Chapter 3
The week before my plane left was full of running from store to store getting all the things that I would need for the trip, packing all of my new and old stuff into multiple suitcases, and making a long list of things that I would need to buy once there that I couldn't take with me. As I had promised to my mother, I had thought about all that she had said. She had told me that Lucy was my fairy godmother, so I didn't have to go on what I had overheard, though she didn't know that. She also told me that I was going to face some problems while there, and that my grandmothers where always going to be there for me, and that if I needed absolutely anything, I was to go straight to them. She even whispered something about them being the only ones that could help me, but I don't think she knew I heard her.
Finally, the day before my plane was to leave, I had all of my bags packed and in the trunk of our Ford Explorer. My mother and father kept going over a mental list of things that I possibly could have forgotten, my friends were there giving me hugs, even though I wasn't leaving until the next day, and presenting me with so many gifts that I had to put them all in another bag. Nathanial was all the while standing off to the side watching everything, and occasionally talking with Tristan. Those two have gotten really close all of a sudden. I wonder why? And what the heck are they talking about? I wondered.
At something Nathanial said, Tristan nodded and went inside the house. Moments later, I saw him walk back outside with a duffle back on his shoulder, walk over to the car, and put it in next to mine. "What are you doing? I didn't pack that." I told him.
"I know, I did." he said. Seeing my confused face, he sighed and explained. "Kit, I'm going with you. I can't exactly do my job of protecting you, when you are thousands of miles away over an entire ocean, can I?" My jaw dropped.
"Kit, I asked him to go with you." Nathanial said, coming up next to me. "I'm sorry, but I'd feel better if I knew that you were safe! I hope you'll someday forgive me."
"Nate! Arg!" I grunted, stomping over to where my friends still stood. "Hey, I am not going to get much sleep on the plane, so I am going to turn in early, so could I see you guys tomorrow before I leave?" I asked.
"Of course!" "We'll see you tomorrow!" "I won't be able to make it, so have a safe flight!" "Have fun!" "What did Tristan put in the car?" "Is he going to go with you?" I was bombarded with questions, and hugs. After answering most of them, they slowly left, and I walk back inside. It was only four in the afternoon, but I had a very early flight, so I really was going to go to sleep, until my parents caught up with me.
"Honey, we need to talk." my mother said, stopping me.
I turned around to face them from the fifth step that I was on. "Again? Mother, can't this wait until tomorrow? I wanted to sleep because I am not sure how I will be able to on the plane."
"Yes, now." Sighing, I sat on the steps where I was. "Here is good I guess." Mother said. Just then, Nathanial walked in and went up the steps and sat next to me. He glanced at my mother, and she went on, glancing at him every once-in-a-while. "There is
still something that I have to tell you, and was hoping to put it off till the last minute before you got on the plane, but that would have been to unfair to you."
"Okay, what is it this time. You are sending me to London because you have arranged me to marry? Is that it? No, you are sending me to live there permanently?" I said, but seeing the hurt look on my mother's face, I quickly corrected myself. "Mother, I was kidding! I didn't mean it. What did you want to tell me?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you finally believe me. I know that you don't want to, but you must! For your own safety, you must believe me!" Mother pleaded.
"I don't know; it is a hard thing to believe, that my great-great grandmother was a story book character and all. And that Lucy is my fairy godmother? Then she would have to be like five hundred years old! Prove it, and I'll believe you." I said, crossing my arms indignantly.
As I was talking, Lucy, our house maid had come in as well. She and my mother exchanged looks, and then Mother nodded her head. "Kitiara, if I prove to you that I really am a fairy, you will believe your mother?" Lucy said, looking at me seriously. I nodded. "Okay then, what would you have me do? Remember, nothing to big. I'm not aloud to use big magic."
I thought for a moment, and then smiled. "I want you to take Tristan's bag out of the car and put on the step below me." Again, Lucy looked at Mother, but she nodded her head hesitantly.
