Of Legends and Innocence

Chapter 2

Author's Note:  I know nothing about Lough Gur, or even Ireland for that matter.  All of the people and places are completely made up and I mean no offense by getting the geography of this place wrong.

Chapter 2

Chloe looked around her new room.  The walls were painted a powder blue and a huge mahogany four poster bed took up the middle of the room.  Besides the fancy bed, the room was very simple.  A handmade quilt depicting small winged fairies perched on flowers and mushrooms was laid across the bed. 

On the right side of the room was a bay window with white lace curtains and under the window was a window seat covered with a blue cushion with an elaborately embroidered fairy.  On the opposite wall was an embroidered fairy picture.

What was with all of the fairies?

Sitting on the bed, Chloe let out a small sigh.  So this was it.  She was oceans away from her friends and was expected to make a new life with family she hardly even knew.  She had only seen Aunt Madeline three or four times in her entire life and Fiona had only seen her once before the funeral.

She looked over at the nightstand to find a small photo standing on the surface.  It was a picture of her mother when she was younger, probably placed there by Aunt Madeline for her sake.  Looking at her mother's red hair and green eyes and bright smile, Chloe felt panic creeping up the back of her throat.  She squeezed her eyes shut and fought back the tears for a moment, before slamming the picture face down.

Not yet.  She couldn't lose it yet.

Jumping up from the bed like she had been scalded, Chloe grabbed the nearest suitcase and began unpacking her clothes and putting them in the dresser.

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Fiona sat on a small day bed covered in pink lace and ruffles.  Fiona hated pink, she much prefered purple or even orange.  She picked at a stray strand of thread on the comforter as she looked around the room.  Pink.  And fairies.  She actually liked the fairies.  Mommy used to read her books about fairies.  She laid back and looked up at the ceiling.  Even the ceiling had fairies flying among stars and a big bright moon.

A noise came from her left and she turned her head at the sound.  Her sister had walked in carrying a big box.  A box full of her things.  Probably books, maybe toys.  They hadn't been able to bring everything.  A lot of their things they had left at home.  She missed home.  She missed her room in her house, she missed being able to crawl into the bed with Mommy when she woke up in the middle of the night.  And she missed her Mommy.

Once again the tears came back, escaping from her eyes and running down the side of her face.  She wanted her mommy.  She still didn't understand why she had to leave.  She had been getting better these last few months.  Chloe had been taking good care of her, she had taken over the majority of the household chores and had even been taking Fiona back and forth to school so Mommy could sleep in so she wouldn't get sick again.

Her eyes followed Chloe around the room as she put away what was in the box.  She was putting things in the bookshelf by the window seat.  So it had been books in that box.  Lots of books that Mommy had read to her almost every night, no matter how sick she was.  A big book with a fairy outlined in gold made its way out of the box and Fiona jumped up, grabbing the book and making her way back to the bed.

Buttercup and the Fairy Gold.  Fiona could almost hear her mother's voice as she flipped through the pages.

The bed dipped as Chloe sat down beside her.  Arms wrapped around Fiona and a kiss was placed on the top of her red hair.

"Do you want me to read it to you?"

Fiona slammed the book shut and hugged it to her chest.  No.  Only Mommy had read her this book.  Chloe wouldn't understand.  She opened her mouth to tell her, but no words wanted to come out.  She gave up and resorted to just shaking her head.  No, no one could read this book.

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"Aunt Madeline?"  Rounding the corner she saw her aunt busy cooking in the kitchen, just the thought of eating made Chloe nauseous.

"Yes, Dear?  What is it?"  Madeline looked up from the pot on the stove she was stirring.

Chloe stood tall, her head held high.  The sadness and grief buried deep within.  It hurt Madeline to see Chloe had taken on a caretaker role at such a young age.  A girl her age should be worried about school, and friends, and even boys.  Not trying to figure out how to bury all of her emotions for someone else's sake.

"Has Fiona said anything to you?"  There it was, a flash of worry creasing her brows, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared.

"About what?"

"Anything.  Anything at all."  Chloe said, bitting her lip.

Madeline stopped stirring, her attention completely on Chloe.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean anything.  Has she said she was hungry or even that she had to go the bathroom?"  Chloe took a step closer and rested her hands on the counter.  "Complained about the plane?"

When she didn't get an answer, Chloe persisted, the worry now creeping into her voice.  "Complained about the car ride?  Said she liked her room?"  The room was deadly quiet.  "Has she said anything?  A sentence?  A word?"

Thinking back, Madeline couldn't remember the girl saying anything at all.  Not during the funeral or after.

Chloe opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. 

Fiona came into the room and made her way to the kitchen table.  There she sat staring off into space.

Madeline cleared her throat.  "Fi, are you hungry sweetie?"

Fiona turned her head and looked at Madeline, or rather in the direction of Madeline, not directly at her, and gave a small nod before continuing her inspection of the far wall.

Madeline blinked.  This was new.  According to her sister, Fiona was a chatterbox, talking even in her sleep.

"Just give her time, dear.  The poor thing has had a hard time of it."  She whispered to Chloe.

 Author's Note:  Please comment or vote.  And a five-year-old's behavior may be a little off for me.  My only daughter is only three, so I am only making up and trying to go by the five year olds I have been around.  Please let me know if you think she isn't acting much like a five year old later in the story.  Thank you for reading.  I'll have the next chapter up soon as possible.