came and the baby still had not.
There was a sudden banging on the door that sounded as though someone was attempting to break it down. Lena opened it and found herself face to face with an outraged Matthew.
"Is she here?" he had demanded, casting his eyes about the entryway.
"Yes, she's here, she--"
"Tell her to get back home this instant. I want my dinner, now. Gods help her if she's been sitting her visiting when she should be home working."
He pushed past Lena.
"Yelda! Where the blazes are you, woman?"
Lena couldn't believe the audacity of this man. What right did he have to come storming into her house, uninvited and unwelcome?
The midwife heard Yelda cry from the bedroom and she rushed to it with Matthew hot on her heels.
She stopped at Yelda's side and Matthew had halted in the doorway, dumbstruck.
Five minutes later, Lena was handing him a small wriggling bundle.
"Say hello to your new daughter."
Matthew took it, looking utterly repulsed. "A girl?" he asked with disdain, glancing at Lena who nodded with a smile.
He glared at Yelda. "You can't do anything right, can you?"
He practically tossed the baby back to Lena who clutched the child to her bosom, looking stunned at his reaction.
"I want you home in ten minutes with dinner on the table, is that understood?"
Yelda nodded silently.
He stormed out of the house and galloped down the lane.
As it turned out, Lena refused to let Yelda leave the house and she had gone instead to fix Matthew his dinner and give him a very large piece of her mind.
Variations of the same scenario occurred with each subsequent child. Usually Yelda gave birth in her own home, but none of the children lived after that.
"Miss Lena?"
Lena was jerked from her reverie by the sound of Rahlei's voice.
"You are going to hold your head high, and not let anything your father does or says bother you. And when the time is right, you will find your own destiny." She bent over slightly so she was at eye level with Rahlei. And it won't be anything like this if you don't want it to be."
Lena went back to the house with Rahlei to see what she could do to console Matthew. For Rahlei's sake as much as anything else.
He was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the blue checkered tablecloth without seeing it. He did not acknowledge their presence in any way.
Lena took a few tentative steps forward and reached out slightly to touch his shoulder.
"You were right," he said suddenly. He looked at her. "I should have listened to you." He lifted a small glass to his lips and took a long swallow. Looking at her again, he sighed, his breath smelling strongly of alcohol. "Would you make funeral arrangement, Miss Lena?" His voice sounded slightly slurred.
"Of course, Matthew," Lena said softly. "I'm going to take Rahlei home with me for a few days until you have everything sorted out."
Matthew shook his head vigorously. "No, she stays here. I need someone to make my meals and to clean the house."
"Matthew, I really don't think--"
"Damn you woman! I don't care what the hell you think, the girl stays here and there's nothing you can do about it!" he bellowed, cutting her off.
Lena took a deep breath. "Very well." She turned to Rahlei. "I'll be back in a couple days to check on you, all right?"
Rahlei nodded, looking terrified.
Lena kissed the girl lightly on the forehead and left quietly.
Silence.
Rahlei bounced slightly on her toes, wondering what would happen next.
"Get me some breakfast."
She rushed to the kitchen to do his bidding. She made him a large bowl of porridge. He promptly flung it off the table, shattering the bowl and splattering the wall.
"Don't like porridge," he said dully. "Make some eggs."
Rahlei bit her lip and went out to the henhouse to get some eggs. She fried them up and toasted some bread.
He stared at the plate without seeing it, then nodded curtly and took a bite of the eggs.
Two bites later her stood up and declared himself finished. "I'm going into Corus, see to it this mess is cleaned up before I get home.
She nodded and he slammed the door without another word.
A few neighbors came later that day to help remove the body. Her father came home shortly thereafter and the funeral was attended to. Rahlei felt the rest of her spirit die as she watched her mother's pale face being covered with dirt.
Matthew went to bed that night without a word to Rahlei. He left for Corus again early the next morning and did not return until late that night, smelling strongly of smoke and various forms of alcohol.
And so it continued as such for the next several days. Her father had never been a drinking man. He had always valued his work and money had always said drinking was a waste of both. She didn't know what to make of this sudden change of behavior. He was always surly and in a temper when her came home. He demanded his dinner and often didn't eat it, throwing it to the floor instead. He yelled almost to the point of ranting before collapsing in a chair before the fire.
It scared Rahlei.
Before, his anger had usually been for the most part predictable. As long as you didn't cross him or question his ways, he was usually even tempered. But now, he lashed out at her even when she did things exactly as he wanted them. He had already beat her twice that week for no reason at all.
As each day passed, Rahlei wished more and more that she could just die and be done with it. Even death had to be better than the hell she lived through now.
Lena visited occasionally, helping Rahlei as best as she could, but wasn't really able to do anything to improve her situation. She had tried talking to Matthew, but he had refused to listen.
Three weeks later, Matthew did something that would change Rahlei's life forever.
A/N: If any of you see Rahlei referred to as Rachel, could you tell me please. My spell check started doing weird stuff and changed all Rahlei's to Rachel's. I think I got them all but if you see one, just holler. Oh, and do all of you understand how to pronounce Rahlei's name? It's Rahl-ay for those of you who don't know.
~*Kayden~Eidyak*~