AN: So, part of this was written when I had fever. I checked it, and reread and rechecked, but I'm still not 100% I didn't make some crazy error.
Let me know if you notice something off.
Also, I have no idea what correspondence from teachers to parents looks like in UK, so I applied a hefty amount of poetic licence here :)
Dad was looking rather intently at the small piece of ground marked provisionally with thin poles.
"Up there, on the other side, would be the entrance. Where we are standing would be the drive and the garage door. Over the garage, the terrace. All the infrastructure stuff would be in the basement, as much as we can push it, safety-wise. Jonathan will be making sure we don't built something that could star in a horror of the 'main power just under the hot water pipe' genre."
Mina snorted. Dad in loose khakis and a ratty uni t-shirt seemed like a completely different guy than the everyday Dad in reasonable suits - or even the dropping-off-at-school Dad in black denim (with optional leather jacket). He even moved differently, his gestures becoming less restrained, more fluid, and his accent slipping from time to time into what Rose presented to her as "Derby accent, if Dad wants to play 'simple local boy'".
He crouched on the grass and spread a piece of paper, pressing the corners with small stones.
"Jonathan sent me a first proposal today morning, including your suggestions I've texted him yesterday. Rooms for the two of us, and Georgiana, would be at the front, overlooking the trees. This way any cars parking and starting won't be under our windows. I'm pencilling in eight rooms in total, just to take care of occasional guests or sleepovers. A room for Mrs Reynolds at the ground floor - you know she hates stairs these days. Kitchen on the north-east side, with side door, just to make it easier for deliveries. Large open area through the rest of the ground floor, with a corner for informal library, and one room to the side for my office, so I can keep the records there. The 'back' wall of the house will be full south, so we can make the best use of whatever passes as sunlight in our lovely county. And full windows on the west side, including the study."
"So... how big will that be, like, in total?"
He gestured towards the poles.
"This is the basic outline of the house walls themselves. When you divide it into eight-ish, you'll get the size of the room... Your bedroom will be, more or less, twice the size of your current room. Remember, at the mansion a large portion of floor space is eaten by the walls being three feet thick in some places. This will be much more modern construction. Actually, very modern. I have this plan I pitched to Charles - uncle Charles - to make it self-powered. Well, as much as we can, around here. The roof will be fully covered with solar panels, and part of the south wall too. This way during sunny season we'll be running part of the house electricity off the sun directly. We'll put together several isolation layers to ensure the house doesn't lose heat and we'll add the fireplace to be an alternative source of heat. So even if we go very unecological and burn some precious wood there, we'll reclaim the heat from it and add it to the water heating system, supplementing the electrical heating. And from the chimney, we can try catching the heat there, too."
"So, you're making a big honking science project?"
"In a way."
"You are making a big, honking science project with your best friend, in your back yard."
"Yeah" he smirked at her. "Problem?"
She shrugged, biting her lip.
"Not at all. Unless you decide to scrap it at the end of the semester and throw the ant farm out..."
"Rose!"
"Couldn't resist" she sat next to him on the grass and leaned on his shoulder. "This will be... good."
"I certainly hope so. Jonathan had already made it his pet project for this year" he hugged her shoulders. "He liked your ideas and he will incorporate space for the vents into the airducts around the house. They are now calculating the needed ceiling supports to bear the pianoforte for Georgiana. Two rooms on one side will be slightly bigger - hers, and one of the guest rooms. In case someone comes with their kids, or whatever. And to make it symmetrical, of course. On the opposite side, the rooms will have bigger balconies. This way the whole house will look slightly wonky, but it will be regular."
"Can I have the one with the balcony? I could put the containers there, too."
"Well, actually" he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I considered taking that one myself. I could put a lounge chair there and smoke without anyone noticing me."
"You don't smoke."
"I could start!"
"Dad!"
"Rose!"
"You'd be giving me bad example."
"The greatest threat on Earth. But we'll see which one you like best later. We'll negotiate the rooms once Jonathan makes all the calculations. He was actually proposing making the upper floor slightly smaller and making a wrap-around balcony for all rooms. We'll see what he sends tomorrow."
"So, what else did he include?"
Dad pulled his glasses from where he stuck them in the neckline of his t-shirt.
"He wrote... ah, laundry room and so on in the basement, yes, just like we agreed. There is space for three cars - just in case, and guests would be parking under the overhang of the terrace, and the workshops, and storage for stuff like winter clothes, blah, blah, additional electric supply for the workshop, closet for outdoor gear, water connection for garden purposes, very nice... Oh, and water reclamation system for the toilets, how nice of him to include that detail."
"And what is that?" she grimaced, looking at the technical draft covered with notes.
"Redirection of so called 'grey water' to flush the loos" he explained, pushing up his glasses. "Like water from the washing machine. Basically, it's usable, just not for human consumption. So we can use it to flush the toilets, this way conserving the actual drinkable water. I asked Jonathan to include as many possible small solutions as he can find, and he apparently was inspired. Charles will be sending his input and calculations too. We'll have to make the walls a bit sturdier than normally, to accommodate for the panels, which are a bit heavier than standard roofing materials."
"Dad?" she trailed off hesitantly.
"Rosie? Something more?"
"I... Could I have a window seat? A bay window? We could put some storage space under it..."
"Why not. I could put one in the study, too, actually. Stretching with a book in a window..." he smiled slightly. "Sounds nice. And doesn't require a change of structure, just setting something to sit on in front of the window and two bookcases on the sides to make for the walls."
"We should draw it, to make sure you can fit in that seat. I need a foot less than you, you know."
"Yes, and the bookcases have to be usable, once they are used to bracket the window... Let me raise the point to Jonathan then, he will have a look at how to arrange this."
I hope you like window seats, Rose.
"So... what do you think?" he looked up, towards the trees that would be shadowing the main entrance.
"I think it will be perfect" she whispered, pressing closer to him. "But, Dad... who else knows?"
"Just you, Jonathan and his main partner, and Charles. I want this well under way before anyone else learns. Can you keep the secret?"
"Even from aunt Catherine?"
"Especially from aunt Catherine."
Ah.
"I..." he sighed. "I have plans. I don't know if this will work, but I want this new house to be a chance to... reboot our lives, you could say. I'll change my working hours a bit. Spend more time at home, even this winter already. But starting from next summer, I want to make use of whatever time is left before you leave for university. If you get accepted to that school I suggested, you will be so terribly far away, and..." he hugged her closer. "I had a taste of that this summer. I will miss you, Rosie."
Oh, Mina, just don't babble now. Don't babble.
"I'll miss you too, Dad" she managed to choke out. "But I will be home for holidays - every major thing, you know."
"I know, but I'd rather have you focus on your studies and graduate on time than risk you missing something due to flying to and fro between here and Netherlands."
Netherlands?! I'll kill Rose...
"But it's not this year, and not the next" she said quickly. "So don't worry. And yes, it will be good to spend more time with you. Even if it will be just stealing your window seat and reading my books when you wrestle with project accounting or whatever."
"Yeah. It will be nice to have you there."
God, I hope Rose can follow through on this one.
I wonder what he would say if I asked about some other potential inhabitants of that house...
"Dad, I meant..."
His phone buzzed, making them both jump.
"It's Charles. Give me a sec, Rosie, and we can talk. Charles? Yes. We're just on the site. Yes, Rose is with me. Yep. Yep. New model? What is the price... Ouch. How... Ten percent is fine. Yeah. Full southern exposure, no trees, no shade, nothing between us and the pond. Yes. Definitely. Will you be coming for Rose's birthday? Sure. Weekend after, that will be perfect. Imp?" he asked, pulling the phone away for a moment. "Jane and Charles would be coming on the thirteenth, fine for you?"
She nodded quickly. At last, aunt Jane!
"Yes, she says yes. Come, I'll ask Mrs Reynolds to make that pecan pie she experimented with last year. I can even negotiate for the recipe for Jane. Well, yes. Sure. We can make a survey of the site together then. And I'll need your help with that other thing..." he bit his lip. "Yes. Make it comfortable, but reasonable on the money side. Well, if I could choose freely, I'd say make it the very end of Cornwall, but it won't work. Unless you spin it like this, then, yes. Maybe. Not sure right now. No, just, think about it. Yeah, you too. Cheers."
