After the Storm

Burglar! (part 1)

Credits to @ HarbingerOfChaos for this chapter idea :)

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"Burglar!" Aunt Brank screamed and chucked a rock at the young man dashing across her poorly tended garden.

Blast! I ducked the stone just before it could smash my brains to bits. It went crashing into the bushes.

I had taken my usual routine, of returning from work and changing back to female, for granted after a while and forgot to properly check for relatives before running towards the shed. I was an idiot.

"Leadfield!" My aunt yelled, pointing to my running figure. "Catch that man!"

Well then I didn't have much to worry about did I?

A male voice that didn't quite sound like Leadfield's bellowed angrily. "What's with all the racket? I'm trying to work here!"

Uncle Bufford had emerged from his study. This was a bad sign, very bad.

I ducked into the foliage of freely growing shrubs to hopefully conceal myself until the drama ended. I prayed fervently that they would think that the 'burglar' had left the premises and cease the search.

"Search the garden! He couldn't have left yet!" Aunt Brank screeched. "Now!"

Luck must have been smiling down at me that day.

"What is going on, pray?" Uncle Bufford questioned again, clearly annoyed that his money making had been rudely interrupted.

Anne replied demurely like the good girl she was, "I believe, dear uncle, that a thief had just intended to break in."

Maria scrunched up her dainty little nose. "I can't believe how filthy and lowly such men have to be. I mean ―"

I felt a surge of indignance. Filthy and lowly indeed! And running across lawns wasn't equivalent to wanting to steal precious belongings.

"Silence girl! I don't want to hear your pitiful whining." Our uncle snapped, cutting her off. From the cracks between branches and leaves, I could see Maria's stunned expression turn into a teary pout. I grinned. At this rate, my uncle might just become one of my favourite relatives.

Leadfield finally made an appearance as he hobbled out of the doorway, slow as a turtle. "Yes Madam?"

Realising that Leadfield's legendary speed would be of no help in looking for the strange man in the gardens, my Aunt hissed. "How about you help me out here Bufford?"

"I think I'll prefer to return to my office."

"Men!" The gaunt, middle-aged woman spat as her husband hurried back upstairs. "Fine I'll do it myself!"

Blast, blast, blast! I had only three options.

Firstly, I could try to escape through the single gate in this small backyard. However, that wouldn't be of much use as I wouldn't be able to change back into a lady and return home. I couldn't buy clothes either as all the spare cash I had brought out with me today had been spent on solid chocolate.

Second option was that I make a mad dash for the shed. That too was a flawed idea as having a man enter the shed and reappear as a woman was too conspicuous.

Lastly, I could just stay within the bushes and hope that my Aunt wouldn't find me, which was highly unlikely considering the size of the garden.

I was going to die. Hopefully my funeral would be decent and that I would have a proper coffin instead of just having my body dropped into a hole and covered with dirt. The latter seemed like a higher possibility though.

Aunt Branks had grabbed her parasol and was stabbing the bushes violently, hoping to impale any living creature that dared cross her path. She was moving closer and closer in my direction.

I realised with sinking dread that I had a fourth option: Surrender. Maybe my sentence would be more lenient if I chose that route and I wouldn't be beaten repeatedly on the head when discovered.

Oh to hell with it all!

I removed my top hat, shook my hair loose and popped out from behind the flora.

"Hi Aunt."

Her scream paused midway when she realised who the 'young man' was. The parasol that was just about to whack me across the head froze and was lowered in disbelief. "Lilly?"

I curtsied. "In the flesh."

"It ― it can't be!"

There was an array of gasps from my sisters standing on the porch. Ella with her faint heart, looked like she was on the verge of fainting.

"Oh actually no. I'm just a phantom, a figment of your imagination." I waved one hand in a slow arc to emphasize my point.

"It is you! Only Lilly will dare speak to me this way!"

Darn it. This wasn't the first time she identified me by my sparkling personality. I really had to put more effort into assuming my disguise as an apparation.

"You don't say."

It took a lot of will power to not laugh at my aunt's horror-stricken expression which consisted of bulging eyes and a slack mouth. She shared quite a few resemblences with toads, I must say.

"Please don't tell me that it's you!" Panic seeped into her voice at the thought of how a niece in male clothes could tarnish the family name.

Not feeling too corporative today, I answered. "Well I shan't tell you then." My feet shuffled in the direction of the house, wishing that the astonishment will keep my Aunt's fury at bay. "I'll just retire to my room..."

Realisation flooded into Aunt Brank's eyes. "You vixen!" She lunged for me. For an older lady, she was quick.

Her vice like grip clamped onto my arm and she dragged me off towards the house despite my protests. My siblings stared, mouth agape, still not able to process the strange incident.

You're dead. My inner voice informed uncompassionately.

I sighed. I know.

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Whoa so I posted like 3 chapters today XD. This must be some kind of record haha. So I will get down to writing part 2 tomorrow. It's already quite late at night and I really need my beauty sleep.

By the way, I'm so sorry about how disorganised the positioning of chapters are. I'm currently just improvising.

Please Vomment! (Vote and Comment).

xoxo,
Beth