Aaaaaand I'm back! Did anyone miss me? Oh, and I changed my pen name if you didn't notice. It's nice, isn't it?
I'm just seriously thankful for all the support that all you guys have for me and this story. You're basically the rock that keeps me going.
So let's start with the usual!
Thank you to Kittkatty, Princess Renora, phoebe . gimenez . 7, lilyflower5189, Ninjateddies, HikariRoseDiAngelo, Karearea, Shiori Kudo, livlifembleming, RatchetRocks, AmiRosePrincessofTimeandSpace, Avengers-IronMan, Crimson Dragon Devil, zero13noir21absoluteandcrimson, apatheticBaker, vkanimeluver632, The Lonely Rose Petal, ImmortalWar, The dark side of the loonatics, AgnetCoCo, tacaloking, Racce0400, VladmirTheImpaler (interesting pen name!), and TheLionTamerHasArrived for following!
For the favorites: Flamestar072, Princess Renora, Koko-chan . Evans, phoebe . gimenez . 7, lilyflower5189, Ninjateddies, pegasusofnight, trollypops, AmiRosePrincessofTimeandSpace, zero13noir21absoluteandcrimson, vkanimeluver632, The Lonely Rose Petal, Crow's Redemption, The dark side of the loonatics, AgnetCoCo, tacaloking, ilovepie123, Racce0400, and VladmirTheImpaler!
And my lovely reviewers: shaneEgirlo, White Hunter, guardianofdragonlore, Dreamer558750, the two Guests, girl with strange ideas, LunaArchery, lilyflower5189, Random Reader, Shiori Kudo, Akina, and TheLionTamerHasArrived.
Reader Responses:
PebbleheartMarie: This isn't really a "response" per se to a review, but I thought that it was kind of cool that I'm only nine days older than you. Isn't that weird? (And I'm sorry for stalking you!)
Pikachudragon: A late response, but yes, I am a freshman in high school. Biology sucks. :p
shaneEgirlo: Her bruise? Yes, eventually.
Random Reader and Akina: Your reviews made me smile like you can't believe. Thank you so much, you guys! :) And Random Reader, I love hearing from you. I hope that I can continue to satisfy you with the later chapters.
"Never are voices so beautiful as on a winter's evening, when dusk almost hides the body, and they seem to issue from nothingness with a note of intimacy seldom heard by day."
– Virginia Woolf
Interlude III: Sisters
If you asked Emma Overland what her favorite thing to do was, she would immediately respond, "Being with my sister." Emma absolutely adored her older sister. Jackie was kind, caring, somewhat rebellious (which she admired, but would never have the guts to be), and she always knew how to make Emma feel better.
According to Jackie, they were about nine-and-a-half years apart, but the age difference never stopped them from having fun.
Emma's earliest memories were of snowballs and fun times. Though she was born in September, she loved the winter because it brought their family together in front of the fireplace. She also looked forward to playing in the white, clean snow.
And Jackie's birthday was in the winter too.
Though Jackie didn't know it, Emma and the rest of the village children considered Jackie's birthday as some sort of a holiday. They wanted to pay back the older girl for brightening their days, and being a friend to everyone.
Besides, the fun that they had together triumphed over the fear.
For Emma, it was hard to remember moments when Jackie would ever cry. It was around when she was four years old and Jackie at thirteen, when she first saw tears present on her sister's face.
She woke up one morning, thinking that today was finally the day that she, Jackie, and Papa would finally go play outside. Papa had always been sick, but yesterday he promised that he would play with them.
"Jackie, we have to go play!" were the first words that tumbled from her lips when her eyes opened. Receiving no response, Emma turned over. "Jackie?"
The bed was empty.
Emma furrowed her brows in confusion. Did Papa and her sister leave her because she slept too late? Then her expression brightened. Maybe they were getting her birthday present! It was her birthday yesterday.
After hastily tidying the bedsheets, Emma raced down the steps. "Jackie!" she called. "Papa? Mama?"
"Here, Emma," came a soft voice. Emma padded over to the source of the voice, which was, to her surprise, Jackie. Jackie was never quiet!
"Jackie?" Emma asked softly. She felt a little bit scared because Jackie was just sitting on the wooden bench that Papa had made last year, before he became sick, and her hands were folded neatly in her lap.