He looked at the phone for a moment and shook his head.
"So, what was it that you wanted to say?"
She frowned and hesitated.
"No, nothing important. Just... I hope this will work, you know? I really want to see that house... be."
"You will, don't worry. You will get tired of it by the time we're done. I will drag you through every home improvement store from here to Glasgow and we'll search for perfect tiles, your ideal sink, tub and other pieces."
"So... you won't be just choosing it for the whole house at once?"
"Nope. I think it will be the best if you and Georgiana share the bathroom, so you can pick for the both of you, and I will pick for mine, and the other two will be in generic whites, to make it simple."
So the other two are supposed to be for nobody specific, hmm. Noted!
"OK. I think I can live with that. As long as I get that balcony thing in my room."
"I can give you the balcony thing and the terrace will yours to arrange. You can treat it as your first project. We can even ask Jonathan to set up a base for a rock garden, maybe install a fake spring? You could play around with that and plant stuff there even before the house itself is finished."
She nodded slowly.
"That... that sounds... Like, wow. You'd trust me with this? You'd have to look at it all the time from the ground floor."
"If you make it too ugly, we can always cover it with dirt, plant some grass over it and make it an anonymous random mini-hill. But an actual garden is a continuous project, so if one year it doesn't work, you always have a chance to improve it with every season."
"Well, yes. Definitely. And if something dies in the containers, they can be moved away. Or I could plant something else over it."
"Exactly. It's not like we expect to feed ourselves off them. If you need your experimental garden, you will have it."
"Thanks, Dad" she honestly hugged him in Rose's name.
"Let's hope it all works out. Now, home. We need to wash and I suppose there may be lunch waiting for us. And then we can shut ourselves in the study and try drawing the rooms, hm?"
I love him.
"Sure" she smiled. "That will be perfect."
Six weeks left. I don't want to leave.
But I do miss Mom. And Rose.
I hope they will let us talk when they switch us back.
"Rose? Earth to Rose? You coming? Mrs R made tortillas."
####
From: p-robertson lnd_academy-edu-uk
To: elizabeth-bennet ebennet-co-uk
Subject: Mid-September evaluation
Dear Ms Bennet,
Please be informed that the outcome of the general test of your daughter's competency in mathematics is 99%. Her overall progress however seems uneven, and her results during the Italian lessons point to underperforming.
At the same time her behaviour had changed compared to last year. Still, I must ask you to discuss the recent events with her, especially regarding the tone of voice used in discussion with her classmates and the type of remarks she applies.
I am fully understanding of the unstable familial situation of you and your daughter, but I implore you to apply better discipline nonetheless.
If her behaviour doesn't change by the end of the month, I will set up a meeting so that we can discuss corrective actions to be undertaken.
Regards
Patricia Robertson
####
From: martins lambtonsecondary-edu-uk
To: w-darcy darcybuilding-com
Subject: Rose's progress in September
Dear Mr Darcy,
Please be notified that Rose's current results are in general positive (exact numbers attached), but she continues to be rather uneven both in French and mathematics. I am allowing a certain after-vacation period for everyone to get their feet under them, so we'll have the tests at the end of October to allow Rose, and everyone else, to catch up.
Since Rose had had several small-scale altercations with other students, we've put their parents on notice and she should no longer be experiencing difficulties from that direction. I am very sorry that this had occurred and we are watching the situation carefully.
Please notify me if Rose reports any further problems regarding her classmates' behaviour.
Regards
Anthony Martins
####
From: a-tilde lnd_academy-edu-uk
To: elizabeth-bennet ebennet-co-uk
Subject: Mathematics contest
Dear Ms Bennet,
I am pleased to inform you of your daughter's continued good performance in mathematics. Please do consider signing her up for the contest, as per attached invitation. In order to prepare for the contest, Mina would be invited for additional classes, every Tuesday and Thursday. Participation and achievement in the contest will provide additional credit for Mina, which may count for any future education choices.
Kind Regards
Anna Tilde
####
From: yang lambtonsecondary-edu-uk
To: w-darcy darcybuilding-com
Subject: Rose's progress in September
Dear Mr Darcy,
Please confirm your approval for Rose Darcy's submission to the Folk Song contest at the school.
Attached form needs to be filled in and signed by a parent.
Regards
Lucy Yang
####
The main merit of Mondays was that there was no French lesson on the plan.
Mina felt she did quite well in all other subjects - with maybe slight slip here and there in maths, but she was catching up - but mastering a new language in a matter of a few days was simply impossible, despite the fact that she had adequate fluency with its direct neighbour. She and Rose dealt with homework rather easily - a few texts and a photo here and there resolved any issue, be it a written assignment or an exercise to be filled in. Fortunately the next French test was planned for the end of October, which delayed the moment when she would actually have to damage Rose's grades. For the time being she managed to avoid giving an answer in class by the simple expedient of "still writing her notes" and smiling in an apologetic manner.
The French teacher was actually rather fond of Rose, apparently, so she let the avoidance slide, satisfied with reasonable although not overwhelmingly excellent essays and correct exercises.
P.E. continued to be fun, as the year started with general revolution and everyone, no matter which sport they preferred, were now learning table tennis and most of them were as new to the discipline as Mina. The downside of table tennis was, however, that she had much smaller arm range than anyone in the same class. Still, at least she didn't have to prove herself in basketball, which was what she had been quietly afraid of. And table tennis was just like volleyball, after all. Just with paddles and one to one, but a net, a ball and the general idea was... close enough.
Monday morning ride to school with aunt Georgiana was also rather fun, as they took her tiny red car and drove to Lambton with the roof folded down, letting the rushing air mess up their hair and smiling at each other silently. Only once they slowed down due the traffic in the middle of the town Mina was hit with a reminder of the atmosphere at the breakfast table and grimaced suddenly.
"What's wrong, Rosie?"
They were stuck on red light, but she still had over twenty minutes to the first lesson.
"I just..." she trailed off. "Why do they live with us?" she blurted out. "If I wasn't that hungry in the morning, I would just be skipping breakfast completely!"
Aunt G gripped the steering wheel harder. She didn't even have to ask which "they" Mina was talking about.
"I wonder sometimes" she was watching the car in front of them intently. "I think... William feels guilty of something. Not sure what, but aunt Catherine is holding something over him. She..."
"Is she blackmailing him?"
"What? No! It's more like he knows he owes her something. But I'm not sure what it is. They've been here so long I kind of got used to them. When they came, I was still at school, coming home only on weekends. And they didn't live with us then."
"So you were in a boarding school?" Mina asked curiously, forgetting Aunt Catherine for a moment.
"Yes, a bit to the north, they had a wonderful music program. Girl only, blah blah blah, very elite and so on. I mostly cared for the music program anyway."
"So, they showed up, but didn't live at Pemberley?"
"Oh, neither did we. There were repairs being done to the water mains, the house was unusable for half a year. And anyway William was just starting the company, he felt living in Lambton would give him better base of operations. Also, we had no network connection here, and the telecoms didn't want to undertake the challenge of dragging their cables so far outside only for us. Anne and aunt Catherine arrived to Lambton and immediately started spending inordinate amount of time with us. Mostly with your Dad. Until you were born."
They were already in front of the school, with fifteen minutes to spare, and Mina tried, very hard.
"Aunt G? What was my mother like? What happened to her?"
"Rose, why... why are you suddenly so interested in her?"
"At the camp, there were kids from all kinds of families, but there was also a girl whose parents got the divorce when she wasn't there. And this got me thinking about our family. What happened there?"
Georgiana sighed.
"A lot. And I mean it. I was home mostly on weekends, and for summer holiday, but..." she glanced at the car clock. "You have to go now, Rose. We can talk in the afternoon."
#
They didn't. The afternoon was rainy and annoying and whenever the two of them managed to find a quiet corner, someone happened along, looking for one of them. After third attempt they gave up, leaving it only with Georgiana's whispered "Your mother is a lovely, sweet woman and I liked her a lot. I think it was Aunt Catherine's fault she left."
