AN: Hi! Thanks for continuing to read. This is going to be a long story, so please bear with the character development. I've also written these chapters very quickly, so I haven't had much time to edit typos and such. Apologies. Would love to hear what you think, so review away.
JJJJJ
Chapter 2
The drive to Winchester was quiet, the May sun unusually bright. When they pulled up to the estate, the open green space against the Edwardian architecture was reminiscent of the old black and white photos of their family home in Devon. The stone brick building stood like a fortress, although welcoming enough by sprawling gardens peeking beyond high-brimmed fences around one side and a fountain on the front gravel drive framed by a Dutch gable.
A doorman opened her side of the car and Jessica gingerly stepped out. An easy breeze caught her dress, and she forced the front down on her walk to the main entry. Already people were there to greet her. A plump lady in conservative attire and Mr. Ruvie smiled toward her, likely warding away her returned scowl. There was no way she would be happy here.
"Good afternoon, Miss Lambert." Mr. Ruvie bowed slightly toward the girl, reaching a hand to shake her own, "I trust your journey was safe from Wycombe."
"It was," she replied, her voice clipped. "Thank you."
"This is Miss Roberts," He turned to the heavyset woman, a lady in her mid-thirties or forties, who smiled warmly and bowed at the waste to get a closer look, "She is a caretaker here in the summer and will see to your needs. There are relatively few children here in the summer, you see, so the staff is fairly limited."
Jessica peered around in confusion. This was a boarding house; children should be everywhere. Yet, it was summer. School ended weeks ago and most of the hoard must have left for home thereafter. Her shoulders went rigid at the thought of other children spending time with their parents whilst she was shipped off like inconvenient cargo. This woman would be her babysitter then. The girl curtseyed politely, earning a chuckle from the older woman.
"Well aren't you just a blessing," Miss Roberts mused. Her voice carried a thicker accent, heralding from Leicester or somewhere in the Midlands. Her plum cheeks morphed into a dimpled grin and she stood again to motion inside. "Well, we should tend to your things; get you all settled then."
The entry passed into an extravagant foyer, the tall cream ceiling opening the space considerably. Above her, Jessica peered at a delicate chandelier that cast a warm glow to the space. There were doors on both sides and hallways the extended beyond, seemingly avoiding the grand staircase in the center of it all. Miss Roberts followed the chauffeur with the girl's luggage up the stairs, and the girl jumped when Mr. Ruvie guided her gently forward.
"Do get settled in your room. We can meet down in my office at the end of the hall when you are finished."
Jessica looked in the direction he pointed and then wordlessly climbed the stairs. Giant portraits hung on the walls of people she presumed owned the building through the years. The paintings of the surrounding fields dotted the space and gave the air of hominess she was not quite expecting. Had she not known this was a school, she might have assumed the place someone's home. Cabinets with aged crystal and antiques tastefully lined the hall as she followed the shadows of the housekeeper to a room on the far end. When she pushed open the oak door, Jessica could not help gasping at the sight.
The room was as large as her bedroom back home. On the far side was a bay window overlooking the grounds to the east and the woods beyond. Cream curtains lined the opening, adding to the cheerfulness of the space, and a writing desk faced the landscape. Her bed was plush and neatly made. A dark oak wardrobe was placed on the opposite wall next to a full bookshelf. Jessica ran her fingers along the mantle of the adjoining fireplace and waited patiently for the chauffeur to finishing putting away her things.
"Well, what do you think?" Miss Roberts chimed, her voice as cheery as her face, "Not what you expected, is it."
Jessica knit her brows and glanced at the older woman with a shake of her head, earning a giggle in return. When the chauffeur was finished, Miss Roberts began her practiced speech in earnest.
"Well then, couple of rules. We have a curfew here, no one out of bed after ten o'clock. Breakfast is at seven, lunch at noon, and supper at six. Please, do not pester the cook. Miss Jenny is a very busy woman and does not like little ones in the kitchen. There is a game room, a library with a computer, an open room – which can be used for most other activities – and a sitting room open to you. The western wing, as are the back buildings, is shut for the summer. Please do not enter there. You have free run of the grounds, but you must let one of us know if you plan to go off and play. You may not, under any circumstances, leave the residence without an escort. Let me see…"
The woman pondered over anything she may have missed. Jessica asked, "How many others are here in the summer?"
"Oh!" She raised a forefinger upon remembering, "Yes, there are six students here year round. Only two are here at the moment, however. Mr. Ruvie can explain everything to you regarding them."
Like a whirlwind, the woman gathered herself to leave. She popped back into the room with a final thought on her way out, "Oh yes, and please let me know if you need anything, my dear."
She was away before the girl could say anything. Jessica sat on the bed, taking in the space. Maybe if the summer were quiet, it would not be so bad after all.
It would not be long before Jessica decided to explore. Making her way down the staircase, the girl double backed along the ground floor hallway. She noted there were at least three levels to the wing, though only the first two were accessible from the front entry. She traced the wall on her way, peeking into each room as she went. There indeed was a sitting room with several long couches hovering near a fireplace. A large, flat television hung on the far wall, something quite at odds with the place, as flat screens were relatively expensive for any household. She passed to the next room, equally large and lined with long cherry boxes, likely holding toys and games. The carpeted floor was clean and empty.
