Tuesday 7 July 2009, Dublin, Ireland
"Well, I spent the days with Diana and also focused on the mission and I even managed to finish everything Ihad in that place, replacing most of the books and also starting to exchange the other relics that are evenfaster to exchange because they are physical pieces, while they are gradually being taken away, but one dayit would end, especially since it was 10 days there at the Cavendish mansion where I enjoyed as much as Icould there, But I'd have to go back, and well, Daniella was chatting normally on her mobile phone all thosedays, even though I knew she was suspicious, a lot because my mother talked to me these days aboutthinking she suspected my absence, but I knew I'd have to tell her the reason for these outings, which werebecoming commonplace."
It's been so marvellous these days, I've seen Diana smiling and having a lot of fun, she's such a sweetheart, my little sister deserves all this, I can't wait to have her close to me, I know that telling her the truth will be painful when the day comes, but she'll understand eventually... Anyway, I'm getting the job done, even if I'm not doing it that well, I know that in time she'll end up coming with me anyway.
I arrive at the terminal and waiting for me is Daniella, it's not even my mum, so I run to hug her, but I'm ignored, noticing that she has her arms crossed and is tapping her feet, for the nine witches I must have done something to make her like this, I don't doubt it.
"Come with me, you're going to talk only to me and only to me, we've got to sort something serious out" She looks a bit angry too.
"Honey, I didn't do anything wrong, I just..." She puts her finger in my mouth.
"This isn't the time to justify yourself, get in the car and we'll leave. I want to talk to you alone, Chariot, to find out what you've been hiding from me, what you've been planning with your mum, because I know she's got something to do with it, so let's go" She just signalled very seriously for us to leave.
I'm frightened, I confess I'm very frightened, I know I've made a mistake, now I'm going to have to pay for it, how am I going to explain it to her? Oh I remember, I think I can say something else, if my mum isn't involved then I think I know what I'm going to do now... By the nine witches, the day to tell the truth has come so quickly, I thought it would take a little longer, but well I have to tell her anyway, I'll tell her the most important things first.
We got into the car, she was very quiet, I was even going to put some music on the radio, but she slapped my hand and I realised that things are really serious, well I just stared at the road as if it were a film playing in my head, where she went past a fast food shop, got us some food and drove off somewhere else, still without letting me eat, she pulled over in what looked like a field in the middle of nowhere, braked the car and we stood there looking around.
"Why in the middle of nowhere?" I ask her.
"I know you're not at the Du Nord family house, I know that because there are people working there, putting things together, it looks like they're building another house, so tell me what you're really doing Chariot" She's in a much more serious tone than usual.
"It's complicated to say about this Daniella... I don't know how I can explain it without you being a bit devastated by what I've been doing, are you sure my mum isn't here?" She keeps her arms crossed.
"Come on, tell me, I want to know everything, I didn't come with Laura because I knew she was also hiding things from me with you, I'm just going to be direct, I want to know everything..." For the nine witches, I'm going to have to talk.
"Do you really promise not to tell her anything?" I'm really intrigued by that.
"Chariot Du Nord, have I told you that I'm not going to tell her because you don't want her to know? Are you really cheating on me? Or something? Just say it, love" I take a deep breath.
"It's nothing like that Daniella, I'm not really cheating on you, my mum sent me on an important mission to eventually go to the Cavendish family mansion, we're trying to get recordings of Daryl being an abusive mother, I didn't want to tell you about it now, but we're planning a long dossier where there's an elaborate plan that involves us one day moving with the remaining Cavendishes to France, I'm going to claim custody of them, as I'm still a person who was adopted by Bernadette for a while, I can also have the right to the children so that they have somewhere to stay, that's why they're renovating the Du Nord family home, I've been cooking up evidence of what an abusive person she is with Anna all this time, I want to be able to do the right thing" I tell her, who is shocked.
"You know, Chariot, you don't have to hide something like this from me, or from your mum, but I don't understand why you don't want her to know about anything you're saying around here?" That's where the other part comes in.