"Okay, but I'll have to put it back. We don't want him to know about me, or you for that matter. As you know, people have a hard time adjusting to something that they thought was not possible." Lucy said. She rolled up her sleeves, waved her hands, and whispered some inaudible words. Suddenly, there was a swirling wind and at the foot of the stairs, Tristan's bag appeared. My jaw dropped, and I ran out to the car to see if it was a trick, but his bag was gone.
Walking back inside, I sat on my step again, my jaw still hanging open. "How did you...that is not possible! It has to be a trick!" Nathanial put his hand on my shoulder.
"Kit, you have to believe them, they aren't joking. They never were." he said seriously. I turned my head to look at him. I tried to bolt up the stairs to my room, but he grabbed me firmly by the arms and I toppled on top of him. "Kit, you have to believe! Your life may depend on it!"
"What? I could die because our maid is a witch? Does anybody else see how ludicrous this is, or is it just me? Nate, they have brain washed you! Lucy is a witch, not a fairy!" I cried out.
"You promised that you would believe it Lucy proved that she was a fairy! Kitiara calm down!" Nate told me. I stopped struggling against him and sat back on my step, but he kept a hand on me.
"You said something about my life depending on whether I believed you or not, so what is that nonsense about?" I asked, still ready to bolt.
"First, do you believe me?" Mother asked. I hesitated for quite a long time, but in the end, I nodded my head. "Good, because you are not going to like what I'm going to tell you next any better than what I have already told you." she stopped, making sure that I was going to stay put, and that I understood what she was saying. My father put a hand on her shoulder in encouragement for her to go on. Taking a deep breath, she did.
"Kitiara, you know quite well that in the story, your Grandmother Clara was cursed with obedience. Well…"
"Wait, you are not going to tell me that I am cursed, are you? I interrupted.
"Well, curses last for five generations, so yes; I am saying that you are cursed." The last was said in a rush as if the taste of the words in her mouth tasted as bad as they sounded. I was stunned. I could not talk, let alone move. "Kit, I was cursed, just like my mother, her mother, and her mother. You are the last, hopefully, because you are the fifth generation after the curse was made."
"So you are saying that I am cursed. Okay, I can handle that." I said slowly. "I have never noticed any curse, so tell me, what is it?"
"That's the problem." Until that moment, my father had been totally silent. "We don't know what it is. After the first curse, the curse chose what it was going to be for what person. Clara was cursed with obedience. Her daughter was cursed with Honesty. Her daughter was cursed with perfection. Your Nana was cursed with lust, and your
Mother was cursed with curiosity, which I must say got her into loads of trouble." he finished laughing, probably at a funny memory.
"I don't think mine was really a curse, more of a side effect from learning of the curses." Mother spoke up, elbowing Father. "But yes, my curiosity did get me into a number of jambs. Some of which your father had to save me from, and others I had to save him from. All in all, I could break it, and all of your grandmothers were able to break theirs."
"Um, you never answered my question. What is my curse?" I asked again. Then it hit me. "You do not know, do you?" My suspicion was confirmed when they shook their heads. "You knew about this the entire time, didn't?" I asked Nate. He nodded. "Is this why you are sending me to London? Because you don't know what my curse is? You want Nana to deal with it for you, is that it? I do not believe this! You are making me go over there because you can not handle me!" I was fuming now. How can they do this to me? I am their daughter! Wait, why doesn't Nick have a curse? Oh, duh, because only the girls get it. This bites! I thought to myself.
"No, that is not why we are sending you over to London!" my mother cut into my thoughts. "You are going because I don't know how to break to curse. If you get one at all, the only people who can break it will be your grandmothers! Do you honestly think that I would just abandon you like that?" Mother was crying now.
I went up to my room and laid down on my bed, hoping to fall asleep so that I would not have to on the plane, but sleep never came. Instead, I kept going over and over in my head all the things that my parents had sprung on me in the last few weeks. With my head so busy trying to fully comprehend everything, I had a ruff night. When I finally did fall asleep, I kept having these weird dreams about someone following me through the streets of London, and a foreboding feeling that I had not been told everything, even if that was all that my mother knew of. All in all, when it was time to leave the next morning for my plane, I was not the happiest girl in the world.
