Greenbriar Manor

Nettles and Nesting Dolls

Ingrim woke up to the sound of rain on the eaves of the house and a strange thunking sound. He peered out the window Brooklyn and the stable hand were shoeing Sultan. The stallion was fuming mad as the white hot metal was quenched and then affixed to his hooves. He very clearly wanted to run. Ingrim trusted that by next month he would finally get his wish. Brooklyn was a great friend he just did not see him the same as they had long ago playing in the yard with his old baseball and glove. Time had changed all of them. He was built for work and that horse was built for speed. Brooklyn had begun working instead of finishing school this term. Mack continued on with his piano practice. He had a recital at school at the end of the year one that could land him a scholarship in the future. Fern was looking into taking correspondence courses. Staying at the Manor off and on for a while had made her leery of formal school schedules despite Fran trying to push her back into school with Mack. She doubted there was anything she could do to finish the year on schedule. She had missed so many days helping her mother with her illness and keeping with the business. But the library at the Manor was always full of books on most any subject she wanted to learn. She had started taking notes and working on her own subjects where they had last taught her in classes. As long as she could keep up learning she felt she would be okay. She had the laundry business so far to work on but one day she would do something else. Mostly, she was still trying to figure out who that woman in the picture was and the inky red stains on the linens meant. She remembered worrying about Daniel's wellbeing from that first day she met him. The house was fickle. That much she had deduced. The story and that strangeness that was taking shape around her mother back at the apartment and her sickness had become a sore subject. She must take her back to Grey House whether she wanted to stay there or not. The move back to the city had done nothing but isolate her mother to her sewing room and her bed. She even had started to look gaunt and sluggish. After visiting with the woman at the tea room and sharing the note with her mother she frequently woke up shaking and muttering about a hare and a piece of red thread. She had no idea what her mother was going on about but it concerned her. She would meet with Daniel and get to the bottom of all this. She had packed everything they needed for another short stay. she knew Brooklyn would welcome the company. She boarded the bus ahead of schedule. Her mother was supposed to meet her later after she made a delivery elsewhere. She stepped through the front gate to find Jake cleaning out the horse trailer. It was hard to believe that it would soon be time to race again. He stopped cleaning to help her carry a box to the front entryway. Vivien was staring up at the largest portrait on the wall with a scowl on her face. Her brow furrowed in worry or something deeper. Fern knew better than to pry too much into her employer's business, but she needed to know where to put the linens for this week. Vivien nodded and smiled an unconvincing smile. She asked Fern a strange question. "Do you see a red smudge on the pocket of that woman's dress? I have been trying to figure it out for about an hour now and I just cannot see how that is possible, in a black and white photo" She pointed to a light haired woman in the edge of a staff and family photo marked 194- the last number was obscured by a piece of ivory matboard. Fern did not see anything out of the ordinary. However, she did notice a tiny girl standing off to one side of the picture. A girl that looked almost exactly like her. She of course knew that her mother had been part of the staff here as long as she could remember but she had never seen proof of it before.  She thought about asking Vivien if she could see the girl as well but thought better of it after so many strange things had been happening here since Brittany came and left. She was quietly wondering when Mabel and her mother were ever going to go home. Something about that Susan/Sallie woman unnerved her. She seemed up too something. Always asking questions about people and Daniel. Always making suggestions rooted in counsel that no one was paying her for here and for people who she did not know. She ought not call anyone nosy but that is how she felt about Mack's aunt. Plus, she often had Fran leave the Manor on long drives into town so she could never settle up with her for linen service and the lack of payment was starting to get on her nerves. One more thing she would address with Daniel today. Vivien stomped off toward the driveway when she heard the trailer gate close. Fern sighed and took the box of linens to the kitchen. She saw two sets of loafers at the kitchen table. That was an unusual sight for sure. Daniel rarely ever conducted business downstairs. She heard a voice she did not recognize. Italian or European sounding in a much lower register than Daniel's. The only words she could make out was "Contingent" and "heirloom". She thought of the pictures and his library. Daniel's voice went steely cold. "She is not here and she will not be coming again. She has done us all a disservice. You of all people know what a storm of chaos she can wield here. I do not know why you came but it is not enough to strike a deal. Your son struck one he is not done paying for. The other chair pushed back a screech deafening across the tile floor. "How dare you mention my son! How dare you sully her name and our rights by some myth of long ago antics!" "I will stay here as long as I want and I will bring her back and anyone else who I deem fit to handle this situation. Do not test me--there are two who would gladly welcome me home!" "You KNOW they cannot come here again! They belong in the sun just like she belongs in the cold vibrant and successful and not like us and not like this place full of dust and secrets." The man grew very quiet at the word secrets. "Seems you have the biggest secret of all...one that stains and one that makes shadows come to life with vivid RED clarity. It will not be too long now until they all see through this facade. The old man and the antiques. But what don't they know? What will they pay for being a part of the Green and Grey family. Remember I crossed oceans for your sister's heart and I own my rights to the fortune that her ability and cunning created. Let your house keepers think I am some random benefactor or old business acquaintance. I will haunt these halls with deftness and smoke cheap cigars and smile and speak broken English so no one suspects a thing. But Vera had a reason for calling me back and I would rather be where I was so this moment son--it is mine. Capece!? Fern stumbled back into the hallway. Was Daniel in danger? Who was that man? She thought of the picture in her mother's sewing box taken from the library. She was thinking of staying here with her mother and she might if it would keep this strange man from forcing the twins to come inland. She put the linens away as always and ran down to the Grey house. The door was wide open. She walked inside to see Scamp licking the last of the water bowl dry. She wandered into the living room asking for Brooklyn or Martha. No one answered her and the dog seemed confused. She noticed the smoke damage to the kitchen ceiling. Jake had not gotten here yet. She did not feel safe here for the first time in her life. She turned around to leave and a strange woman in a blue apron walked sloppily into the kitchen. Her pocket was off color. She was humming a lullaby that her mother often sang. She spoke to her. The woman turned toward her slowly, gasped and ran toward her. Gaunt arms wrapping around her in a fitful hug. She pressed her so tight she almost lost her breathe. She kept saying. "My girl my girl you are safe you are here." She searched the woman's features for signs of memory but could not place her face. But the song she knew by heart. She shook her head and pinched herself. Wake up Fern it is a dream. The woman looked stricken. "You don't remember do you? Poor baby what have those Greens done to you? All this hair...She touched Fern's long braid and in a moment her sadness turned to something else. Her eyes grew large as she touched the ribbon her mother tied in her hair. It had been dyed by a special rare dye from far away she said. It was very special. "The ferns...my ferns!!! What have you done with the ferns!!!?" I am Fern. She screamed and clutched her chest and ran beyond the brook to the woods. Fern crumpled on the kitchen floor and sobbed confused and alarmed. Who were these people? What was Daniel's big secret? Why did she feel like everything was going to topple her world upside down?