"Because I didn't just do the mission... Daniella, I came in disguised as one of the mansion's maids and because of that I ended up creating a bond with Diana, something that wasn't meant to be done, I'm getting closer to my sister who I've never seen except from afar, I want to see her happy for now, it's not fair to just keep quiet while her aunt treats her badly, I have to do something, do you understand that Daniella? If my mother finds out she could end up cancelling the plan and I could never see Diana again or change everything, things are working like clockwork, I have to keep everything running smoothly for now under the covers if not the plan will never work, that's why I didn't tell you before, I have to keep the momentum going so that it doesn't end up resulting in something worse and more disastrous" I explain in great detail this time, but seriously I even get a little tired, I could see Daniella's shocked expression.
"Wait a minute, all this time you've been visiting your sister on the sly, that's outside the plan you made with your mum, so you could be close to her, while I've been away from Barbara for a couple of years... Ugh, I'm a bit upset about that, how could I be stupid enough not to even try something like that, but I'm not going to get angry, I'd do the same thing, if it was to go to my parents' mansion I'd go and visit my sister in hiding and have fun with her, you're right about that Chariot, but well then is that what you've been planning all this time? If I knew that these outings were so important I wouldn't say anything, look love, you can trust me, I'm not going to say anything, even if I know what's going on, you can be sure that I won't open my mouth for anything in the world" she said even making a movement that looked like a zip and then went on to hug me in the car itself.
"Thank you for your support, I just want this plan to end soon and for us to be able to have our family in France with the Cavendishes, that's why I talked so much about the Du Nord family residence, it was all part of a bigger plan, I got the deed to the house, I make these trips back and forth to the Cavendishes, with the help of the house staff, I gather evidence and with that I already know what I'm going to do, but do you promise not to tell my mum anything? Or tell her you know something, pretend I've told another version?" She nods in agreement.
"As much as I don't want to lie, I don't think I have much choice, do I? And what do you want me to tell you that I ended up finding out?" I take a deep breath.
"Tell her you were wrong that I wasn't in Loperèc the day I left to buy more building materials, or something like that, maybe they'll believe you, it might help... Or did you end up saying something to my mum about it?" I ask her.
"No, I didn't say anything to Laura, just that I'd found out about it on a trip of mine, but that's fine, I think it can work, I'll pretend that nothing happened and you can keep pretending, but one day your mum has to find out the truth, I don't understand why that would get in the way of your plan, but that's fine, I know that at least there'll be plenty of evidence against Daryl, I can tell just by the vibe she's going through" said my girlfriend.
"Well, now that everything has been explained, we can eat, the food is getting cold here in the car" I say to her, and she nods.
Phew... That was close, I was able to clear things up, but gee, I've thrown another one in the dirt, because I have to do this, lie to my mum about what's really going on, but there's no way, if she knows I've become attached to Diana I might end up never going to the Cavendish mansion again as the secret would be discovered more easily, or I might even end up having to change my disguise and watch from afar... Anyway, I have to do the right thing.
I'm eating with her in the car and it's good to see that things are getting back on track, but I'm still weighed down in my head and a lot of it is because I feel a bit bad about the nine witches I think I've got a lot to think about, when it all works out in the end I know I've impressed my mum with a perfect dossier before Daryl can even do anything about it, there'll be the police coming thick and fast to arrest her, without having to cause any deaths, I don't want mum to have her blood on her hands.
[...]
I think that now Daniella has told Mum everything, she went back into the bedroom where I waited for a while and saw her signalling, she came up to me, hugged me and then whispered a little in my ear.
"It all worked Chariot" what a relief.
"Well, what are we going to do today, now that we're home?" I ask her.
"The girls are missing playing with you, let's go with them, they must be missing their big sister who only goes out" said my girlfriend.
I leave the room, then we walk to the living room, I can see that my two little sisters are playing video games together with Mum, I'm relieved that they've been able to talk about everything in more detail, in any case it could be my last moments here with them, at least living here, I don't know, as soon as I move out I won't be able to live here and I'll only come occasionally, as bringing Diana here is a risk to her life, although I could bring them there from time to time to play, maybe as Diana gets older she'll come to understand the curse and so she'll stay further away to be careful? I don't know, it's better for her to know the truth than for her mum to just hide it.
[...]
"I didn't want to say anything, but I'll tell you right now, Daniella did know that you were stealing from theCavendishes, she kind of made me talk about it, because she found a lot of things from the Cavendishmansion at the Du Nord house and came to ask me about it, so when we talked together, she knew that youwere lying about going there, but oddly enough she didn't tell me about this part that was attached to Diana,she really had a word with you, it was in this cycle of one hiding the truth from the other, but Daniella kneweverything, both sides."
