Chapter 01 - A Change of Tempo
The only sounds that could be heard in the home of the Dean's this Thursday night were the gentle rushing of the waves against the shore only a short distance from the house and the gentle tinkling of piano keys from the music room on the first floor. The night was quiet, still and the air was pleasantly cool as spring was upon them. It was not long until the spell was broken and there came a loud, forceful knock on the front door. The tinkling of keys stopped and a girl emerged from the music room, an annoyed frown on her face. She strolled through the kitchen and entrance hall to emerge in front of the door just as another girl; similar in looks appeared at the top of the stairs.
The girl at the top of the stairs was Elle Dean, her hair pulled back in its customary messy bun and she wore her customary (of late) disapproving expression. "Is Andre here? It's only seven Maya, you promised Maisy you'd help her do her hair for tomorrow," she scolded, to which Maya, the girl at the door rolled her eyes.
"Andre could be the next Bonds model," she replied with emphasis. "Besides, Maisy shouldn't be trying to impress some jerk who obviously isn't worth her time."
Before her older sister could point out the hypocrisy of the statement, Maya turned back and yanked open the large double doors with a flourish and a charming smile, which froze almost as soon as the doors opened. Unless Andre had aged twenty years and now sported ginger hair and an impressive moustache, then her date was certainly not early.
Elle rushed down the stairs and joined her younger sister at the door. There was no mistaking it. A man and a woman stood at the front door, both wearing matching light-blue shirts with the same emblem and protocol navy pants tucked into solid black boots, thick black belts along their waists with guns in the holsters. Maya paled and swallowed thickly as if she had a marshmallow lodged in her throat, wondering if Nathan (the first and only man to dump Maya Dean) had found out what she'd done to his new Ferrari.
Composed as ever, Elle greeted the two police officers and asked rather politely if they had done something wrong. The older gent with the ginger hair looked grim and his young and quite attractive partner smiled reassuringly before answering, "Of course not. We'd just like to come in for a little chat, if that's okay?"
"Of course," Elle said quickly, casting an enquiring glance at her sheepish-looking younger sister. The two police officers entered, removing their hats. They looked around in barely concealed awe as they were lead through to the downstairs lounge (there were four in the house, after all).
The two officers settled themselves uncomfortably on the chic black leather couches, casting their eyes around the room which was clearly decorated with not only stylish, but incredibly expensive furniture, not to mention the flat screen television attached to the wall which looked like it could be seen from outer space. The woman leaned forward, smiling friendlily in a disarming manner and Maya exchanged a worried look with her sister, dark brown meeting hazel. "I'm Constable Adams and this is my partner Constable Grey. Are you girls' twins?" Constable Adams asked with interest, obviously trying to put them at ease.
"Elle's older than me by two years," Maya said uneasily, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You look very alike," she replied with another smile. "Is your other sister home?"
The sisters exchanged another look. "Has she done something wrong?" Maya asked tightly, ever fiercely protective of her younger sister.
"No, not at all," she was reassured by both the constables, before they asked if she could come to sit with them also. Elle fetched her and shortly all the Dean's sat together on one of the chic couches, exchanging worried glances between them.
Constable Grey cleared his throat before looking between all three of them, that same grim expression on his face. "Miss Dean," he directed this at Elle. "Your father drives a Lexus IS250 convertible, dark blue, number plate DGD-45A, correct?"
Maya's heart beat faster and her stomach dropped, making her feel queasy. Maisy looked confused and Elle's reaction was similar to that of Maya's. "Yes," she whispered. "He got it last year, when he gave his Audi to Maya. Did he—did he get a ticket, o-or something?"
The constables looked at each other sadly. Constable Adams leaned over and placed a hand on Elle's knee, looking earnestly into her eyes. "Your father and mother have been in an accident girls. They collided with a truck and… well girls, they died immediately."
Elle was silent, pale and resolved. Maya cried silently, both dignified in their grief and she reached for Maisy's hand. Maisy snatched it away and said, quietly but firmly. "No. No. Mum and dad… they're not dead they're… they're coming home and mum and me are going to the movies tomorrow night and—and…" she faltered, looking at her older sisters before shutting her mouth with a snap, tears shining in her eyes. She turned determinedly to the two police officers and said in that same firm voice, "Fuck you. Fuck you both" before turning away and leaving the room quickly.
"I'm sorry," Maya apologised softly, before getting up and following her younger sister, leaving Elle there, still and silent.
It only took a moment and yet everything was falling apart.
Elle and her parents watched as her two younger sisters played in the small waves at the edge of the water, building sandcastles and chasing each other around. It wasn't that Elle wasn't fun or didn't want to play, but she and her mother were talking about important things because as of today she was thirteen and all grown up.
