The Sun and Moon and Stars

Chapter XVII

Frances gently shut the door to her bedroom behind her. She still felt as if Winnie was simply asleep. Grief had not yet touched her.

Jem and Rebecca were both downstairs, kept busy with blocks that Julian had made when Winnie had just been born.

Frances glanced over at Helena's bedroom door. She hadn't visited the missus since the evening before. The woman must be furious, but not a single sound had been heard from the bedroom all morning. It was almost as if Helena could feel the weight of the situation settle on the house and had refrained from making any requests.

And then there it was: the bell. Tinkling through the door, its lightness almost mocking the pit in Frances' gut that had ripped open.

"Where are you going?"

Frances looked down the stairs, to where Julian stood, a foot on the first step.

"Helena rang."

"I heard. Will you tell her?"

"I must. She deserves to know. But perhaps it would be wiser for you to speak to her yourself. Your loss is equal and far surpasses my own."

Julian was shaking his head before she even finished talking. "No. I can't see her. Not yet. At least for her sake. The grief at her loss should not intermingle with the...hatred she feels for me. They would only feed each other."

Frances nodded. "I will let you know how she takes it."

"Please do."

A knock on the front door. Julian looked over his shoulder. "The coroner is here." He looked back up at her. "I should probably..."'

Frances nodded and he disappeared into the kitchen. She continued until the master bedroom. She knocked lightly.

There was no response, so she let herself in. The room was dark, the curtains drawn. Light streamed in around the edges of the window but it did little to brighten the room. Instead, the darkness seemed to eat up the light before it could reach its hopeful rays too far into the room.

The thin figure in the bed was propped up, three pillows built up behind her back.

"Where. Have. You. Been?" the woman asked, her words broken up by ragged breaths.

Frances' hands paused just as they touched the thick curtains. "There's been a, uh...There's a situation, Helena. That is why I have come to speak to you."

She pulled the curtains open a few feet. Dust particles danced in the sudden sunlight.

"That's why you came?" Helena scoffed, her voice clearing up a bit, like a knife slowly being sharpened. "Not to make sure I was still alive?"

Frances ignored the poison in her tone.

She took a deep breath and took a seat on the bed, pressed up against Helena's legs. The woman did not complain. She could sense a difference in Frances' demeanor.

"I'm not sure how to say this." Frances started, chuckling uncertainly. "The only thing I'm sure of at the moment, is my desire not to be here, sitting here."

Helena was quite, and Frances watched her hands clench the covers tightly. She looked up at the woman's face. Her jaw trembled slightly.

"It's Winnie," Frances finally said. "There was an accident."

"What--" the word dissolved into a sharp breath. "Is she okay?"

Frances could feel the tears arrive. She bit her tongue and begged her tongue to keep down the sob. She shook her head violently.