"Hi, sis," Jackie replied, a faint smile flickering onto her face. But Emma knew that she wasn't feeling well. Her eyes weren't smiling. Jackie's long, long brown hair was hanging over her sad eyes, and Emma wanted to push it away and braid it and make Jackie's eyes stop being sad.
Emma then climbed up next to her sister and kissed her cheek, like Papa always did to make Mama feel better. But then she jumped slightly as Jackie suddenly hugged her tightly, wet drops splashing on her shoulder.
"Papa's gone," Jackie said, her voice all rough and scratchy. "He . . . d-didn't get better."
And Emma was confused by those words because Papa was always there, and he was big and strong, and he would always sing that nice song to her and Jackie.
"Papa . . . still sick?"
Emma felt Jackie's arms slip away from around her. She looked up into Jackie's wet and sad brown eyes (so much like Papa's, except that his were always happy) and gasped when she heard the answer —
"H-he's with the angels now."
Now Emma knew why Jackie was crying. Tears began to pool in her eyes as she crawled over to sit in Jackie's lap. Leaning her head on her sister's chest and remembering something that she had heard a long time ago, she said quietly, "But Papa will never really be gone, 'cause he'll always be in our hearts."
Jackie sniffed and wrapped her arms around Emma again. Twisting around slightly, Emma smiled when she saw that Jackie's eyes had lost some of their sadness.
"Thank you, Em," she heard Jackie whisper into her hair. "You're amazing."
They sat together on the wooden bench, nothing but silence between them. But Emma didn't mind it.
"I love you, Jackie," Emma said softly, snuggling deeper into her sister's embrace.
"I love you, too."
They stayed like that for a long time.
It happened when Emma was five.
It was summer, and it was warm . . . a beautiful and wonderful time. The apples were ripe and juicy, and Emma couldn't wait. Their mother sent Jackie to the shops to buy some of the delicious fruit, but Emma wasn't allowed to go along.
She had fumed for a good twenty seconds at her mother's words of "There are still many things that need to be done at home" until Jackie promised that she would get the first apple, and that they might be able to make apple pie.
"See you later!" Jackie called, waving from the street.
Emma had to help her mother clean the house, because everything was harder now that Papa was gone. Some of the neighbors helped by bringing food over every once in a while, but the trio of female Overlands had to figure out how to get by on their own.
Emma was straightening up their bedroom when Jackie came back. "Emmaaaa!" Jackie called. "I have food!"
Emma broke into a wide grin and hastily smoothed down the blanket on their bed. Applesapplesapplesapplesapplesapples. "I'm coming!" she yelled, tearing down the stairs. When she entered the kitchen, Emma immediately demanded, "Where are the apples?"
Jackie laughed, while their mother scolded, "Manners, Emma!"
Her sister tipped the brown burlap bag, and ten perfect, red apples tumbled out onto the table. "We didn't have enough money to buy any ingredients for pie," Jackie said sheepishly. "I spent it all on the apples."
Emma was practically glowing as she stared at the fruit. Their mother was inspecting them, then said, "But how did you manage to get this many for such little money?"
Emma stared up at Jackie, wondering what was going on. They had apples, so everything was fine, right?
Jackie turned a little bit pink. "Um, Aaron's father was out, so he was running the shop. And I, uh, helped him sort all the stuff, so he let me have some for sale."
Their mother stared at Jackie with an odd expression, but then let it slide. "Okay, then. Did you thank Aaron and his family for them?"
"Yes, Mama," Jackie responded as she plucked up two apples with one hand and slipped the other into Emma's. "Can we go to the pond?"
Their mother thought for a moment, but then conceded. "Be careful!" she said. "And look after your sister."
Emma smiled as the older girl replied, "We will!" She could always depend on Jackie to protect her. It's just what big sisters did.
Jackie led her out the back and to the trail leading to their pond. Emma considered the pond as "theirs," even though no one really had a claim to it.
They stepped through the squishy brown mud around the water, their footsteps making an interesting squelching sound. A fallen log was situated on the edge of the pond, making a perfect resting spot for them to relax.
Emma plopped down onto the wood and happily bit into her apple —
"OW!" she then cried, her free hand flying to her cheek.
Jackie turned to face her. "What's wrong, Em?" she asked, brown eyes concerned.
Emma sniffed, feeling tears beginning to pool in her eyes. It hurt, and she didn't know how to make it go away.
"Shh, shh," Jackie soothed, wiping away Emma's tears with her sleeve. "Come on, let me see."
