Hideaway

Chapter 1. Arrival

Evie looked out the window as the scenery passed by in a blur of green and browns. She looked across at her sleepy passenger,  Elle,  her niece who had barely said a word to anyone in three weeks. She had been through enough recently and Evie hated the fact that she couldn't quite bring herself out of her own grief to help the fifteen year old through hers.  That's why they were on the road, why they had left their lives behind, they needed something,  a change of scenery and the love and care of someone that they called family.
The road forked and Evie slowed down to a crawl looking at the scribbled instructions to see which road they should take.  She took the left as the scribble instructed her to,  but the road quickly became bumpy and jogged her sleepy passenger away.
"Ow!" she exclaimed as the jumper she had been leaning her head on fell and she bumped her head on the side panel of the door.
"Sorry" apologised Evie,  "we're nearly there."
The young girl looked out the window but still didn't say a word,  just watched as the trees got thicker and the sky above seemed to get less and less.
As per the instructions there was a right hand turning just after a knarled old oak tree which Evie very almost missed. Taking the corner a bit too fast meant that the wheels slipped from underneath her but she quickly recovered. "oops"  she muttered under her breath. Elle didn't even look up from the commotion.
The house came into view not long after,  it was a large house with a wooden exterior at the front and then towards the back was an old stone turret which looked almost castle like.  Evie had been there once when she was a lot younger,  before her parents had both died and when Nana Em was still alive to bake cookies with. When Esther her sister had been a carefree fifteen year old who she had looked up to and wanted to be just like.
The memory of her sister hit her harder than she would ever want to admit so she pushed the feelings way down and shook herself out of her daze.
Evie got out of the car and looked at the house. It was larger than she had remembered it to be. The house was a chalet style made of wood, it blended into the forest background and Evie got a feeling of nostalgia. She hadn’t been here for a long time but it still looked as familiar to her as she hoped it might. The porch swing was still swinging slightly in the autumn breeze; it still looked exactly the same even after 16 years. The last time she had stood on that porch she had been 8 years old and had been visiting Nana and Grampy with her parents and her sister Esther; it had been the last time they had all been together. She shook the memories and nostalgia from her head, she couldn’t start thinking like that now.

A loud slamming noise pulled her back to the present and she looked over the bonnet at her niece Elle. It was a cold but sunny day and Evie wondered if it would get much colder. Elle's face didn’t give anything away; she didn’t look happy or sad. Evie would have rather had her shouting or screaming at her about their move but she barely spoke to anyone. Evie leaned back in the car and grabbed her bag. She shut her own door and walked round to where Elle was standing. "Shall we?" She asked. She got a shrug and a slight nod as a reply. Sighing she walked to the front door and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again and this time heard a loud banging noise coming from inside the house. "Grampy?" She called out. There was no answer. Then there was a loud grumbling noise behind the door. She saw Elle snigger behind her hand and glared at her.
"Be nice" she told her. Elle's face turned serious again.

Eventually after a lot of scraping and banging a key turned in a lock and the door opened in and there stood Grampy Ed. Even after so many years he still looked exactly the same except for a few more grey hairs on his head and in his facial stubble. He was a large man with a permanent smile on his face and a sparkle in his bright blue eyes.
"Evie", he beamed “you’ve grown a bit!” At 5ft 2 she hadn’t grown much since the last time she had seen him so she just laughed. He was the girls only living relative and they either moved across the country to live with him or go into care.  They had both been through so much in the last few years that the thought of being separated was something that Evie just couldn't even contemplate.  Her life was now Elle and making sure she was safe and happy. Grampy Ed turned to Elle,  "you are more beautiful than I ever imagined you would be my darling Elle."
"Thanks Grampy. It’s nice to meet you," the young girl replied graciously.  Elle was surprised by the softness in the young girl’s voice as she hadn't said that many words let alone spoken in such a nice way for the last few weeks.  She should have known that he would put her at ease he always had been a calming influence. She hoped that finally Elle would let someone in and the two of them would be able to heal together.
She remembered a time when she had been out here last with her family and she had gone exploring in the forest,  she had gone too far and gotten lost.  Her grampy had found her a few hours later shivering he had just picked her up and carried her back to the house where nana was waiting with hot chocolate and homemade cookies. Nana wasn’t around to make the homemade cookies any more but maybe just being here with grampy might help heal both of them.