It was good to finally have an object for her hatred, and such a promising one at that.
Mina sat in Rose's room, in the middle of the floor, trying to imagine whatever wasn't here but could potentially be useful for Rose at some point. There was no harm in asking Dad to include all that stuff in the design. He would be much less happy if Rose started to raising these points once they were switched back.
"More lights" she said slowly aloud. "Not only one point in the middle of the room and the desk lamp. And more power outlets, to connect everything instead of having all these cords. At least it will be Rose who will be choosing the tiles and stuff for herself, so I don't have to worry about making some choices she wouldn't like..."
She swallowed a sob.
She really wanted to see the new house one day. To sleep the night in the spacious room built just for her, and to have a wash in the bathroom decorated with the tiles she picked. To share the bathroom with Rose, to meet every day when brushing teeth, to bicker about the shower and to see themselves together in the mirror.
Maybe vacation? Once parents would know they met, they surely wouldn't keep them apart, at least not during summer? If Mom didn't want to come here, she could send her on a train - or, if she was afraid, with aunt Jane... Mina sighed. It was all still just guessing. Anything could happen between middle of September and next July. Even between middle of September and end of October.
She had her short-term goal, as the grown-ups called it. She had to get to the end of next month, make the big reveal and try to spend at least a few hours with Rose. She felt like suddenly, at some point during the camp, they became indispensable for each other. She simply needed Rose close by. They had lived almost in each other's pocket for almost seven weeks, and now, three weeks apart seemed already like a year.
####
The amount of scraps in Mom's room was astounding. Hand-sized diamond cuts, sorted in columns according to the background colour, lashed together with old, fraying ribbons, stacked against each other on Mom's bed. Unsorted bigger and smaller pieces, in various shapes and hues, all over the floor and rest of the bed. Mom was sitting cross-legged on her computer chair, looking at the sea of fabric and biting her lip.
"Hi, Mina" she said, not looking up. "There is dinner in the microwave. Just turn it on for three minutes."
"M-hm" she looked at her parent questioningly. "What's all this?"
"I tried to bring order to the chaos" Mom said slowly. "But it seems the task is bigger than me."
Rose made three steps to the microwave. and set it for three minutes, then stepped back in.
"Can I help?" she offered uncertainly. "I mean, is there anything I can do that doesn't require asking you at every step?"
Mom started shaking her head, but stilled.
"You can start by removing all blues and pale pinks. I will mostly need all shades of dark red and dark green. Some small accents from others, for shading. And black for the background. But definitely full pastel pieces can go back to the storage."
"Sure. Blues, pinks, yellows, stuff like that?"
"Anything that is pale, actually. Greens and washed reds too, won't need them."
Rose knelt and started going through the nearest little hill of fabric when the oven pinged.
"Eat and then you can come and help me."
#
"Mom?" Rose tied a flat knot on another package of colour-coordinated pinks. "If you had, like, a million pounds, and had to build a house, what would it be? What would you put in it?"
"A million pounds?" Mom asked, smiling. "I'd have a huge kitchen. With proper light and everything. A big vent over the pots, a big proper oven. A bread oven, separately, just because I could. All the cabinets to store things. Double sized fridge, with an ice-cube maker."
"Wouldn't you want a workshop?"
Mom nodded slowly.
"A big table. Like, eight by eight feet. So I could put even the biggest bedspread on it and align everything properly. This project will be hard to put together here, for example. I could use a table like that for it."
"But you do it on the computer?"
"Yes, because I have no choice. And it's just an outline. I can't really scan all the pieces and use them to build the picture, so I have to use just the general colour and pick the right patches carefully later on, to make sure they actually match. It would be much more comfortable if I just had the right surface to do this. Four tables covered with something I could push pins in."
"Why four? You said one big table earlier."
"Yes, but I'm too short to work comfortably on one big table. I'd never be able to reach the middle. But if I had four tables, each four feet on the side, I could pull them apart, start the middle correctly, then push them together and add the rest of the pieces. And making the surface something that holds the pins would help making sure the fabric stays in place. I'd paint guidelines on the surface, that would help, too. I could lay the pieces along them and wouldn't have to correct the angles again and again."
"Cool" Rose bit her lip. "Anything else?"
"I'd buy one of these fancy machines with long sewing arm, special for quilting. Like the one at the quilting shop. I'd love to have one of these."
"Are they very expensive?"
Mom shrugged.
"Well, yes. But, most important, it takes a lot of space to use them. They come with their own bench, where you put the quilt in the rollers and then you move the sewing head around."
"Isn't it, like, very heavy?"
"It is" Mom grimaced. "I always take much longer than anyone else. I'm not heavy enough to push that with my body, so..." she shrugged.
Rose nodded slowly.
"I could buy one that looks almost like a normal machine, though. There are ones that have more space under the arm, so when you're sewing in the middle of a big piece, and have no way to turn it around and get a better angle, you can just roll it all up and push it under the arm. They have even twenty inches space, so you can fit a lot of rolled-up quilt there."
"But they are pretty expensive, too?"
"Much less than the one with the frame, definitely. But one from a good brand will still cost a lot."
"And one from a not so good brand?"
Mom glanced at her.
"It will be even more expensive in a long run. For example, once it breaks."
"Ah."
That explained rather a lot, actually.
Except for stuff that apparently came with the flat, like the oven or the fridge, everything they had was top-notch. Mom's computer looked fancy and impressive, with the screens and everything, and it being the working tool made it probably a priority for being kept up to date. Everything that Mina owned was either handmade by Mom, or very, very sturdy and of good brands. They weren't complicated things - the desk was just a simple top with two cabinets, the desk chair had no special adjustments, the bed was just a plain bed - but everything was high quality. No shoddy, rickety item there. No peeling paint, no signs of previous use, no scuff marks. The same went for all accessories and even school supplies.
And Mom's sewing machine was a gleaming, well-maintained object. Rose couldn't even tell, but it probably also had an impressive price tag.
Mom liked to have things that worked properly without having to be fixed again and again. She wouldn't buy something inferior just because she couldn't afford the best one.
She'd rather go without than settle for something that wasn't just so.
"What about moving out?" Rose blurted out suddenly. "If we gave up this flat, Mom? If you... if we moved outside London, would you be able to afford a bigger place? And have the tables there, and everything?"
"Oh, kitten. No, I'm afraid not that easily. This one I rent from your grandparents, you see. At a 'family discount'. Or rather, nobody was renting it at the time, and I needed it, so grandpa just told me to pay the rent and bills. I'm not sure we'd be able to find something much cheaper, and I can't risk us losing our home if I have a worse month, you know. Like last year when in February..."
Rose nodded.
Obviously, freelancing wasn't a stable thing. Mom seemed to be doing quite fine right now. She was working nights, because she said night was better for programming, and sleeping during the school hours, but didn't look stressed or overly in a hurry. But probably there were better and worse months, and Mom didn't want to risk moving somewhere and being stuck with much less forgiving landlord than grandpa.
"Yes" she said finally as Mom looked at her, chewing at her thumbnail. "I understand. But if you had money, you would?"
Mom shrugged.
"If I could find the right school for you, I'd move in an eyeblink. I'd have to be in London pretty regularly, but if it was a place with good train connection..." she sighed. "Yes, definitely. What, do you know a place? Or a buried treasure we could use to bolster up our finances?"
"No, I was just... A girl at school was talking about her parents building a new house and apparently they asked her for her choices. Like, what kind of stuff she wishes she had. You know, general stuff. A fireplace, a movie projector, a balcony. So she asked for a place for her bike and the sports gear, but it got me thinking, what I would like to have."
"And?"
Rose smiled, trying to channel Mina effectively.
"A workshop. Like a real place for you. With lamps and everything. And a walk-in closet for me. And a bike shed would be nice, too" she added at the last moment. "And a lot and lot of storage space for all the craft supplies and paper and pencils and whatever. And a bigger kitchen, yes."
