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Trefoil Chapter One

Trefoil (edited)

Chapter One

The dreams had started about ten days ago.  A single woman running through a forest, as if she were being chased by an invisible attacker.  There is a sense of fear and urgency in her movements.  She felt no need to pause for the tree limbs or brush that impedes her progress.  She was heading for a single point in the trees, an arch of branches.  Then with one fluid motion she puts something in her mouth and disappears.  Meckenzie knows who the woman is, she would know her anywhere.  Even if it had been eight years since she had seen her.  The woman was her mother.

As always, Meckenzie awakens to find herself in her room, feeling out of breath with a killer headache.  Always she wants to cry and sometimes she does.  Meckenzie stumbles into the bathroom to splash water on her face.  Sleep has been elusive.  Running a brush through her golden blond hair, she decides returning to bed will only encourage the dream to return. 

So Meckenzie pads quietly down the stairs to the first floor of the grand home that has been in her family since it was built in 1887.  It is one of the few homes surrounding Central Park that is still a single family residence.  She was always impressed that her great grandmother had taken so much care in designing the home with the architect.  The hand carved baluster that ran along the circular stair case through all seven floors.  The stained glass of the top floor that allowed rainbows to dance upon the walls throughout the day as the passing of the sun made its way across the sky. Her grandmother had loved so much having her whole family in residence when she was alive, that is why the house was so large. 

Meckenzie had explored every nook and cranny with her brother and sister.  Many adventures had taken place here.  One would enter the home on the ground floor which housed the living room, dining room, kitchen and a parlor.  The circular stair case ended in a dome at the top, allowing light to flood down all the floors to the entryway.  The terrace floor was one down from the ground floor and housed the art gallery, ballroom, and a terrace complete with garden.  One floor down from that was the gym and swimming pool.  Their father had a room and a library on the second floor.   Her brother Taggart's room and the media room were on third floor.  Meckenzie and her sister Kellan had rooms on the fourth floor.  There was a fifth floor that had a guest room and parlor. Meckenzie had always felt like the house was too big for her family, especially after her mother had vanished.

Being the first born of triplets, Meckenzie was always the first one up, so it surprised her to find her brother Taggart making coffee. 

"You're up early." 

Startled, Taggart dropped the coffee grounds on the kitchen floor.

"I have a Physics exam this morning, just trying to get in some extra cramming. You look like crap, trouble sleeping?"

"Thanks!"  Meckenzie growled at Taggart.

"No really, are you okay?"

"Just been having some weird dreams, well I should say a weird dream.  Is there anything for a headache in this house?"  Meckenzie and her siblings had never had to take any kind of medication.  While other kids struggled with colds and the flu, the Desmond trips, as the triplets were sometimes referred to, had perfect attendance for eight years running.  The only thing that had kept them home was that fateful spring after their tenth birthday when their mother had disappeared. 

Taggart gestured behind him, "I think dad has some stashed in the drawer by the sink."

"You look; I'll get the broom and clean up your mess."

Taggart was only a minute younger than Meckenzie, but she always felt like the older sister.  Always trying to clean up after him and keep him out of trouble.  Not that Taggart was prone to any trouble that was all Kellan.  Being the youngest of the three, Kellan always seemed to find trouble.