The Mikaelsons and the Petrovas...
A huge thank you to those of you who follow this story. Your simple follow means so much. Please do review this story. A Merry Christmas to all of my readers and a Happy and safe new year.
Chapter 5:
England 1745
"Katherine dear, whom do you reside with?" Rebekah asked the little girl. "We live here in the forest Miss." Katherine answered. THE FOREST! Klaus thought, with all the wild animals and not to mention the weirdos that the village held. "How long have you and your siblings lived in the forest love?" Klaus inquired. "Two winters sir." Dear God, how have they survived? Rebekah pondered. Well one thing was clear now, they could not possibly leave these children here alone.
"Elijah...Nik, we can not leave them here..." Rebekah said softly. "We certainly can not." Elijah agreed with his sister. "Niklaus what do you propose we should do?" Klaus could feel the children's eyes on him as well as his siblings. "We can take them with us to New Orleans..." Klaus suggested. "Can we Niklaus?" Elijah asked worried that they might look a little suspicious travelling with children.
"We can, and once there we can find a proper home for them." Klaus stated. Rebekah looked at the children and gave them a warm smile. "Stefan, Katherine, Caroline would you like to come with us?" Rebekah asked the children gently. "Where are we going?" Stefan asked.
"We are going to a place called New Orleans. It is all the way in America." Klaus answered. "America, isn't that far sir? How ever will we get there?" Katherine asked with a concerned look on her face. "By ship of course." Rebekah said. "Ship! Wow I have never seen a ship before!" Caroline said excitedly. "THE SHIP!" Klaus cried. He had completely forgotten about them boarding the ship on time. He placed little Caroline on her feet and retrieved his pocket watch from the inside of his coat. The time read 4:30 in the morning.
"We are very late!" Klaus said panicked. "We must leave now!" "Niklaus, what about the children?" Elijah inquired standing up. Klaus looked at the three little innocent faces that stared back at him. He crouched down and looked them in the eye. "Would you three like to come with us?" he asked with a smile. The children looked at each other for confirmation and nodded their heads in agreement. "Wonderful." Klaus said. "Bekah, Elijah grab one and meet me in the carriage." Klaus picked Caroline up and began to carry her out of the thick forest.
Rebekah did the same with Stefan and Elijah followed suit with Katherine. Elijah noticed how uncomfortable Katherine was. She obviously did not fully trust him or his family. Once out of the forest they carried the children to the carriage. Elijah set Katherine down and she got into the carriage.
Rebekah called to the driver to start moving once everyone was seated comfortably. On the front facing side Katherine sat next to Elijah while on the rear facing seat Caroline sat next to Klaus and Stefan occupied the space between Klaus and Rebekah. Rebekah broke the silence by asking the children questions about their previous lives in the village.
Katherine explained they were playing in the forest one day and when they returned home their parents were nowhere to be found. Katherine said she went upstarts to her parents bedroom and found them laying in a pool of blood their throats ripped out.
She went on to tell them that after their parents funeral no one in the village wanted to care for them. They were alone and hungry and decided to live in the forest surviving on fruit and water from the nearby river. Klaus inquired about how she came to know Nigel the tavern owner.
Katherine explained that one winter it was cold and Stefan had fallen ill. She went into the village to get help and came across Nigel who said he would help her brother if she agreed to work in the tavern as a dishwasher. She told them of the beatings she received as a result of being overworked and starved. She would fall asleep on the job and Nigel would beat her with anything he could find.
She finally ran away when he threatened to go after her brother and sister if she did not work properly. She even told the three vampires about how she had stolen the apple and loaf of bread from the store. "I never meant to steal the food." She said tears beginning to form. "Stefan and Caroline were hungry, they hadn't eaten in four days." She broke down and the tears began to flow freely. Elijah hugged the little girl to him and lifted her onto his lap as his siblings watched sympathetically. He removed the little white handkerchief he always kept from his trouser pocket and handed it to Katherine.
The little girl dried her eyes and held onto Elijah's handkerchief. Her big brown eyes started to drift closed. Within a few minutes she was asleep, still perched on Elijah's lap, her head resting on his chest and her hand clutching the lapel of his coat and the handkerchief simultaneously.
The twins were asleep as well with Caroline's head resting on Klaus' lap and Stefan slumped against Rebekah's side. The original vampires took the chance to study the sleeping children.
Rebekah looked at little Stefan. He had dark blonde almost dark brown hair that was a little too long and fell to his shoulders and past his eyes. Rebekah and noticed his clear green eyes before. She had never seen that shade before. A bright brilliant green. He and his sister seemed tall for their ages. She noticed their clothing which each child had obviously outgrown.
Klaus ran his fingers through the blonde hair of the little girl who was currently asleep on his lap. She was a bubbly one she was. He noticed how alive she seemed even while talking to him. She had a certain light to her he just could not explain.
Little Katherine yawned and rubbed her eye. She buried her cheek further into Elijah's shirt, still holding onto his coat lapel. Elijah tilted his head to study the sleeping little girl. She had long, curly dark brown hair that complimented her heart shaped face. Her eyes were a light brown almost hazel and shone in the sunlight. Her skin tone was a tanned olive colour compared to her siblings who had far paler skin complexions.
He was struck with the girl's bravery and mannerism she had displayed during their brief encounter. The girl would do anything to protect her younger siblings. She reminded him of himself. He to would give his life for his family. Elijah dropped a sweet kiss on Katherine's forhead. He glanced at the seat across him and smiled. Both sets of twins were asleep. Elijah could not help thinking that little Caroline and Stefan were like Niklaus ad Rebekah at that age.
All of them were on their way to NOLA now. He just hoped that they would be able to find good homes for these children..