The Other Sister

15

It was all silent until Uncle Julian began to recite his book once again. "Chapter 36. It was a beautiful meal." I picked at my food. Rolling the peas around on my plate. I was not craving a meal tonight. My intuition is telling me that something will go wrong. Constance noticed my reluctance to eat. "Beatrice? Are you not hungry?" I shook my head. I wrote down on my notepad 'I have not felt the greatest. I apologize for not eating this lovely meal you prepared.' She smiled and said "Oh, that's alright petal. Would you like some warm broth?" I shook my head and jotted down 'I am not going to make you do that. I am enjoying your company.' I smiled and looked back to Charles. He gave me a small smile and said "We are enjoying your company as well. Stay until we are done. I would still love to eat with you." It felt like the corners of my mouth were megents to my ears. I smiled and nodded as I set my notepad back down on the table. I took small sips of my water while Constance and Charles talked about the weather, and the estate, and what to do about Uncle Julian. While sipping my water, I was looking at Julians papers. He was writing a beautiful story. I wrote down if he wanted any help. He said "Dear, I want you to write down what your experience was before meeting your real sisters. Is that alright?" I smiled and nodded! I was very excited to be a part of his book!

Writing down what happened before I met the Blackwoods was hard to find in my head. I really only have memories from the Blackwood house. One memory in particular that I do remember is the one morning my "mother" and "father" took me to the city library for the first time. The book I chose was "Alice in Wonderland." When they took me to the children's section of the library, it was the first book that I went to. The brightest blue book on the shelves. The books smelled of dust, but it was a good kind of dust. It was the kind of dust you would find on worn-out, well used, well loved items. This book gave me an imagination! It gave me the freedom to think outside of the box when odd things happened to me. For example, why did people think I was off at school? It wasn't the way I dressed, it wasn't the way I talked. But since I had an imagination, one explanation could be that maybe I had bunny ears that I didn't know about. Or what if I had whiskers and people were too afraid to talk to me because of them! When I got older, I finally figured out that I was just abandoned by my real parents. Kids at the age of 7-10 don't understand what it feels like to be abandoned. I am only remembering small bits and pieces of my real mother. Mrs. Ellen Blackwood birthed me, and willingly gave me away to her sister's family. The Whitfords. I knew something wasn't right when I grew up in that house. It was a house without the walls of a home. It wasn't a home. It was a ploy to keep me away from the people I truly love. My sisters.

I chose to write all of this down, knowing Uncle Julian would be pleased to read about it.

"Here she is." A voice had entered my conscious mind. I lifted my head to be met with Merricat entering the room. She was a mess, with soil on her face and in her fingernails. Her braids mangled and ratted at the ends. Constance turned to Merricat and said in a voice like a mothers "Wash your face and your hands. Get ready for dinner. Cousin Charles is already angry with you." Charles sat down his fork and wiped his mouth with his napkin before he spoke. "Your sister and I have had enough of your hiding and destroying and temper. We're going to have a long talk tonight after I enjoy the beautiful meal that your sister made for us this afternoon." I looked at her with empathy in my eyes. I felt a ping of guilt in my heart for not being there for her. I wanted to please Charles and I wanted to please Constance by showing respect. But Merricat, all she wants to do is protect us. "Run along, Merricat. Your dinner will be cold." Constance said after she took a sip of her water.

Merricat looked at me and gave me a small smile. I smiled back and slightly nodded my head. She made her way to the doorway of the dining room but was stopped when Charles spoke. "Let me ask you a question, Mary. Why don't you like me?"