Three Knots for Three Souls

Chapter One

To Lily, Jessie, and Elsa the best things came in threes. They were a three some. Always had been, always would be. When James was a famous athlete, Jessie was a famous writer and Elsa's art hung in museums, they would still be.

It was a simple truth, no words needed them to promise each other, they just knew. Just as the others knew the sun would be in the sky day after day.

The three of them had lived in the same house since Elsa's mother had died, they lived downstairs, she lived upstairs.

The first meeting of these three didn't go as well as one would think, mostly because seven year old boys are brats. James was no exception to this rule.

A new girl had moved in upstairs, her family had the yard from four thirty to nine every night, the Addams had the yard from eleven to four thirty, in the morning the family that lived in the basement had it.

For all of there lives no other children had lived upstairs or downstairs, which ment the other residents let James and Jessie use the yard all they wanted, until little Elsa Dryer moved in. James and Jessie had expected to still be able to use the yard, perhaps gain a new playmate. That was until there mother sat them down on the couch one night.

"Now boys, a new little girl is moving in upstairs," Mama had said, the boys knew this, they had been looking forward to it all summer, "Well, her aunt has asked to me tell you that she wants the yard to herself, this is part of the agreement for all of us living together, and it is completely fair" she said in her no-nonsense Mama voice.

The boys didn't find out till later why she wanted, no needed the yard all to herself.

James thought this was completely unfair, espically when for a solid week stright week Elsa spent her time laying in the grass staring at the sky. He planned to do something about it, and so he did.

There was a tall tree in the backyard that Jessie loved to sit and read in, espically when James wasn't around, he completely understood why Elsa layed in the grass for hours, he even left a book out for her one day. She took it inside and the next day it was back outside with another book stacked on top of it that she wanted him to read.

Dispite how close the twins were neither of them knew what the other thought of Elsa.

Until James snuck out the front door, went on the neighbor's yard , and climbed Jessie's tree and threw a water balloon full of bright red paint at Elsa.

To some this would seem like childhood antics, even to James mother or Elsa's aunt. That's all it would have been.

Until Elsa let out a scream the across the street neighbours heard. A blood curdling, bone chilling, 'help I'm being brutally murdered scream'.

Eleven adults and two teenagers ran outside faster than lightning. These people included the boys parents and older sisters, Elsa's aunt, uncle and cousin, the people from the basement, and several neighbours.

It took three of these parents to to keep James' mother from killing him, and twenty minutes for Elsa to calm down.

She gave up the yard after that, but only Jessie was allowed outside, as per his mother's new rule. He started visiting her doorstep to leave books, and pick up the new one for him to read, then the worst thing that could have happened did, summer ended, and school started.