The Troubles from Monsters and Men (The Secret of Moonacre Fanfiction)

A December's Kiss

At night, when Lizzy returned, she heard from Cat what happened and felt incredibly guilty. She knew that if Henry had been with them, none of this would have happened. Robin seemed to listen to Henry the most and showed the most restraint around him.

"Where were you earlier?" Cat asked.

"I—I was at the library—"

"With Henry?" Cat continued. She peered into Lizzy's eyes looking for a hint of lies.

"Yes," Lizzy sighed looking at the floor.

"Why were you two at the library?" Maria asked.

Lizzy sat down on one of the parlor's couches and rubbed her temple. "We were looking for any books on magic. Neither of us has had any luck with finding a way to break the curse."

"So, is that why you two have been corresponding by letter?" Jane asked. Lizzy looked at her, surprised she knew this information. "Oh, Cat told me in one of her letters," Jane explained.

Lizzy nodded her head in resignation. Cat looked at her with questioning eyes. She was sure letters weren't the only form of communication between the two, but she had yet to find evidence saying otherwise.

Henry was furious when he found out. At first, he ignored Robin and stayed with David to make sure he was alright. When David fell asleep, he spent the rest of his night fighting with Robin. He couldn't understand why Robin had insulted David. Robin argued back, pointing out that they were all in favor of Maria and didn't care for him. Eventually, though, he ran out of excuses and stayed silent while Henry continued to rebuke his actions.

As their days in Bristol passed, so did the animosity between the friends wane. David no longer spoke around Robin, and Robin stopped speaking altogether. While his anger subsided, his regret grew. He knew he had messed up. He knew he should apologize to David, but he couldn't bring himself around to doing so. Robin stopped responding to Richard's jibes and stopped complaining when his friends wanted to see the girls. Even Richard stopped teasing him. It was as though an unspoken truce had been agreed upon. One that increased twofold on Jane's birthday.

For her birthday, Richard suggested they rent out a schooner from some resting merchants. With Henry acting as captain, they took the girls sailing along the coast for the day. Once more, not a single word of complaint came out of Robin. In fact, he was the first to greet Maria. It wasn't a warm and friendly greeting, he only nodded his head in her direction, but it was an improvement from before.

David and Richard taught the girls to fish and a few sailing songs to sing. Henry taught Lizzy how to navigate and draw a map using the coastline as an example. All the while, Robin remained distant from his friends, observing them. The few times he made eye contact with Maria, he was the first to look away. Once, he was sure Maria even smiled. At sunset, Maria, Lizzy, and Cat produced three large baskets filled with delicious-smelling food. Maria had worked out a deal with Jane's cook to make this specialty dinner. One basket contained fresh dinner rolls, roasted pork, potatoes, rice, and chicken pot pies. The second basket contained a birthday cake, meringue pies, and sweet raspberry jam. The third basket did not have any food, but Jane's birthday gifts. The girls figured this was the best way to hide her gifts from her without drawing any suspicion.

Despite the lingering heaviness, they enjoyed their day and Jane loved her presents. It was with a heavy heart the girls realize this would be their final time together until next spring. Jane announced she had contacted Mrs. Watson about chaperoning the Spring Ball, a task Mrs. Watson was happy to give to one of her best pupils.

"I really wish you could all stay," Jane said with tears in her eyes. It was the end of their trip. Maria, Lizzy, and Cat had to return to their families for Christmas.