Y O U R C R U C I B L E
"May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."
Lottie Thorne, sister of the notorious Freddie Thorne, is counted as part of the Shelby family. And her loyalty is...
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"You have news?"
Ada held the newly named Peter in her arms as she sat on Lottie's bed as Lottie, herself, busied around looking for his toy as he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Karl ran into the room, his hands covering his ears, Freddie beside him, copying his cousin. "Why is he being so loud!" shouted Karl.
"Because he's a baby," said Ada rolling her eyes. "You did the very same."
"Yes, but not that much," he argued.
"Go play with Freddie," she instructed. "Off you go."
Freddie pulled on Karl's shirt before hurrying away, his legs waddling as fast as they could carry him.
When the crying finally ceased, Lottie sighed heavily, stress clear on her face. Ada smiled at her before resting Henry in the cot. His eyes shut, looking angelic in his sleep. Peter's dark tuffs of hair lay flat on his head at the front but at the back, his hair spiked in curls in all directions. The two women stood at the end of the cot, staring at him. "Let's go and leave him to sleep," murmured Ada softly.
Lottie nodded, the two leaving the room, shutting the door after them. As they made their way down the stairs, they heard Karl and Freddie giggling as they played together in the garden. Ada smiled at the sound. "Karl loves playing with his cousin," she said.
"So does Freddie," Lottie replied. The two of them sat in the living room next to the window so they could watch their children.
Lottie then looked at her. "You know, you didn't need to come all the way here to see me," she said.
She shrugged, her eyes hesitantly going to the window before looking back at Lottie. "I wanted to see how my nephews were doing," she replied.
Lottie nodded, but narrowed her eyes slightly in a sceptical way, but Ada avoided her eyes. She was hiding something and this made Lottie's suspicions rise. It wouldn't be anything bad or Ada wouldn't be able to smile, she wasn't very good at hiding bad news. So it was something, not bad, but still a secret.
Ada cleared her throat after looking down at her watch. "I think Michael told me he wanted you to drop in to see him with the kids at four."
"Four?" Lottie repeated. "But he doesn't finish until six today."
Again, Ada shrugged. "That's just what he said." With a raised brow, Lottie hummed, but amused enough to play along with whatever Ada was in on.
When four o'clock arrived, Lottie had put Peter in a stroller and had Freddie on her hip. Hugging Ada and Karl goodbye, she left to walk to Michael's office. It wasn't a far walk and with the baby asleep, Lottie enjoyed it. When she arrived at the building and opened the door, she lowered Freddie to the floor so that he could run to Michael's office; he knew where it was.
