We had been away from school yesterday due to a family event, returning today to hear whispers about a new girl.
Of course we had seen glimpses of her throughout the morning but she didn't really register for us, just another student hurrying between classes her head down and focussed.
We had enough on our plate with our brothers having just got married and their moving out chaos at home, and of mum turning her now undivided attention on us, now we were the only children left at home. I hoped the triplets produced more grandbabies for her quickly, or that Ama comes home to visit and distracts her with her two.
There were of course benefits to our brothers marrying and moving out, we had taken over the suite of rooms that the triplets had had previously, a mini apartment within the house, it had more space for us and some independence from the rest of the parents.
Yes parents, we had three fathers also triplets and our mother who were 'married'. They had met when they were guarding mom against some threat for our great uncle, who was head of one of the country's secret services. Our fathers and our older brothers now all worked for the same agency, something we had grown up with but held no interest for us currently.
Mom had been a stay at home mom for most of our childhood but she was just as dangerous if not more so that the males in our family and Ama, our delicate tiny sister, she was even worse.
I think the whole family was actually relieved she never wanted into the family business, instead she had been a world class athlete before... well before she decided she would rather coach. And that was how she met her husbands, Twins, Rome and Rio Kingswood were Olympian rowers who had terrorised everyone who tried to manage them except our sister and then they had married and never doing anything by halves had had their own twins at their wedding reception. Now our older brothers were married to Ama's sister in law Paris, even more firmly meshing our family with theirs.
This of course had led to more gossip and press about the way both our family and the Kingswood's chose to live, from the parents down to the children most were in poly or menage relationships. Some people really couldn't get their head around the fact that love doesn't just have to be between a couple and some comments made about our families could be downright hostile, even as they were trying to curry favour due to the wealth and powerful connections both families had, this had led to us being popular but sometimes feeling like exhibits in a zoo.
We had been talking about the recent family weekend at Kingswood when our gaze had been drawn to the door and there she was, the new girl.
Then everything seemed to race as Stephanie King came up behind her and pushed her to the floor, laughing at her and inciting the other students to join in as she snapped at the girl on the floor. It was only new girls second day so what the hell had she done to provoke Steph?
"Look at the new girl, already falling over her feet, what's the matter scared" Stephanie stands over the girl. She moves to get up, reaching for her bag but Stephanie kicks it away, her face set in a scowl "You ratted me out to Lane! " she hisses and she pushes her back down.
"I didn't!" her voice is clear and surprisingly un-scared.
"Liar" Stephanie screeches pulling her leg back and I'm on my feet Simon at my side as we rush forward getting in between them.
"Steph, back off, what the hell are you doing" I growl.
"Blake, what! get out the way!" she steps back as I move forward , my gaze holding hers. I know she won't challenge me, no one in this school would. I can hear Simon behind me murmuring to the girl, and Steph's eyes move beyond me and she glares again at the girl and I wonder again what she had done to cause this.
The atmosphere in the class changes as Mr Havers enters, his gaze assessing the tableau in front of him.
"Simon, Blake? Stephanie would one of you like to tell me what's going on?" he asks, as the rest of class hurriedly returning to their desks.
"I fell sir, they were helping me up" I hear her clear voice behind me and fight to keep the surprise off my face, She is saving Steph's arse... why.
"Simon?" Mr Havers asks.
"I was just helping her up" he replies truthfully without revealing what actually happened.
"Hmm, if you say so. Take your seats please" he moves to his desk.
I turn and see Simon tuck his arm through hers and guide her to our table, passing her bag back to her as he introduces us. "Simon Masters, this is my brother Blake" he introduces himself and points at me .
"Beatrice Blackstone" she replies softly.
"Welcome to Holmwood" he grins as class finally starts with Mr Havers handing our a quiz.
"You have till the end of class, if you finish before then raise you hand and I will collect the test and you may do what you want as long as it doesn't disturb other students" he calls out, moving round the room and placing the tests on each table. My gaze catches Simon's before both of us look at Beatrice, her head down and already filling in answers.
She finishes first lifting her hand to signal, the first in the class to do so and I hide my grin, its usually me or Simon first. By the time Mr Havers reaches the table both of us have finished as well and we each pass the test across before settling back to watch our new companion.
