From the Beginning (Editing in process)

~Chapter Five~

Dedicated to an awesome friend of mine, that has commented on almost every piece in 'Blue Butterflies'- so thank you <3

After Jemma gave me a guided tour and explained the meanings of all the ancient scripture that was written in scrawling writing around the drawings on the walls, finding ourselves on the prehistoric bench that was pushed up against the wall. I hesitantly sat down, fearing that the worn out looking wood would collapse under my weight once making contact, reassured when Jemma sat on it without any concern though it didn’t rid me of the anxiety that was creeping up on me.

“Story time” she used a sing-song voice, for which I had to give her a massive grin stopping the giggle that I could feel bubbling up in my throat. She gave me a humourous smile before continuing on with her ‘story time’. I gave her my undivided attention by facing her, crossing my legs-skilfully on the not so wide bench.

“Well, as you know you come from a long family line called Demasi. I however come from the line of Perrone, well my husband does anyways” pausing, she looked at me; I nodded directing her to continue. “It all started years and years ago, I’m not entirely certain when it occurred but I’m guessing it was sometime in the early eighteen hundreds. There was a girl the same age as you, sixteen. Rosaline was a beautiful young woman, independent and full of life, practically the mirror image of you. She was from the Perro clan; they were descendants of a branch of an Italian clan. There was a rival clan, which was located across the river called the Demasi clan, whose origin is still unknown today.” She looked at me, to see that I was following on with the story. “Funny how our family name changed when yours didn’t” she wondered out loud, this time I bit my lower lip to stop myself from laughing at her, getting lost in her thoughts. I clicked my fingers in front of her face when I noticed the faraway look in her eyes. “Sorry dear, a thought just came to me and I forgot all about what I was talking about for a second there” she smiled sweetly at me reaching out to give my hand a simple squeeze.

“So what does this have to do with me? Sure, Rosaline was the same age as me but she came from your family not mine. Where’s the link?” I was getting into the story, but simply couldn’t make the links between Jem’s family and mine. She looked down at her hands thoughtfully, dwelling on my questions.

“I’m pleased to see that you’re more than just a pretty face, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Never lose that.” I felt the blood sweep to my cheeks, causing a pink tinge to wash over my face causing a soft laugh from Jemma. “Anyway, your questions will be answered in the explanation” she assured, before clearing her throat. “Both clans tolerated each other but thought of it as disloyal to their people if there was association with one another. That became an unwritten rule, everyone never dared to break it for fear of the untold punishment. Well, Rosaline soon came in contact with a young man called Pietro, from the Demasi clan and they began to meet secretly under the bridge downstream of the clans’ villages. As you could probably guess they got caught by members of both clans and they were forbidden from seeing each other. According to a diary written by Rosaline herself she was heartbroken and felt like she had been betrayed by the people she used to call family.” She got up from the bench and walked over to a colourful painting of an old wooden bridge with blossoms surrounding it.

“Is that the bridge?” I asked, coming over to give it a closer inspection.

“Yes, it is. A beautiful part of this country and I do believe that it’s not that far away. I’ve always wanted to go visit the place, but I haven’t gotten the chance and maybe I’ll never will.” Her voice went from light and airy to sad and disappointed, she turned away from the wall and went back to sit on the bench again. Wanting to know more about what happened between Rosaline and Pietro; I followed her lead and eagerly waited for her to start telling the tale again. Surprisingly I was finding it intriguing, it was like an amazing book that you couldn’t put down; the best part was that it was actually a part of my history.