Two: Anger isn't nice
Plot: After Madeline gets in trouble in kindergarten for hitting a boy, the family tries to help her with her emotions.
"You did what?!"
Despite being five, Madeline flinched at her father's voice as she remembered her time with Jimmy and his sons with tears going down her cheeks.
"Hit a boy. But he got me angry!" Madeline sobbed, terrified that Edward would strike.
"What did he do?" Edward asked softly, hugging her close.
"He talked about Nell," Madeline sniffed, looking down her feet.
"Madeline, we need to work on this anger of yours butterfly. Now what did he say about Nell?" Edward asked, gathering her in a hug.
"He called Nell a...a whore," Madeline whispered the last word, knowing that it was like a swear word. "I told him that she wasn't, and we all know what happened wasn't her fault, but he wouldn't listen."
"Maddie, sweetheart, thank you for standing up for me, but you know fighting's never the answer," Nell murmured. "You should have talked to the teacher about it. She knows what happened to us, and she also knows that what happened wasn't my fault."
"I'm sorry, Nell," Madeline whimpered.
"You shouldn't be sorry baby," Nell assured her with a smile.
"But I am! I try to be good! Special when we just got Mommy and Daddy back!" Madeline sobbed, hugging herself.
"It's going to take a while for everything to settle down," Nell admitted. "We all have things from that time that we're dealing with, but I think I suffered the most, because of what Jimmy did to me."
"Sabrina was locked in the closet all the time and now she's...claus-tro-phobic!" Madeline sniffled, but pronounced the word that described Sabrina's crippling fear of closed doors and small spaces. "And I'm scared of fire!"
"You don't have to worry about that anymore," Nell murmured, "Nobody will ever hold you against a fire ever again, or burn you with cigarettes, or anything for that matter!"
"She's right sweetheart," Edward assured Madeline with a stroke of her hair. "Me and Mommy will never let anything happen to you three ever again."
"But why would they take us?" Madeline asked with a sniff.
"Where were we when they took us?" Sabrina wondered, her and Madeline's memories of that dreaded day faded.
"I'd asked you to go to the market for me," Lydia remembered. "We needed a few things, and Helen offered to get them for us. Sabrina wanted to visit one of the nearby shops, and Madeline just wanted to get out of the house, since she felt like she'd been cooped up all day. We didn't notice anything wrong at first when you didn't come back. We just thought you saw one of your friends and stopped to talk to them for a while."
"It wasn't until that night when we went to look for you," Edward agreed. "We went to the market where we heard people talking about someone putting up a fight. We saw a trail of the food we asked you to get, but it stopped. We found wagon tracks and followed them until it started raining."
Nell nodded as the memories came back. Jimmy had grabbed her and tried to take her away with him. Madeline and Sabrina saw what was going on. They tried to help Nell, but Beth and Robby had grabbed them and taken them as well.
Madeline and Sabrina shuddered at that moment, now remembering bits and pieces of that night.
But not as well as their sister as they asked her to remember that night, unaware of a concerned set of siblings listening.
As Nell started to cry as she remembered the events, she felt Sofia's calming touch on her shoulder. "Nell, is there anything we can do to help?"
"Go back in time and stop me and my sisters from getting into that mess with Jimmy and his family?" Nell sniffled as Amber held her hand.
"I don't think any of us have mastered spells that deal with time travel, and I don't think Cedric would let us do something like that," James joked as he hugged her.
"Thanks anyway," Nell sniffed with a smile.
"But what about Maddie?" Sabrina asked with a frown.
"What about her?" Amber asked in surprise.
"She's had a lot of anger issues since we've been rescued," Nell sighed, telling them about the fight she'd had.
"Now that you mention it, I have seen her throwing things from time to time," Amber murmured, "She'd get so upset about something trivial, then she'd start screaming and having a fit."
"Maybe we can help with them," Sofia offered, taking Madeline's hand. "Madeline?"
"Yes?" Madeline asked with a sniff.
"Can you tell us what's made you angry lately?" Lydia asked, stroking her hair.
