At the End of the Garden

Chapter Twenty-One

"He hasn't texted you once?" Dad asked.
When he'd come up to my room, Dad suggested we should escape down to the coastline where most of the touristy cafes were. But it was Christmas eve, most were shut. We'd somehow meandered from where all the building were and onto the beach. We looked somewhat stupid, in our big coats, shouting over the waves to hear each other.
I'd ended up spilling about Sidney, mainly because there was very little else on my mind. But Dad had made a joke about boys which set me off. Of course, I didn't tell him about the window or the fact he'd run away. Instead, I just made it clear that he wasn't talking to me, for some reason.
"Do you want me to beat him up for you?" He asked.
"Eden's beaten you to it."
"Oh." Dad said. I'm not sure if he put two and two together. I pretty sure Mum had just told him the boy Eden punched was the same one that disappeared. If he did, he didn't mention it. He just said, "Good thing I can count on him then."
I wanted Dad to be sympathetic, he always was. My mum would say something like: 'on to the next one' or whatever, maybe even make fun of me for having poor taste.
"I want to tell you not to bother, and that the whole things not worth it." Dad said. "But then again, if I had that mindset at your age you probably wouldn't have been born, so consider yourself lucky." He laughed and got close enough to nudge me as we walked. "Although, if I did, I suppose I wouldn't be walking down a beach in December."
"Um, I'm right here." I laughed nudging him back, "but if you hate it that much out here, we can go back." I continued.
"Go back and leave you to babysit?" My dad asked. "I'm sure we can find somewhere that's open."
"It's fine." I said. "I plan to hide safely in my room."
"That's not fair. Your aunt should be taking a bit more responsibility. What do they do at home?" I listened to Dad freely complain about his in laws when he was sure that none of them could hear.
"We could always get Mum to talk to her...."
"That sounds like an excellent idea. I have to get her to listen to me first, though." Dad laughed.
At the next opportunity we climbed off the sandy beach and back towards the house. The further we got from the water, the warmer it seemed to get.