"So we stop bumping into each other when we work on something."
"Less spillage risk when you don't have to sneak around someone with a bowl full of cream."
"But a fireplace would be nice, too. We could grill marshmallows and sit by it and read."
"A projector. We could watch movies on a large screen."
"I could buy all the DVDs of whatever we missed at the cinema and put up large speakers and watch it without everyone making stupid noises and throwing popcorn."
"And a large porch. We could sit outside during rain and watch everything around us."
"And watch storms."
"And sunsets."
Rose sighed and swallowed thickly.
"I wish we could."
"Well, let's say that if this current job pays what they are promising, I'll be adding to my savings a significant amount. Maybe, at some point, we'll be able to afford something reasonable..." Mom grimaced and sniffed. "Well. For the time being, let's focus on making the most bloody impressive Christmas quilt the Camden Christmas Fair had ever seen. Take these and put them under on bench in kitchen. I'll review them tomorrow and see if I have enough to make a snowflake quilt with all the blues and purples. You know, Frozen style. That would be a good way to use up the pastels I'm normally not really keen on. Could use green and yellow for a bit of shading on that icy blue, to add depth..." she worried her lip with her teeth. "And I'd add a border and backing in that deep, royal purple, like Anna's cape. If I manage to get them both done by the beginning of December, I could submit them to two different fairs."
Wow.
Mom rubbed her hands together.
"So one Christmas quilt and one Winter Fairyland" she said softly, barely loud enough for Rose to hear.
####
The piano in the big, slightly dusty room was older than any instrument Mina had ever touched. Decorative "J. Tresselt" in the middle of the cover was so faded it was barely legible - she only managed to decipher it by the strategic use of her mobile's torch app - and the two brass medals stamped into the dark wood were covered with strange, foreign letters that even the best light couldn't make more understandable. The dark wood was scuffed and scratched, the keys yellowed and the key cover seemed to be slightly wobbly on its hinges.
It was also not tuned. Mina's fingers picked a simple practice melody and she grimaced as some notes fell flat. She worked however up and down the scale, repeating the exercise, just to ensure her fingers would stay reasonably in shape. The pedals were more resistant to her feet than the ones she was used to, and even some of the keys didn't work with equal pressure, which made practising a bit of a struggle.
At least the bench was comfortable and long enough for two, so she could go up and down the keyboard with ease, without a need to drag the stool around. She settled on a simple melody she had studied a year earlier and tried to find a section of keyboard on which it would hit the smallest number of flat notes.
"Stop this immediately!" aunt Catherine's voice trembled with annoyance. "What is this? Why are you sitting here? What are you doing?"
"I wanted to play something" Mina was already on her feet and closing the keyboard cover. "I thought I was far away from everyone to not disturb..."
"Well you thought wrong. Now, stop this, it's awful."
"Yes, the piano..."
"There's nothing wrong with the piano, child. There is everything wrong with you. You have no talent and no skills for this. There are some actual talented people in this family, but definitely not you... stop wasting your time on this. You need to pay more attention to your homework."
"I did my homework" Mina took a step back, frowning. "I just wanted…"
"Not everything is about what you want, young lady. Now go to your room and learn something useful, so you don't become a parasite, living off other people's money!"
Like you and Anne? Are you even sane?
#
At dinner everyone was rather quiet. By the time the tea was poured and Mrs Reynolds had retired for the night - with Mina promising to collect all the dishes and Georgiana tasked with loading the dishwasher - aunt Catherine was halfway through the crossword, aunt Anne was done with her gossip magazine and aunt Georgiana...
"Rose, if you want to try your hand at playing, you can use the piano in my room."
Mina's eyes snapped to her aunt's face.
"I..."
"That makes absolutely no sense, Georgiana. Girl can't even play a simple tune."
"I only tried to... I mean, I was just checking the piano in the music room, but it sounds all wrong."
Aunt Catherine's voice was cold and tense.
"That was my sister's favourite instrument. Don't you dare disparage it! You know nothing about music, you little..."
"You're right" aunt Georgiana bit her lip and chewed on it for a moment, as her aunt froze mid-gesture. "It is a very nice pianoforte, but I hadn't tuned it in ages. Some of the keys are probably a few notes off by now. Can't expect any melody to sound normal on it."
Aunt Catherine blanched.
"Wh... what!? This is a perfectly good piano! Why would you..."
"It's old" aunt Georgiana shrugged. "It doesn't stay in tune anymore as the pins are too loose. And keeping it constantly tuned puts too much strain on the frame. I know Mother loved that instrument and that's the very reason I'm not putting it to use. I don't want to terminally damage it simply by trying to tune it."
Somewhere in the middle of Georgiana's small speech, Mina saw her father's face from the corner of her eye. Her father's stony face.
Oups?
Georgiana followed her glance and sighed.
"Rose, you can go to my room now, if you want. After all, it's isolated from the others by the empty ones, so nobody will hear you practice. I'll take care of the dishes and then I can find you some simple exercises."
Mina stood up quickly, almost running out of the room, but her father's growly 'Georgiana!' stopped her just behind the door. She listened intently.
"Come on, William. It was bound to happen. I understand your wish... no, actually, you know what? I don't understand. That kid had a right to be brought up surrounded by all kinds of music, not only your beloved heavy metal. However much you may hate everything else, the fact is, Rose has potential to be extremely talented. And you've wasted it. And I allowed you to. But now? No more. I'm going to teach my only remaining niece how to play the bloody piano and you will keep silent about this, are we clear?"
The silence in the room was terrifying.
Did aunt Georgiana just scream at Dad?
Did aunt Georgiana just say he doesn't want music here?
Did...
She shook all over.
She allowed me to use her piano. Finally!
"Are we clear, William?!"
Mina tiptoed quickly to the stairs.
Let's try playing something interesting before she comes, too, and I'll have to pretend I have no idea what I'm doing.
#
Georgiana's room was fascinating. There were bookcases along the wall, one of them full of what Mina easily identified as music sheets and songbooks. Others held numerous books on variety of subjects - she could easily identify ones that were Georgiana's 'professional' library, but there were also two shelving units full of...
Is that manga? Aunt Georgiana reads... Ranma? Seriously?
Mina crouched in front of the shelf filled with small, nearly-identical volumes.
Sherlock. Lady Oscar. Sailor Moon?!
Wow.
Now, the pianoforte.
It was a gleaming, modern, white-with-silver affair. All the keys were perfect and as she ran her fingers through them, all responded to touch in equal manner. The pedals had just the right amount of resistance in them, and aunt Georgiana had the same kind of bench - instead of a round stool - as the one downstairs. It looked slightly unusual, paired with an instrument that looked very twenty-first century, with its cover of striped yellow, sleek fabric, but somehow it worked. Mina sat in the middle, carefully placed her fingers and played a scale.
God, this is perfect. This is way better than the pianos at the music centre. Oh, I wish we had room for one like this!
The sound was clear, the response from the keys changing as she changed the way she was striking them, playing up and down two octaves, just to hear the pearly-clear tones, sometimes letting the sound die slowly, sometimes cutting it off sharply, changing the fingers used and flexing her whole hand.
It took her a moment to notice Georgiana's shadow falling over the keyboard. She snapped her head up to look at her aunt, meeting the same crystal-blue gaze as her father's.
"Darling, you look so much like your mother when you do this."
She sniffed and raised her head.
"Tell me. I need to know... what happened?"
Georgiana sighed and folded down to sit on the floor.
"Come here" she patted a spot next to her. "I will tell you as much as I can, without telling anyone's secrets, OK? I can't tell you what I was told in confidence or what I heard by accident and wasn't supposed to."
Mina frowned, but slid to the floor by Georgiana's side. Next thing she knew, she found herself pulled down into her aunt's lap, Georgiana's fingers carding through her hair in a calming manner.