Emma reluctantly pulled her hand away from her mouth and shrieked when she saw that it was stained slightly with blood. "Jackie, I'm bleeding!" she sobbed, a fresh wave of tears pouring down her face.
"Hey, calm down, kiddo!" Jackie yelped, alarm coloring her tone. "You probably just bit down on that apple pretty hard. Your tooth might've fallen out, or made it really wiggly."
". . . Ithat 'ad?" Emma asked, sniffing again and poking the loose tooth with her tongue.
"No, no, it's normal, actually," her older sister replied brightly, understanding her garbled words. "All kids lose their baby teeth. And when they do, they put it under their pillow for the Tooth Fairy!"
Emma gasped, already forgetting about the rapidly dulling pain in her mouth as she washed her hand in the pond. "Who's the Tooth Fairy?"
Jackie's eyes widened in what looked like shock. "I haven't told you about the Tooth Fairy, dear sister? What have I done?"
"Tell meee!" Emma pleaded, coming back to sit on the log with Jackie.
"Well, you see, Em," Jackie began, "the Tooth Fairy is this beautiful lady who travels around the world, collecting the children's lost baby teeth. But she only does that if the tooth is under their pillows, and at night, when the child is sleeping. And in return for the collected tooth, the Tooth Fairy leaves money under the child's pillow!"
"Wow," Emma breathed, rubbing the shiny red surface of the apple with her fingers. "Have you ever seen her, Jackie?"
Jackie grinned. "Nope," she admitted cheerfully. "But we still have a few chances because I still have some of my baby teeth!"
"And mine too!" Emma added. "We need to stay awake so we can see her when my tooth falls out."
Jackie winked. "Definitely."
…
Emma carefully placed her tooth under her pillow, then crawled next to Jackie under the blanket. Turning to face her sister, she whispered in the darkness, "Are we staying awake?"
"For as long as we can" was the response.
So for about two hours, the two Overland sisters tried to stay awake by entertaining each other with stories, having tickle fights, and playing games.
But the little tooth fairy and the short, golden man hovering outside their window were unnoticed by the two of them as a swirl of sand danced over their heads.
"Do you love anyone?" Emma randomly asked Jackie one day as they lay in the grass, weaving daisy chains.
Jackie laughed, setting down her flowers. "I love you, Emma! And Mama too."
Emma pouted. "You know what I mean!"
"What brought this on, Emma?" Jackie asked, twisting another flower onto her strand.
She shrugged, continuing her chain. "It's just that you're going to turn sixteen this year. I heard Mama talking about how you're going to have to get married soon."
Her sister scoffed at that. "Me, married? Can you even imagine?"
Emma shrugged again. "I dunno. I think you'd be a good mother, though. All the children love you."
"I guess so," Jackie chuckled, and the subject was dropped.
Emma kept adding more flowers as she kept thinking about Jackie being married.
Jackie was actually quite beautiful . . . Many of Jackie's male friends and other boys were developing little crushes on her, and they often gave notes to Emma to deliver. They were so shy about approaching Emma's vivacious and slightly snarky sister (and they should be!), but Jackie — upon reading the letters — simply didn't understand.
"Why would they like me?" Jackie had burst out one night to Emma, clearly feeling bewildered. "I'm no one special!"
"But you are!" Emma insisted, bouncing slightly on their shared bed. "They love you because you're you, Jackie!"
". . . Love me," Jackie repeated, looking at Emma with a dumbfounded expression. Then she sighed. "When they could be chasing after Annabelle Miller, the awful little . . ."
Jackie then started mumbling violently under her breath.
Emma stared at her with a bored expression. "Are you still on about this? She's already engaged to Jeremiah Woods, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but that's not the problem!" Jackie said agitatedly, moving off of the bed. "She looks so perfect, but she's just so — so fake! No one except me knows what she's really like."
There was a moment of silence before Emma ventured hesitantly, "Then what is she like?"
Jackie suddenly turned and fixed Emma with a dangerous expression. "She is a witch who manipulates people to get what she wants," she said quietly. "I will never forgive her for what she did to Aaron."
Emma was stunned. Jackie had never really told her anything about the incident with Aaron before. All that she knew was . . .
"He died a few months ago —" she recalled, but then Jackie cut in.
"Trying to protect me," she said softly. "Annabelle convinced some bad people to hurt me, but Aaron jumped in and told me to run. It's all my fault for leaving him."