My grandmother was waiting for me when we got in. I was grateful for the heating in the house, and even the fireplace my grandfather insisted on having on despite the toddlers running around. But an opposing cold voice ruined my enthusiasm.
I didn't know if she meant to sound angry, she didn't often sound happy. But happy, angry, whatever, I didn't have a way of avoiding my grandmother in her own home.
She'd appeared at the top of the stairs while I was taking my shoes off. Dad abandoned me like a coward to go find my mum and I met at my grandmother at the top of the stairs cautiously.
"Your mother showed me the clothes you plan to wear tomorrow, and bought to my attention that you have nothing to wear with it." She began as she had me follow her in the direction of my room.
Thanks Mum. I thought and almost said out loud. I didn't need more people disapproving of my outfits. Then again, I had no idea what she meant. I had tights to go with the skirt, and shoes, I didn't think that was what she meant though.
"With it?" I questioned.
"You didn't bring any jewellery." She elaborated. "Though it's lucky that your room was the storage room."
Once we'd made it to my room, she opened the door to let me in first. As suspected, the dress I'd planned to wear had been moved from the wardrobe and onto the bed.
"The draws are full of my old jewellery, I suppose much of it won't be to your taste, they were mine after all. But go through it and find something you like, and if there are any others you're fond off feel free to keep them. I doubt Fay does much to teach you about these things."
That's all she said before shutting me in my room alone, I bet my mum was somewhere sniggering as we spoke. I didn't like how she implied I didn't have jewellery at home, I did. I just didn't want to pack it and risk getting anything tangled up.
I guessed I wouldn't be allowed to see my grandmother again without having picked something out, and as big as the house was, she'd have a way of finding me. So I did as I was told. I began going through the drawers she'd pointed to.
   The top drawer was filled with small boxes, each had earrings or a bracelet. The contents of each sparkled, even with just the grey light from the window. Most had labels. Sapphires, gold, silver, rubies. Knowing my grandparents, they were probably real, or very very very convincing. The next drawer was the same but each box had a necklace, sometime matching earrings. I found a set of scarlet crystals on a necklace and picked those, mainly because we shared a name. They wouldn't match my outfit, but if my grandmother was going to let me keep something...
The handle on the bottom drawer felt colder than the others and when I tried to pull it, it didn't move. There wasn't a lock on it, so it must have been stuck. I pushed my free hand against the desk as I gave the bottom drawer one final pull.
The drawer came free and the desk shock for the sudden release of pressure. A couple of books and my phone that had been on top, fell and landed on the floor next to me. I was left kneeling in front of the open drawer with all it's contents in front of me.
It wasn't like the others, there were things other than jewellery inside, including at least five books in metal casing, photo albums. My curiosity caused me to reach for one of them, it had the label 1995-1999 on it. I flicked through.
Surprisingly, my grandmother didn't look much different twenty years ago. Still as thin, a little less grey, had she ever had any fat on her? My grandfather on the other hand definitely looked younger. One of the rare photos I could find where they'd both been smiling were among my parents wedding photos from 1997. My grandfather looked actually pleased to be walking my mum down the aisle, but there were other things about the photo that were wrong. I'd seen my mother's wedding dress before, she still had it. It was huge, puffy, like a princess in a fairy tale. It had a tail that was so long it had to be carried behind her. Seeing her in it was strange. It didn't suit her, it looked nothing like the tight fitting clothes she wore now. My mum hated fiction, didn't read anything but a news paper, I wonder what made her pick a dress that made her look like a Disney princess?
I spotted Victor Quinn in some of the photos, and even Evelyn in the background of a few. I assumed they hadn't been a couple long when my parents got married, even though I knew they got married just three years later.
The next album I picked up was dated 2000-2004. I braced myself to see some awful baby photos of myself, assuming anyone cared enough to take them. On the first age was a pregnancy scan, which must have been me. I turned the paged quickly. I'd been a chubby, ugly baby with too much hair. Although, there was one cute photo of me and Dad. I could barely seem to open my eyes and had dazed expression, but Dad seemed to be ecstatic. I thought about taking the picture out and keeping it for myself. No-one would notice for years, probably. Still, I continued to look through them wondering just in case I found another photo I liked more.
I flicked through the albums quickly, not wanting to look too long at the ugly baby. I stopped when I reached 2001.
I was born in 2000, so it was far too late to be where it was.
   There shouldn't have been a pregnancy scan here.
I thought it was in the wrong place, some of the photos before weren't exactly in chronological order. Still, I took a closer look.
28/2/2001 was printed just below the frame.
   I was definitely born by then.
Almost ripping the the paper, I pulled the scan out of the book and to read more writing on the top that the frame had covered.
'Fay Scarlet-Park. 28/2/2001.'
I flipped it over. Elegant handwritten words stained the paper that must have been put there by my grandmother. They read:
'Fay wouldn't want me keeping this. However, my newest grandchild will be a healthy boy, due July 22nd 2001. He'll even be in the same school year as his sister if he's punctual.'
I didn't know before what it felt like to have your stomach flip inside out and then back again.
Nobody told me I was supposed to have a brother. I knew that things got in the way of pregnancy, maybe my mum had a miscarriage and lost him. Then never mentioned it to me.
But that wasn't really what I was thinking. This baby was due on the 22nd of July.
Eden's birthday was the 20th.
But why didn't my mum want my grandmother to keep this scan? I almost ripped the photo with my finger nails gripping it so hard. My grandmother said healthy. Healthy. But I knew sometimes it was like that, probably, if my mum lost the baby.
I couldn't stop thinking that the baby in this photo was currently spending Christmas Eve alone in his room, probably studying, or maybe looking out into the endless garden behind his house.
Of course, I wouldn't have even considered it if it wasn't the only thing that would lead me to that conclusion.
There was a knock at my door.
"Hey sweetheart, sorry I left you with your nan. You weren't in trouble were you?"
I didn't even move.
"Marie?"
Didn't even blink.
"Are you even in here?"
I watched the handle move and the door slowly open. Dad looked shocked to see me here. Though I must have looked like prey. Horrified, staring back at him with eyes wide open like I was fearing for my life.
"You've sure made a mess in here." He began. "What are you - "
He took another look at me.
"What is this." I asked, forced myself to ask.
"What?"
I thrust the photo in his direction.
"What is this?"
The door shut calmly on it's own, but it didn't sound like it. It sounded like a loud bang between silences. He took the photo from me.
The colour from his face was lost instantly. But he reclaimed his calm, kneeled next to me like I was little child.
"Well?"
"I can't believe you found this." He sighed.
   He shuffled around awkwardly, he even took a look out the window as if trying to gain courage. Then finally answered.
   "Not long after you were born, your mum got pregnant again..." He took another deep breath. "But it was too soon, she lost the baby."
With the way my dad held the scan, I could still read the words on the back.
"I don't believe you."
I hugged my knees and turned to look at the other photo albums.
"What don't you believe?"
"I... that's..." I tried to force the words out. "Eden. The baby. It's Eden, isn't it?"
A couple of seconds of painful silence, before Dad moved from his kneeling position to sit directly next to me.
That must have meant something. The sigh proved it. Only then did I realise this must have been taxing on my dad. Eden looked like his father. And I still mean Victor Quinn. That was more certain that anything else I knew.

*********

Big reveal!!! I like to think the story picks up from here but who knows. I think this is the mid point of the story where the main character has to re-evaluate everything they thing they know. But please excuse how badly it's written.

I'm going to change updates back to Sunday because I have a new timetable. And I keep forgetting to update on a Wednesday. Sorry!