Chapter 2
Midnight into the Morning of March 7
-Roselyn-
-
Waking up the next
morning, if it really could be called that, brought on a new set of
nightmares. As Roselyn hadn’t slept a
wink through the wretched night and Arabella and Emmalyn would be stirring
soon. She would have to face them with
word that their beloved father would not be returning home. The thought stung and memories flooded her
mind. Images of the days during their
courtship, the birth of their two little girls, and the years building their
home and lives together clouded before her.
It brought on a whole new set of tears… loss. She felt the loss of all that was and all
that would never be.
It wasn’t fair to
Belle and Emmy… they loved him… he was a doting father and a loving daddy to
them. News of their broken family would crush their little spirits. No.
She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t do that. But what could
she tell them??? At the tender ages of five and eight, there would be little
they would understand.
“Though he has destroyed us, I will not,” she whispered.
She knew well
enough not to shatter their father’s relationship with them by talking ill of
him now. No, let them form their own
opinion. She would tell them he was
still at work on the merchant ships. Why
not??? After all, they were quite accustomed to his absence in the evenings due
to his work. Resentment began creeping
in. Painful memories of missed dinners,
absent bedtimes, and unseen performances. With Liam, work had always taken precedence. It had a way of coming before the family… and
before her.
Liam
was a merchant trader, a self-made man dedicated to his work and his ships in
the trading business. A handsome man with light brown hair and green eyes that
sparkled with each new idea, many of the townspeople admired and respected him.
He had started off his business well, owning his own individual trading ship, and
was eager to see it grow. Liam had
ambition. Working days and nights, he diligently and deliberately built his
business until he was so busy with trade that he had little to no time for
family.
His status and
prosperity in the town had grown substantially, but remained a source of grief
for Roselyn. She grew lonely, slowly
beginning to resent the time he spent away from family… away from her. Though he assured her it was all for her
benefit and that of the family, she had begun to resent it… and now she
resented it even more.
Heaving
a heavy sigh, she arose from her straw bed and went into the back room where
she could hear Belle and Emmy starting to stir.
Forcing
a smile on her pained face, Roselyn said, “Good morning, my sweethearts.”
Both
girls looked up at her and smiled sleepy smiles from beneath their
bedclothes. They were beautiful girls,
though they knew it not. Had they been
closer in age, they could have easily passed for twins; their similarities were
that great. With their golden hair, hazel almond-shaped eyes, and petite
stature, they had almost an exotic look about them.
“What’s
wrong, Mama?” Belle asked with a concerned frown on her face.
Roselyn
had to laugh at her daughter’s perception. Nothing easily snuck past this girl.
Even at a young age, she was quick to pick up on the cues from the adults around
her.
“Nothing,
sweetheart,” Roselyn lied.
“Where’s
Daddy?” Belle asked.
“Working,”
Roselyn lied again.
“Oh.”
The sadness in her mother’s voice caused Belle to cease her questions for now.
“Come,
girls… let’s get up and get dressed.
Today’s a new day. It’s time to rise and shine.”
“What
are we doing today, Mama?” asked Emmy rubbing her eyes.
“We
will be travelling to Nana and Papa’s house; I have some urgent business I must
speak with them about today,” Roselyn choked out.
“YAY!!!”
Shouted little Emmy, jumping out of bed. She looked forward to any time she
could spend with her doting grandparents.
“What’s
is it, Mama?” asked Belle again, once again concerned over the tears that shone
in her mother’s eyes.
“Mama’s
having a rough day, sweetheart. It’ll be all right. Everything will be just fine.
Let’s just get to Nana and Papa’s house.”
The
girls obediently rose out of bed to don their weekday skirts and blouses. Then, ever so carefully, they combed and
braided each other’s hair into two long braids that gracefully hung in golden
pleats down their backs. Roselyn smiled
with pride and affection at her two daughters.
They didn’t always get along
well, but when they did, it was most certainly an added blessing.
“Mama,
do we really have to walk all the way
there?” asked little Emmy.
“You
can always run, if you don’t want to walk,” Belle snickered.
“So
much for the sisterly love,” thought Roselyn aloud.
Both
girls smiled at one another before Emmy continued, “Why can’t we have a horse
of our own? If we had a horse, we wouldn’t have to walk everywhere. I wish we
had a horse.”
A
throng of pain hit Roselyn. It had been
her life’s desire, from as far back as she could remember, to have her own
horse. Liam had always told her, “Some day.” Now she couldn’t help but consider
that ‘some day’ as ‘never.’ All was lost
now. Resentment started sinking in. She shook it, trying to be strong for her
daughters.
“Well,
we have what Abba has given us. We can be grateful for the two legs upon which
we walk. Come, now…. Who knows what we will see on our adventure to Nana and Papa’s??
Some new wild birds, perhaps we’ll see a fox… or a even a unicorn,??” She winked at a playful wink at little Emmy.
“Yeah!
A unicorn! I want to see a purple unicorn… with wings! And it will fly right above us as we walk to
Nana and Papa’s. And I will name it
Sparkle.”
“That’s
a dumb name,” Belle said.
“Belle,”
said Roselyn in a disciplinary tone.
“Sorry,”
said Belle. “It just could be a little more creative. How about….”
“Kiss!”
interrupted Emmy. “I will name my
unicorn Kiss.”
“Then
we can each have our own unicorn,” replied Belle. Yours can be a purple unicorn and mine will
be silver. They can be sisters and we
find them in the forest, and they don’t have a home but we adopt them and…”
Roselyn
smiled at the creative imaginations of her two young daughters. She loved watching their minds wander. It was a blessing in times such as this.
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