For My Sisters

Chapter One

A/N: 

This is a story that will be set in the same time period and world as Hidden Mysteries, one of my other books. However, they'll be separate stories. You will not have to read or know Hidden Mysteries to understand this book as it will have a entirely different plot and none of the characters will be the same. (Or at least, I'll explain every character like they're new.) This will be my first attempt at a romance novel, so wish me luck. I'll need it.

As a warning, I will probably be whipping out short and unedited chapters. They will be crude so bare with me. Hehe. 

If you'd like to give me critique or advice, I'll always welcome it. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I'll enjoy writing it. Happy reading! (: 

 

 

 

Chapter One

“Penelope.”

Blonde hair whipped through the wind as the girl in question turned around. Her blue eyes were like crystals, deep and penetrating when she looked at someone beneath her dark, thick lashes. On her tall, thin body was a dress of dark blue material that hugged her curves. Scattered across her small nose were light freckles and her full lips were always a pleasant shade of pink. Nothing competed with her smile.

And there it was; her lovely smile as she looked at the man she loved. “Petre!” She called with a grin, running towards him and wrapping her arms around him in an embrace.

People in the square turned to watch the couple for a moment before carrying on with their business. The sun seemed to be aimed directly at Petre and Penelope, illuminating their entwined bodies as they stood in the middle of the dirt road.

Petre smiled and his own arms slipped around Penelope. He kissed her forehead with his own soft lips, his light brown hair tickling her skin as it swept along her brow. “Oh, how I have missed you, my darling.” He pulled away to grin at her. His own face was decorated with freckles, but Penelope had always thought of them as endearing. His nose was crooked from a fight he had been in and one of this lovely brown eyes was lopsided, but none of this bothered the young girl.

“We only just saw each other last night.” Penelope found herself giggling. Petre never failed to make her feel as if she were a young girl instead of the seventeen-year-old she really was.

Petre pulled Penelope closer, a smirk tugging at his lips. “But it has felt like forever.” He told her, eyes dancing with light before he leaned in and kissed her. Penelope melted at his touch, molding against him as they kissed.

Too soon, they broke apart, both with breathless grins on their faces. “Penelope Blythe,” Petre whispered, burying his face in the crook of Penelope's neck. His breath fanned out on her pale skin. “I love you. I will love you for always... Will you be mine?”

Penelope froze, her heart sputtering. Had he really just asked her that? Or was it simply or imagination? She tried to discreetly pinch her arm to make sure she was really awake. Petre pulled away to look at her tentatively as he waited for her answer.

“Oh Petre...” Penelope started, her mouth beginning to widen into a smile. “Of course I will.”

With a grin, Petre pulled Penelope close for another kiss, this one more passionate than the last. They pulled away from each other, both laughing with joy. “I already have asked your father; he has given us his blessing.”

“Maybe we should inform him of the happy news?” Penelope suggested as the smile stayed glued on her face. It could not be helped.

Hand in hand, the couple began walked through the square of their small village. Many of the wooden houses they passed were falling apart from age and weather. None of the streets in Geringklein were paved with cobblestone and this was completely fine with most of the inhabitants of the village. Geringklein was barely large enough to be counted as a town. It was always a surprise when the village was drawn on the map of the country Krajina.

Passing the crumbling fountain in the center of town, Penelope led Petre to her home that was just outside the square. Surprisingly enough, the door to her small, two-story house was already open. Her mother could be seen sweeping the front porch with a shabby broom.

“Mama! Mama, we have the most exciting news to share with you!” Penelope shouted as she began running towards her mother, Petre in tow. Penelope's mother looked up from her chore with a confused expression. Before she even had time to ask, Penelope spoke. “We are betrothed!” She grinned.

Her mother blinked before grinning herself. She quickly dropped her broom and pulled the couple into her arms for a hug. “Congratulations, you two! Hurry, we should tell your father!” The mother of Penelope pulled Petre and his new fiance through the threshold and into the small home.

“Thank you Heather.” Petre addressed her with a smile.

A large wooden table was in the center of the room with two long benches on either side of it. Against the wall lay a stove with a shelf of food next to it. There was a fireplace with a worn hearth rug in front of it and two arm chairs. To Penelope's right lay a rickety staircase leading up to a loft. There were two rooms upstairs; her parent's bedroom and the room she shared with her siblings.

A loud wail broke the silence and Heather rushed upstairs, profusely apologizing to the couple and telling them she would be right back. Penelope and Petre turned towards each other and smiled, their lips joining for another kiss.

“I thought it would happen.” Came a gruff voice from across the room.

“Papa!” Penelope cried euphorically after jumping away from Petre. She ran across the room to hug her father happily. “Thank you for your blessing, papa!” She lay a grateful kiss on his stubbled cheek.

His kind blue eyes smiled at her as he patted her head before turning to the young boy in the room. “You take care of her, y'hear?”

Petre nodded with a serious expression. “Yessir.”

“C'mre and gimme a hug, son.” Fredrick Blythe opened his arms wide and Petre walked forward to be engulfed in a hug by Penelope's father. Penelope herself giggled and she watched her father begin teasing her future husband. Heather came back downstairs with her baby brother, who grinned happily as he witnessed his family act like a band of idiots.