The Occult's Caretaker

20. The Matriarch

"Well, if it isn't my little Jiji" a voice said from behind me in the garden.

I turned to see my mother's face, but with many more greys in her hairline. Months had passed, and as the new season blew in, so did my grandmother. I don't know how long it had been since she went on her mission to visit the caretaker outposts, but seeing her again made the little girl in me explode. I ran to bear hug her, and strong, steady hands squeezed back. She smiled at me and cupped my face.

"You've grown so much. I could have sworn when I left you were but a wee lass that was always getting into trouble"

I pouted at her words as we strolled towards the house. As we passed through the door, Mother gasped in shock.

"Mother?!"

"Gaea", she cooed warmly as Mother ran to embrace her.

"I'm so glad to see you back home, Mother"

"My, my, still such a baby", Grandmother teased.

"Hardly", Mother disagreed, "I've averted many disasters in your stead"

"So, I've heard. Well done", she quietly served herself some tea.

A crash suddenly resounded through the house and growls echoed off the walls. Shimo raced into the kitchen in his fox form with a large cat running after him. He jumped into my arms, trembling in fear. Looking down at the animal, it was Grandmother's lynx, Zazelle.

"Zazelle, calm", Grandmother commanded, "And who might this be?"

"Shimo. He's a Western Snow Fox Tribe child we recently rescued. He wanted to stay here, so he helps around the house", Mother explained.

"Ohh?", Grandmother said prying him from my arms, "You're a long way from home"

Grandmother bent down to introduce Zazelle to his smell, but she simply huffed and walked away displeased. That cat always had such a snobbish attitude.

"Anyway, Gaea, we must ready the house. Over the next few days, the east and west family heads will gather for a meeting. It's time we discuss the future of the Aniceta"

Mother's face darkened with fear and worry. I didn't quite understand why, but this meeting seemed serious. The Aniceta family is essentially split in two, the Western and the Eastern Aniceta. My great-grandmother ruled the entire family with an iron fist until her dying day, so she didn't declare an heir. The solution was to split the family in two amongst her twin daughters.

The first to arrive was my great aunt, Esmeray, who was the spitting image of my grandmother. The only difference between them was their clothing; Aunt Ray preferred a more luxurious, colorful style of dress, whereas grandma Eleadora... Well her color had always been widow's black, even before she was widowed, so I've heard. Ironically their personalities did not match their clothes, for Aunt Ray was a rather stern, prickly character, while grandmother was softer than warm honey. As she entered the house, Aunt Esmeray frowned in disgust as though she had just walked into a barn.

"It's worse than I remember", she said looking around.

"Now mother don't be that way", her oldest son pleaded, "it still has its charm... in an old-fashioned sort of way"

I grimaced as the western family snickered in the foyer. Hesitantly, I went up to greet them.

"Great aunt Ray, cousins, I greet thee", I tried my best to smile with a small bow, "It is good to see you all well"

"Jylan", Esmeray sighed in disappointment as she ran her eyes over me, "Has the eastern family become so poor that you can't even afford to wash your face and not wear rags in my presence?"