Bouquet D'Illusions ▷ Enola Holmes

ii. a secret which i desired to divine

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. The sun sent an army of light down to emphasize the beauty of the scenery around her, the trees standing silently like armored bark sentinels while flowers waved in the slight breeze in a stunning discord of color, dazzling the senses and eyes as beautiful arrays of greens and blues, yellows and purples nearly became overwhelming. The homely smell of pine drifted in the air and lingered like a charm, gently accompanied by the distant sounds of twittering birds gossiping in the tall trees.

As much as she would have liked to imagine it so, the hill she stood upon was nothing like the one in her imagination. Instead, it was a pitiful hump of a thing, disgracefully located in the middle of a path of trees as if nature was apologizing for its very being, doomed to sit among far prettier creations as if its unwilling existence was not punishment enough.

She stood as still as the trees upon the hill, not totally frozen, for just as their budded twigs moved as did her long red hair, a color she had despised for so long and had only recently begun to come to terms with. Her eyes closed, she could feel her braid loosen as the tousled ribbon became undone, and with a laugh as quiet and private as the moment itself, Alice shook her head furiously, allowing her hair to whip naturally in the breeze around her face. She took several deep breaths and finally allowed herself to properly take in the view, opening her eyes and letting out a sigh of content as she stared around her as if seeing everything for the first time.

The forest, of course, was not really a forest, she only imagined it to be, seeing as how the heart of London hardly allowed for such spaces without a factory or road of some kind. The comforts of her home was not far off and for that she was grateful, for it granted her the peace and quiet she so rarely got to enjoy, what with the hustle and bustle of the city and her family—albeit small, they could make quite a bit of noise. And yet she wouldn't give up any of it for the world.

It didn't take more than a glance to see the fields beyond the patch of trees, laid out like one of her mother's quilts, figures of varying ages sharing the same dark complexion bent over, tending to the crops. But instead of her usual magentas and cyans, it was the earthen colors of early spring—ploughed fields of brown and small pastures that are still dull, rather than reflecting the bright hue of new growth. It was too early for the blooming flowers she loved so dearly, but she knew the area so well her disappointment was dimmed by the image of her own garden, the sight of the tightly folded petals practically bursting to bloom never failing to bring a smile to her face. These stolen moments in nature were here treasure, sanctuary from the busy hubbub of her life and the city.

The faint noise of a bell snapped her back to reality, and it was with a fleeting sigh of disappointment that she bid farewell to the forest, turning on her heel and practically skipping back home where boring things like chores and shopping and responsibilities awaited her. But the thought of seeing her sister brightened her mood, having not seen her come home late from the theatre the night before, and Alice was dying to know how it went, in hopes it would give her the boost she needed to push past the writing slump she was currently in with her writing.

Her sister, Mabel, was quiet and gentle where Alice was boisterous, the shyer of the two and the pianist of the family. Despite being only a few years younger, Mabel seemed to be infused with quiet wisdom that she often gently bestowed upon Alice during rows, openly accepting her role as the peacemaker of their small family. The two girls may not have been as close as they both secretly wished—each had her own reasons for withdrawing; not that they would ever reveal them to the other—but their devotion to each other was stronger than either could have hoped for, despite being far more similar than they realized.