"Okay," Madeline sighed softly."Boys at school come up to me. They make fun of Nell because of what happened to her. I try to tell them that it's none of their business, like you told us to say, but they don't listen. They just get worse and worse, and so I start hitting them to make them stop."
"Hitting's not the answer, Maddie, you know that," Lydia murmured.
"I know, but when I tell the teacher and she asks them about it, the boys always say they didn't say or do anything wrong, and I just started hitting them," Madeline buried her face in Lydia's chest.
"But the teacher doesn't believe that, does she?" James asked.
"She shouldn't," Edward assured him, mussing his hair, "But the boys just say they didn't do anything, then they start again, is that it?"
Madeline nodded softly with a sniff, not leaving Lydia's chest.
"Boys... Then they'll just grow up to be bastard men!" Nell hissed, unable to conceal her feelings about the opposite sex any longer.
"You mean I'll grow up to be like that? NOOOOO!" James struck an Amber-worthy (or so he thought) dramatic pose, and hid behind Edward and Lydia. "Say it ain't so, Nell! I don't want to be like that!"
Even Amber had to laugh at her brother's antics. She knew James was only kidding, but he knew that this was a serious discussion, and he wanted to cheer the girls up after everything they'd been through.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about James growing up to be like that," Edward grinned, mussing James' hair, "He's a little troublemaker in his own way, but he has a good heart, and a good head on his shoulders."
"It's true!" Nell chuckled with a smile before gathering her sisters close. "Girls, listen to me. I wanna tell you this before you go back to kindergarten tomorrow."
"What is it?" Sabrina and Madeline asked together, looking up at their big sister.
"The two of you were so incredibly brave when you tried to rescue me," Nell started. "Not many kids your age would jump on two grown men and try to make them let me go. You even tried to help me escape once or twice."
"But Beth and Robby beat all of us," Sabrina sniffled.
"Maybe, but those were only little setbacks in your plans," Nell smiled as she hugged her, "I know you were trying to help me, and we couldn't have survived as long as we did if we didn't have each other."
"No?" Madeline asked in surprise.
"No," Nell answered, musing her hair. "If you girls had just left and had them take me-"
"We could've gotten help?" Sabrina interrupted with a small smile. "We could've gotten Mommy and Daddy?"
"But then they wouldn't have thought to follow the trail you left," Nell admitted. "They followed it for a long time until it stopped, but that was only because you didn't have any more beads from your necklace to leave for them to follow."
Madeline frowned at the words before Lydia took her in her arms, promising to help her.
"We are will," Edward smiled, stroking her hair. "Maddie, you don't need to be afraid to express your anger. But you can't hit."
"Why?" Madeline asked softly, looking up at Nell. "I just don't want Nell to be teased."
"Maddie, sweetheart, we know you want to protect your sisters, but there are better ways," Lydia murmured. "You should tell the teachers, the principal, and the adults who watch over the playground at recess."
"But then they'll call me a tattletale!" Madeline protested.
"Tattling is different," Sofia explained, "It's...like getting even with somebody."
"That's right," Edward agreed. "Butterfly, you're not tattling, you're speaking up for you and your sisters. Speaking up is protecting yourselves."
"It is?" Madeline asked with a smile.
"Believe me. I understand," Nell smirked with a smile. "I rattled on Bobby Lee a lot when we were kids."
"You did?" Sabrina asked with a grin.
"Oh, yes," Lydia gave Nell a mock glare. "At least every other day when she came home from school, your sister would give me a detailed report of every little thing he said and did! Florence and Bianca were there as well, and they heard about everything he did too!"
"And it wasn't until they were eight when it finally stopped!" Edward agreed.
"They'd always tell me 'Nobody likes a tattletale, Helenita!'" Nell added.
"And nobody likes a bully, Madeline," Lydia added.
"Okay," Madeline understood before giving Lydia and Edward a hug. "Thank you Mommy. Thank you Daddy."
"You're welcome Butterfly," Edward smiled, covering her face in kisses.