"So she knew? When we talked that day, what did she talk to you about?"
"She told me that you had told her about the robbery, as unbelievable as it sounds, well I think she lied to mea bit on that side, but she must have trusted you a lot, in the end everything was fine between you and it wasonly a matter of time before you lived in France, but the days are coming, you were going to disappear for afew years and I want to know that soon."
Saturday 10th October 2009, Loperèc, France
"Things were really going well, I continued to go on missions, this time more often and with more freedom, sofar everything was running like clockwork, I even took Daniella to see how the Du Nord family house waslooking, because it was undergoing a major renovation and everything was going very well so far, I wasexcited, it was only a matter of time before we were together living in that house, everything seemed soperfect, I felt like I was in that happy part at the beginning of the film Up."
We arrived, wow, the renovation is better than I thought, the grass is simply lower, before it almost covered my body if I was going to walk, it wasn't like this, I remember it well, there are even photos, which I show Daniella some of the photos of how it was before the renovation, this place is becoming marvellous and inviting, it's no longer the same scary house as always, there are even some boxes with things being taken away, they are the relics, since they are renovating the sheds to store them.
"My love, how much stuff? What's all this for?" I even get a bit nervous.
"Ah, these are old relics of the Du Nord family I'm thinking of putting in a place for safekeeping, well would you like to see inside?" She nods in agreement.
We walk hand in hand through the yard and soon I realise that we're going to have new inhabitants, the walls have even been painted, much more inviting, we enter from the inside and the door is even creaking less, it seems that everything has been changed, when I enter I feel a whole new air, it wasn't the same house full of cobwebs, it was a new and different place, with a more comfortable air, we already came across what seemed to be the living room, still almost empty.
"There's almost nothing here, so much so that it keeps echoing" said my girlfriend.
"Ah, that's because some of the old furniture was taken for the renovation, there was stuff in this house that was over 200 years old, so it needed a general overhaul" I say, scratching the back of my head.
"Wow, but I'm still surprised that it still has sockets and wiring, for an old house it's pretty well organised" no wonder.
"Of course, it's not because it's an old place that it won't have electricity, people lived here until the 80s, when I was born, my mum lived here, but it's the same old electricity from Louise Du Nord's time, even that we had
to renovate, the electrical system in this house was almost 100 years old, the house itself is about 250 years old, but it's holding up well" I say as I walk around it showing the places.
"And we're going to be disturbed by hauntings, because you know that at the McLaren's house there are days when ghosts show up all the time, so it'll scare the girls" I shrug.
"They get used to it, the Cavendish live in a place that has the same problem and it's even worse, for them the dead Du Nord here are nothing, even a Cavendish died here, two in fact if you count my great-grandmother, but well the second one died a more tragic death, anyway the ghosts are being kind to everything, they let people renovate the old furniture, now it will be us who will form the new Du Nord" I say cheerfully.
"This place is very comfortable, I have to admit, but I'm going to miss living in Ireland with Laura and Mrs Jordan around, it's going to be sad to say goodbye to her, soon to be the one I've befriended so much... But well, it's a new place, I'm sure that just from this renovation now I can see that the place is looking marvellous, I hope it becomes more inviting for Diana and the girls too, do you know what you're going to do with the older ones? They're already pre-teens today, they're the same age as Megan and Meg's kind of got a handle on things and you know they're not going to react well when their mum gets arrested" I know that, but they'll be easy to deal with.
"The two of them know who I was during the time I lived there, I looked after them too, they may not remember well, but they know that I know how they were beaten a lot by Daryl too, I'm going to bring them something new, maybe it will take them a while to get used to it, but maybe later on they won't regret the way they treat Diana, well... This is our house, what do you think?" She even signals with her thumb.
With that we went outside, I was smiling, this place is getting really beautiful, the refurbishment could be finished next year and so could the Cavendish relic storerooms, soon it will all be full, for the nine witches, how can there be so much, I still have the book with the list of things and I haven't got anywhere near half of it, I don't think even 20 per cent, it's so much work.
[...]
