The Sea Girl

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Come on Waverley just climb up." Arienne shouted from the top of the cliff. A large lump formed in my throat and my mouth dried up as I thought of climbing up the rope. I turned to look at Morven who was waiting behind me.

"Don't worry, if you fall I'll catch you." He said with a calm smile.

"Don't be so utterly stupid if I fall I'm dead, you'd never be able to catch me." I snapped in reply out of fear.

"Okay relax. You can do this." I whispered to myself before tugging down on the rope and throwing my feet against the dusty white cliff faces. I struggled and ended up dropping back to the ground much to the amusement of Arienne and Morven. I glared at him so he dropped his smile and assisted by lifting me up to grab the rope higher so I could put my feet on the small ledges. I focused and began to pull myself higher up the cliff face without looking down.

As I almost reached the top I put my food on another ledge only for it to crumble beneath me. I was left hanging and shouting with my heart racing once more.

"Waverley, stay calm. Move your foot to the left and up." Morven called from the bottom of the cliff. I tried to focus and remain calm as my arms grew tired of holding me and my legs swinger around desperate to find a ledge. I followed his orders reluctantly. My feet crawled along the rock until I regained a sturdy position and found somewhere to put my feet. I paused for a minute to compose myself before racing to the top of the cliff boosted by my adrenaline.

"Well done." Arienne said as she lent in for a hug. I avoided her embrace and lay on the sharp grass gazing up at the sky. A shiver ran down my back and I closed my eyes for a few minutes to take in the fresh air. I then sat up again, calm and refreshed but turned to see Morven and Arienne hugging tightly. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on lovebirds you're making me feel sick." I said as I got up and walked away from the cliff.

"That's my house there." Arienne said pointing to a small, wonky, weather damaged cottage in the distance.

My crafted dress was slipping and I resorted to holding it in place against the strong beach winds.

"I'll lend you a dress when we get to my house." Arienne said.

I turned around to she her and Morven engaged in deep conversation. Their fingers brushed together gently and eventually locked together to hold hands. How could they be so attracted to each other so soon? Of course I wasn't jealous, honestly I just couldn't see how they could establish feelings for each other so soon. I glared at Morven in disgust but he ignored me. Annoyed, hungry and tired I slowly walked towards Arienne's house with the other two trailing behind in their whirl wind. I was appalled at Morven, how ungrateful of him. I saved his life and he repaid me by talking non stop to a stranger.

When we reached the house Arienne opened the crooked old door with one forceful shove, rattling the walls of the unstable cottage.

The house was old and made from rotting wood and crumbling brick. The hearth was cold and itchy blankets lay covering the icy floors and collapsing furniture. Small patched clothes covered the spacious room with dirty stains dripping down the ragged curtains like the tears of lost children. The cottage was motionless, silent and dead, quite a contrast from the joyful personality of the girl who lived here.

"I'm home." Arienne called. "I have visitors." She called again.

All of a sudden the ceiling began to rattle as a stampede of twelve excited feet scampered down the battered staircase. All of a sudden the room we stood in was graced with six of the most adorable children I had ever seen. Four boys and two girls all with the same white blonde hair and flawless complexions looked like delicate angels, innocent with eyes so blue comparing them with the ocean would not do them justice. They all stood in a line from tallest to smallest and didn't speak a word, now I was convinced that they were most certainly angels.

"Gregory, Celia, Timothy, Peter, Donald and Tabitha, these are my new friends Morven and err what's your name again?" Arienne said looking at me.

My jaw dropped. I felt sure she could remember my name as she said it not long ago. It seemed spiteful but I was careful and composed. I was not going to let her annoy me.

"Waverley." I said.

"Ah yes and Waverley. They will be joining us for breakfast. Donald and Tabitha go and get some eggs. Gregory and Celia can you boil some water from the stream? Errr and Timothy and Peter go and grill some bread." Arienne said calmly and with an irritating smile.

Each child was from the age of about four to eleven and every single one, without a word completed their task as asked. The breakfast was delicious but I couldn't help but wonder why Arienne had shocking red hair when her siblings all had mellow white manes of perfection. As we ate, the children sat and lit a fire to keep warm. They all had eggs too but instead of sitting at the table they sat on the itchy blankets on the floor.

"Where are your parents?" Morven asked.

"Father has gone to the town to trade our piglets and stock up on food for the week and mother is in bed mending the girls' dresses." Arienne said. "Which reminds me, come with me and I'll get you a dress to wear." She continued as we left the table and walked upstairs. As soon as we got up her siblings were straight to the table to clear up after us.

I peered around one door as I walked past to see a large blonde woman sat in bed sewing. The stench upstairs was appalling and I felt myself gagging occasionally. As I walked into what looked like an overcrowded bedroom Arienne had pulled out from her draw a lovely floral red dress.

"This will be fine." She said as she threw the dress to me. "Come downstairs when you're done we need to decide where to go next." She said with a smile as she hurried out and downstairs probably to talk to Morven again. She always smiled and although smiles are supposed to make people happy, hers just seemed fake and irritating.

I slipped the garment over my head to find it fitted perfectly despite it's awful smell. I smoothed the dress down and started to walk towards the stairs. I thought about the weird old cottage, the innocent but silent children that didn't even smile and the lazy mother who let her daughter practically run the family. There was something odd about them but I couldn't quite put my finger on it and unlike Morven I wasn't completely won over by the overly positive Arienne.

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Hello guys, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so far and ideas on what you think might happen.

I'm considering a layout of two chapters from Waverley's point of view for every chapter I do from Morven's point of view if that makes sense (next chapter will be Morven's POV then chapters 7 and 8 from Waverley's POV).

Please don't hesitate to message me or leave a comment as I'd love to hear from you as you all inspire me to be a better writer with your lovely comments. I'd love to read your stories too as reading other peoples' work makes you a better writer. Please leave a comment and vote for your favourite chapter so far.

Thank you