Her mother was beautiful and had for some time been a model though she had no real passion for it. She was of average height and slim with hair the colour of wheat and deep brown eyes much like her sister Maya. They stretched out together under a beach umbrella, her dad on the other side of Elle, book over his face as he slept. He was not very tall for a man (about 5'9") and was well-built with a head of thick brown hair that was only just starting to grey at the temples. He was handsome too and together they made a very breathtaking pair.
Her mother adjusted her sunglasses and said to Elle, "You're growing up so fast, Elle. Soon you're going to want to leave me and your old dad behind."
Elle shook her head vehemently. "I don't want to live anywhere but here with you mum!"
"You say that now baby," Annabelle continued, looking at her daughter with a sad smile. "But you'll leave one day, start a family of your own. But you know what?"
"What?"
"Just for now, we can pretend that things will always stay the same."
"But they don't," said Elle dubiously, watching as Maisy unsuccessfully added more sand to the castle she was making with her sister, causing the top of it to break up a little.
"Well you know one thing that will never change…" her mum trailed off and the young girl looked at her questioningly before she was tackled in a big, tight hug, her mum's arms wrapped around her like an octopus' tentacles. "How much I love you!"
"I love you too, mum," she replied, closing her own arms around her mother contentedly. She wished every day could be like this, happy with her mum, dad, Maya and Maisy all with her. More than anything, she wished things wouldn't have to change, because she never wanted to leave her parents and sisters. Elle felt like she could conquer the world when she had them with her.
"Hey, where's my hug?" Douglas Dean, the father who had just awoken, asked sleepily and was soon set upon by his wife and eldest daughter who hugged him fiercely before both silently agreeing that a good tickling was in order for dad.
It was a good day. Elle wished all days, not just her birthday, could be like this.
The next week passed them by in a blur. Maisy isolated herself silent and sullen from the world, including the friends she had been associating with (something her older sisters were grateful for despite their grief) and shut herself in her room with her laptop and iPod for company. Maya played sad songs almost non-stop on the piano, her grief open for the world to see as she cried tears after tears while Elle, as always, hid her sadness and tried to keep busy, arranging for her parent's funerals.
It was not until after her parents were buried one afternoon that a solicitor who worked for her father came to visit. He was an old family friend name Thomas Reeves who had attended school with her father and they had been friends ever since. He took them home after the funeral whereupon he lingered and asked Elle, who seemed most reasonable, if he might talk to her about her parents' wills.
After Elle and Thomas settled down in the kitchen for coffee, Thomas explained that their mother and father had both divided their interests into three equal parts for each of their girls. "Their intention," Thomas continued, looking at the eldest Dean gravely through his rather round glasses. "Was that the money intended for Maisy would go into a trust until she is eighteen and that you and Maya would receive your money immediately. However, your father…"
Thomas paused looking uneasy and Elle felt alarm creep up to her, slowly but surely. Their friend had never lied to them before or wronged them, so if he was uneasy about something then it could surely not be good. Reaching across the table, Elle covered his weathered hand with her own. "What is it Uncle Thomas?" she asked softly, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
"Oh pet," the old man murmured worriedly, covering her hand with his other as well. "I should have stopped him sooner, but I couldn't. I was weak, convinced he would stop. But he didn't. Elle, dear, your father had a fondness for horses."
Elle frowned. "Well, yes, he always loved the races. What's that got to do with anything?"
"He loved them a little too much, pet. My dear, your father is in debt to many people. Badly in debt," Thomas told her gently, though Elle felt the sting deep within her. She felt cold, like all the warmth had been sucked from her body. Her father was the most successful businessman in Queensland, even in the country. There was no way he could be in debt. It had to be untrue.
"How much?" she whispered, still not quite believing what Thomas was saying.
"I'm afraid it's very badly. I can't help; I would ruin myself in trying to do so. I've thought long and hard about this my dear. You will have to sell everything. The house (and all the furniture in it), your cars and the holiday house on the Whitsunday's. With any luck you will be able to keep other things like laptops and clothes and still have enough to buy you a new car and some money for rent," Thomas let that all sink in, his greyish eyes filled with helplessness. "I will do all I can for you, however I think once this gets out you will be shamed and shunned. My only advice is to move far away. My brother, he says he knows a cheap apartment block in Canberra that isn't too shabby and he could get you a rent discount because he knows the people."
"Our home is here," A sharp voice came from the doorway and Maya strode into the room looking angry. "We won't be shamed out of the city! We can't leave. We've lived in Cairns our entire life and you expect us to just leave! Uncle Thomas, surely you must understand how devastating this is?"
"Think of it Maya," Elle murmured, biting her lip with worry. "Do you think Andre will want to have anything to do with you? Miranda? Naomi? None of them will want to know us when we have nothing. You know that."