Saturday 19 December 2009, Loperèc, France
The last visit of the year here, I came with Daniella too, the mansion plan is going like clockwork, I could see and 25% of the things have already been changed, if I continue at this pace I can finish faster than it seems, by the end of 2012 maybe, I'm focusing much more on the books which are the most laborious, having to organise title by title also makes it very difficult, but it's good at the end of the day the house renovation things are going very well, I'm happy about that.
"The house looks really marvellous, you've left it painted as I asked, even some toys outside for our future family, I never expected we'd have three Cavendish to adopt" I didn't either, but look where we are.
"I think my prediction is that we'll make it in 2012, but even before that, from what Anna said, there's a lot of hot stuff that's scary, so we're doing well, but lately I've had the strange feeling that I'm being watched" I'm really more apprehensive today.
"Maybe it's just an impression, your mission is working so far, if you were really going to be observed things would be very different, but in any case, I want to see how the remodelled furniture looks, you told me it's ready" I nod.
As I walk in I'm surprised to see that the sofa has been remodelled and it's beautiful, it's been restored to the way it should have been 200 years ago, just like the table, wow this is going to be beautiful when I put a television in front of it, it must be comfortable too, I'm sitting on it with my girlfriend and it really is very comfortable, even though it's a relatively old sofa the remodelling has worked very well, phew... It must be good to sleep on, even if I'm very cramped because it's bigger than the sofa.
"Look at this Chariot, I had no idea you had such sophisticated furniture, something like this would cost a fortune today, it's really authentic" I paid a fortune to restore everything to the way it was before, I could just throw it away, but I didn't do that.
"I don't know anything about these things, I just wanted to spend money to make it look nice, now we have more things from home" I said happily and excitedly.
I show her more of the house and my girlfriend gets even more excited. It's just old furniture that costs a lot to maintain, apart from a few things that got eaten and there was no chance of renovating, everything else was fine, including using some methods to prevent termites from coming into the house, because that's a problem we have to watch out for.
She marvelled at the dining table in the kitchen and I hardly remember these things, they must have been very precious to the Du Nord family, I only visited here a few times as a child before I was adopted and I have faint memories, or when my mothers took me, wow it was so wonderful and simpler before.
"Look at that, Chariot, those woods are very high quality, your ancestors had really good taste, there's a lot of 19th and 18th century stuff around here that if someone came along and bought your house could be worth millions" those are precious family heirlooms.
"It's family history stuff, it's good that I've got everything ready for it, I'm glad you're enjoying it, love" I say smiling.
"I love it! I'm going to feel so comfortable, you've combined the luxury of a mansion, with the class of a mansion and the simplicity of a house, I don't have to walk far to go anywhere else, it's amazing, I feel like a queen here" How cute.
"So welcome to your castle Lady Daniella" I even bow to her, who laughs, and we embrace to kiss.
She's really loving being here, I know I'll be able to surprise her like that when the day comes and it's so close, I know she'll love it when the time comes next year right on Valentine's Day, I'll make her the best present she can imagine, she doesn't ask for it, Daniella Bowen Parker, you really make me happy.
"Woah, are we arriving right now?"
"I'm happy, but I feel bad when I remember that I threw away a chance like this, where I could have been very happy with someone as special as Parker."
Sunday 14 February 2010, Loperèc, France
"The year 2009 was very quiet in reality, these missions to the Cavendish mansion were the best part of thatyear, and I kept going and doing more of the list, little by little I got there, I had already done a third of themission by then and I wasn't going to stop taking part, I had a sisterly relationship with Diana, I was able tohear some very personal secrets from her, like how she'd been questioning whether she really had a fathersince she'd never seen a photo of him and he wasn't even on her documents, something she could alreadysuspect from her mother's side, especially since she'd found things about her mother that revealed she wasa lesbian, but anyway... We're coming up to that very special day when I pay another visit with Daniella to theDu Nord house and one of the sheds is finally ready to store the Cavendish's things, most of which arebooks."
Wow, it's much nicer here, look at one of the places to store the ocisa, it's done, that's not so bad, now it's today... I'm going to get up the courage to do something I should have done, especially as the countdown to this day is getting so close, it's going to be so wonderful and special when I arrive and tell Daniella, who is already marvelling at the outside of the house.
"Look at this love, even with the snow the house is still marvellous, how can it be, I loved the decoration matching the snow and everything else, since I put my feet up to give some ideas it's become much better than it already was perfect" No doubt it has, Daniella also knows how to make things more comfortable.
