Fairchild's 7 Daughters-The 12: Book One

19. An unexpected curve

Miriam heard her sister's approaching foot steps before she opened the west parlor door. She dressed in a coat and mittens and bundled to perfection. "Miriam?" Taitiann said gently. The brooding eldest sister hadn't said much since her arrival. "Selene and I are going on a sleigh ride. Do you want to come with us?"

Miriam continued to stare out over the powdered lawn. It was Sunday and she hadn't been out the room since service that morning.

"Miriam?"

"No. No I do not."

"But you can't stay here all day. You never come to Supper. You don't talk to anyone..."

Miriam closed her eyes tightly. "Leave me be."

Taitiann stared at her sister's back. As the years progressed she could feel Miriam slipping further away from them. "We'll be back before Supper." She closed the door behind her leaving Miriam in still, cold, silence.

/

White was the color of winter. The cold weather pushed at Heloise's coat as she stood on the bank next to Alifair. Hannah was between Astrid and Josie being helped to skate on the ice.

"Look at me!" She shouted to her land bound sisters. Her dark red coat stood out among the white as she hobbled on the ice trying to keep her balance.

Astrid left her with Josie and returned to her sisters on the bank nearly falling forward as she came to a stop. "You ought to at least try it."

"I'm not sure how safe it is," Heloise said.

"If I can do it, you can do it," Astrid said. "I've never ice skated before."

"But you've roller skated."

"Come on, Heloise," Astrid pushed. "It's a mystical world just like in your stories." She reached out her mitten protected hand and reluctantly Heloise took it. Astrid pulled her forward until she was standing on the ice. "Come on Alifair."

"No way!" Alifair crossed her arms. "I'm not getting all cut and bruised."

Heloise wobbled in her skates. She felt her feet slide from beneath her and the next thing she knew she was on her back with Astrid looking down at her.

"You can do it, Heloise!" Josie shouted as Astrid helped her up. "Practice makes perfect." She gave Hannah a push from behind sending her gliding out gently a few feet.

Heloise held both of Astrid's hands as she steadied her. "Astrid, I'm going to fall!"

"Slow steps," Josie said as she skated up. "Slow gliding steps."

When Heloise tried to move forward with her left foot her right one slipped out behind her sending her crashing to the ice.

"That's all right," Josie said.

"Did you fall so much when you first started skating, Josie?"

"I was born ice skating!" Josie boasted as Heloise once again got to her feet. Josie pushed off reaching high speed. "I love Moosehead!" she shouted throwing her arms up and letting velocity pull her across the ice. "Come on, keep up. We can go visit my cousin Nate a few houses down."

Astrid took Hannah's hand in one hand and Heloise's in the other. "Come on, Alifair we're moving down the lake."

Alifair had made several snowballs and was starting on another. "I'll stay here, thank you."