"Everything is changing," Maya whispered, going from outrage to despair in mere seconds (as she had always been a girl of extremes). "What about Maisy? How will she cope with this? Elle, what are we going to do?"
Elle was used to having to be the one to make the tough choices. She was used to pulling Maya up on her outlandish behaviour and refusing to let Maisy out of the house in an outfit that was too scandalous. She could look after them as she always had, but that didn't make it any easier. It didn't seem fair that at the age of twenty-three she was to actually be mother to her two younger sisters. But, as ever, Elle was going to do all she could.
"We need to sell and we need to leave, Maya," she murmured and her younger sister, seeming to wilt down to the very ends of her perfectly curled chestnut locks, walked forward and put an arm around her older sister with a sigh.
Thomas Reeves took in the scene with a mixture of despair and pride. What would become of the Dean girls he did not know, but he knew that if nothing, they had each other. Sentimentality aside, he cleared his throat and said, "Well my dears, I will help you to sell it all and then we'll go from there, won't we?"
The two girls nodded, both looking as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders. The girls, however prudent, had never had to fend for themselves. There would be jobs to find, rent to pay and school to organise. How were they ever going to manage?
The day the girls were set to leave their home was also the day the piano sold. Maya had surprised Elle as she had held herself together well for the past two weeks but seeing the piano being taken away in to a van by three burly men set her off into a wave of despair. She had been sobbing the whole morning and was not able to be consoled even by the news that they would not have to sell any clothes or electronics they possessed.
Maisy was still not talking to anyone, her mood becoming even blacker with the prospect of moving and the only thing she had said since their father's funeral was "No. Way" to the new car they had bought second hand, something called a Honda Jazz, which of course none of the girls had heard of; costing an eighth of what a car would normally cost the Dean's.
Eventually, the three young women emerged from the house and Maisy, without casting a look back, strode to the car and sat in the back seat as she slammed the door behind her. Elle sighed and looked up at the house, feeling like it wasn't even their house any more. Maya stood beside her, tears running down her face and hand clasped in Elle's tightly. "How can I learn to love another place as much as I've loved this house?" she whispered softly. "How can I when no other places have such memories of us, of mum and dad? It will all be here still and we won't be and I can't stand it!"
Elle the hand she held in hers and looked at her sister then rested her head on Maya's. "We had to leave, dearest," she replied softly, though she too felt the deep melancholy that Maya expressed.
"I know," Maya sighed forlornly, her eyes taking in the house as if she could commit every detail to memory and keep it with her always. "And somehow I'm glad. I couldn't be here and see who lived here. Probably jumped up bogans who won the lottery. Still, I'll miss the house, the beach… most of all, I miss mum and dad. I miss them a lot."
Despite the fact their father had gambled away all the money leading them into this predicament, the Dean's couldn't hate him. A life built on love and trust cannot be dissolved in a second, whatever the circumstance. Elle straightened, breathed deeply and dug the keys to the car out of her pocket. "Well, to Canberra then," she announced as cheerfully as she could, walking off to the car and getting in the passenger seat.
Maya still stood there, talking one last look at the house, at the way the wind blew and made the chimes on the veranda sing and the waves crashing on the shore. She could almost, if she closed her eyes and tried really hard, hear her father laughing as he cooked on the barbeque and her mother singing as she would on a day like this, at home in the sun.
"Goodbye mum and dad," she whispered before wiping her eyes and jogging over to the car, throwing one last wistful look over her shoulder before getting in and buckling her seatbelt. She looked over at Elle, and then behind her at Maisy, who had her iPod in and was pretending to be asleep. This was her family now and she was going to hold on to them for as long as possible.
However, things were going to change more dramatically than any of the girls had ever envisioned.
Authors Note & Disclaimer;
Hi everyone! Er, well, I'm a wee bit nervous about this attempt at modernised Jane Austen. I hope you all like it, though I am very anxious to see the reaction to this. For one, it's not set in England. I don't live in England (no matter how much I wish) and I wanted to write what I knew (despite knowing next to nothing about the life of the rich an famous in Australia). I was extremely nervous about putting a Jane Austen in Australia, but here's the thing - Austen's novels are so universal and their messages are still so important today. So in the end I just said bugger it and here you are. But it's also a modernised version of Sense & Sensibilty which isn't Austen's most popular novel or the one that's been adapted into modern versions often and so there was a chance I'd get it completely wrong.
But I love Austen. I love Sense & Sensibility and the story of family, sisters and love being completely the opposite of what we sometimes expect. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.
Don't know how often updates will be even though I've got a fair whack of the story written, but I will optimistically say less than monthly more than fortnightly? We'll see, so don't hold me to my word.
And onto the disclaimer: I really wish I owned a brilliant piece of literature like Sense & Sensibility, but I do not. Anything that appears in this story that is recognisable i.e. lyrics, brands, products etc. also do not belong to me.