"Honey, do you want to see inside, everything is ready, if we want to move here, we just have to come" I say excitedly.
She nods in agreement and we enter the house together, she's impressed, there's finally a television and all the furniture, we haven't been here since last year, in a very special way I've left everything planned as I wanted for this day, which I then see her making herself comfortable on the sofa.
"I'm going to get something to eat, what do you think?" I ask her and she smiles.
"I love it! I'm in love with this house! Did you say it's almost ready? I can't wait to move in" said my girlfriend excitedly, and today she'll stop being a girlfriend when she sees a surprise.
I go into the kitchen, where I've left a bottle of champagne and I've asked my paternal grandparents to make something and leave it ready for when I arrive, as it's still warm, I take the plate of pasta into the living room, leave it on the living room coffee table and then I pick up the remote control to switch on the television.
"How did you make food before we arrived?" She asks.
"My grandparents did it, they live nearby, I did it for you, love" I say, opening the champagne and starting to fill the glasses.
I switch on the telly and start playing more romantic music, just as I leave the lights a little dimmer, to create a mood, which she doesn't understand at all, or she's embarrassed by it all, since there are still people renovating the house, I think she must think I want to have sex, but it has nothing to do with that.
"Love, the house is still under renovation, do you really want to open it like this?" She gets all cute and embarrassed.
"I think I'm going to debut something better Daniella" I said, kneeling down in front of the sofa and she blushed even more.
I could see tears falling from her face, after so long I had the idea of doing this, what I take out of my pocket the little box and I go to show her a ring, I saw her get even more shocked and very happy, she's crying, and crying a lot, I think it's time we took that extra step, we're going to be three years together and I've never loved anyone like I loved Daniella.
"Daniella Bowen Parker, will you marry me?" She's crying and crying a lot, but she takes me by the hand and hugs me with all the love in the world.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I agree to marry you, Chariot Du Nord! I agree to be your wife! I accept to become Daniella Bowen Parker Du Nord! I accept! I accept for everything in the world! I love you Chariot! I love you very much!" She accepted! She said yes! I knew it would work out! I'm so happy, I finally got to ask her to marry me.
I'm crying, we hug once again, this time I'm kneeling on her lap, sitting on top after lowering myself since she's a little shorter than me by about 4 centimetres, and we're crying with emotion from the kiss, the tears streaming down my face, I've never felt so happy as I do now, I'm feeling like the happiest woman in the whole world, we look at each other after the kiss, still very affected by it all.
"I've waited so long for this moment, I've dreamt about it, I can't believe it, as a child I dreamt that I would marry a perfect prince who would love me very much and be the most handsome of all, it seems that everything has changed, I think that I really valued the princess, she has a much greater beauty than the prince, I remember that as a child I also liked girls but I thought it was strange to like them too, today I know why I like them so much, you were the turning point in my whole life Chariot, all the good things and changes that happened, it was since you appeared in my life, I hope that from now on the days between the two of us together will be the best, I can't wait for when I get married to you, to be together with my beloved, to exchange caresses, it will be so wonderful, I love you Chariot Du Nord" I get emotional crying.
"Thank you for everything Daniella, your words of love are always the best, I also feel the same way about you, but the truth is that I always wanted the princess, today I found her, after thinking for so long that the princess was someone else, but in reality I didn't just find the princess, I ended up finding the queen" I say all smiles and still crying.
Today is the happiest day of my life, I wouldn't let anything get in the way of this moment, as soon as the next mission I can't wait for when I walk down the aisle and see Daniella's beautiful face in that beautiful wedding dress, I'll make sure I go in that dress too, after that we'll be married, living the best honeymoon of all, until we get tired and go back to the mission to have our future "daughters" here.
"Yes, I asked Daniella to marry me on Valentine's Day 2010, I couldn't resist, but I didn't realise that it couldbe the last moment, it was all very happy, too happy to tell the truth, I really could be happy for one moremoment and a lot of it, I was getting too anxious for when the mission was over and I was married to Daniellaliving with Diana and the twins, where from time to time Hellene and Holly would come to see their sister,Diana would know the truth about her mum, she could be shocked less soon and understand the situation, atleast a few years of childhood that I could save before it got too cold, I guess I was to blame for it all in theend."
See you, married witches...