"Right, have you got your passport?" Annie asked her sister. It was the morning of leaving day, and the whole camp was standing around the main entrance, preparing for the call that their mode of transport away from here was ready to leave. The two girls had spent the last six weeks learning every last detail about each other, copying their accents, mimicking their mannerisms, and sharing their inner-most thoughts and feelings.
"I have it in my backpack. Have you got my cell? Sorry-mobile?" Charlie emphasised her correction. She didn't usually make slip ups like that now, but she blamed it on the nervousness.
"I have got your cell. Do you know when I'm going to be picked up?"
"Yeah, aunt Gigi said that she and James would be here by 11." She looked down at her watch. "Five minutes."
"Oh god I'm getting all kinds of spasms and flutterings in my heart." Annie began to jiggle on the spot.
"No need to be so melodramatic! They'll see right through that."
"Are you saying that I'm melodramatic and you're not?" Annie smiled.
"Oh please! The spider thing? Obviously you're melodramatic! Plus, you were raised by mom and aunt Lydia."
The two girls began to remember all that they'd watched on their mother's vlog. The costumes, the humour, the drama, the father. It wasn't difficult to see after that why the two girls had judged each other the way they did; it was what their parents had done to each other sixteen years ago.
"And you're getting picked up by the bus, dropped off in Bangor, getting a public bus to the airport_"
"_and then a plane to Heathrow. I know." Charlie looked at her sister with all the love she felt in her heart towards her. "It's ok."
A moment passed with the two girls smiling at each other, but it was then broken by the sound of a car horn. They looked through the trees they were hidden behind to find a black limo pulled up on the driveway.
"Charlie Darcy!" Kulp Jnr called out. "Charlie Darcy, your ride's here!"
"Gotta go now." Annie was beginning to tear up. "You'll text, and call and video call me, yes?"
"Absolutely!"
They gave each other one big last hug, before Annie picked up her bags and made her way over to the limo. James opened the door for her, took her bags, and she slid into the back, only to find her aunt beaming at her.
"Hey doofus!" Gigi greeted her.
"Aunt Gigi!" Annie couldn't hold herself back, and she launched at her aunt with her arms wide open, pulling the unsuspecting Darcy into a tight hug.
The plane from Bangor International to SFO was something unlike Annie had ever dreamt of before, and not simply because she was going to San Francisco (where she knew to be her place of birth from her passport) in First Class, but also because she was making this journey…with her father's sister.
A relative from her father's side of the family.
They'd talked all the way through the flight about the camp, the huts, the food, the friends she made (of course she omitted the part about meeting her identical twin sister), and the lack of wifi. Annie thought that her Californian accent held up quite well, judging by her aunt showing no sign of suspicion, though there were times when she thought she'd almost slipped, either in the accent or the dialect. She was also very self-conscious about her short hair; fidgeting and playing with it throughout the journey.
When they touched left the terminal building, Annie knew there was a high chance that the limo waiting for them would contain her father, and that's what she found, when the new chauffeur this side opened the door for her and her aunt.
"Charlie! It's so good to see you."
William Darcy.
Her father.
Her father was speaking to her, for the first time since she was a tiny baby.
"Hi. Dad. Hi!" Annie forced out.
"You have to tell me all about your time at camp."
"Do I have to?" Annie sighed. She desperately wanted to talk to her dad (obviously), but she knew that Charlie would have done the same here. "I've already said all of this to aunt Gigi. Can't she just tell you later?"
"But I would like to know now. I haven't seen you for eight weeks," Annie inwardly winced at this, "and I would hate to wait any longer to hear what you got up to."
"Fine!" She smiled. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"What did you get up to there?" William put an arm round his daughter, who was sat (and not squeezed, she noted) between him and his sister.
"I did swimming, and climbing, and painting, and canoeing, and...paintballing." She paused briefly at the memory of that game between huts 59 and 60. How ideal for them, she realised, that they were in those huts. Now she'd seen the videos she realised the significance of those numbers in her parents' life.
"That sounds exciting."
"And her team won, didn't you?" Gigi chimed in.
"Yeah! Although…I kinda cheated."
"You did?" William's ears pricked up.
"Yeah. I shared Illuminate Me with my hut mates and we used it to win."
"You know you shouldn't do that? We lose money every time you do with friends."
