The Brooch

You Came Pt 1

Maple felt like she was being taken to a dead end. A point of no return.

Now Mrs. Crowder's estate was several miles away from the Woods cozy little home on Appleton road. It was too far for Maple to walk back home on foot without getting back in the late night hours. That really wasn't the problem. Not for Maple. Seeing as she always liked to walk. It was after all, her main transportation. It was really more about her unwanted destination.

By the time, Cleaver finally pulled up to the Crowder estate, up that endless driveway, Maple's stomach began to boil over with sheer uncertainty of what she was about to face.

"I'll be rat back." Cleaver said getting out of the Rolls to open the ornamental, iron gate.

Maple thought to herself...

MAPLE: "Now is the time to run! To really run! And don't look back!

She had her hand on that car door handle beyond ready to dash down that long vacant and winding road.
She had convinced herself, she would run till her face was blue. And far out of sight from the massive estate. It was pitch black where she was. All but the light from the estate. It did have a lamppost light that lit up the drive and a little to the street. But after that? Nothing but darkness. Except for the light of the moon. It didn't matter! She was gonna go for it!

She could see herself running down that long path and into the woods where she always found refuge! She could see herself getting to the nearest house which was Miss Millie's. Unfortunately that was nearly five miles away. Still she could imagine herself running up that hill, and banging on her door till she or her husband, Mr. Hoffman, awoke in the night. And more over, she could herself calling Daddy Woods to come get her. Maple was ready! She had her caramel hand on that handle of that car door. All she had to do, was release the latch and push it open. After all Cleaver wasn't looking. He was too busy removing the chains and putting in the combination for the alarm to enter into the massive estate.

With that, Maple took deep breath in. She closed her eyes. An envisioned all of that coming to pass. But as soon as she opened her eyes to leave, she saw
Cleaver. It was as if in that moment, he read her mind. And he knew what she was about to do. He stood there waiting. He waited for her to run off into the night. It was as if he was giving her a free pass. A way out. To say go.

But the words that Cleaver had said over a half hour ago, stuck in Maple's mind, and echoed in her ears, like a late night train to nowhere's ville. In short, she felt stuck. She had every opportunity to make a run for it. But one thing stopped her. Her promise to Cleaver.

MAPLE: "I ain't goin. Am I?" Maple murmured to herself.

With that, Maple sat back in the seat!

MAPLE:  "Crappit!" She growled kicking the front seat in a slight hissy.

With a huff, she yelled out the window to an unmoved Cleaver.

" Well! She said "Whuttya waitin foe?"

Right then and there. Cleaver smiled the biggest smile. 

"Nuthin! I'm comin." He replied as he opened the gate wide and teetered back half way down that drive way and back to the Rolls.

When Cleaver turned that Rolls ignition back on, Maple mumbled out loud in a whisper.

MAPLE: "Here we go."

It was no doubt, Mrs. Crowder had the biggest estate in Ponchas Avenue row. But not as historically large as her mother Lexington, in Orange Haven mind you. But it was the biggest in that town. However, newly married Miss Millie's was not far off. And then there was of course the Wellingtons. Who got theirs from oil. The oilman as some would say. But compared to Maple's two story, old, but comfortable, cabin home on the end of Appleton road, this manor house was a castle that you only heard of in fairytales. And the owner was the witch from Snow White!