"Your mother... she is three years older than me. Even a little less. That makes her almost eight years younger than your father, yes, I know. In case you wish to know, her birthday is on November eleventh. She was a student when they met, through common friends. I wasn't there for the most of it, because by the time she moved to Lambton, I had already left for my college. One weekend I came home, I think after Christmas, and William was having drinks with his best friend and some other people - so he said at least - and he really wanted me to come with, to meet someone. And she was so perfect, so... so different from all the stuffy people we normally knew, like our extended family of ladies and sirs and lords whatevers. She hugged people. Me, included. And it was funny to look at her with William, because she is, like, a head shorter than him. I mean, you're now what? Five feet? She is five feet two. Basically, in a year, you should be as tall as her. And she was the first person outside of school that I could talk to about playing the piano. She..." Georgiana sighed. "She seemed so... so soft. And I couldn't understand what someone who can wax poetic about freedom of sharing and openness of the internet sees in my stuck-up, all-business brother."
Mina searched for something to say that would not betray her knowledge on the topic of open source and free software.
"And then they broke off, and I didn't see her all summer, because she got a job for three months in some IT corporation, and then I left for my second year and when I came back at the end of September, they were all in love again, even worse than before, because it was the preparation for Jan... for a wedding, and they were very involved in all the details, spending days over invitations - she is very artistically inclined, by the way."
"I see..."
"And then I... I had some problems. And she helped me, a lot. A lot. And then there was the wedding, and at some point she moved together with William, and I watched them every weekend I was there, and it was, like, the sweetest thing ever. And then there was the summer break and I suddenly noticed that she's not just getting a bit plump, but, you know..."
"I had Sex Ed, Aunt G."
"Well, yes. And she spent the whole summer explaining to me that Uni isn't bad and that I shouldn't be afraid of meeting new people... She was pregnant and she still worried about me not being comfortable leaving for university. And your Dad... he couldn't tear himself away. She had to kick him out the door to make sure she gets to the office on time. And then we all moved here, to this house, because the works were finished, so it became liveable again. It took the whole summer, actually, but we finished on the same weekend that I left for Edinburgh... and then you were born, just three weeks later."
Mina swallowed and nodded mutely.
"And then... I don't really know" the older woman rubbed her face. "But something broke between them and she left one day. She left a note, but I don't know what it said. I was actually home for a week, because I got such a terrible cold I couldn't attend classes anyway. But I was stuck in my room, to avoid sneezing at anyone, so I'm not exactly sure what happened."
"Is this why Dad doesn't play any music, except in the car? She was a musician?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes. She also sings - she used to sing a lot. Everything. Musicals, pop, ballads, shanties. Once I've even heard her trying the aria from 'The Magic Flute', but she said she isn't built in the right way for this one."
Mina turned to look up at Georgiana's face.
"Do you know why she left?"
A sigh.
"I have my suspicions. But it's just me and my suspicions, nothing substantial. So I can't tell you. I really wish you could meet her one day. I wish I could see her again one day."
If everything goes according to plan, you just may...
"Thank you" Mina said aloud finally. "I think I have to go and pack for tomorrow."
"If you have time in the afternoon, we could start some simple exercises, you know? I could show you some tricks for properly hitting the keys, and dig up the sheets that I used to use when I started."
"Dad won't be happy with us..." she trailed off, unsure.
"Let me deal with William, Rose. You deserve to be taught properly."
Mina rose to her knees and pressed a kiss to Georgiana's cheek.
"Thank you."
She saw her aunt startle a bit and raise her hand to the spot that had been kissed.
"No... no problem, Rosie. Good night."
"Night."
####
She made sure Mom was intently banging at her keyboard, headphones firmly on, two screens black and covered with nearly magical code. Coast was clear. She could safely search Mina's room for the most important textbook of that year.
Italian for beginners.
It had to be somewhere there - she had already found the second volume, but it was not enough, so she had to dig deeper into the boxes stored under Mina's bed (where old school stuff turned out to be stashed).
Coming across Mina's diary - looking at the penmanship, probably first grade - she heroically fought the impulse to open it and read it right now. First, she still hadn't found the needed book. Second, it was Mina's diary and if one day her sister decided Rose should have access to it, she would tell her. She wouldn't be very happy if Mina ever found her own journal and read it without asking, so she felt she should extend the same courtesy to her sister.
At the bottom of a box filled with loose pages and exercise sheets, the book was found. At last.
#
Having spend an hour going through the book littered with Mina's pencilled notes and remarks she felt a twinge of jealousy towards her twin. Not that she would have switched from French to Italian at that point, but damn it, Italian was easier. Of course it helped that she already knew French but the pronunciation itself was a clear advantage of what she was trying to study right now.
She stretched on the bed, silently repeating the basic verb conjugation. She would have been happier with an equivalent of her own French grammar reference, but this book was quite good enough for now. At least she'd be able to learn the pronouns and other small details she kept mistaking in class.
By the time she noticed she was nodding off she had read through half of the book and felt much better about her chances at not making Mina's grades spectacularly bad. She could also consider asking Dad to sign her up for some Italian lessons once she was back home. There were classes at school, but they would have probably conflicted with her French.
She looked at the book in front of her and performed a theatrical facepalm.
21:15, still early enough.
She clicked the phone on and thumbed SUSAN.
"Whassup?"
"Are you in your room?" she whispered urgently.
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm an idiot. Go to the bookcase by the desk and look at the bottom shelf, the bigger books. Look for a large blue book."
"Blue... What is this about?"
"About you at least knowing what you're reading on French. This is my first textbook. I just fell asleep over the basic Italian one, so I thought you could..."
"Ah" she heard Mina cough. "Here it is. Right. Perfect. Oh, finally. Why didn't I think about it?"
"Because aunt Catherine is an energetic vampire and she sucked you dry of initiative."
"How did you manage to survive that long here?"
"Guess why I ride my horse a lot."
Mina snorted weakly.
"That makes sense."
"OK, I'm going to bed now. Just woke up with my nose stuck in the section about shopping. Night."
"Night. Thanks, Rose."
"It's not about you, little sister, it's about my grades."
She thumbed the end of connection, but immediately the phone buzzed.
SUSAN
"What?"
"I talked with aunt Georgiana today" Mina said softly. "Sorry, you woke me up and I forgot to tell you. She told me they actually lived in Lambton, and then in Pemberley. And we were born here. And then one day Mom left. Of course she didn't say anything about me, or, you know, us, but she said they met when Mom was twenty. And aunt Georgiana loves Mom. And I think she misses her. And that she doesn't know why, but she has some ideas. She didn't want to tell me what they were, though."
"Wow. That's actually a lot! At least we know who left who."
"And that I used to live here already, once, long time ago."
"Which means Mrs R knows that there are two of us, by the way. She's been working for Dad like forever."
"OK, now, try to work on Mom a bit, OK? Be gentle. But, you know. Get that info out of her."
"I'll try, but she is working every free second now. Some idiot company decided they had already sold someone the system and now she has to write missing pieces from day to day, as the client asks for them. Or so I understood."
"Yeah, normal thing. I just hope they pay for any extra work. She had one company who first requested extra express work and then said they won't pay what they promised because the amount they listed was for a guy, and they won't pay a woman the same."
Rose sat up on the bed.
"They what?"
"They said, more or less, that they are allowed to pay Mom less because woman's work is worth less than man's."
"When are they from, seventeenth century?!"
"No, last February."
"Mom said something about February..."
"Yes, because then they said that if she doesn't want what they want to pay, they are stopping the payment altogether until there is a court case."
"Sshhhugar."
"Well said. She didn't want me to know, but aunt Jane said something by accident and then I pieced it together."
"I wonder how people can be that stupid!"
"Well, Mom has a lot to say on the topic on unequal pay. Just make sure you have an evening clear before you ask her. She had written articles about it, too."
"Mina?"
"Yeah?"
"I love Mom. I think. I kind of don't want to switch back. But I do, because we can't do it much longer, but..."
"I know, I know. I wish I could stay here, and see the Christmas decorations and see the house being built..."
"I will send you photos every day."
"It's not the same."
Rose sighed.
"Unless we work out how to get them together, it will be all we'll have."
"Then let's maybe get to work, hm?"
"I'd much rather get to bed."
"That's OK too. Night."
"Yeah."
