I think you'll really like these next two chaps - they'll definitely go down as two of my favs! I certainly loved writing them!
Mrs. Scott323: Glad you liked that! And let me tell you right now - you are so dead-on about the whole "new generation" thingy. It'll really be conveyed in 29...
Call Me Mimsy: oooooh thank you! Hope you enjoy the movie:)
It was Saturday morning in London. The house was relatively mellow, with Emma feeding Jacob custard, Anthony snoring, and Uncle Wallace watching yet another rousing cricket match. Faye and Meghan were downstairs, just finishing breakfast.
Laurence, too, had just finished eating, and was now about to head off to work.
"Lovely breakfast, Emma, thank you." he said.
Emma looked up and smiled.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you all - a health inspector is expected to drop in sometime this week. I'm quite confident that all will go well - we've always gotten good reports."
Everyone listened.
"Still, I can't help but feel a bit nervous. Those inspectors are very exacting, quite stern. They always find those little things."
"I'm sure you haven't any reason to worry." his wife assured him.
"You're probably right." Laurence agreed, smiling. "No use in worrying, anyhow. Well, I'm off to work."
Meghan watched him head out the door, trying to figure how in the world someone would find anything wrong with that amazing restaurant. She wished she could bring Daphne to eat there - she'd love the food and the atmosphere almost as much as the scrufty, rugged, surfer-guy busboys.
Setting her plate in the sink, Meghan went into the sitting room to study. She'd been doing a lot of that lately, after a not-so-nice grade on a math test and an even more not-so-nice chewing-out from Mr. Harlison.
Faye went up the stairs to rearrange her closet, categorizing her clothes by color, which Meghan didn't see the need for considering most of Faye's clothes, that weren't uniforms, were pink. Emma left shortly after, taking Jacob to the park behind their house.
So Meghan was left alone downstairs. Except for Uncle Wallace in the den. And he didn't count.
She was studying exponents when she heard a knock on the door.
Putting down her math book, Meghan was glad to have a distraction as she went to the door. The person behind it, however, made Meghan feel a bit like turning back to the numbers.
"Why, hello there." Lucas Brenshire said cheerily.
Meghan was speechless for a second, her hand flying to the back of her neck to rub it.
"Um..." she stammered. "I...how...how'd you get here?"
"Rode that." Luke answered, casually pointing to the sleek-looking motorbike that was parked just outside the short iron fence.
"No...no, I mean, how'd you know I lived here?"
He smiled at that.
"It's quite a funny story, actually - I have a friend, whose parents are friends with someone who has the home address of Mrs. Winthrop, who planned their wedding. And since you've been riding home with her, I assumed her house was where you were staying." Luke stopped, realizing he was rambling again. As he did this, Meghan vaguely heard Faye come down the stairs and stop a few feet behind her.
"Okay." Meghan told him. "So why'd you come?"
"I decided it might be a good idea to pay you a visit."
Meghan smiled a little.
"Well, you're here. So what happens now?"
Now it was Luke who rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, actually, I kind of had an idea."
Meghan cocked her head.
"And that is?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to go for a drive with me. On my motorbike."
She examined him, trying to compute this.
"You want me to go with you."
"Yes."
"On that?" she asked him, pointing to the bike.
"Exactly."
Meghan looked down, trying to think of what to say next.
"Are you nervous about the bike?" he asked. "Because it's quite safe, actually. I have an extra helmet."
"No...that's not it." Meghan found herself saying.
Luke eyed her gently.
"What's troubling you, then?"
"It's just that...I'm not really the guy-stealing type." she said, moving to the railing for the steps outside the door and leaning against it.
There was a pause.
"Alright...I'm glad to hear that, but what do you mean?"
Meghan looked at him.
"Well, you're kinda already claimed by somebody else."
"Since when was I claimed by anyone?" he said, his voice a bit heated.
Meghan looked a bit taken aback. Seeing this, Luke immediately relented.
"Look, I know you're afraid." he said gently, coming closer to her. "But all I'm asking for is a chance. Just one chance to prove this is real, because I can't help what I feel about you, and I know you feel something in return. I can see it."
