Will and Testament // Sequel to the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Thirteen

I ate supper alone in the dining room that night, having to sit at a somewhat awkward angle due to the location of the bruise forming on my back from the door handle. Mrs Smith didn't say anything about it and never asked what had caused Aunt Matilda to do what she did. Instead, she gave me some ice for the bruise and sent me on my way so she could make supper. She made a comment about how she would have to inform Mother and Father about what happened, but I knew that would be coming.

Still, I hoped to be able to talk my way out of the situation and never have to mention that I had even laid a hand on her. I had never been a violent person and I hated to think that I would be the sort of person to put a hand on someone else. That was not the person I wanted to be, nor the person I thought I was. Violence would never solve anything, Father had taught me that much but my own anger had once again taken over and I couldn't fight it. The anger felt like it had started to take me over.

After supper, I retired to my room to read a book and try to come up with an excuse for why Aunt Matilda might have shoved me into the door. There weren't too many I could think and the most obvious one being that she just turned on me with no word of warning. They didn't need to know that I touched her. They didn't need to know that I pushed her first. What could be the harm in one more lie?

Mother and Father returned at around eleven that night. I had already gone to bed by then but awoke to the sound of the car pulling up to the house and the closing of the front door. Even if they were trying to be quiet, they hadn't quite managed it. I dozed off a little while later, only to be awoken by someone lightly shaking my shoulder.

"Izzy?" Mother said. I blinked and opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness.

"What's going on?" I mumbled, not really coherent and sitting up a little.

"Nothing, I just wanted to check-in. Mrs Smith told me about what happened this afternoon."

"I didn't do anything."

"We know. Your aunt has a rather prominent mean streak. I'm sorry she hurt you."

"It's just a bruise." I stifled a yawn.

"Hm, regardless, she shouldn't have touched you." Mother sighed. "I'll leave you to sleep."

"Oh," I said, suddenly remembering my conversation with Evelyn, "Evelyn said I can be dropped off at hers at any time tomorrow morning."

"Alright, I'll let your father know. Goodnight, Izzy." I could almost sense her smiling in the darkness.

"Goodnight, Mother," I muttered, sinking into my pillows and pulling the blanket over my shoulders.

Mother placed a light kiss on my cheek before her footsteps echoed across the room and I heard the sound of the door swinging open before closing again. The lie had worked in my favour and I knew that they were unlikely to believe Aunt Matilda if she tried to claim I had done anything to her. A known mean streak would make her less trustworthy so I knew I could get away with it and no one needed to know that I had been the one to act first.

I fell asleep not long after, burying my head into my blanket and trying to move on from the day's events. The thought of what I had done stayed at the back of my mind throughout the night and Aunt Matilda's face weaved in and out of my dreams. I dreamt that she had managed to convince Mother and Father about what had really happened that afternoon, that they were so mad at me for what I did that they kicked me out of the house. I even dreamt of Grandfather and the look of disappointment on his face.

Sleep came in fits and starts with various images weaving in and out of my dreams until I eventually awoke to the sound of birds outside my window and light streaming in through the curtains. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, stifling a yawn and pushing my hair off my face. After a few minutes of just sitting in bed, I pushed the blankets off my legs and climbed out of bed and into the beam of sunlight that came through the curtains.