"Oh, Jackie . . ." Emma whispered, "That's awful." Emma now felt absolutely terrible for bringing up this topic, because her sister looked so distressed and heartbroken. She then wondered if Jackie's feelings for Aaron went deeper than just friendship . . .
"Hey, Emma?"
Emma jumped, startled by Jackie's words. "Hmm?" she belatedly said, realizing that her daisy chain was now abnormally long.
"It's getting late," Jackie intoned, standing up and stretching. Her chain of flowers dangled from her hand, waving slightly in the breeze. "Mama's expecting us soon."
"'Kay," Emma agreed, standing up as well.
They walked through the field in silence, relishing the feel of the cool breeze in the warm summer air. Emma was just about to suggest a race to their house when Jackie spoke.
"You go ahead home, Em," she said, a sad look in her brown eyes. "Mama's waiting. Tell her that I just have something I need to take care of."
Emma, feeling confused, made her way home, looking back every once in a while to see that Jackie's silhouette was getting smaller and smaller. What was Jackie talking about? The almost seven-year-old was concerned, especially about the way her sister looked.
But when Emma reached the end of the field, she stopped for a second, then made up her mind. She looped back around and quietly tailed Jackie.
Jackie unknowingly led Emma around the field, until the older girl stopped at a rusty iron gate. Emma took a sharp breath, realizing where they were — the graveyard. Then she mentally hit herself, annoyed that she could've blown her cover.
Jackie opened the gate, which creaked. She stepped inside and made her way deeper in the tomb-filled area. Emma, after a moment's hesitation, followed.
It was spooky in the graveyard. The sun was beginning to set, and the warm air was starting to get chilly. Emma shivered, but not just from the cold. Maybe she should've listened to Jackie and gone home when she was told — their house had already been in the line of sight.
No, she then told herself sternly, I need to watch over Jackie. Emma crouched behind the tombstone inscribed with the name Thaddeus Burgess and watched as Jackie knelt next to a small gravestone that looked fairly new.
Emma shifted in her position, already feeling uncomfortable. But her fidgeting managed to rustle a few fallen leaves, making Jackie flinch.
Emma froze. Was she caught?
Then Jackie began to laugh softly. "Come on out, Em. I know that you're there," she said, turning around.
Emma, embarrassed at being caught, slowly made her way to her sister. "Sorry for not listening to you!" she blurted.
"Hey, now, it's fine," Jackie said. "I should've known that you wouldn't have left me after the way I acted. You're kind of like me that way."
Emma smiled sheepishly. "So what are you doing?"
Jackie turned back to face the headstone. "Paying my respects to Aaron," she said simply, laying her daisy chain on top of it.
Emma glanced at the inscription, reading:
Aaron James Bennett
August 22, 1692 — April 9, 1710
Beloved son, brother, and friend
You will be missed.
Without a second thought, Emma laid her long strand of flowers in front of the stone, and leaned into Jackie's hug.
Little did she know that two years later, Emma would be doing the same exact thing for her sister, though a different set of arms would be wrapped around her shoulders.
"Jackie, teach me how to ice skate!" Emma begged in the winter of 1711, after receiving a pair of skates from Santa Claus.
"Are you sure?" Jackie teased, a fuzzy new blanket wrapped around her thin frame. "I don't know if you can handle the responsibility of the power of" —here she dramatically paused, raising Papa's staff— "ice skating."
"I can, I can!" Emma insisted, bouncing up and down on the floor. "I promise!"
"Okay, then," Jackie conceded, the hint of mischief gone from her expression.
So the next day, Jackie led Emma out to the pond, which was now thickly frozen over. Jackie helped her lace up her skates, then slipped her own on. Emma wobbled to the edge of the ice, where Jackie had just stopped.
"Come on, Em!" Jackie called, standing with a hand on her hips. "The days in winter are only getting shorter."
Mustering up her courage, Emma took a step forward . . . and promptly slipped. As quick as a flash, Jackie was crouched next to her, a look of worry on her face.
"Emma, are you okay? Oh, I'm so sorry!" Jackie babbled, shaking as she helped Emma up. "If you were hurt —"
Emma giggled, batting away Jackie's anxious words. "I'm fine, sis! Just fell on my butt, that's all."
Jackie's panic melted into relief. "Really?" she sighed, bringing the both of them to their feet. "Well, that's good to hear."
Soon after that little fiasco, Jackie began to teach Emma how to skate. She was beaming as Jackie demonstrated what Emma should do, feeling excited for that day when she, too, would be able to do that.