From the corner of her eye, she could sense another presence following her as she peered into each space, but the moment she checked back, the specter hid behind a curtain or around a corner away from view.
Great. Another one, she thought. Jessica pushed herself toward the half askance door at the end of the hall. The broad double entry opened silently, save the soft creak of the hinge as one panel stilled. Mr. Ruvie sat at his desk, attending to paperwork on the leather surface. He glanced over his clear-rimmed lenses at the girl and smiled, dropping his pen, "Ah, settled I assume?"
"As can be."
"Hmm," He acquiesced, leaning back in his chair, "Well, you shant be alone, Miss Lambert, I promise. There is quite an assemble of characters here, although most are on a trip to Scotland currently. You can forgive their absence. Welcome to Whammy's."
The name rang a bell in the abstract of her mind. She perked up, "You mean Mr. Whammy? From the card games last summer?"
"Yes, the very one. I run the boarding school here, whilst he runs the orphanage."
"This is an orphanage…" Jessica's voice trailed off, her expression a mix of confusion and what one might mistake as disgust.
The older man chuckled, "It is, in part. But not one the likes of your class would so humor your time in. Whammy House is a special place for special children. The secondary private school associated with us is The Best in the United Kingdom. All of the children here attend Oxford, Cambridge, or travel abroad for their interests. They are themselves lucky, in fact, to count themselves among a Whammy Child."
His explanation came off as defensive, so Jessica quieted herself, blanking her expression to something more humbled. She took a seat across from him, and it felt a bit like she was at the headmaster's office, if she were one to misbehave.
Mr. Ruvie sighed through his nose and eased his disposition, "You will find the children here are quite amicable, if you let them be. We have six staying with us. There is Andrew, or A as we sometimes call him. And then Ben – but he never answers to that name – rather BB or just B. They are here now in the House."
"Why are they not with the others?" She felt foolish for asking.
"Well, neither is particularly keen to leave the House. A came down with a fever last week, so we thought best to keep him back. And BB…" he paused, "Well, BB is quite shy."
"Ah."
Silence fell across them before Mr. Ruvie's voice picked back up, "There is also Catelin with a C, Krista, or K, Zachary, Z, and of course Lawliet, or as he is affectionately called, L."
It was Jessica's turn to chuckle, "So will my name be J then?"
"No," Mr. Ruvie's expression was stern, although his voice was kind, "Your name will be Jessica."
She made a silent 'oh' with her mouth and mumbled her reply, "What is with all the acronyms?"
"To be honest, it is just easier to refer to them as such. Still, these are names they have chosen, so I expect it to have more meaning to them than anyone else."
His explanation was unsatisfactory, but she found herself unwilling to question the man. The girl peered around the office, at the bookshelves filled with cloth and leather binders alike, to the fire mantle lined with insects framed in wooden boxes and wooden ship models, out the window to the green expanse beyond. A click of a wall clock echoed. Jessica felt the need to move, but was unwilling to push her rapport with the headmaster across from her. But, Mr. Ruvie seemed to get the hint on his own and motioned to stand.
"Why don't we introduce you to A, shall we?"
He held a hand out in the direction she was to lead. Down the hall and to the right, the second room she only glanced into to find no one there. As they entered to the double entry, to the right sat a boy.
"Andrew," Mr. Ruvie called his attention and the boy turned his pale face toward them. A light blonde mop, clipped just at his ears, paired with a narrow face, made narrower by the frame of his plastic eyeglasses slipping precariously down his nose. With a petite hand, covered in an oversized sweater, he pushed the rim back up to his forehead, a meek smile exposing tiny white teeth. He stood and walked over to them in the center of the room.
"Andrew, this is Jessica," The older man introduced the pair with a swing of his wrist. "She will be staying with us for the summer. Does that not sound fun?"
The boy was no older than eight or nine, but there was a glint in his eye that Jessica could not place. He spoke softly, politely, "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Where is BB?" The older man questioned.
"I'm sure he is around somewhere, Roger." The boy peeked up through his bangs and grinned, "I think he is looking for monsters."
"Of course he is. You will show her around then, yes?"
"Of course."
The gentleman smiled in earnest, patting the youngster on the head, "I will leave you too it."
Jessica whipped around as he was leaving, but was caught when the boy started to talk, his voice thick with a Kent accent, "You want to see something?"
She pondered her reply, "What do you want to show me?"
"It is over here," he meandered back to the table he sat at. Jessica swore she did not see the table when she initially looked over the room. Carefully, he selected an object in the center and held it with reverence on thin fingertips. The multi-colored object was a piece origami, a series of folded squares, hollow in the center, forming a sphere of sorts. He held it out to her and Jessica had no option but to take it.
"What is it?" She could not hide the awe at its craftsmanship. The edges were neat and perfect, each edge merging into the next piece of paper with machinelike precision. Jessica carefully rotated the object, looking through the opening in the center.
