The Face in the House

VI

When Teddy awoke the next morning, Isabelle's bed was neatly made, and there was no sign of the strange girl. Teddy wondered if last night's conversation had been a weird, vivid dream, but she dismissed the thought. She knew she had been awake.

Teddy skipped downstairs and was greeted with the smell of fresh bread and maple bacon. Grandma Rose was busy in the kitchen when Teddy walked in.

"Good morning, dear!" she said as she lightly seasoned the contents of a sizzling skillet. "How are you this morning?"

Teddy took a seat at the kitchen table.

"I'm good," Teddy said politely. After a short pause, Teddy said, "Grandma Rose?"

Rose turned her attention to the little girl at the table, who looked like she was working out a complicated math problem in her head.

"Yes, dear? Is something on your mind?" Rose said. She took the finished eggs off the skillet and onto a serving tray with the steaming bacon and toast and joined Teddy at the table.

"I was just curious," Teddy said, brow furrowing. "Why you didn't tell Isabelle that I would be sharing her room?"

Rose's expression remained neutral for several beats, as if her great-granddaughter had spoken a foreign language. When the words finally registered, she put a hand to her chest.

"Oh! Isabelle!" Rose looked struck. "Oh I'm so sorry dear, I should've warned you. Did she give you any trouble?"

It wasn't the response Teddy had expected. "Uh... no. Not really. She was crying last night, though. And she said nobody told her I was visiting."

Rose was shaking her head, still caught up in her initial surprise.

"Oh how forgetful I can be," Rose scolded herself. "We try to give Isabelle her space. She can be quite... moody. You said she was crying?"

"Yes, she woke me up in the middle of the night. She's afraid that her fiance won't ever come back," Teddy said.

A fresh wave of surprise reached Rose's eyes. "Fiance?" And then, more to herself than to Teddy, "Why ever would she still be upset about that?"

Teddy shrugged. Still shaking her head, Rose began to serve breakfast. She sat down again across from Teddy and began cutting into her sunny-side-up egg.

"Like I've said, Teddy," she said. "We are an unusual bunch, here in this old house."

She said it like that was a conclusive answer. Teddy started digging into her breakfast.

Another quiet moment passed, the only sounds were of fork scrapings and light chewing. But Teddy's curiosity got the better of her.

"Grandma Rose?" Teddy said.

"Yes, dear?" Rose said.

"Why do you not kill the spiders?" she asked.

Although Teddy had already asked this question before, she was in the habit of asking adults the same questions twice, three times, or however many times it took until she got the real answer. Rose smiled, a smile that said, Okay, you got me, and Teddy knew she was about to get the real answer. Rose took a deep breath.

"Throughout my life, I made choices that have led me here, to this little house. And as you may have heard from your mum or dad or cousins or whomever that I haven't always been... an open person. Or even a friendly person," Rose said, appearing to be carefully constructing each word.

"What I mean is," Rose continued, "That my choices led me to be lonely and isolated. I kept myself locked away from the world. And it is my single greatest regret... if you can call all of those choices one single regret."

Rose laughed sadly. Teddy listened eagerly.

"So, the spiders," Rose went on. "To me, spiders symbolize growth, and change, and the power of our choices and our actions. Just as a spider weaves a web, we, as individuals, can weave and construct our own lives. The spiders, I would say, gave me a second chance at life.

Just then, Mr. Poole emerged from the basement door.

"Oh, Mr. Poole!" Rose called. "I was just telling Teddy about our spiders."

A strange look passed lightly over the butler's face. "The spiders?"

"Yes, the spiders. You see, dear, Mr. Poole is the one who taught me about the power of the spiders. I know it sounds so silly, but they've helped the both of us so much."

She smiled warmly at Mr. Poole, who seemed stiff.