"Now you try!" Jackie said, flashing a smile.
Emma gave no response, but instead tried to imitate what Jackie had done earlier. One foot in front of the other, and — Emma yelped as she once again landed on her rear end.
"That's okay," Jackie coached. "But try spreading out your arms. It helps a lot with balance."
Emma nodded and stood up the way that Jackie taught her. Once she was upright, she began to slowly wobble her way in her sister's direction, smiling at the fact that she was skating.
. . . Well, sort of.
But the universe really seemed to be against her today, and she fell. Again. But this time on her back, which hurt.
Jackie glided over gracefully to her, asking, "Do you want to stop for today? It's okay if we do."
Emma liked to think of herself as a fast learner. She picked up reading in no time. Writing came easy after that. Arithmetic? She loved that. But ice skating? Not so quickly. "No, I can do this!" she stubbornly refused. "I just need a bit more time."
Jackie grinned. "Then let's do this!"
So by the time the sun sank below the horizon, Emma was gliding over the surface of the ice, almost as gracefully as Jackie.
And she was quite proud of that.
Emma was wandering the town one day after school was over, no particular destination in mind. School had let out early today, so Jackie, who was at home helping their mother with all the chores, wasn't expecting her home for a while.
So Emma decided to pop into a shop filled with unique little pieces of jewelry. She and Jackie both adored all the delicate pieces of work, dreaming about the day that they could wear something as pretty as the stuff in that store.
She perused the shelves, when a twinkling silver pendant caught her eye. Emma leaned down and inspected the glittering necklace, in awe at the design. It was a perfect snowflake; something that she thought Jackie would like.
"H-hey, Emma!"
She turned, hearing her name. Then she smiled as she glimpsed the person who had called her. "Hi, Seth!" Emma said back. "Nice to see you here."
Emma wasn't sure what to think of Seth Bennett. Sure, he was really nice, and she liked how his green eyes crinkled when he smiled — no. Stop thinking now.
The brunette boy blushed. "I just saw you in here and wanted to say hi."
Emma laughed. "Well, you just did. So are you here to look at anything?" She was curious — why would Seth be here of all places?
"No," he admitted. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to be my dance partner for Easter. If that's okay with you, I mean," he added hurriedly.
Seth looked so flustered that Emma had to smile. "Isn't Easter in a month?" she teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yes, but before anyone else asked you —"
"I'd love to," she told him sincerely.
Seth brightened. "Really? Great!" Then he awkwardly swayed back and forth on his heels, seemingly unsure of what to say next. "So see you at school tomorrow!" he blurted, running out the door.
Emma watched his rapidly-fading figure, her head tilted as she smiled. Wait until she told Jackie . . .
Then she turned back around to once again admire the sparkling snowflake pendant. It would be a great gift for when Jackie came of age.
Someday, Emma would get that for her sister.
It was when Jackie was almost eighteen when Emma's happy life crashed and burned . . . which was kind of ironic, really.
Emma never forgot their mother's promise during Easter of letting her and Jackie skate when the pond froze. So when the ice looked thick enough, she dragged her sister out of their bed and pleaded with the big puppy eyes that she knew Jackie could never resist.
But she should've known. It was barely December, and even though it had been really cold since November — the ice couldn't have frozen all the way. Emma was just too excited, too impatient to use her head.
Jackie wanted to wait a few more days, as she was just getting over a bad cold. "I'm still not feeling the greatest Em," her sister had said. "And the ice might not hold. D'you wanna wait another week or so?"
"Nope!" the eight-year-old chirped, ice-skates already hanging off her shoulder. "And besides, Emma said, squirming a little from the lie, "I already checked the pond."
. . . It wasn't technically a lie, Emma convinced herself after speaking those words. She had checked over it yesterday, and it looked frozen enough.
"If you're sure . . ." Jackie said reluctantly, her hands folded in her lap.
She was clearly wavering over the decision to go, so Emma cheered, "Great!" to distract Jackie from saying anything else. "Let's go!" she said, tugging on Jackie's arm.
"Go downstairs and wait while I change, young lady,"Jackie said sternly, though Emma could hear the teasing tone in her words.
After being "rejected" by the older girl, Emma sat impatiently on the bench downstairs, hurriedly lacing up her brown boots. She had already scarfed down her breakfast, with her bewildered mother looking at her with a strange expression.