Meghan just stared at him, feeling a bit exposed. But she'd never been cared for in this way, never felt this kind of attention. And she wanted to keep feeling it, more and more, and give the same right back. She couldn't help but feel that turning her back on this would be a mistake. A mistake she should know not to make.
"Take me." she suddenly said to him. "Don't let me think about it anymore."
And so, with a smile, Luke suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her down the steps and out of the yard. He handed her that extra helmet, and she sat down behind him on the motorbike. She held on as they sped away, Faye watching from the doorway.
In a split second, she was in a different world. She, Meghan, in her Bratty Brunette t-shirt and white tiered skirt and flip-flops, was in some kind of wonderland, speeding through London on the back of a gentleman's scooter. There were other motorbikes, even some that carried other girls in skirts. But this one was different. Because it was this speeding vehicle that Luke was using to welcome her, and only her, to a secret, splendid land she'd never seen.
Stores were lovely, especially the stores here. So were the cafés. And she'd seen plenty of stores and cafés on her trip with Faye and Emma.
But she hadn't seen the real London. The one you could never experience by watching television, or looking at magazine pictures. You couldn't see it by just shopping, or visiting a bunch of museums and gardens and nothing more. What you had to do was just go out there, speed through, fly by, see what you could see, and just be mesmerized. Not think, not plan, just go. And see.
They did just that, Meghan holding on tight to Luke's back, becoming increasingly comfortable doing so by the second. Her hair whipped against her neck, the wind rushing through her. And she saw everything she'd seen before and more - all the palaces, all the huge old buildings, all the double-decker buses, and every angle of the giant clock.
She then became suddenly aware of them passing the street on which the academy was located. But the view was different. Luke didn't turn onto this street - instead, he drove right past it. They were on the other side. A new area, that Meghan was unfamiliar with. Instead of seeing modest houses like that of the Winthrops', she saw mansions, with big, symmetrical front yards and stone walls with gold plates bolted to them. And suddenly, a pang of familiarity hit as she caught sight of one in particular. She could just barely glimpse one word of print on its gold plate - Dashwood.
Luke didn't notice this, however, and sped right on by, apparently heading to another destination. But he didn't go much farther, however, before slowing down in front of what looked to be another mansion like those she'd just seen. She read 'Brenshire' on this gold plate, and was instantly astonished. In some way, it seemed she apparently hadn't fully comprehended, until now, what Faye had told her before, because this was just too surreal. That Luke wanted her here. That he wanted to show her the life that he knew.
The boy had known she'd be surprised, as he turned to Meghan and grinned.
"Welcome to Brenshireland." he said, modestly. "Or, well, my house."
Meghan just stared as the huge iron gates opened for the two teenagers on their diminutive motorized two-wheeler.
"Whoa."
Luke chuckled and drove in, past the gate guard who nodded at them. Meghan noticed a look of wonder on the man's face, but it didn't look malicious, so she didn't mind. She felt kind of special.
They drove around to the side of the big building, where Luke killed the motor and took off his helmet, which told Meghan to do the same. He hung both of these on the handlebars, before starting to walk back around to the front. Meghan, however, just stood, still in shock.
He promptly stopped and looked back.
"Well, come on then!" he said, smiling again.
She came, and he took her hand.
Meghan was lead back around, up round white steps, and through big, white doors. What lay inside was most fanciful and elaborate. The ceilings were sky high. The floors were gleaming marble. The furniture had claws. And everything was as symmetrical as the courtyard. Meghan was in awe.
"This is where you live?"
"Yes, this is it."
Luke immediately started walking again, a bit faster, leading Meghan further into the house. He kept walking until they reached a door in the back, which he quickly pushed open. He dragged Meghan through and into the lovely but huge backyard.
Before she had time to gawk at this, however, he broke into a bit of a run, excited, pulling her further to the back and through yet another door. Finally, he stopped, and let go of Meghan's hand, now only lightly touching it as her mouth dropped open.
Before her lay what seemed like miles of sprawling countryside. Gorgeous, rolling grasses with dirt pathways, sunshine everywhere. She looked at Luke incredulously, her face in pure astonishment. He merely kept smiling, and asked her what she thought.
"Beautiful." was all she could say.
He took her hand again, pulling her in yet another direction.
"Wait." she told him. "Where are we going?"
Without stopping, he told her.
"The stables."