The Rose of Anthacena

Chapter 7

          For about eight months after the marriage, things went smoothly for the enlarged O'Reilly family. Mr. O'Reilly's merchant business was doing well, enabling him to provide his family with even more comforts and leisures than they had already.

Tanya occasionally came over with her 4-month old daughter Rinslet, or Rin, as they called her. Rose adored her niece, and spent as much time as possible with her, even though it meant being around Tanya more. But Rose started to mind this less as time went on, for Tanya was slowly changing back more into her old self. Her marriage, along with the birth of Rin, had much to do with this.

Rin was a green-eyed blond like her mother, and everybody could tell she would look just like Tanya when she grew up. She was a happy baby, crying only when she was hungry or tired. Tanya was, of course, pleased with this. Rin appeared to love everyone and everything, and was very much interested in the world around her. She was, in return, loved by everyone.

* * *

One day, about eight and a half months after the marriage, Rose's father came home from work and sat dejectedly in his chair. Rose came over and kneeled on the floor by him.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" she asked, looking up into his face. He met her eyes. His own were sad as he did. He sighed.

"You might as well know now, Rose. I-I am-I mean, we-are ruined."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, shocked. Her father sighed again.

"I mean, Rose, that all of this-" gesturing with his hand to their surroundings "will be sold. Everything but a few necessities will have to be gotten rid of." Rose was rather puzzled.

"Why? What happened?"

"Every week, four places from my company are supposed to come in full of goods for my company to trade. Got that?"

"Yeah."

"okay. Well, in the last month, only two have come in. That's an eighth of what it's supposed to be. All the other 14-well, we don't have a clue as to what might have happened to them. They just-psshh. Disappeared. And the-the two that have come came with barely anything in them."

"Oh, Daddy," Rose breathed slowly. "What-What are we going to do?"

"Well, obviously, financially, we're ruined. We are in major debt. We'll have to-sell our things, except for the barest necessities. We'll have to move somewhere that's-far less expensive than here. I've been thinking about that, and I realized that homes are less expensive farther north, so that's probably where we'll end up going." Mr. O'Reilly sighed. "Oh, Rose, I'm so sorry," he said as he hugged Rose.

"Why?"

"Rose, I-I want to be able to provide for my family-you and Dereck and Kaysey and Alyssa. You and Dereck have been-so used to all the nice things in life, and-you've never known anything different. Kaysey and her mom are more used to the kind of life we'll have to lead from now on, but even so. It seems unfair to take you and Dereck away from the only life you've known, and Kaysey and Alyssa from their new life, but-I have no other choice-except prison."

"Dad," Rose said, "I-I don't know about Dereck and-Kaysey-and Mother, but-as far as I'm concerned, I can do without all this stuff." She gestured to their surroundings. "Just so long as I've got my family, I'm fine-wherever we are." Her father hugged her again.

"Rose," he said as he did so, "you are the best kind of daughter to have."

* * *

Mr. O'Reilly broke the news to the rest if the family at dinner that night. They were, of course, all rather shocked, but each one seemed to stand with Rose in her view of things.

"As long as we're together, it'll be fine," Mrs. O'Reilly stated firmly. Kaysey and Dereck nodded.

"Exactly," they said in unison. At this, everybody started laughing. Although quieter than normal, the laughter broke the somber tension in the room. There was still, however, an uneasiness in the air as they finished and lasted throughout the entire evening.

After everybody was done, Dereck looked at his father.

"So...what are we going to do?" he asked. Mr. O'Reilly proceeded to explain his plans to the rest of his family. Kaysey's mother agreed that the plan to move north was a very good one.

"I figured that maybe we could have an auction sometime soon, to sell our things. Maybe in a couple weeks, or there abouts. What do you guys think?" Mr. O'Reilly asked.

What followed was a long discussion on what should be done, when it should be done, how it should be done, etc. They finally decided that in two weeks, they would have an auction to sell everything but what they really needed. Their house was immediately put on the market, and Mr. O'Reilly began looking at houses for sale in northern Ireland,

After about a week, he found a good-sized, but cheap, house a few miles outside the small town of Renon, 30 miles from the northern border of Ireland. He immediately consulted the rest of the family on it. After looking at the pictures of the house and discussing it at great length, they finally decided to buy it.

The auction, which took place two days after they decided to buy the house went well. Everything that had been put on the block was sold. Because most of the people there were Mr. O'Reilly's friends, they kept buying things they didn't really want at prices that were far higher than they were worth.

By the time the auction was over, the O'Reillys had quite a store of cash, checks, and all. Unfortunately, most of it had to go for debts, of course, but there would be a little left over for their own use.

Two days after the auction was over, they found a buyer for the house. Within a week, they no longer owned it. Just a few days after they sold the house, the O'Reilly family made their way to their new home in northern Ireland.

The largish cottage they had bought stood on an island near the center of Lake Kastron, which was a large lake 25 miles from the northern border of Ireland. The small town of Renon had been built on the southern side of the island, which had an area of 30 square miles. The O'Reilly's home was less than one mile from the cliffs on the north side of the 8-mile long island.

A couple hundred feet to the east were woods about 5 acres big. To the west, it was grassy land until about half a mile from the edge of the island, where it turned into a beach.

The O'Reilly family was pleased to find the area surrounding their new home so restful. They were exhausted from the 10-hour car drive, much of which was on busy highways, and they spent ten minutes on the 7-mile long bridge that led to the island.

They took a few days to settle in and get at least somewhat used to the new house before they ventured into the town for the first time, having passed through on their way not counting.

The islanders were a bit wary of them at first, as they were strangers, but they soon warmed up to the O'Reillys. The cheerful family was soon liked by the townspeople, who were amiable and welcoming after determining that the O'Reillys were trustworthy.

Rose and Kaysey soon became good friends with Leigha Harley, a girl around their age. She had a younger sister, Diana, who was 15, short, red-haired, and very pretty. Dereck became interested in her shortly after they met, and within a month, they were dating. Kaysey and Rose teased Dereck unmercifully about his girlfriend, but he bore it good-naturedly, saying that one day, it would be his turn to laugh at them.

They all made many friends in the small town, and at least one of them was there every day, unless bad weather prevented them from coming. The O'Reillys established a new life for themselves on Lake Kastron. While they remembered their life in the city with fondness, they did not regret leaving, having founded new and deeper relationships with those around(especially Dereck). The islanders were more than just friends-they were family.