####
Tuesday was challenging, but at least now, with Rose's old textbook, she had some fighting chance with French. Not a particularly big one, but, having spent the early morning on studying the first few chapters - luckily, with English explanations - she felt slightly better now, and started figuring out the similarities between French and what she already knew from Italian. Obviously, pronunciation was going to be a huge issue, but she had already figured out that there were enough French lessons on Youtube to satisfy needs of any beginner student.
The day went quite painlessly - trying to decipher the reading assignment in French wasn't nearly as painful now, even after that short session with the textbook. She simply took each word apart into "looks like I know it" and "grammar suffix" and made out the meaning based on the pronouns and prepositions she managed to master. She was not going to catch up to Rose anytime soon, but it was a challenge she felt was now in her reach.
All day, however, she had been preoccupied with her morning ride to Lambton with Dad.
#
The breakfast was blessedly silent. Dad kept glancing at aunt Catherine from time to time, frowning and biting into his toast in a somewhat angry manner. Anne and aunt Catherine kept mum, not even exchanging their normal remarks on the general topics of morning papers, amount of jam Anne used on her toast or the way the eggs weren't shelled properly.
As she cleared her bowl of cereal and grabbed the packed lunch Mrs Reynolds had left by her plate, Dad folded up his paper and glanced at his watch.
"In car in three minutes? You'll be at school early enough to find Miss Yang and hand in the form for the contest."
Mina looked at him quizzically.
"She sent me an approval form yesterday, for the folk song contest? You wanted to participate?"
"Yes, but I thought..."
Dad silently handed her a folded piece of paper.
"Run. I'll be waiting in the car."
As they passed by the marker of a "Historical Point Of Interest" directing tourists towards Pemberley, Dad sighed, rather audibly.
"I hope you will do well in the contest" he said finally. "What do you want to sing?"
She watched the road for a moment.
"I'm not sure. Most folk songs are rather..."
"Bawdy."
"Yes, that."
"If you need some ideas..."
"I will bother aunt Georgiana a bit, I suppose" she interjected immediately.
"I..." he gasped and nodded, but continued after a heartbeat. "I was going to just suggest, maybe 'Loch Lomond'? I mean, you don't have to, but... I remember it's rather beautiful."
"I'll think about it. Thanks."
"Good. If you need something..."
"I'm sure aunt Georgiana has it in one of her songbooks."
"She probably does, yes" he agreed finally and turned his attention back to other cars.
When they stopped in front of the school and she was gathering her gym bag, she felt him catch her hand and looked up. There were wrinkles around his eyes as he frowned slightly, lips pressed into a thin line.
"I'm sorry, Rose" he said finally. "I... I didn't, I suppose I didn't see how much it would affect you."
"Dad?" she watched as he struggled with whatever it was that he was trying to explain.
"She... Your mother. She sang. A, a lot. For some time, I couldn't stand anything..."
"Except metal?"
"She never sang or played this."
Ah.
"Go. You'll be late. Don't forget this" he handed her the folded piece of paper she had left on her seat. "When is the finale?"
"Third week of October..."
He nodded shortly and let go of her hand.
"Run now, ducky."
#
She walked up from the church in Kympton, passing by the sheep herds guarded by shaggy dogs and almost equally shaggy shepherds. When she knew she was already near to the "home fields", she veered off to the left and sat on one of the crumbling walls, thumbing through her phone. A quick search on YouTube provided her with the song she was looking for.
She nodded to the rhythm. The text wasn't too challenging, and she was quite certain aunt Georgiana did have the songbook that would help her master the melody. Still, she should probably better prepare herself from the recording. It wouldn't do to let everyone know she could sight-sing after all. That was one skill a child brought up by William Darcy definitely had no chance to learn.
Her phone buzzed and she smiled, seeing "JOANA" pop up on the screen.
"Joana? How are you?"
"Rose? Right? I didn't mix up..."
"No, Rose, definitely. Good to hear from you... I was thinking about calling, but I kind of didn't want to, you know. Bother you, in case you were busy, or something."
"Well, we were busy, yes. Moving all our stuff, shopping and so on" Joana sounded tired.
"So, how are you, actually? I mean, with your dad, everything working out OK?"
Joana snorted.
"Yes, even better than. He changed his job to make sure he is at home every day. I don't even have to switch schools or anything, because we just moved a mile and a half away, and now I actually am closer to it... And dad is fine, yes. A bit worried about me, because I might have started an argument with him the moment he picked me up" she laughed, actually.
"Wow. What did you tell him?"
"Something that I feel it's unfair they went behind my back and did it without even telling me. He said that it was a bit of a surprise for him, too, actually."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. Mom... well, he doesn't want to say it, like, openly, but I'm guessing she found herself a boyfriend."
"Ouch."
"So, I'm kind of, you know, mostly pissed at her. And I told him that. So we're cool now. I'm thinking about calling her, maybe next week, and asking for explanation, but I was too busy to even plan what I'm going to say."
"And how's living just with your father?"
"You live with yours, you know what it's like" Joana pointed out.
"But I have three aunts living with us and I've been like that all my life. So?"
"Well, it is a bit of a change. He told me yesterday that it was actually his first time buying pads..."
Mina snorted.
"All right. Yes, that may be a bit of a change for him."
"Next time I'll just do the shopping myself. Less embarrassing for both of us!"
"Definitely. At least I have aunt Georgiana who can do that for me..."
"Useful, having an aunt like this" Joana sighed. "But. I'll make do. And my dad's cousin will be coming to visit us in two weeks, so I'll drag her clothes shopping. I'm in dire need of new trousers and I kind don't see dad as the person to help me with this."
"I definitely prefer shopping with my aunts. Dad is... I don't see him giving me advice on the cut of my jeans!"
"Exactly. So. This is just a small check in, to let you know I'm still alive. And, well, to thank you for how you took care of me, you and Mina. Without her lunch I'd have starved to death, when we were stuck in the traffic for additional two hours! Are you keeping in touch with her?"
"Yeah, we talk often. I'll tell her you say hello."
"I would have called her myself, but she doesn't have my number, so I don't suppose she would have answered."
"I'll text her your contact, then she will have it."
"That will be OK, thanks. I'll... I suppose I have to run now. Dad's just parked. Thanks again, Rose."
"No problem. I hope it all works out fine."
"Yep, so do I. But it looks like it will be OK."
"See ya, Joana."
"Thanks, Rose."
She clicked the red button and sat there for a moment, looking at the phone with unseeing eyes.
What would it be to live just with Dad? Without aunt Catherine or Anne? And aunt Georgiana?
She frowned.
Why is aunt Georgiana still living at home? She's older now than Mom was when we were born.
One more problem to unravel.
####
From: Mina
To: Susan
How do you ever make them stop screaming?
Little cousins were sweet and cute. They also shouted, ran around and made mess. One little blessing was that it wasn't Mom's place they were ruining, but grandma's. At least someone else would be tasked with cleaning after them. She, as the "oldest" and "most reliable" was supposed to oversee their garden activity, especially focusing on keeping them from drowning each other in the kiddie pool. So, no running and shouting for her. At least she could try to read one of the books from Mina's room - as discreetly as she could, as it was a "Doctor Dolittle" volume she hadn't had a chance to read before somehow.
First Friday of autumn was the one for "end of summer" garden party at the Bennets. It was supposedly the last party that included ice-cream (however hot the weather may be later on), the last party to include the kiddie pool (for which Rose was more than thankful) and the last to be held fully outside (again, no matter the weather).
She tried to keep track of most of kids, but it was mainly easy to single out Jimmy and Jonathan - and Adele. Others became a very big, blurry group of "all the little blonde girls" and Rose's head was slowly becoming more and more achy under the stress of keeping up the "oldest cousin" façade.
Adele was not helping. For some reason she seemed to be even more annoying than Mina had ever described, and Aunt Lydia was muttering every time she saw Rose around. Grandma, with her comforting patting Lydia on the hand and nodding her head, added to the general feeling that Rose (or rather, Mina) was not a particularly well-received guest at this specific party. Some ladies - grandma's cronies, as Mom called them absently - sitting at the same table as grandma, were discussing something in a rather hushed tones, looking at Rose strangely from time to time.
