Crimson Snow

Chapter three

Katherine was staring at her feet through her fingers. She was trying desperately not to cry. Katherine had promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of her father after her mother's death. She had to stay strong, for herself and her father. She slowly looked at the couch.

Her father's legs sat tightly next to each other, his foot lightly tapping the floor. The women sitting next to him had her legs crossed. Katherine noticed that they were long and powerful. She then remember she hadn't seen De Jong standing up. Katherine took another glace at De Jong's legs. They were resting calmly on top of each other.

Wait, calm? Katherine's eyes shot up and stared at De Jong's face. Her face was everything but calm.

What is she hiding? Katherine thought. She quickly dismissed it and went back to the subject.

My mother killed herself. Katherine looked at her father.

"How..." Katherine started. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. 

"How did she kill herself?" Katherine kept looking at her father. He didn't look back at her.

"Pills." he replied in a whisper. Katherine let out a small cry, but quickly stopped the noise by covering her mouth with her hands. She was on the verge of tears. Again. That's when anger hit her. Her father and apparently some random women she had never met had lied about the death of her own mother. Katherine started to shake, she had to get answers, and she wanted to know everything.

"Tell me everything. From beginning till the end. Don't leave out anything and if I get the feeling you do, I trust you know where to find the door." Katherine snapped. She was shocked by her outburst. Katherine's father and De Jong looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Katherine's father broke the stare and started talking.

"You were so young, Kate. I couldn't bare myself telling you. I met De Jong a few months earlier and she seemed like the only person I could talk to. We decided that we would hide the truth. It took a while to make a decent plan, but you never asked how she died. When the plan was solid I told you how it had happened." 

Katherine's father's voice was filled with guilt. Katherine almost felt sorry for him, but she had to stay strong. She had to keep the upper hand. When Katherine's father understood that he wouldn't be getting a reply he continued.

"Your mother had secrets. I am sure of that. She would disappear a few days and then come back like nothing happened. I never suspected a thing. Your mother always told me when she had to go and because of the way she looked at you I knew she wasn't cheating on me. She loved you too much..." he had to stop. He took a deep breath, put his hands in his lap and continued.

"A few weeks before she died she started acting weird, distant even. Before I knew what was happening she had taken the pills and I found her on our bed". Katherine didn't know how to respond. This was way too much to take in. If what her father said was true, that her mother loved her so much, then why would she do such a thing? A thousand questions were going through Katherine's mind. She looked at her father who was waiting for an answer, maybe even just a slight nod. Katherine nodded, her cheeks glowing red from holding the tears. 

"Did she leave anything behind? A letter? Something?" Katherine asked. 

Her father looked at De Jong and took out his wallet.

"I'm sorry, Lisanna. I never told you this but I had to keep it a secret. I hope you understand".

De Jong looked surprised and confused at the same time. Katherine was almost sure she saw a hint of anger. Katherine's father took out a small piece of paper from his wallet, coloured yellow by age. He handed the piece of paper to Katherine. De Jong looked curiously at the yellow paper. It seemed to have been ripped out of a book.