"It's a rhomb-icosi-dodecahedron." The boy said it with such certainty that Jessica paused her inspection to face him again. A grin covered his face from ear to ear.
"A what?" She stumbled.
"A rhomb-icosi-dodecahedron," Andrew walked back to the table and picked up another object. A spiral made of popsicle sticks and papier-mâché, "And this is a Helicoid. If you spin it, this is its derivative." The object appeared to fold in on itself and the girl squinted to see where one end connected to the other.
"You made these," she ventured.
"Of course!" he exclaimed in his tiny voice, an amused expression hovering over his smile as though it was obvious, "Mathematics is one of two universal languages."
She asked automatically. Maths were never her strong subject, "What is the other?"
A looked back from the table and chirped, "Vibration, sound, although that is just another expression of maths, as it were. Have you ever heard of string theory?"
She shook her head, dumbfounded. And so started an afternoon of equations and one-sided discussion from the small boy to the small girl in the quiet room meant to entertain children. The boy's voice was soft, soft as his features as he occasionally pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He wove a story of the universe that was all together terrifying as it was enchanting, in his childlike way, expressing to her this knowledge as though it was sanctity in its revelation. Jessica sat like a parishioner, simply listening to the sermon like she would some yarn her grandfather told her. The boy was charming enough, taking his time to break down his thoughts into drawings, his language as innocently as their ages. The world vibrated, he said, in tune with everything. The very fabric of their existence relied on the smallest components of their being. They were all connected. Was it not wonderful?
She had no idea how much time had passed when a bump behind her distracted her concentration on the blonde boy.
"Oh, BB has come!" A brightened from his position at the table, several papers surrounding him with equations and drawings scrawled across them in neat handwriting.
Jessica turned to the doorway in time to see a mane of dark hair jerk behind it. Perhaps this was the specter she spotted earlier stalking her.
"It's ok," A encouraged, "She's nice."
Slowly one eye and then another emerged at the hinge. Owl-like eyes penetrated the room, round and wide as though he might bolt at any indication of movement. The set were paired with a triangular face, high cheeks and narrow jawline, mouth slack in a kind of wonder that set Jessica on edge. BB was not like Andrew.
"This is Jessica. She is staying with us for the summer," Andrew offered.
"I know," the boy breathed, his voice hushed. A smile flashed across him, but it did not reach his eyes, "She's not one of us."
The observation was unnerving, and it was this moment that Jessica noticed his eyes. Both eyes were dark and odd. Almost red, if she dared to keep looking at them. Glancing back at A, his blue eyes contrasted sharply with the other boy. BB blinked and stared on, his naked feet fidgeting in the doorway.
"No," Andrew acquiesced, "But she's nice. Come over."
"No."
"I won't bite you, I promise." Jessica tried her hand, but the offer only caused the boy to jerk back behind the hinge.
A shook his head, explaining, "He is very literal, you must understand."
"I didn't mean anything by it," the girl grumbled, turning back to the table.
"I know. BB, she's nice. I've been telling her about maths and she seems to get it. Maybe you could show her a puzzle or something."
"Mr. Ruvie tells me there are others away on a trip," Jessica changed subject.
Andrew redirected to her and nodded, "They are visiting Edinburgh for history lessons and time away."
"Are you sad were unable to attend?"
"Not really. I have work to do, and besides, who will spend time with BB?" A grinned kindly and motioned back to the doorway where inquisitive eyes penetrated.
"Is there something wrong with him?" Her voice dipped to a conspiratorial level.
A searched her eyes for meaning before he caught on, "Oh, no. He's very shy, is all. And detached, but that's just how he is. He'll grow on you the longer you stay, you shall see."
Jessica peered back over her shoulder to see that the boy had already moved away from the doorway to the large bay window on the other side of the room. Crouching upon the sill like some bird of prey, he surveyed the pair across from him. His clothing oversized and slack against what must be a thin frame, he appeared like a folded scarecrow from her vantage.
"What do you like?" Jessica returned to the boy at the table. A grabbed a book off the shelf whilst she was distract and was half-glancing her way as he spoke, "You know, whilst you are at your grandfarther's."
"How do you know about my grandfather?" her voice was accusing in her shock.
A sat up like a small mammal caught in surprise, his mouth screwing shut over his teeth in guilt. Slowly, he spoke again, "I overheard a conversation that you were coming here instead your normal visit to Europe." He turned a bit pink in afterthought, looking back into his book, "I'm sorry to pry."
Jessica sighed. This was not his fault she was here. He was already being quite kind in his offer to show her all his toys and interests too, as odd as they were. BB sat quiet and still as a statue, the light casting him in shadow except for the dimness of his stare. Calmly, she placed her small hands in her small lap and considered herself amongst the pair as she spoke, "I enjoy reading."
The reply got a reaction both children, A being the first to break into a smile, "That's wonderful! I can show you the library, if you would like."
"That would be nice." Jessica smiled for the first time in earnest, as the blonde jumped from his seat and ushered her to the door.