"I'll tell you what, Maddie," Nell added. "I'll take you and Sabrina to school tomorrow. We'll talk to the teacher and tell her what's been going on. We'll also let the principal know what's going on."
"The more people who know about this and who can help you, the better," Sofia agreed.
Madeline smiled at the thought, hugging her sister's glowing stomach close.
The next morning, she had gotten up early (just as Lydia was helping Nell with her maternity clothes) and in excitement, accidentally bumped into Nell's stomach.
"Careful Maddie!" Nell chuckled with a smile. "What's your rush?"
"The sooner we tell the principal and the teacher about those bullies the better right?" Madeline asked.
"Why don't we eat breakfast first?" Nell chuckled, "I don't think the school's open right now, but I promise you, Maddie, we will talk to the principal and the teachers today. And by the time we get there, they'll be there, and they'll have had time to settle in."
"Okay," Madeline smiled.
"Okay," Sabrina agreed.
"Good girls!" Lydia chuckled with a smile. "Now remember no certain smells for your breakfast this morning because-"
"Of the babies! We know!" Sabrina giggled, taking Madeline's hand.
"Those two," Nell smiled softly before looking at herself in the mirror. "Mama, I'm a little nervous."
"You? Nervous?" Lydia asked in surprise. "You were so brave when Jimmy captured you, and now the thought of talking to a teacher makes you nervous?"
"I guess," Nell admitted.
"Oh, sweetheart, you'll do just fine," Lydia smiled. "Just pretend you're talking to me, Florence, Lydia, or your sisters."
"Or if that doesn't work, picture the teacher in her underwear!" Edward added.
"Papa! That works if someone has to give a speech or sing in a disguise!" Nell laughed.
"It doesn't work with talking to teachers?" Edward smirked, kissing her cheek. "You'll do fine Nellie."
"I hope so," Nell sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"If we did just fine with your teachers then you'll do fine with your sisters," Lydia assured her with a smile.
"Okay," Nell smiled a little. After she and her sisters had eaten, they went to Madeline and Sabrina's school.
They had just stepped off the carriage when a boy about Madeline and Sabrina's age came running up to them.
Nell gently stroked their hair in assuring them that they were safe as Madeline faced the boy.
Remembering not to get angry with him, she saw him open his mouth.
"That's quite enough of that kind of talk, thank you very much!" she said quickly, remembering something Bianca used to say.
"I'm just getting started!" the boy teased her.
"And I'm going to finish it," Nell said as she came up to him. "I don't know what you have against me and my sisters, but what happened to me was not my fault. We were fighting for our lives, trying to find our way back home to our loved ones."
"Oh sure. My big brother and daddy believe that to be a lie," the boy smirked, rolling his eyes.
"Oh really?" Nell questioned, taking his hand. "Well it's the truth and I would never lie about my pregnancy. Do you have little brothers or sisters?"
"A little sister," the boy admitted.
"Well, wouldn't you do anything and everything in your power to help her if she was ever in danger?" Nell asked. When the boy nodded, Nell continued, "That's what Madeline and Sabrina did for me. And what if what happened to me happened to your sister? How would you react? Would you say it was her fault?"
"No!" the boy gasped, tearing up. "My big brother, my daddy, and I would go after the person that hurt her!"
"That's what Madeline and Sabrina did for me," Nell replied, patting his shoulder. "They tried to help me, but they ended up getting captured themselves. We only had each other for two years."
The boy looked at the sisters, blinking back tears.
He had only teased for fun, not knowing what the girls in front of him had gone through.
"Nell can we go now?" Madeline asked with a frown.
"I think that's a very good idea," Nell murmured. "We'll go inside and tell the teacher and principal everything that just happened, and if you want me to, I'll stay with you all day."
"Thank you," Sabrina whispered.
"Thank you, Nell," Madeline whispered as she hugged her.
Nell laughed, covering the girls in sisterly kisses.
With Madeline calm and completely different from how she acted yesterday, the teenager could see that things were slowly coming back to normal as the girls dragged her inside the kindergarten classroom.