And I am back and I am tired.'
Three weeks later.
"What is it?" Eva asked as she looked up from the flower crown in her hand.
Wendy shrugged and smiled. "Nothing," she then went back to her own flower crown.
"You are just like mother sometimes," Eva mused as she finished off the crown.
"Mine is done!" she yelled and the three little boys stopped playing to come to look.
"Mine was done a while ago," Wendy smiled and held out her flower crown.
They gave one to each of the twins, while Arthur frowned.
"Do you want a flower crown too?" Wendy asked, but Arthur just shook his head.
"I am a big boy now, like Edward and David." The little boy proudly said.
Wendy nodded slowly and held back her laughter.
He was getting so big.
Her eyes glided over William and Ethan. They were pulling at Eva's arms making her rock back and forth.
They were all getting bigger.
David came out of the kitchen door with a basket.
"What is that?" Arthur said and ran toward his older brother.
"Lunch," David smiled and pulled out a sandwich.
Arthur reached for it, but David pulled his hand back. "It is lunch for Edward."
Just as he said that the wagon filled with young women and a very red-faced Edward came into view.
"Edward!" David yelled as he ran toward the wagon. "Mother said you need lunch."
As he reached the carriage, the girls giggled. Without stopping the carriage Edward took the basket from Daniel and made the wagon speed up.
A couple of the other girls saw Wendy and the others sitting on the hill and waved – though they were quickly scolded by Miss Elizabeth.
"Where are they going?" Arthur asked as David came back, and the wagon went down the road and past the inn.
"To the city," Wendy explained. "It is a present for how good they did in school."
"Huh," Arthur said and followed the wagon with his eyes. "Does Edward go to school too?"
"No," Eva laughed. "But they needed someone to steer the wagon and take care of the horse, while they are in the city."
"Why are you not going, Wendy?" He then asked.
Wendy smiled and shrugged and stared at where the wagon had disappeared behind the inn.
"I do not go to school, beside Miss Elizabeth would probably not have let me come either." She got up and started walking toward the inn.
Behind her, Eva got up and looked longingly at the horizon. "I wish I could go."
When Wendy turned to look at her, Eva had covered her mouth with a hand.
She had been coughing a lot lately.
"You will get a chance when you are a bit older," Wendy told her sister with a smile.
Two months later
Wendy smiled as she put down another mug in front of a young man.
The young man grabbed her wrist and smiled.
"You really are as beautiful as the rumors say…" He said and smiled at her.
She raised an eyebrow knowingly and smiled back, as she gently pulled her hand out of his. "I am really pleased to hear that."
The other men at the table chuckled as she walked back to the bar.
Her father was chatting with one of the farm workers from the village. She was about to ask him if he needed anything when a woman's high-pitched voice cut through the dining hall.
"Stop doing that and call for the innkeeper!"
Wendy went over to the corner of the hall, where an older woman was berating Eva, who stood doubled over and coughing violently into her hands.
Wendy looked at them confused. There was no spilled food or drink, so she did not understand what was going on.
The older woman continued to yell, as Eva tried but could not speak because she was coughing so much.
"What is wrong?" Wendy asked.
Eva looked at her in relief and stepped closer.
The older woman frowned at Wendy and pointed at her little sister.
"Why do you let someone sick walk around with food? She could start a plague…!"
Tears appeared in Eva's eyes and Wendy put her arms around her protectively.
"I am sorry," said their mother politely behind them. "I did not know my daughter felt sickly, if I did, I would have put her to bed."
Their mother put a gentle hand on Eva's head, as she continued to smile at the woman.
"Are you the innkeeper?" The woman asked displeased.
"No," their mother said. "My husband is."
"Then I will talk to him," The woman said and made a dismissive gesture.
"He is at the bar."
"Then go get him."
Wendy did not know whether everyone had quieted down to listen to them, or if the older woman and her mother drowned out the sound of the people around them.
Her mother sighed. "My husband cannot walk, if you wish to speak to him, you must go to where he is." She then smiled down at her daughters. "And I will send my sickly daughter to bed, though…" She smiled at the rather unpleasant guest. "Because Wendy and Eva share a room, Wendy might be sick too." She turned back to her daughter. "You should go to bed now too, unfortunately, you cannot play your fiddle, if you might be sick."
There were grumbles around the room. One of the things people had started to appear at the inn for was Wendy's music and the dancing that followed it.
Wendy was about to protest that she was just hugging her little sister, who still coughed lightly, but her mother shushed her.
"Just take your sister to bed for the night, you can play again tomorrow."
Three months later.
"Take a nice deep breath," Doctor William smiled at Eva, who did as he asked.
Wendy looked on from the doorway, as Eva coughed after taking a breath.
The doctor was quiet for a moment.
"Is it anything serious?" Their mother asked him nervously. "We did not think it was anything serious. It was just a cough."
The doctor smiled at her and then turned back to Eva. "Stick your tongue, please."
It felt like it took forever, while the doctor looked her over.
"Do not wrong too much." He finally said and gently patted Eva on the head. "It is not too serious."
"What is it?" The mother asked.
The doctor smiled reassuringly. "She has weak lungs. It is not too much trouble. She should not be straining herself … and the cold weather and sickness be hard on her, but she just needs some good tea and rest for now."
Their mother sighed in relief and hugged her daughter. "I thought it was something serious..."
