Greenbriar Manor

Siren Song

Fern woke up determined to leave and go home. The new little girl, incident with the strange bear and Mari's strange moping behavior had made her even more determined to leave. She would still work here, bringing linens for Miss Fran, but living on this farmland was no longer beneficial. She boarded the bus at two alone and wandered the streets to her old apartment. She let herself in with the key that Brooklyn had given her. Everything was covered in dust. The lights hummed and buzzed as she set to cleaning the rooms for her mother. As she went into her room, she noticed something: a calendar. On the wall, in dark black ink, shone against the white wall. She had an old invitation to a party on the outside of the bulletin board. It was for her friend Gemma. She had almost forgotten about the kids at school. Time seemed to pass so slowly at the Manor. She walked over to the calendar. The number confused her. 

Surely, they had not been living in that tiny house by the Manor for over two years. She remembered the day that Brooklyn had come here with her. She smelled that awful almond icing. She thought of the tea her mother drank. She thought of her mother's awful cough cured overnight. Maybe being back in this place will have the same effect she hoped. She ripped the old calendar from a former life off the wall and threw it in the trash. As she straightened the last edge of her mother's bedspread on her bed, she suddenly felt very drowsy. More so than she ever had in her life. She lay down and fell asleep. When she awoke, she was under the tree at the Manor. A chill ran down her spine for in her hand was the old invitation to Gemma's party and the yellow daisy print pillowcase from her mother's bed. How was she back here?

Brooklyn walked over to Fern and encouraged her to go check on the library. She obliged him and handed him the pillowcase. He nodded, taking it to Lorna, and she thanked him. It would make her remember who she was before she came here. The invitation had only made Fern cross. He went to check on the boys. Ingrim was practicing fancy rope tricks in the barn. Mack was reading a library book on the porch. Neither of them looked like they wanted to play catch today. He wandered into the Manor.

 Fran was folding napkins for the dining room table. She smiled at him warmly. She asked if he had heard anything from the horse trainer. His heart sank he shook his head. He asked her in kind, "Have you heard anything from the owners? Who is that little girl?" She nodded Daniel had called early that morning asking her to prepare him a room for the weekend. She knew that with his advanced age he may not have many more times in the Manor but he still was the benefactor and so would be treated as such. She whispered low to Brooklyn, "The little girl belongs to  a man whose mother used to live here. One of the original Greene children. He has come to ask for rights to the old property in Vermont that belongs to his mother. Brooklyn asks a question he probably should not "Would Daniel have to give that place to them?" She nods. Brooklyn hopes Daniel will make that sale as quickly as possible. Brittney had begun to vex him. She was wandering around late at night disrupting the boys routine and determined to make Mari a friend of hers as close as Mabel. Mari was not fond of her and was taken to the treehouse and other dark places in the Manor seeking solitude. Yet that little girl pursued her like the seal in that awful horse story. Often chasing her and laughing at her  like a cat and a mouse. What manner of child was Brittany? Mack had mentioned her a couple times but he would not engage her either. Mack and Mari were turning inward. Vermont and it's darkness was bleeding onto Briarwood. Pricking them all with baneful poison. Had Mari forgotten all about Bridgette? Had she forsaken her desir4e for a friend? Would Mack and Ingrim ever play together again? somehow  this would pass it had too. 

He snuck to the maid's quarters and dialed the old rotary phone. Daniel picked up on the first ring. He had talked to his father's doctor. Something was wrong. The beeping noise he had heard was a heart monitor. They had rushed him back into surgery. He would be thready from here on out and may need some rest of his own before returning to his job." Daniel told Brooklyn about the house in Vermont. There was a deed in the Attic above Bridgette's old room. He needed it to be stamped by a notary by this weekend. So when he arrived Salem's family could leave the Manor and his dad could safely return. The longer that Salem's children stayed there the darker the tides would turn. Her icy cold need for revenge was stronger than their resolve. He thought of all the changes here. The boys no longer played together. His sister spent all her time in old picture books. Fern kept trying to escape this place and save her own mother. The horse once so valiant and sure was now becoming docile and slowly fat and his father was in a hospital bed somewhere hanging between life and limbo. He had to do something. He ran down the hall and pulled down the rickety attic ladder. He was met with a dense cloud of decades old dust and debris. He coughed and continued into the dark. He pulled away carpets and tapestries and found a trunk. He opened it and beneath spider webs he found a blueprint. This was the one he was to make sure Daniel had secure. He rolled it up and carefully guarded it under his arm. 

He  knew which room to put the blueprint in. Daniel's old bedroom faced away from the main floor. It was not accessible to outside guests. He went to open the bedroom door and he felt watched. No one who was here now knew about this corridor. He looked up to see Bridgette's green eyes. She was surprised and then she laughed. He was covered in thick white dust like a ghost in a halloween play. Bridgette spoke the first words she had to anyone but the newest little boy. "Hello Brookie. What are you scheming?" He gulped. She was here. He needed an ally that would protect Daniel and could be more cunning than Salem herself. He unrolled the blueprint. Bridgette's face turned in terror then pain and then anger. He put up his hand. "You are home Vera made sure. This will send that strange little girl away and give the Manor back the heart it has always had. You can see Mari after Daniel comes calling. He sent me to fetch this. The man and little girl wan the tiny ho0se. They are destroying the old large manor house of Vera's. The tiny girl will be home and safe. She thought about Brittney and how she had been her friend once. No doubt she and Vera  had helped her get home. It was true she was as lost here as she had been there in Vermont. She was not alright with her left alone here to meddle either. She would help Brooklyn and Daniel work on the heart of the Manor and reunite with her cousin who she loved and missed dearly. They worked on a plan. 

Meanwhile, Brittney had wandered down to the water's edge. Mari had been helping pick flowers for the table arrangement. The strange little girl had wanted to help her. She obliged her. As they worked a snake swam on the tree roots across from them. Brittany saw it first and pointed at it. Mari ran in fear and then so did Brittany. They found themselves inside the Greys home huddled in a corner. Brittney noticed the bear and asked to hold it. She asked if she could have it. Mari nodded. It had always worried her. She handed her the mini China piece instead. As Mari held it she suddenly became angry and sad. "How did you get this? she demanded?" "I found it in Vermont in my grandma's house". Mari's eyes widened. "GO AWAY! YOU THIEF! YOU LIAR!  This is Bridgette's this is my cousins! She is coming home not you!!! Stay away from me! Brittany startled by the little girls rage ran to the main house and wrapped her arms around her father's knees.  She had the bear in her hand and stuffed it in her backpack with her bunny. Somehow it reminded her of her See See strong and graceful. This place was strange and nothing like her tiny home in Vermont. She missed Mabel. She was no longer welcome here. Like the night her father came in the night and took her from her mother and Mabel. This whole ice cold trail home had been a mistake. She hugged her story book about mermaids until she fell asleep unaware that all the other children who had been here long ago were working on a plan to get her home.