The Greenhouse Garden

Continuing Life

The next few weeks were difficult for Viola as she tried to get used to things while avoiding questioning from the Brynes family. They were all curious as to who she was and where she had come from, and although they were generous, she found them a bit pushy. Especially the doctor. Their butler had seen her floating downriver past the manor and fished her out, calling immediately for the doctor. The man had been quick to bandage her wounds and ensure that she would live, but was the most curious out of them all, after all, he had been the one to clean her wound and discover that she had been shot.

After he had told the Lord and Lady of the estate about the wound, they had been worried, but when Viola had turned out to be a shy, friendly little girl who had become fast friends with their young son, their fears had turned away. Now apprehension was replaced with meddlesome curiosity. Day in and out, when she would accompany them in the parlor or join them for dinner, they would bombard her with questions.

"Where are your parents?" they would ask, teacup in hand. "How did you end up in the river? Do you have a family? What is your real name? Who hurt you? Where do you live?"

All of it was rather overwhelming for Viola, and she would simply shake or nod her head, cry softy, or answer in an evasive way. Crying worked best, as they would cease pestering her and Lady Byrnes would rub her back and give her a hanky to wipe away her tears. Despite all that, she and Reuben were growing closer each day when they would slip away to the greenhouse to tend to plants. Many times his little sisters, Percilla and Rose, would be playing house and making flower crowns, uninterested in potting plants or trimming vines.

On the days when the two girls did involve themselves with Reuben and Viola, she would find herself laughing and smiling, the pain in her shoulder nearly gone now. Other than intimidating Lord Brynes, Viola found herself loving the family and wishing she did not have to hide so much from them. Slowly but surely, over many months, she began relenting little facts and secrets here and there. Sometimes Lady Byrnes would be the one to learn something new, or the sisters would tease something out of her, but it was Reuben who was the first and only one to learn her real name.

They were digging up weeds from the edge of the greenhouse so they could plant sunflowers when she decided that he should know.

"Reuben," she asked, yanking up a dandelion. "What do you think the first letter of my name is?"

The boy looked up, startled.

"Why do you ask? Will you tell me if I get it right?"

"Perhaps," she replied, heart racing.

"Hmm. I think, M for Mary? Or no, C, as in Cathrine. Everyone names their daughter Catherine."

"Try again," she encouraged, digging harder at the weeds.

"Uhm, L? Or R?"

At the shake of her head, he continued.

"Does it start with D? N? P? A? T?"

"A," she stated, stopping his words. "A for Abilene."

"Really?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Really," she nodded. "That's my real name."

At this, Rueben grinned.

"Am I the only one that knows?" he asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes," Abilene said, smiling too. "It'll be our secret, alright?"

"Our secret," he repeated. "I'll guard it with my life."

"I'm sure you will," she said. "Now let's hurry and finish weeding so we can plant."

"I bet you can't pull as many weeds as I can," Reuben teased, hurriedly returning to his work.

"Nothing good comes of betting," she scolded, racing him.

"Ha! Just say you can't!"

"Never!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the greenhouse, laughing and talking, dirt on their cheeks and sun in their hair. It was to be like this for months to come until winter came and everything shriveled and turned brown. Then the green returned in spring, and Rueben and Abilene, still called Viola by the rest of the house, replanted and grew tanned in the sun. Then it was over all too quickly, with winter coming once more. As the months passed and the two children grew, so did the Lady Byrnes's strictness.

Soon Abilene and Rueben were trapped inside for hours on end, noses glued to their studies, dust and shadow turning them pale once more and making them forget all about their greenhouse and the memories they had made there. Years began to pass, with only short visits to their once beloved garden, and soon the Byrnes had made her part of the family, treating her like another child. There were hardly any secrets between them now, and Abilene had told them all of her real name, although she stuck to being called Viola.

Everything was nearly perfect. She had a family, an education, friends, new dresses and plenty to eat, and Rueben turned into a blushing mess every time she smiled at him. Lady Byrnes, who she called mother now, pampered her and made sure that she was up to date on all the current fashions, as she was now a "young woman". There was only one problem, Abilene still had a closet of skeleton secrets that were scratching at the door, setting her on edge.

Where had her attacker gone? Where had the men who had chased her go? Did they give up? What would happen to her if they found her? What would happen to her and Rueben if the Lady and Lord discovered that they hadn't just been playing in the woods and river when they were children and instead had been gardening? Did they even know how dangerous it was to have a garden? These things ate away at her until she thought she would burst. And it all got worse when the Lord and Lady called her to Lord Byrnes' study.

"We've decided it's time to find you a husband," he had said.

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Hey those of you who have gotten this far! :D I'm dropping this note to let you all know that I've decided to make this story pretty short and focus my attention on my novel I am writing and my other story, The Silver Six. Don't worry, I will finish this story, but it's going to be a short story, like, baby size. Anyhoo, have fun reading!