"What's the hurry, Emma dear?" their mother asked, giving her Jackie's breakfast wrapped in a parcel.
"Jackie's gonna skate with me!" she said excitedly, waving one of her skates in the air. "But she's TAKING SO LONG!" she yelled pointedly up the stairs.
Emma tried not to talk like she was a little kid anymore, especially since Miss Parker had started to assign her more and more difficult books because the ones for her age group were too easy for her. But at times when she was excited, Emma forgot her sophisticated vocabulary and spoke like all her friends did.
The sound of light footsteps could then be heard. "Okay, okay, I'm here!" Jackie laughed, her long fingers fumbling to secure Papa's cloak around her neck. Her skates were slung over her shoulder.
Emma sprang up from the bench and ran to Jackie as she was reaching to grab Papa's staff from where it was propped up against the wall. "Come on!" Emma practically begged. She was so thrilled to finally start ice skating again, particularly because last year's winter wasn't cold enough to freeze the pond. And Jackie had promised to teach her some tricks, too.
Jackie hugged their mother with one arm, as her other arm was being pulled by Emma.
"Be careful!" their mother called softly, watching the two of them make their way to the pond.
Jackie laughed at Emma's insistence, and looked back at their mother. "We will!"
When they reached the pond, Emma was relieved to see that the pond indeed looked frozen over. They wouldn't have to worry about falling in.
They sat next to each other on the same fallen log that Jackie had first told Emma about the Tooth Fairy, lacing up their skates in silence.
Emma then walked to the ice, feeling much more confident than the first time she learned how to skate. Ever since that first lesson, Emma had become a much better skater. She almost never slipped.
Pretty soon, Jackie joined her on the ice, performing some complicated-looking twirls with a blissful smile on her face and Papa's staff in hand. Emma thought to herself that this was where Jackie really belonged, flying fast and free where no problems could ever reach her.
Jackie then removed her skates and tossed them off to the side. When Emma had asked, Jackie explained that she found it more fun to try and balance on the slippery ice without a firm grip.
Emma shrugged and continued to another section of the pond where they hadn't skated yet. When she reached that area, however, she stopped when she heard the tell-tale sign of breaking ice.
Emma whipped her head up and met Jackie's fearful gaze, thinking, I'm going to fall in. She was going to die, just because she had been too careless to check if the whole pond was frozen over. She had never felt so terrified before.
Emma watched as Jackie crouched down slowly, set down her staff, and met Emma's frightened eyes. "It's okay, it's okay," Jackie murmured, slowly straightening up. "Don't look down, j-just look at me."
"Jackie, I'm scared," Emma whispered, trembling from her position.
"I know, I know," Jackie replied, taking a tentative step forward. "But you're gonna be all right, you're not going to fall in," she continued reassuringly, holding out her hands in what seemed like a placating gesture. "Um . . . we're gonna have a little fun instead!"
"No, we're not!" Emma cried out in response. She clenched her hands into fists to try to calm herself down.
"Would I trick you?" Jackie asked playfully, smiling shakily.
"Yes, you always play tricks!" Emma pronounced, staring at her with conviction. Just last week, Jackie told Emma that Seth had moved away, when he really didn't!
Jackie laughed, probably thinking along the same lines as Emma was. "Yeah, well, all right," she said, carefully inching closer. "Well, ah, n-not this time. I promise, I promise – you're gonna be okay. You're going to be fine," she said soothingly. "You have to believe in me."
At these words, Emma looked up, the fear replaced with determination. She would believe. Jackie had promised to protect her, and Emma would trust that she would.
"You wanna play a game?" Jackie asked brightly. "We're gonna play hopscotch – like we play every day. It's as easy as uh, one . . ." Jackie started to take a step, then pretended to lose her balance, a silly expression on her face.
Emma couldn't help it. She started to giggle.
". . . three!" Jackie said, bending down to pick up the staff. "All right. Now it's your turn. One . . ." She held out the curve of the staff in Emma's direction.
At her sister's cue, Emma took a small step forward, but then gasped when the ice cracked even more. She met Jackie's eyes, unsure of whether to continue.
"That's it, that's it," Jackie said encouragingly, reaching out farther. "Two . . . three!"
Emma felt the staff hook around her waist, and then a feeling of flying. She soon landed on the ice, sprawled out awkwardly and spitting her long brown hair out of her mouth.
When Jackie stood up, she smiled at Emma, and Emma smiled back. Her heart was pounding so much, but the relief at being safe began to make her racing pulse slow.
