JULIET'S QUILL

CHAPTER 10: Lost and Found

"I'm a painter."

The pale color of her wrinkled face changed to pink, as she smiled.

"If your're a painter, you don't need a Job. You can earn twice as compared to half of the people around here."

"I can?"

"Only if you're good enough." She finished her portion of bread and stood up. "Finish your meal while I return back"

"Where are you going?"

"To spread the word about a painter." She chuckled like a little girl.

I started eating as she rushed out of the door. It took me less than five minutes to finish the tiny meal, and then I roamed around the house. Honestly, it was more like taking few steps forward and then backwards in the parlor rather than roaming around. Suddenly, I realized that I had nothing to paint with. And buying all those things would be too expensive for the old Lady. My happiness dissolved in the sea of disappointment again.

There was a soft knock at the door. I kept sitting, as i knew, it couldn't be Mrs.Renard. It was only 15 minutes since she left. But the knocking continued, and I had to open the door, eventually.

"Mrs.Renard?"

The voice spoke as I opened the door. "Who're you?"

The visitor was a young lady with black hair and blue eyes, in her early thirties  wearing a slim fitting frock with a cake in her hands. She was amused to see me, rather than being shocked.

"I'm her Grand son...Marcus."

She laughed, and pushed me back inside the house with a soft push.  She placed the cake on the table, and turned her head towards me.

"She's not here. I can't let you inside the house." I said without taking my eyes off her.

"You're not her grandson. And she won't mind having me around for a while in her absence."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm her daughter,Pauline Josephine Renard." She sat on the chair facing me. Her playful nature was making me uncomfortable. There was something wrong with her, but I couldn't point out what.

"But her daughter is dead." I shot a blind arrow which hit the bull's eye.

She frowned,"Lucy wasn't her only daughter. I'm sorry for what happened to her, but it isn't my fault.She can have a stranger in her house, rather than her own daughter."

"If you don't mind, Can I ask what happened to her?"

"Who are you again?"

"Marcus... the pretending Grandson. Actually, I came here in search of something and your mother offered me a place to stay."

She nodded,"It's not a new thing. She had offered her place to stay to almost everybody."

She remained silent for a minute and then continued," My brother, Hansel was a painter. He fell in love with a girl, who was of higher status than him. He was afraid to tell her, so he stalked her around and painted her pictures.  She became an obsession for him. He was caught watching her sleep one night and her father killed him. Later, he found out about  portraits of her daughter selling all around the market. What angered him the most was her naked ones, that got out after Hansel was murdered.  People used them to condemn and protest against the brutality, and his tortuous death."

There were tears in her eyes, that she managed to absorb back without shedding a single one.

"He was whipped to death and then his head was hanged in front of our house. I was too young then, but Lucy was elder than both of us. Mother sent me away, to my maternal Uncle outside Paris and told me not to return back. Lucy had to stay back to take care of her. I heard, about one week later than they took Lucy with them. She was raped many times, and then she was marched around the streets naked as a symbol of punishment. She committed suicide a month later."

She was lost in deep thoughts, so I remained quiet. She kept staring at the floor, and continued.

"People don't care about the side they are on, they just love talking. Those portraits were lost, in the new gossips about my sister. My mother lost everything she had, but she still refused to left this place. She forgot about me. She never came to meet me, not even on my wedding day.But here I am, 20 years later, living just few streets away from her with a gambler husband and two daughters. I don't know, why she can't look at me like she used to. Sometimes, I need my mother.... Everybody does."

I got up and gave her a glass of water. She gulped the water, like it would neutralize the fire inside her but it was useless. She burst into tears, and buried her face in her lap. I was about to comfort her, when the door opened behind me. Mrs. Renard walked inside.

"What are you doing here, Pauline?" She spoke coldly.

"Happy Birthday, Mother." She got up, and started walking towards the door.

I spoke," I'm really hungry and the cake looks delicious. Why don't we celebrate your mother's birthday together?"

Pauline looked at her mother and she nodded. Mrs. Renard was lost in her own thoughts as we savored the delicious cake. Nobody spoke anything but I knew, Pauline was happy. Suddenly, I felt a part of a family. I never had that feeling with Ethan, although, Nicholas was someone I could relate to. He was like a Not-likable" sibling to me.I watched the both woman eating the cake while fighting silently in their heads. At the end, Mrs.Renard spoke.

"Can I know the name of your Mother and Father?"

"Alice and Alexander Breton."

"I think, I found them."