Flowers And Fire

Chapter 2

The room that they'd entered seemed to be some sort of drawing room. The walls were in a dark green and the floor were red tiles and the walls were covered in paintings of the rich countryside and detailed flowers. There was a polished round table located in the centre which lay gold and blue teacups and a bunch of different, sweet smelling flowers. It was very beautiful in Elaine's mind, she'd never seen a room like this, with it's expensive décor and the sweet aroma in the air that the flowers were giving off. Elaine was so taken by the room they'd come into that she didn't look where she was going. Her skirts got caught on the hook of the windowsill which when she went to move her leg, caused her to lose her balance and land on the tiles with a thud.

After groaning a little and Mojo bouncing down to her, checking she was alright; Elaine realised she hadn't hit her head but her legs were certainly going to be bruised. Mojo tutted at her, only serving to make her more annoyed at her predicament. Elaine opened her mouth to fire back but was stopped by the sound of delicate footsteps approaching the drawing room, Elaine began to panic but wasn't able to pick herself up soon enough before another woman sauntered in.

Her appearance, Elaine was ashamed to say, made her stop short and stare. Her woman was wearing a lacey, white blouse that was tucked into a long skirt that fell to her ankles. The woman also had tanned skin, hair of the richest blacks; cut before her shoulders and eyes that were the blackest eyes Elaine had ever seen. Her expression was a mixture of cold knowing and extreme boredom, regardless she wasn't happy.

When Elaine found her voice again, she spoke chokingly. "I am so sorry Miss, I didn't mean to-"

The lady before Elaine didn't give her the chance to finish her sentence before gripping a pitcher from the sideboard and making her way towards Elaine. At this Elaine got to her feet trying to tell the woman to stop to no avail, Mojo was meowing to the woman and jumping around her skirts. Elaine was almost up against the wall now with the lady carrying the pitcher, ready to break it over Elaine's head.

"What's going on?"

The voice Elaine knew so well filled the room, the woman and Elaine peered over to the doorway to see Ralph.

He was just as Elaine had remembered he'd been. A pretty round face and round blue eyes, the same colour as fresh salt water and blonde hair that spiked up messily around his scalp. Her brother was wearing a white dress shirt that was rolled up to the elbows coupled with a brown, sleeveless waistcoat with it's buttons undone and grey trousers. The moment his eyes fell upon Elaine, his mouth opened wide and he'd paled considerably. The woman slowly lowered the pitcher, not looking at Elaine. A sickening silence followed before Ralph whispered in his same soft voice. "Elaine...?"

That was enough for Elaine. She raced towards her brother and wrapped her arms around his neck. For a second he was too startled to move but he quickly regained himself and returned the hug by wrapping his arms around Elaine's shoulders. Ralph smelled like the hot sunshine of Florida and sweet flowers. Elaine could feel the hot tears streaming down her face as she remembered all her childhood with her brother. "What are you doing here?" Ralph asked, pulling away from the hug after a while and faced her, his eyes bloodshot and pale face stained with tears.

"I wanted to find you Ralph!" Elaine grinned but her smile slowly faded as she spoke again. "I had to, I never stopped looking for you-" Her hands trembled a little as she tried hiding them behind her skirts. She hated crying especially in front of other people. "Why didn't you say anything?"

A flash of sadness settled on Ralph's bright eyes. "I am so sorry Ellie, I just-I just had to keep you and Pa safe."

At the mention of her father, Elaine's need to cry more grew stronger. She could imagine his sickly, pale face in her mind. His hard, gravelly American voice sing her songs and tell her stories. He lost the spark in his ash coloured eyes ever since Ralph had left. "How touching, truly." A soft, light voice filled the room, Elaine turned her head to see another cat perching idly on the sideboard next to the doorway. This one was a very deep brown, almost black in it's short, cropped fur. It was carefully watching the siblings with a pair of steady, knowing yellow eyes. "Now this is exciting isn't it?"