The silver key

The cold wind howled through the back seat window, of an old car where Nicole sat anxiously . Her parents had died many years ago in an airplane crash and ever since she had lived with her old and lovely grandma , but that was not to last, her grandma had suddenly passed away last month, and so suddenly, she was on her way to her new foster home. She had only ever seen her mother's cousin sister and her family during funerals and had not once talked to them, but now she had to live with them!

"We're here" said the lawyer as he exited the car and walked up to the door. Looking at the house and beautifully maintained garden, Nicole let it all sink in.

"This is it" she thought, giving out a sigh. The 6 hour travel from the city to the outskirts was unexpectedly tiring. She took her two suitcases and made her way to the door step, where the lawyer was talking to Mrs. Theodore.

"The paperwork has been taken care of, no need to worry" said the lawyer.

"Oh, Nicole " said Mrs. Theodore with a gentle smile.

"Call me if you need anything at all Nicole, you have a phone and my number correct? " asked the lawyer.

"Yes" Nicole replied.

After entering the house, the lawyer had a nice chit chat with Mr. And Mrs. Theodore and took leave.

"Let me show you around, leave the luggage here, we'll get it later" said Mrs. Theodore.

"There are two floors and an attic in this house, the ground floor has the kitchen, dining room, and living room, there is a garage outside" said Mrs. Theodore as she walked her through the house. Entering the kitchen Nicole saw an old woman cooking.

"This is Clarisse, our cook, her husband is the gardener, they live in a house nearby"

"Great to meet you, I have heard quite a bit about you" said Clarisse smiling softly, her hair was as grey as her eyes which made her look even older.

"All good I hope " said Nicole returning the smile.

Mrs. Theodore and Nicole made their way upstairs, the second floor had 5 rooms.

"The first one is my and your uncle's room, the one to the left is my daughter's .. CANDACE !!" she called out, the door slowly opened and there stood a small girl holding an old teddy bear, she was the cutest child Nicole had ever seen with black hair that reached her shoulders and sparkling blue eyes, she looked exactly like Mrs. Theodore who was very beautiful herself.

"Hey Candace, this is Nicole she is gonna be staying with us" said her mom kneeling down to her height.

"How old is she?"Asked Nicole.

"I am 7" said Candace with a big grin "how old are you?" She asked.

"I'm 15 " said Nicole amused by the child's energy.

"Oh , you are as old as big bro! Does that mean you can't play with me?" said Candace making a long face.

"Of course not, I can play with you any time" said Nicole "Honey I'll show Nicole the rest of the house ok?" said Mrs. Theodore.

"Okay" she said and went back to her room.

"The next room is yours" said Mrs. Theodore pointing to the room opposite to Candace's. Nicole peeped inside to find a nice dresser, cuboard and a warm bed with an attached bathroom. The walls were painted a deep sea blue and it had wooden flooring.

"I hope you like it" said Mrs.Theodore.

"It's perfect" Nicole replied.

"My son is in the last room, wait I'll call him, LEO!!" She called out.

"Coming mom!" a reply came from the other side of the corridor. A boy taller than Nicole walked towards them, he looked just like Candace but with short hair and green eyes, his eyes met Nicole's.

"Oh! You must be Nicole! I'm Leo, nice to meet to" he said.

"Help her get the luggage from down stairs" said Mrs. Theodore. Leo frowned and started to walk down.

"That's everyone who lives here Nicole, try to get along with them" Mrs. Theodore said.

"Ummm....I actually don't know your name" asked Nicole, amused Mrs. Theodore answered "my name is Minerva, your uncle's is Drake, I thought you would know that "

"Grandma didn't exactly know much about mom's side of the family" Nicole replied

"Get settled and be down for dinner"

"Okay"

"Don't make me do all the work, go get the other bag" shouted Leo as he carried one of her suitcases.

"Sorry, Leo" said Nicole and ran down the stairs to get her bag.