The airport was full of people running from security points to gates and from one gate to another. Lots of people were milling around the shops and the food areas. Another group of people were just sitting at their respective gate waiting for their plains to taxi to the gate. When I got to my gate, I turned to face the crowd of people that had
Accompanied me their. My mother, father, and brother where there of course, as well as Lucy, and a horde of my friends. Unfortunately, Tristan was there as well. It's not that I do not like the guy; I just do not want him to come on this trip with me!
"Are you sure that you can do this?" Mother asked for the thousandth time that morning.
"Yes Mother, I will be okay. I promise." I replied.
"Okay then. Are you sure that you have everything packed? Socks, shoes, underwear…"
"Mother!" I shouted, trying to get her to stop before she embarrassed me any more. "If I find that I have forgotten anything, I will either call or have you send it to me, or I will go out and buy it."
"Okay then, I guesses you are all set!" she said, starting to cry. She rushed over and pulled me into a tight hug. "Be safe my darling." she whispered in my ear.
"I will Mother." I said, hugging her back. After my mother, my father came and gave me a hug, saying the same thing. Then all of my friends rushed up as one and grabbed me into a huge group hug, with lots of tears and sniffles. I am only going to be gone for the summer, I will be back senior year, so why are they all crying? I thought to myself, hugging them back.
Lastly, Nate came up and gave me a hug. He glanced over and Tristan while doing so and said, "If anything happens to her, I will come over there personally and hurt you." I stirred in his arms surprised. I knew he was protective of me, but I had no idea he cared that much about my well being. "You stay out of trouble, you hear me?" he told me. I nodded my head. Of all the people to start crying for, it was for leaving my brother behind. He could be the most annoying person I have ever met, but he was my brother, and I loved him dearly.
"I will be a good girl." I told him laughing a little. "Now let go or I will miss my plane!" I called, hearing that they were starting to board my flight. He let go and I quickly whipped away my tears so that no one would notice. My mother rushed over for one last hug before I ran to the gate, with Tristan close behind me.
"Thank you for flying Royal Airways, I hope you have a nice flight!" the ticket lady said handing me back my ticket stub so that I could find my seat. I smiled politely at her, and walked down the ramp onto to the plane. Whatever you do, I told myself, don't look back. I stepped onto the plain and sighed in relief. The stewardess helped me find my seat, and to my disgruntlement, found that Tristan's was right next to me.
I sat down and stared out the window and watched as we took off. I spent half the flight up till lunch sleeping, because I did not do so the night before, and the other half I spent playing cards, reading, listening to music, or a combination. One time while I was playing card and listening to music, Tristan tapped my earpiece.
"What? Did I hit you are something?" I asked.
"No, but the stewardess wanted to know what you wanted for lunch." he told me.
"Oh, um, I did not know we got lunch on the plane. What do you have?" I asked. The stewardess rolled her eyes and repeated her speech that she had probably had to give a dozen times already. "A turkey and cheese sandwich sounds great, and may I have a ginger ale to go with it?" As she pulled out my food, I noticed that Tristan was still looking at me. "What?" I asked him.
"I was just wondering how long you are going to give me the cold shoulder. Giles said that I would have a hard time getting on your good side, but it's harder than I thought it would be."
"Would you like to play cards when lunch is over?" I asked, trying to make up for how rude I had been the last couple of weeks. I knew that I had been ignoring him because he kept pestering me about what was wrong when Mother had first told me about my heritage, but I had no idea that I had begun to hate him for it!
"Sure." he said, smiling at me for the first time in what seemed like ages. You know, he really is quite cute. I might be able to enjoy his company on the trip after all! I just wish he was not coming as a chaperone. I groaned inwardly. The rest of the flight we spent talking and playing cards.