Then in the blink of an eye, Jackie was gone. Emma's eyes widened as she began to process what had just happened — her sister had just fallen in.
"Jackie!" Emma screamed, rushing over to the edge of where her sister fell in. But then she felt the ice beginning to give way, and she shrieked as she threw herself back onto the more solid section of the pond.
Hot tears were streaming down her face as she glided quickly to the edge of the pond and ripped off her skates. Emma then sprinted faster than she ever did in her whole life to the Bennetts' house and pounded as hard as she could on their door.
Seth answered the door and before he could even utter a word, Emma said hysterically, "Jackie in the pond — broke, come quick!"
Emma knew how insane she looked; her brown hair tangled, tear tracks on her face, and only wearing socks and a dress in this type of weather. She couldn't blame Seth for looking alarmed.
"Stay here," he commanded, his normally cheerful expression replaced with what looked like fear. Seth ran into his house, then reappeared a moment later with his father in tow.
"Seth, Emma, what's going on?" Mr. Bennett demanded as they tried to pull him in the direction of the pond.
"Jackie fell in the pond!" Emma and Seth shouted in unison, attracting the attention of everybody else who was milling about the streets doing their shopping.
"Jackie?" someone murmured.
"Jacqueline Overland," another whispered back.
"That's her little sister, isn't it?" a woman said, pointing at Emma.
"Come on!" Emma screamed at Mr. Bennett, a characteristic that wasn't very typical of her usual quiet attitude. "Jackie's probably dying right now! WE NEED TO SAVE HER!"
He nodded, a firm expression on his face. "Seth, Emma, lead the way."
They ran to the pond, where the hole was still as huge as ever. The townspeople who had followed struggled to search for Jackie, but they couldn't without falling in themselves.
Seth stayed faithfully by Emma's side, waiting. But the search was soon over, and Mr. Bennett walked to the two children sitting on a log.
Emma and Seth. "Did you find her?" they asked anxiously.
Mr. Bennett shook his head. "We're sorry, kids, but . . . Jackie's gone."
Jackie's gone.
Emma gaped at the taller man, refusing to believe what he had said. "No," she mumbled, gripping Seth's hand. "You're lying. She's just playing tricks again."
"I'm sorry," Mr. Bennett repeated. Then he turned to Seth, saying, "Make sure she gets home."
When he left, Emma sank back down onto the log, feeling quite numb. There was a strange, hollow feeling in her chest as she stared blankly at the hole in the ice that was beginning to refreeze.
And then the tears came.
Seth wrapped his arms around her, and they cried together, mourning the lost girl who had touched so many hearts.
Emma dropped off the snowflake pendant by the frozen pond five years after Jackie fell through.
For years after, she had always wondered where that necklace had gone, because she had placed it in a location where only she and Jackie knew.
Emma liked to think that Jackie's spirit had taken it.
When Emma was eighteen, she married Seth Bennett and named their first child Jackson in remembrance of Emma's father and sister.
Their daughter, who came two years later, was named Erin after Aaron, Seth's brother, who had died protecting someone he loved.
Seth had already passed on seven years previous, and Emma Marie Overland Bennett knew that it was soon her turn to join him, Jackie, and her father and mother in Heaven.
She lay in her bed, reminiscing about her life before. "I'm not young anymore, Jackie," Emma whispered in the darkness, "but at least I'm leaving behind a family. Jack's wife is expecting her third child, and I'm sad that I'll never get to meet my newest grandchild."
"I bet he or she will be beautiful," she heard a girl's voice whisper next to her.
Emma turned her head. A blurry figure was sitting there, with brown clothes, white hair, and piercing blue eyes. As she kept watching, the figure only got sharper. And Emma started to cry because it was a face she thought she'd never see again. Though the eyes and hair were different, though her skin was a lot paler, it was —
"Jackie," Emma breathed, smiling.
"You – you can see me?" the girl — Jackie — asked, looking hopeful. Her blue eyes were so different, yet held the familiar innocence that Emma knew.
Emma couldn't summon anymore of her fading strength to nod, but she felt safe and warm knowing that her older sister was here, by her side, to bring her home.
Her eyes closed, the smile still present on her face.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
See you there, Jackie.
I congratulate all of you for getting through that monster of an interlude of randomly squished-together moments. How was it, getting an insider's view of Emma Marie Overland's head? I hope you liked it!
Until next time, lovelies!