"I know , I know, which is why I'm sorry. Though it doesn't matter so much if we lose a little bit of money."
"It's not that good. That's money that would be going towards employees, and our charities."
"Ah, now you put it like that. I am very sorry, I won't do it again, I promise, I promise." Annie was almost begging now. She didn't want to fall out with her father on the very first meeting because of her sister's mistake.
He chuckled. "It's alright. I'm not mad."
After an hour, Annie was standing by the gate of the Darcy's house, gazing up at the impressive façade. It reminded her of Shakespearian Italy (in fact, she could easily imagine Benedick and Beatrice arguing in the gardens or the upstairs rooms), but it felt very homely. She could tell even from the photos that despite this being in the richest part of the city, it was no less a family home than a home with a history.
"Here we are again. Home sweet home." Gigi smiled at her niece's face. She couldn't quite read it, but she assumed that it was one of sheer relief to be home. What other explanation could there be.
Charlie had managed to get back to Bangor International on the buses without any trouble, and she'd met aunt Lydia there for the flight back. Even on first meeting, Charlie was put to the test with the Bennets' customary hello/goodbye dance. Despite her nerves, she managed to complete all the steps, link arms, and clap hands with her aunt as if she'd been doing this for many years. The flight back was as enjoyable as she imagined, though her aunt's Californian accent tested her ability to stay in character as Annie.
Stepping out of the terminal building, Charlie noticed her aunt dropping behind her, as they headed towards the short-stay car park.
"She said on the phone she was parked in section D."
This was going to test Charlie. Clearly aunt Lydia was expecting her to walk over to the car once she'd caught sight of it, but Charlie wasn't so sure that she'd been shown by Annie what the car looked like. She remembered being briefly seeing something silvery that resembled a car on Annie's phone, but she couldn't be sure. What if they had another car? Charlie was beginning to panic inside, but she was saved by a woman with auburn hair opening the door on the driver's side of a silver Citroën, getting out, and waving at them excitedly.
Her mother, Elizabeth Bennet.
Her real-life mother.
As they made it to the car, Lizzie had gone round to the trunk (boot – she corrected herself) and opened it, ready for the suitcases.
"Annie! Annie, oh my god, you're never going back again, I missed you too much!" Lizzie exclaimed as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Charlie noticed that this wasn't the same Californian accent her mother spoke with in her videos all those years ago. No, this was a relatively new, RP English accent.
It was time for Charlie to see how her RP accent held up against her mothers. "I missed you too! But you're crushing my crisps."
"What?" Lizzie noticed her daughter pulling one of her arms back to her side and tapping the large pocket on the side of her jacket which was clearly bulging. "Oh, yes. Ok. I imagine you're really hungry after the flight?"
Charlie nodded.
"Well that's great because I have a whole pile of Chinese takeaway menus in the kitchen ready for us to order things from." She smiled.
At this, Charlie couldn't help but let out a snort. Of course Chinese takeaway would have some…illuminating…connotations for her family and it was only natural for her to think of that, especially considering she was relatively new to the videos. Nethertheless, Charlie chastised herself for letting herself show what she was thinking inside. Her mother and aunt didn't seem to notice though, or if they did they put it down to the rather funny thought of this huge pile of menus.
The journey from Heathrow to their house in Lambeth was incredible for Charlie, and incredibly challenging. She wanted nothing more than to be able to gaze in awe at ever last thing she saw and ask questions, but any such wonderment had to be kept as well hidden as possible. She'd already had a pretty close call (in her mind at least) with the Chinese menus. She couldn't afford any more, let alone another slip up in the same day. She talked expertly about the camp, the activities, the friends she made (excluding one particular friend), and Lizzie and Lydia lapped it up, whilst occasionally sharing one or two experience of theirs with summer camp. She thought back to when she first arrived, and one of the staff members at registration mentioned how her mother would have survived just fine without wifi. She'd joked to herself, thinking that she'd never know who her mother is (or was, potentially), yet here she was. Sat beside her mother. Secretly scheming a plan with her identical twin sister to get her mother and father back together.
They pulled up beside their house, and Charlie got out the car and headed to get her suitcase. Once all the suitcases were out and the boot was closed, they made their way up short path to the front door. Lizzie turned the lock and Charlie stepped in. She felt at home instantly.