Sorry for the looong delay (by my standards, that is...)I had no internet connection for the whole of yesterday. Without much ado about nothing, Here's chapter 21! (bear with this one...it is essential for my story to get closure, and it shows Rachel in a different light from the sweet-tempered governess we know her to be)
CHAPTER 21
The first day of the New Year came and went, January morphed into February, and soon the spring air was cheerily invading every corner of Carillon Hall. Warmth permeated the chilly corridors, and the children swooped over the gardens out of sheer joy in being outside again. The gardeners started grumbling about their precious flower beds being wrecked by marauding little Herringfords, and in the last week of March Miss Warren took it upon herself to propose a picnic in the little dell off the woods surrounding the Hall. Sunlit and filled with crocuses at this time of the year, it would be simply lovely to behold. This suggestion was greeted with much alacrity by her students.
“What a lovely idea, Miss Warren!” Diana exclaimed ecstatically. “It would be so lovely to go to Blossom Vale, we have not walked that far for months!” To Alicia she whispered, “I really long to be free of the house again and go off on our own for some time. We can be completely free and act as we want without fear of being reprimanded by Mama or Papa.”
But plans were changed a bit when Rachel went to gain the permission of said ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’. Mrs. Herringford cracked a genteel smile at the notion of sitting under the temperate sun for a whole day. Mr. Herringford got his work completed so that he could be undisturbed. The whole family got ready to lounge around in the flower-filled meadow, even Brian – to Rachel and the Herringford girls’ understandable dismay. He is sure to tear the wings off every butterfly he sees, after trampling on every bloom in sight, Rachel thought mournfully as she went to discuss the all-important question of the picnic basket with Mrs. Talcott.
Xxxxx
Diana and Alicia had had the same notion. “We can’t let him blight our day out, Ally,” Diana said determinedly. “He will despoil the place, make Miss Warren run after him the whole time, and dampen everyone’s mood. We must keep him back somehow.”
“Easier said than done, Di,” Alicia replied imperturbably. “Can you see Brian staying back when there is pandemonium to be created?”
“Alas, most true indeed are the doom-laden words escaping your prescient lips. Gone, gone are the lovely days when my beloved brother was strung up by a leg. Ah, when will he leave for school and torture the schoolmasters instead of us?” Diana struck a dramatic pose to make her younger sister dissolve in giggles, before straightening up.
“I believe that we might see to it that he takes his milk like a good boy. Milk will make him grow big and strong enough to bother every unassuming creature in his path.” She winked at Alicia, making the other girl draw back a little in alarm. “What are you planning, Di? I do not, repeat do not like the glint in your eyes!”
Diana shrugged nonchalantly, before whispering in the other girl’s ear, “Well, you have to admit that I do share some blood with the greatest scourge mankind has ever known. It cannot but show on occasion; but I assure you that I will try to only use my gift for the betterment of mankind.”
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Brian developed a slight tummy-ache an hour before the party was ready to set out. It soon developed into bowel problems and there was no way he could go with them to the Vale. Mrs. Herringford stayed back to nurse him and try to ‘tease his appetite with some nourishing gruel’. Mr. Herringford had to go to fetch a doctor for his ailing son, who reported that apparently the child had ingested some mildly poisonous berries or herbs that irritated his insides, and will be perfectly fine again in a couple of days. On hearing this he was relieved enough to permit his older children to go along and enjoy themselves as planned, since Brian was in no danger and the poor things would be in the way at home in any case. Miss Warren was an adequate chaperone.
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Rachel's Story
Historical FictionRachel Warren was an ordinary maiden leading an ordinary yet secure life, until an unforeseen misfortune forces her to take up a post as governess to two young girls. Follow her as she travels the paths of her life where she gets her first job, fall...