Obviously, there was no love for William Darcy's daughters - or William Darcy himself - at that party. Scraps of sentences she caught seemed to be all along the general tone of 'how like her father'.
I am more and more curious as to what Dad actually did to earn himself scorn of this corner of London.
Aunt Kitty sat with her back to the gossiping group and rolled her eyes at Rose, as their gazes met, then shrugged her shoulders and continued tracking her twins carefully as they stumbled over some sand toys left unattended in the middle of the lane. Aunt Mary sat, isolated from everyone, at the end of the porch, sleeping Jimmy drooling on her shoulder.
The only ones on whom she could count to be actually at least somehow positively disposed towards Dad were, of course, uncle Charles and aunt Jane. Rose could also theorise also that, in specific circumstances and under the right conditions, the second Bennet sister might have been, but definitely didn't have to be, not adverse to mentioning him.
Not that Rose had managed to gather the courage to ask her that, yet. On the other hand, asking aunt Jane felt a bit like cheating, and there was nobody else she could count on to relate the story accurately. Still, even talking to aunt Jane about anything else was a relief. She didn't have to act for a few moments.
#
Aunt Jane had managed to catch Rose before the other children arrived, leaving her brood to be temporarily managed by her husband, who did it by the simple expedient of running with them towards the pool and allowing them to splash each other with water.
"How are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"All OK" Rose answered shortly. "Why?"
"Lizzy is worried about your school. She let it slip yesterday and I'm wondering if there is anything..."
"It's just Italian" she grimaced. "I'm taking French and..."
"I see. Well, can't help you with this one, I'm afraid."
"We're coping. I found Mina's old textbook, she has mine, we're doing fine."
Aunt Jane smiled, but seemed a little tense.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" she asked finally. "Because if your grades..."
"It's just Italian and French. I'm sure we can undo it afterwards. And we planned to keep it up until Halloween, at most. At some point I have to get back to my horse and Mina has to pick up her piano lessons. Good thing they were scheduled from November anyway, because that would have been a disaster."
"Ah. So if we are invited to visit William the weekend after your birthday, it will still be Mina?"
"Unless you hear otherwise, definitely."
Jane nodded.
"Do you want me to take something to her?"
"No, we talk every other day and text a lot. We're fine. But you could do one thing" Rose cringed a bit. "Take her bra shopping? There must be at least one good shop in Lambton..."
Her aunt's eyes widened.
"Definitely" she said softly. "I'll check online what are the recommended ones and we'll be there early Saturday morning, just in time for birthday shopping. I've neglected you before a bit, haven't I?"
Rose snorted.
"You couldn't be there all the time. And you did get me this" she nodded towards Mom, who was unwrapping a platter of muffins they had baked together.
"Well, I try my best. Anything else you can think of?"
"Go and talk to her? I mean, Mina? She needs to talk to someone who knows. Now only me, I mean."
"Are you sure she didn't tell anyone?"
"Would I be here if she did?"
Aunt Jane nodded slowly.
"Well, no. I don't imagine... Maybe Georgi would have kept the secret."
"But Mina doesn't know it."
"Then I'll kidnap her for the whole day. Whole Saturday just for us. Away from... other adults."
Rose shivered.
"As far as possible."
Aunt Jane frowned.
"But... if you leave at the beginning of November, then you won't be here for Lizzy's birthday..." she said slowly. "Oh. And I was planning..."
"When..." Rose swallowed. "When is Mom's birthday? Maybe we could..."
"Eleventh of November. That won't leave you much time to undo the damages once you switch."
"I wish I could stay. But then Mina wouldn't be here."
Jane grimaced.
"No good option here."
#
Unfortunately, right now uncle Charles was stuck with grandpa in the study, going over some accounting for the property and aunt Jane was very busy dressing Jonathan's scraped knee. Mom was doing her obvious best trying not to react to the remarks - now aimed her way - from the cosy coterie of scheming familial witches at the other end of the table, pulling a crochet hook and a boxed ball of yarn from her bag and putting on her noise-cancelling headphones. Still, she probably knew what they were saying anyway, Rose could guess. Her hunched shoulders and tense face was a completely new sight - even worse than the way she curled up on herself during the welcome-back party.
Rose's jaws ached when she looked at Mom, but she couldn't work out any kind of solution that didn't include coming up to aunt Lydia and kicking her in the shin.
In the previous weeks she had learnt all the small expressions of her mother's face. Delight, amusement, hope, irony, tiredness, concentration and lack of patience. None of these looked as uncomfortable as that. Now Mom was speaking with her whole body, and it was almost screaming 'go away'.
Sparing one last glance for the rubber swimming pool (no little blonde in vicinity), Rose stood up and carefully checked for any stray grass on her dress. She snatched a glass of lemony water from one of the tables and drained it quickly, walking towards her mother. Her hand, coming between Mom's face and the square of wool she was stabbing, made her mother look up.
"What is it, ducky?"
"Let's go home, Mom" she suggested quietly. "I don't feel like sitting there anymore."
"Why? Aren't you having fun with your cousins?"
"Mom" she said with a sigh. "I've been sitting by the rubber pool for the last hour or so, guarding whoever tried to jump into it. If I wanted to be a lifeguard in my spare time, I'd join the school swimming program. No, I'm not having fun, I'm sorry."
She saw her mother's shoulders curl inwards even more.
"And neither are you" Rose added quietly. "Let's go home and I'll tackle my homework? I have to read stuff before Tuesday and I won't have time on Monday."
"Sure, kitten" Mom patted her cheek. "Let me just tell them we're leaving."
"Tell who? Why are you going already? Something wrong?" uncle Charles' hands fell on Mom's shoulders without any warning.
Rose apparently had one more of her mother's emotions to be added to the catalogue.
Mom flinched away from uncle Charles and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Shite, Lizzy, I'm sorry" Charles pulled back and walked slowly around them. "Sorry, Liz. I forgot. So sorry."
Mom's shaking hands let the crocheted project fall into her canvas tote. Rose quickly picked it and added the yarn wool box to the bag.
"Let's go, Mina" she managed to say finally. "Don't worry, Charlie. It's not your fault, stop trying to assume responsibility for things you are the most innocent in. Others should pick up the slack from time to time."
"Where are you going?" grandma's querulous voice rose above the general din of happily screaming children.
"Home" Mom picked up her bag and pulled Rose behind her.
"But Mina is needed here, to look after the kids!" grandma sounded even somewhat offended.
"Tell Adele to do it, instead. Mina should not be the only one who has to sit down and be at your disposal. Or maybe some of the grown-ups could sacrifice their treasured peace and go down there to keep the kids safe."
"But they have more than one, how can they...!"
Mom's eyes flashed and she grimaced in a rather ugly way.
"Well, I have exactly as many as I can, personally, take care of. Everyone should think before making more than they can manage. And no, I'm not talking about Jane, Mama, and I'm not jealous of her and Charles. Don't even start."
Aunt Jane smiled and nodded, just slightly. "Go, Lizzy. We'll talk later. Take some of my apple tart for Mina for the evening."
####
"What did you mean, Mom?"
Elizabeth looked at her, slightly puzzled, as the bus pulled away from the stop.
"Mean when, ducky?"
"When you said about... you know, making more children than someone can manage" Rose ended up whispering this part.
Mom blushed.
"I'm sorry, darling. I shouldn't have said it, but sometimes talking to grandma is a bit of a challenge for me. I start talking and then, bluuurgh, things start coming out of my mouth that I wasn't planning. Well, this is... Some people have too many kids to properly take care of them. And some have just the number they can actually work with. So Jane and Charles have five, and they do manage - and I have absolutely no idea how! But some people have just one and they anyway try to foist the kid on everyone else and they blame others for not managing theirs when said kid does something wrong."
Rose did a quick calculation and all the little numbers added up to "Lydia".
"Mom..."
"I know. I shouldn't be saying all this stuff about our family. I love them, I appreciate the fact that thanks to grandpa we have a place to live and that we are all meeting from time to time in reasonably amiable atmosphere. It's just that sometimes they..."