She is beautiful in a classic sort of way, not flashy like Steph but softer, more timeless and clearer. Where Steph uses a lot of makeup to make her best features stand out, Beatrice's face is makeup free. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a notebook, her schedule tucked inside and I reach across and pull it free.
"Hey!" she whisper at me, her glare narrowing on the piece of paper in my hand.
"Ssh" I whisper back with a grin as I skim the page, she has a lot of similar classes to Si and I, i pass it to him for a look before he hands it back to her. Again his eyes meet mine and I know what he is thinking. There is something about her that draws us to her and I feel a rush of adrenaline as I start to plan how we can persuade her she belongs with us.
"Join us for lunch" I tell her as class ends and the rest of the students rush to leave.
"Why?" she asks softly tilting her head as she look between us.
"Just because" Simon tells her and she stares at him before she suddenly laughs.
"Sure, why not" she agrees and I grab her bag to carry before she can, her brows arch and she looks at me for a moment before shrugging and I grin, leading the way to the courtyard, reaching into my bag as Simon pulls out his lunch, thankful that mom always packs too much food for us.
That had been that start of getting to know our new friend, each morning we would meet her off the bus, Steph had backed off aside from sending evil looks our way, but we kept an eye out and if one of us had an after school event the others would stay and do homework to keep the other company, occasionally she tried to leave us alone but we weren't having that, she was our third musketeer!
It had taken us two weeks to get her settled into a routine with us but it had taken us nearly a full term before we realised how things were at home for her.
We had invited her home for a BBQ, the weather had been good and both Ama and the triplets were coming, Mom had been asking questions and we had finally told her about our new friend and she had kept dropping hints about meeting her, so we had asked, she had deflected the first couple of invitations, citing she had family stuff at weekends, which we understood but when she didn't turn up to school on Friday and there had been no answer when we had called her, we had worried.
When we had got home we had used dad's office and hacked the school database, getting her address, Dad Knox had caught us and after reading the riot act about hacking protocols, he had agreed to drive us to her house to check on her.
The gates were open and as we drove up an older woman was coming round the side of the house. She looked worried and dad opened the window as she moved towards the car.
"Hello, we are looking for Beatrice" he said and the woman barked out a laugh.
"Good at least someone is!" She replied watching us.
We got out of the car, her behaviour raising all kind of worries. Coming round to stand behind dad as he held out his hand "Knox Masters and my sons, they are at school with Beatrice... they were worried when she didn't show up today"
The woman gave another sad laugh but shook dads hand. "Dora Buchannan, I am the housekeeper here for Ms Rosier" she paused and looked back at the house. "Miss Beatrice is upstairs, she is not feeling well and ... her mother has chosen to stay in London again this weekend. I have to go, my own family, I don't work weekends..." again she looks back at the house worried, torn between staying and other commitments.
"You are telling me she will be alone and this is normal?" Dad asks softly and she nods.
"Ms Rosier is in London all week, the poor girl is already alone every weekday, her mother used to return at weekends, I leave meals but... recently Ms Rosier has found more to do in town at weekend and has not been returning"
"Is the door open?" she nods and points to the side door she came out of. "Boys go and check on your friend" he waves us off before turning back to the housekeeper and I know he will get the full story out of her.
I follow Simon through the door and look around, the whole place is show house perfect, clean as if no one lives here, no pictures of people, no shoes or coats, nothing. We move further into the house, no sounds to guide us and up the stairs to the landing, opening doors as we go, each room as empty as the last until we get to the end of the hallway and a faint whiff of her perfume lingers "It has to be this one" I tell Simon, my hand hovering do I knock or just go in... I knock.
No Response.
Simon twists the handle and pushes the door open, here we find the first signs of life, clothes tossed over a chair, colour and life. "Bea?" I call out pushing in past him, still no response.
"Bea!" Simons voice raises as he moves across the room towards the bed "Bea!" I watch him put his hand on her forehead, she is sheet white and seemingly asleep.
"She is burning up" he says "Bea, come on wake up,,, Bea!" he gives her a little shake but she just moves with the shake, her whole body loose.
"This is not good, grab a cold flannel from the bathroom, we need to cool her down" he orders pulling back the covers carefully, seeing she is in pyjamas he removes the cover completely, lifting her body into a more upright position, he offers the glass of water to her dry lips.
