The day came to leave. And the wedding came. Emma and I found a way to get away from the wedding banquet (we wanted to see our brother get married, but we didn't want to stay to get ordered about). We said we were going to pack, and that was sort of true. We were taking our favorite horses: Moonlight and Ginger. We rode around in silence.
"Well, this is it. Our last day here for three whole months." Emma broke the silence.
"Yeah." I muttered.
There was another long silence.
"I still can't believe Lou actually likes Amelia." I finally blurted out.
Emma laughed. But then she frowned. "Elisa, I don't think that's very nice."
Again, Emma seemed older and wiser. I felt like I had shrunk, and, not for the first time, I felt very immature.
"Well, maybe we could stay at the villa the whole time, whatever that is, right?" I asked hopefully after a long silence.
"Oh, Elisa, can't you see? It's hopeless. Just face it and live with it." Emma said impatiently, like she would to a younger sister who didn't understand anything.
There was another silence.
"Emma, Elisa! Where are you? We need to leave now! Come here!" The distinct, high-pitched order from Amelia came to us from the orchard. I sighed, and we cantered off.
Our two trunks (one each) were loaded into the carriage and so were the millions of trunks of Lou, Amelia, Robert, and Aunt Sarah.
"What is this, two trunks for three months? How little!" Aunt Sarah remarked primly.
"Well, it is only three months, Sarah." Mother said hastily. Aunt Sarah glared at us both. It was obvious to me now that she didn't like us. Mother hugged us. Then we ran to Flora and hugged her. I was going to miss home, and more than I could ever imagine.
We loaded into the carriage, and off we went. Moonlight followed beside the carriage, not attached to anything, which showed how much he loved me. Ginger was tied to the back, and she trotted along behind (Emma's "magic" was not nearly as strong as mine with animals, since she did not spend a lot of time with them. Her gift was more towards carving.). Amelia was talking non-stop to Lou, and Lou was listening with complete interest in every word. Robert was staring at them, and then sometimes he would stare at us with a horrible sneer on his face. Emma and I just sat there, swimming in our own thoughts. Finally I got bored and decided to listen to the chatterbox sitting next to me. (I think Emma had decided the same thing, because she was already staring at them.)
"Oh, and Lou, you'll absolutely love our house. It has 20 rooms, and my room's the biggest room. We have a large parlor, and a fireplace in every room, and a beautiful yard, oh, you'll simply love it!" She exclaimed, and then added, as an afterthought, "Oh, Emma and Elisa will have the second best room in our house."
She looked at us and gave an evil smile. Lou, who was annoyingly oblivious at times, did not see her evil smile. Then she began to talk more about the villa (which I found out was sort of like a very big farm with the owner's summer home) and house. I hadn't liked the sound of "second best rooms." It was going to be a long three months.
We arrived late at night. Moonlight and Ginger were led away, to the villa, I supposed; even so, I didn't like having Moonlight so far away from me.
Lou was shown to Amelia's room, which was the size of five regular rooms put together! Then, after Lou had gone back downstairs for a drink and had said goodnight to Emma and I, Amelia turned on us.
"I'll show you to your rooms," she turned to a servant standing next to her. "I would like a bottle of the best wine for Lou and I. Get it quickly. Honestly, I don't know why Lou went to get his own drink. His servant could have gotten it for him." As she talked she began to walk up the next flight of stairs. We did not follow.
She spun around and ordered, "Come, follow me."
We obeyed reluctantly. Then I asked, "Wait, his servant?"
"Oh, yes," Amelia said, not looking back.
She led us up two flights of stairs. We seemed to be in the attic, which had many cots lined along the wall, then I realized-
"This is the servants' quarters!" I screamed.
"Be quiet. I don't want you to speak again until I tell you to. Your guest room is behind the servants' quarters." Amelia said firmly. She opened a door at the end of the attic. "Oh, and in the morning, don't tell Lou about this. We wouldn't want him to worry."
I was silent (of course, I had to be). Emma, I could see, was boiling with rage. I knew that very soon she would explode. She did, but not until Amelia had left, locked the door, and ordered us not to shout or scream or make any loud noise until after everyone was awake in the morning.
That was the last straw. Emma had quietly taken this kind of treatment at our house, counting down the days until they'd leave and she'd be free, but now there were three more months of this torture, and she couldn't take it. Emma talked, which was as close as the curse would allow her to screaming or shouting.
"I can't stand this!" She fumed, looking around the tiny, dimly lit room. I silently agreed. She stared at me, as if about to scream and go against the order.
"And-and you. You can't talk just because of a stupid order! I hate, I just hate this curse!" Then, feeling very helpless, Emma covered her face, laid on her bed, and cried herself to sleep.
I stared at her for a long time. I never knew she was like that. I never knew that inside was her real self, all chained up. But now the chains were broken, and I felt that she would be very different the next morning.