Enchanted by freckles - short stories

Story 14 - Refuge

Yvain's point of view (February 1888):

Everything was going splendidly. I had only recently been promoted, Gwen and I were also doing wonderfully and the children were becoming more and more independent.

Gary was meanwhile 14 years old, and was in the 3rd grade, Hector was 11 and now had his last year at home ahead of him, and Jennie was also now 7 years old.

Gary had a good friend who lived only a few minutes away and who spent a lot of time with us when her godmother Marlee wasn't relieving us from Gary. The two of them clung to each other like pitch and brimstone. It was really adorable.

Gwen, Matilda, Marlee and I were sure that the two of them would end up as a couple one day. Gary had already told me during the winter break of first grade that he had fallen in love with this girl.

Caelie was a really kind girl. When she was with us, she also spent time with Jennie and Hector and also Kay when he visited.

I hardly remembered a day in the summer that Gary didn't spend with Caelie. But it made Gwen and me really happy that Gary had found a loyal friend so quickly.

He was always a little difficult with others, but he never argued with Caelie. He had also fought a lot at school, but with Caelie he was completely different. And I was really glad about that. She couldn't stop his bullshit, but she at least tried to slow him down a bit sometimes.

"Really shitty weather today," I said when I got home on the afternoon of the 22nd of February 1888. Gwen was already there playing with the children.

"Dad, don't say shitty weather," Jennie said, sticking her tongue out at me. "Have you been outside, today? There's no other way to call that weather," I replied, hanging my jacket on the wardrobe.

We were having dinner together when there was a knock at the door. I stood up and saw a colleague from Auror Central. "Hello William, what's up?", I asked irritated. 

"Yvain, have you seen any dubious people in the area in the last few days? Any clue?" he asked me. Gwen came to me at the door.

"I was at home, but there was no one here," she said, also irritated.

"There was a murder nearby. A middle-aged lady was murdered in cold blood. The use of unforgivable curses was confirmed. Apparently she was first tortured, and then, using the Imperius curse, stabbed herself over twenty times in the chest and throat," William said quietly, seeing the children sitting at the table.

"Holy shit, that's terrible," I said quietly. "The worst thing is that she has a foster daughter who is at Hogwarts right now and she doesn't know anything about it. We don't know where her parents are. It's a real tragedy. But I thank you for your information," he said quietly and disappeared.

Gwen and I looked at each other. We both had a really bad feeling.

"I'm gonna go over there. I need to see that Marlee is okay. I have a really awful feeling.", Gwen said and disapparated as well.

It wasn't two minutes before Gwen came back through the door. She was pale and crying. We went into the bathroom and locked ourselves in for a moment. "Marlee was murdered?", I asked, feeling sheer panic growing inside me.

"What are we going to do? We can't stand by and watch Caelie be put in an orphanage. Besides, Gary would never allow that. He'd rather sleep on the ground forever than be separated from Caelie," Gwen said, trembling.

I took Gwen in my arms. She was crying bitterly. "It's not even a question. We'll bring her to us. She's here most of the time anyway." "There's blood all over the place, Yvain. Marlee's gone, but the blood's still there. She must have suffered so much. And who's telling Caelie?"