Chapter 2
The next few days were spent quite pleasantly. Sabine did not mention the trunk, and Madeline supposed that the girl had wanted to unpack it herself. They ignored the matter and spent their time getting to know one another. They read together, played together, talked together, and did all the things that Madeline wished she had done with Erik.
Sabine was becoming very dear to her adopted mother. She no longer seemed to be that ugly, little spider in the orphanage. She looked much healthier; she was gaining a smile, and already her stork-like body was slowly rounding into healthy curves. Her long, brown hair was always curled now, and she wore pretty clothes instead of the drab dress she had came in. She seemed more and more like a real daughter to Madeline; neither seemed to remember a life without the other.
Sabine was creating hobbies as well. She had attacked the library, reading as much as she could lay her hands on. She drew beautiful, almost frighteningly realistic pictures, also. She was beginning to learn to dance, embroider, and cook, and she even had found that she enjoyed singing. Madeline nurtured these gifts as well as she was able. If Erik's brilliant aptitude had been stifled, Sabine's would not be. She was given whatever she needed to advance in her pursuit of her interests.
The two were making plans for Sabine's education, also. She was to attend a girl's school the next year. It was a pleasant school, ran by the Celestine Order, and was near enough for Sabine to return home each day. What was more, Sabine was to take art lessons and join the church choir. She would hopefully meet some friends as well.
Everything was going wonderfully, until Sabine's fateful meeting with the locked room.
The locked room was where Madeline kept Erik's things. Although she and Sabine had been spending so much time together, she did continue her traditional lying out of Erik's meals and making his bed. The room was her private sanctuary to her son. It was the place where he had spent so much of his time when he was with her, and it still seemed to breathe of his presence. Madeline did not particularly want Sabine in this room. She worried the girl would be jealous, but more than that, she was worried that Erik would be jealous. It was safest to keep the door locked.
The locked door did not stop Sabine, however. One day, while Madeline and she were passing by it on their walk to the library, Sabine stopped. She looked hard at the dark, red wood. "Mommy, what is behind that door? It is always locked when I come by here," she asked innocently.
"That... that was Erik's room," Madeline replied, "He would have been your brother, you know." She gently stroked the paneling.
Sabine did not say anything, but, as they proceeded down the hall, she continually kept glancing backwards with a sour expression on her face.
That night, as Madeline tucked her into bed, Sabine asked again about the door. "Why is it locked, mommy?" she asked.
"I lock it because I don't want to go in too often," Madeline lied, "It makes me feel sad to do it more than necessary."
"You bring food in there," Sabine pointed out in an accusing tone.
"It helps me feel better," Madeline replied, "I liked to pretend sometimes that he's still here."
"But you have me now," Sabine said jealously.
"Yes, dear, and I love you," Madeline reassured, "That does not stop me from missing Erik, though."
"So, I'm not enough?" Sabine asked.
"Oh, no, dearest!" Madeline cried, "You are perfect! I love you! Don't you even think you are less than you truly are!"
"Yes mommy," Sabine agreed, but there was a chill in her voice.
"Good night, love," Madeline replied.
"Mommy?" Sabine called as Madeline turned to go, "I don't believe that you put his food out because you miss him." The little girl's voice was clear and accusing in the darkness, "I think you are waiting for him to come back."
"Perhaps, dear," Madeline admitted in a whisper.
Madeline worried in her bed. Sabine was jealous, even after all of her precautions. She could simply forget about Erik, he was dead, after all. But how could she forget the child of her womb? Even as she loved Sabine, she loved Erik and longed to have him with her again. She nestled deep within the blankets, troubled by that night's conversation.
In the deepest of midnight, Sabine also was awake. She was not in her bed, however. She had stolen into the watercloset and retrieved a hairpin, the perfect device for picking locks. She would keep her own watch over the forbidden room, and if Erik ever did arrive, he would not replace her. In fact, when she found him, he would never come back again. She smiled, only then would her mother be all hers, forever.