"I don't mind moving" Rose didn't manage to stop herself from saying. "I mean, I have to ride a bus to school anyway, so, if it made it easier... I told you, if you find a place..."
I really hope Mina will agree, because this sucks major time.
"Don't worry, ducky" Elizabeth leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll think of something. At least I'm not still living with my parents. That could have led to justifiable patricide, I suppose."
"I'd bet on matricide" Rose mumbled.
"Well, that depends on who would get on my nerves sooner - grandma with her nagging or grandpa with his old jokes. She wants me to 'finally find a proper man' and he wants me to have a career at the university. I'm way too old for either of these. Being a programmer and an admin is apparently what I was made for, despite all the attempts of my dear parents to tell me otherwise."
"Maybe they should have been paying more attention" Rose said and immediately felt her ears redden in anticipation of her mother's next question.
"Mina...?" Elizabeth looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"Um" her daughter swallowed, hard. "You know. When they were..."
"God, Mina" Elizabeth moaned. "What... No, I'm not even going to ask what you were talking about on that camp. I know what girls talk about on camps. Gah. I'll kill Jane."
"And leave her five children half-orphans. Then you'd have to marry uncle Charles to make sure they have a mother."
"Mina!"
"What? Better a murderer aunt-stepmother than nothing."
"Really!"
####
From: Susan
To: Mina
No idea how to make them stop screaming, but any suggestions how to make aunt C shut up will be appreciated. I'm considering poisoning her.
From: Mina
To: Susan
She's probably resistant to most poisons by now. I'm not sure a snake wouldn't get sick after biting her.
From: Susan
To: Mina
There goes my plan for a little herpetology research during the weekend. What about poisonous frogs?
From: Mina
To: Susan
No idea, but I'm sure the frogs are endangered species.
From: Susan
To: Mina
Damn. I'll trawl Wikipedia for some home-made poisons. I'm almost sure something can be done from stuff we keep in the kitchen.
From: Mina
To: Susan
Let me know when the witch is dead. Actually, you could start by checking if pouring some water on her won't work.
From: Susan
To: Mina
Nope, there was rain yesterday, she's still standing.
From: Mina
To: Susan
Not good. We'll think of something.
"Who are you texting with? I thought people Snapchat now, or at least use Facebook Messenger?"
"Just a girl from the camp. Her dad doesn't allow her to have social network profile, so she can only text and call. She is having problems with her aunt, who basically doesn't allow her to do stuff. At all."
"Mhm. Poor kid. Just don't stay up after midnight, OK? I know it's not a school night, but I don't want you to stay in bed until noon tomorrow. We're going to a book fair, remember?"
Rose froze for a moment.
"Ah. Yes. Sure. Tomorrow, yes."
"Everything OK, ducky?"
"Not really" she sighed. "Why does family have to be so complicated?"
"If I knew, kitten, I'd have resolved all our issues long ago."
#
After a relatively lazy weekend - a book fair was the only taxing task, but it was so much fun Rose didn't even notice when her feet started aching - came, as usual, a Monday.
A Monday of a surprise test.
In Italian.
No preparation, no cramming of old textbooks, no knowledge of other Roman languages could save Rose.
She filled the exercises in as well as she could, but it was rather obvious that the outcome was not going to be satisfactory for anyone.
Other lessons seemed to be at the same time stretching into eternity and running much too fast. She even prolonged leaving for home a bit by accosting the maths teacher and asking her for the details of the upcoming contest. Then she packed her bag very carefully. Then she was very kind and allowed someone else to get on the Tube instead of her.
Then, finally, she had to come home.
Mom was torturing the keyboard, muttering to herself things that sounded like obscenities, but were from no language Rose had ever heard - didn't even sound like Italian.
Putting her backpack down carefully, Rose sneaked into her room, toed off her shoes and fell on the bed. This week it was covered by one of the quilts Mom had made - it didn't really match the hues of the room, but the faded, gradiented pinks and purples somehow made sense. Here and there a slightly more saturated patch could be seen - she slid her fingers over one of particularly vibrant fuchsia and found it to be velvet. The ribbon on the border was worn and visibly patched in places, showing that the quilt was in obvious, constant use.
Mom knocked on her door.
"Mina? I need to talk to you, kitten."
"OK" she mumbled into the soft fabric.
Mom's fingers raked through her hair slowly.
"What happened at school today?"
Rose turned her head slightly to the side, looking up at Mom, who crouched next to her bed.
"Not much, really" she made a quick review of the day. No arguments, no weird exchanges on the stairs, not even eye contact with the key bullies.
"Your Italian teacher called me, you see" Mom sat down on the rug, bringing her face to Rose's level.
"Ah."
"She said she was worried that something was wrong with you and that it may be affecting your work. Of course, they are assuming that 'something wrong' is at home, but we know it's not that - at least I hope so - so I'm betting that something happened at school and that's why you got thirty percent on your Italian test."
Rose sighed.
"No, not today. Today it was quiet."
"If not today, then...?"
She hid her face in the sweet-smelling bedspread. Suddenly she felt a stab of jealousy. Mina was coming back here, in a month, yes? In a month, it will be Mina who will be surrounded by all the things that Mom made for her, all the cute and funny and...
"Mina?"
She moaned.
"It's just some kids" she mumbled. "Some kids are stupid."
"I think we've established that long ago. Anything changed?"
"Not much, but... It's hard to listen to this all the time. Like they never get tired of that one topic. One stupid topic. Why can't they just let go?"
Mom sighed and dropped her head to the bed.
"What started it this time?"
"We were discussing jobs titles. And the various ways that the jobs that used to have 'man' in them are now changed to 'person' or, or 'officer'. And, that in other countries, in other languages, women are actually promoting having separate titles for male and female employee. And that it depends on the type of language, and local culture and history and... stuff."
Mom nodded, turning her head to the side. Rose could see the top of her head, unevenly combed parting of her hair and the bridge of her nose, covered with freckles.
"And then someone asked what about jobs that don't have 'man' in the name. Like 'teacher' or 'doctor' or 'janitor', and some guy from the back asked 'So what about 'programmer' then? So that Bennet knows how to call her mother properly' and..." she sighed. "And Mrs Snaith told him off. For using my surname, instead of just my name."
"But not for the question?"
"No. And then..." she stopped for a moment. "Then someone said something like 'yeah, because Bennet anyway isn't her surname, is it? because nobody should have the same surname as their mother' and..."
She saw Mom's shoulders tense.
"I think a visit to school is required" she said flatly. "There is a parents meeting next week, isn't it?"
"On Wednesday, yes."
"Very well. I think..." Mom sat up again. "I think I'll need to discuss some little details of class discipline with your teachers. This has gone beyond 'kids being kids'. I'm sorry, kitten. Will you survive until next Wednesday? And, if this doesn't work..." she shrugged. "We'll see if we can work out a transfer. I'm sure we can find a school that will fit you better than this. Something that has reasonable results, and I suppose if there is anything amiss, we can pick it up ourselves, hm? As long as you feel better there."
Definitely must call Mina today.
"OK. I think I won't kill anyone before Wednesday."
"Thank you. Try not to tear off any arms or bite anyone either, please."
"Can I at least look at them with disgust?"
"Disgust... allowed. Now, dinner? I made lasagne."
"I love you, Mom."
A short peck on her cheek.
"Love you too, kitten. We'll deal with this, I promise. Do you have anything to do for tomorrow?"
"Just one page for Biology."
"OK, try to fill this in, I will heat the lasagne up, and then you can focus on Italian for the rest of the evening, OK? Try to make sure this test doesn't drag your average down too much?"
Rose nodded into the quilt.
...and I'm calling Mina the moment Mom puts the headphones on.
Next chapter is half-written and the one after is plotted... But it may be a while before I update. Need to reconsolidate the timeline and make sure I'm not writing something absolutely idiotic regarding times.
Oh, in case anyone wonders: The 'current' events are happening in 2017, and the last day described, Monday, is the 25th of September.