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Chapter Four
It was finally here. The time where the girls were allowed to mirror home. Esmerelda had never ran so fast at Cackles before, she wanted to get their early, not having to wait to long. Arriving, she saw three girls already waiting so joined the back of the queue, giddy with excitement.
Esmerelda was not a fidget. In fact she was very good at staying still but in that moment she was fidgeting with excitement and anticipation, she saw the first girl come out and the second go in, it wouldn't be long now.
Luckily she couldn't see the group of bullies so she didn't have to worry about them trying to cut in. The second girl was only in ten minutes and then the third girl went in, she was next. She could barely refrain from running in, just a few minutes and she would see her beloved sisters.
When the girl came out Esmerelda forced herself to walk normally into the room, not wanting anyone to think she was strange, but as soon as the door was closed she rushed over to the chair, held up the card with the her two sister's names on and waited impatiently for the call to connect.
Ethel and Sybil were talking quietly so they didn't notice that they were mirroring their sister. Esmie couldn't wait any longer to talk to them.
"ETHIE, SYBIE" She shouted so happy and excited to see them both. Both the young blonde girls looked up and beamed as they saw Esmie.
"Esmie!" Both of them shouted happily. They were just as thrilled to see her and sat on the bed so they could talk properly.
"I miss you both so much!" Esmerelda told them. It felt so much longer than a few days since she had been at home with them. It felt like months.
"We miss you too!" Sybil said, her face turning sad.
"Oh don't be sad" Esmerelda said not liking her sisters sad.
"It is strange without you here" Ethel replied with a sigh as she looked at the floor sadly. All three of them had to adjust not just Esmie.
"I know, I find it strange too, I can't believe I only get to talk to you both once a week" Esmerelda said thinking it was a crime. She should be able to speak to them daily.
"How is school anyway?" Ethel asked trying to lighten the mood a little
Esmerelda didn't know what to tell them. Lessons were interesting and she loved learning more about magic but she had no friends and already had people picking on her for being so smart. She didn't want them to worry about her though.
"It is…..okay…..but it is not the same without you two" Esmerelda said thinking that way they won't think it is to odd, if she didn't like school because of their absence.
"Is Miss Hardbroom really as scary as they say?" Sybil asked as in their world it was known from an early age HB was not a woman to mess with.
"Oh yes, she has already given out a whole bunch of detentions to the first years who made the wrong potion, luckily I have avoided it so far" Esmerelda told them. Thinking of nothing worse than having detention with HB. "Anyway are you two okay? I mean are you being looked after?" Esmie asked panicking they were both being starved without her there to make sure they had food.
"Yes, the servants they bring us food three times a day, though they are not as nice as you are" Ethel replied, sighing again as she shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Esmie asked confused at that statement.
"They don't like us being fussy, you know I hate pasta and meatballs served together and I like it on separate plates but when I told them they shouted at me" Sybil said looking close to tears at the memory.
Esmerelda was sad about that. She knew without her there Ethel and Sybil would not have the luxury of having food they liked, it was true they were both very picky, she knew it would annoy some people but at least they would eat and enjoy it if they had something they liked, Esmerelda was heartbroken that Sybil got shouted at. She was so sensitive.
"I am sorry Sybie, I wish I had been there" Esmerelda said wanting nothing more than to fall into the mirror and wrap them both in her arms to protect them.
"And I didn't even get to eat breakfast yesterday" Ethel said looking sad
"Why Ethie?" Esmerelda asked, about to go home that second to ask why they didn't give Ethel her breakfast.
"Because when they brought it they gave me jam sandwiches, as soon as they put it in front of me I could smell the raspberry and knew that was the flavour of the jam, I told them I couldn't eat it and they told me I didn't have to but I wouldn't get anything else, I tried to go to the kitchen to get something else but they noticed me and became annoyed" Ethel explained exactly what the problem with breakfast had been.
This time though Ethel was not just being picky and deciding she would rather starve than eat raspberry jam, the fact of the matter was she actually couldn't eat it. Ethel had a severe raspberry allergy, one lick bought her out in a rash and constricted her airways. Esmerelda would never forget how they discovered this. Ethel was only about two so their grandma had decided to give her some new food to try. The toddler had taken one bite of the raspberry and started making a funny choking noise. Luckily they were at their Grandma's house and she loved Ethel and had much more common sense than there parents, so when Esmie had ran to her in tears to say something was wrong with Ethel she had transferred her straight to hospital. Ethel was fine luckily as they got her there so early but the doctor said she was highly allergic to raspberry. Esmerelda had always being so cautious then, when they were given food at home she went through it for a good few minutes just to make sure it was free of the food that could kill her sister. Now Ethel was older she didn't have to worry so much as Ethel knew about her allergy but if she hadn't of noticed it was raspberry….Esmie didn't want to think about it.
"I told them time and time again that you are allergic, you would think they would get that into their heads by now" Esmerelda said annoyed. Ethel could have ended up in so much danger all because of some adults who wouldn't listen.
"So did I, I told them why I couldn't eat it but they wouldn't have it, I told Sybil to eat though, I didn't want her to stave too" Ethel replied as she looked at her little sister. Esmie smiled, happy at Ethel being nice to Sybil. Sometimes you had to make sacrifices for family.
"I felt bad but I couldn't even offer her some of mine because it was the same, and I didn't want to risk giving her some bread from it in case it had some jam on I couldn't see"" Sybil told Esmerelda who nodded. How did an eight and nine year old have much more common sense than any of the adults in their mansion? The adults in charge of their care?
"That was wise Sybil, I am going to contact Gran to tell her to keep an eye on you, I don't trust them cooks" Esmerelda said not knowing what she would do if she was taken to see Miss Cackle to be told her sister was in hospital after an allergic reaction. At least Josephine would watch over them and probably shout at the kitchen staff and get further than Esmie managed to with that. She wouldn't contact her parents, they never remembered about Ethel's allergy.
"Maybe we should do it, you will find it hard to sneak to the mirror room during the morning" Ethel said logically as she knew she would get in more trouble at school than they would at home.
"Alright just tell her I told you to contact her, don't forget, this is important" Esmerelda told them.
"We won't" Sybil said smiling at her sister.
"I love you both, I couldn't stand it if something happened to you" Esmerelda told them and they both smiled.
"We know, we love you two, we will be okay don't worry" Ethel told her.
Esmerelda wanted to believe her but they had never had to look after themselves before and Esmerelda was a natural worrier and was worried she wasn't there to protect them. She hated being so far she couldn't do anything.
Esmerelda wanted to speak to them all day, but the time was almost up. Mirror calls did not last forever, if they did she would never leave the room.
"I don't have much time left, the call is going to end" Esmerelda told them sadly.
She held her tears in as she said goodbye to them, Ethel and Sybil were not so subtle and both had tears streaming. She knew they were still finding her absence as weird as she found it. She didn't want them to cry but at least she knew the feelings were mutual.
"I am sorry, the call is about to cut out, I love you both" Esmerelda said just as the call ended and she was left looking in a normal mirror. She spent the next ten minutes crying before she left, unable to believe it was going to be another week until she got to speak to them and worried sick about her sisters.