I pass him the flannel and watch as he carefully wipes her face before laying it across her forehead, raising worried eyes to me as I lift my phone out of my pocket and dial. "Dad... okay, up the stairs last door at the end of the hallway"
Two minutes later, Dad came through the door, just as Beatrice wakes up.
"Blake, what are you doing here?" she whispers out
"We were worried about you, you should have told us you were ill"
"Why?" she mutters and I grin.
"So we can make sure you are okay, but what do we find, you home alone with no-one to look after you"
"I'm fine" she growls out glaring at me.
"I would have to disagree with that" Dad says from the doorway and I see the look of panic cross her face.
"Is your mother aware you are sick?" he asks her moving closer and her eyes widen, darting between us before focussing on her hands as she nods.
"Would you have spent the whole weekend sick and alone?" he asks and she shrugs still looking at her hands.
"Is there anyone else who can look after you?" he pushes and the slight shake of her head has my temper rising and I have to bite my tongue to stay silent.
"Well then, Simon will pack a bag for you, Blake please help your friend down to the car" Dad orders.
"No, I can't, what" she splutters out finally looking up at Dad. "No"
"Beatrice, I am sorry but you have two options, you can come home with the boys and get well in the guest room or I can call your mother and suggest she is failing in her parental duties. I am not prepared to leave you here unattended when you are very clearly unwell"
"No!" she rushes out, a look of panic on her face, "Just don't call my mother... please"
"Good then that's settled, shall we" he lifts a dressing gown off the chair and passes it to me and I wrap it around Bea as I help her stand, supporting her as her body sways. Simon already opening her wardrobe and drawers in search of clothes and a bag.
She feels almost fragile as I help her move and after the first few steps I had enough of watching her struggle and giving her seconds warning as I lifted her up into my arms, her cry warring with my mind racing at how light she was. "Hold on Bea"
"Don't drop me" she whispers, holding on tight and I chuckle.
"Never" I promise.
Dad must have called ahead as mom is waiting when we get there and helps us get Bea to the guest room before shooing us out and shutting the door.
Needing something to do we find dad in his study and ask what else the housekeeper had said.
Fuming over what he told us, we waited until mom had left Bea before we went to check on her wanting to hear from her what was going on.
She was asleep when we returned but we weren't going anywhere and settled back in the chairs by the window to wait for her to wake, determine to get to the bottom of why she was alone and for how long this had been happening.
Two hours later she sighed and turned over, her eyes blinking open to see us watching her, the silence stretching but no uncomfortable as we looked at each other.
"What's going on with your mum?" I ask carefully and she sighs again before telling us everything that has happened from her parents separating, then suddenly her life being changed, ripped away from school, friends and everything she knew. She recounts the whole story in an even voice, no emotion and from that alone we know how much it is hurting her.
"It's not good enough, from now on you stay here, unless your mum is actually home, you stay with us" Simon tells her and I nod, watching the emotions finally appear on her face as she bursts into tears.
I thump my brothers arm "Look what you did" I hiss as we both move over to the bed, sitting each side and taking a hand each as we try to soothe her.
"Thank you" she finally gasps out "But I can't do that, your parents..."
"Fully agree with what the boys have suggested" mom says from the doorway, tears in her eyes too.
"But..." Bea starts as mom comes further into the room.
"Beatrice, my husband has told me what your housekeeping told him, that you have been at home alone for all but two weekends since you started at Holmwood, is that true?"
Bea looked up at mum with tears in her eyes as she nodded.
"Where is your father, does he know?"
"Dad is in Edinburgh, I've called him a couple of times but he is too busy and rushes off after the hello's or doesn't answer"
"Any other family?"
"No, they... they looked to see if I could go anywhere else" her voice is a whisper by the last word.
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen, I'll be sixteen next month" I mentally file that away, we will make sure that day is perfect for her.
"Last question" mum tells her softly "would it help if someone spoke to your parents about what they are doing?"
"No, I don't think they would care or it would push them to send me away somewhere... I would rather be alone at the house than at a boarding school"
"Okay, leave it with me and focus on getting better, if you need anything make the boys get it for you. I will need to talk to my husbands to discuss the correct way forward, we may need to talk to your mother, we will need to make her aware you will be here but I know it will be alright"
"Thank you" she whispers out, leaning back and closing her eyes, as Simon and I grin at each other over the bed.