"It is in its own sense," Doctor William whispered as their mother led him out of the room.
Wendy hid behind the door.
"If Eva gets sick, you need to call for me right away." He explained. "Her weak lungs can cause any illness to worsen."
"We will take good care of our little girl." The mother smiled at him warmly.
Wendy went into the room.
"Wendy?" Eva smiled. Her voice was hoarse from coughing.
"Do you need some tea?" The older girl asked.
"Before that…" Eva squeaked and sat up excited. "Tell me what you and the elven queen did today."
Wendy smiled and sat down.
Three months later
Temper neighed and pulled at the reins in the direction of the forest.
"No," Wendy breathed and pulled the reins in the other direction.
The cold air made it seem like steam was coming out of her mouth.
"You need some exercise and we can go get Eva at the same time." She scolded Temper.
Temper moved his head and neighed some more in irritation, but Wendy held the reins tightly as they went down to the village.
She stopped in front of Jacob and Elizabeth's cottage and waited for a moment.
Despite that, it had been years since she had been Elizabeth's student, but the teacher never grew to like her. Though she really liked Eva and Eva seemed to like her lessons.
A bell rang inside the house and the door opened.
Most of the girls and some boys from the village came out.
She saw Eva in the crowd and the little girl smiled and stepped closer to the horse. "Wendy!"
"I came to take you home," Wendy said and leaned down to help her sister onto Temper's back.
"Thank you," Eva said, as she settled in on the front of the saddle and waved to Miss Elizabeth, who stood in the doorway and watched the children leave.
She smiled and waved back, but her eyes turned cold as she looked at Wendy.
Eva spent the entire ride back talking about all the things she learned.
"It is so much fun, and Miss Elizabeth is so nice, and she is going to have a baby…"
"She is?" Wendy furrowed her brows.
"Yes," Eva said and continued. "But she does not think the elven queen is real, can you believe it?"
Wendy smiled. "Yes, of course, I believe in her majesty, she is my best friend."
Eva giggled at her sister. "You are so silly."
Wendy was about to say something when she saw a familiar dark-skinned girl standing along the road.
The same girl that had been with the mysterious man, that wanted to speak to the elven queen.
Four months later
"You really are going to follow me everywhere?" Wendy asked as she picked a blueberry from a bush.
"I thought that you would go see the fairy queen," the dark-skinned girl pouted with crossed arms.
Wendy smiled. "I have gone to see my friend many times."
"I never saw that…" the girl sneered.
"Well, she does not want me to talk about her with you," Wendy said over her shoulder as she continued to pick berries.
The dark-skinned girl, Olympia, had been visiting her throughout the last few months, following her every time she went into the forest and asking about the fairy queen. Strangely she never stayed at the inn or ate and just went away in the evening, until she reappeared weeks later.
The girl picked a berry and put it in her mouth. She was still mad.
"We could talk about something else…" Wendy suggested.
Olympia put another berry in her mouth and chewed slowly.
"Alright then," she then said in a cheery voice. "What about?"
"Well, where are you from?" Wendy asked.
"Africa…" the dark-haired girl said and looked at a berry before letting it fall into Wendy's basket. "Why do you spend so much time in the forest?"
"There is a lot of food out here and I have to bring food home for my family … where is Africa?"
Wendy smiled as she entered the kitchen and put down the berries.
She seemed to have made a new friend. Olympia was odd but also nice.
"Good, you are home, sweetheart." Her mother smiled as she poured some tea into a cup. "Can you bring Eva some tea? It is freshly made."
Wendy smiled. "Of course, can I have some too?"
"I can bring it too," William said stubbornly.
"Then you do that, and I will tell stories."
The small boy balanced the mugs of tea and Wendy followed him slowly.
Eva was sitting up in bed and reading a book Miss Elizabeth had given her.
She smiled as they entered the room.
Wendy tried not to bite her lip.
Eva had been sick for a week and not getting better. She was covered in big blankets and had a shawl around her shoulders.
"We brought you tea!" William said and put down the tray on the bedside table.
Eva smiled and coughed, as she put the book away and took the mug. "Just what I needed. I was getting a bit thirsty."
Wendy laughed and sat down on the bed. "You sound so grown up now. Is it those lessons that do that?"
Eva smiled and shrugged as she sipped from the mug. "I guess so. They can be a bit boring but the stories we read are always fun."
"As fun as Wendy and the elven queen's stories?" William asked in disbelief as he crawled up on Wendy's lap.
"Of course not," Eva said and coughed. "No one is a better storyteller than the elven queen … but where are the others?"
"Arthur and Ethan are chopping firewood and David is seeing to the horses," Wendy explained. "I am not sure where Edward is at the moment. I just got back from the forest."
Eva's eyes lit up. "Were you sharing stories with the elven queen or playing your fiddle with the man in the lake perhaps?"
Wendy shook her head. "But I did meet a new friend…"
"Who…" Eva started coughing violently and closed her hands around her mouth.
William and Wendy got off the bed and stood at her side.
After what felt like an eternity she stopped coughing and pulled her hands away.
She first smiled but then froze as she looked at her hands.
Wendy got closer and looked at her sister's hands. Then she turned to her brother.
"Can you go get mother?" She said calmly, but the boy understood the seriousness and ran.
There was blood on Eva's hand.
So, please tell me what you think.
I will be back somewhere in the next few weeks.