Weeeeellll her' tis.
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CHAPTER 2
Marcy looked out the window and sighed. It was raining. Droplets of water rolled down the glass, leaving streaks in their wake. Marcy and her parents were on their way to her aunt’s house. Aunt Jenny. What a boring name. Mr. Stell, her dad, had told her his sister’s name early on in the trip. For most of the almost three hour drive, her parents had lectured her on how to behave at her Aunt Jenny’s house. Rolling her eyes, she remembered their rules and restrictions. They’ll have no rules when their on that trip. Without me. She watched the rural South Carolina countryside go by quickly, like it had been for a while.
Her parents would be leaving to go to the cruise directly after they dropped Marcy off at Aunt Jenny’s house. I hope it rains the whole time, she thought sullenly. They had told her everything about Jenny Stell that they could recall. “She’s very fun, you’ll like her,” Mr. Stell had said. “She loves adventure. Her house is very big too--a bit old fashioned, from what I remember, but huge all the same. She’s pretty rich too, she might even let you go shopping if you’re bored. You’ll have a great time!”
Marcy snorted. Fat chance of that. She perked up when Mr. Stell began to speak again. “We’re almost there. Now, remember, I want you to--”
“I know, I know, I know,” Marcy said angrily. “I’ll be on my best behavior and do all the right things, I’ll say yes mam and no mam, I’ll say please and thank you and all that. You don’t have to tell me again.”
“Right. Well, anyway, this right here is her house.” He pointed to a large, very old fashioned house in the middle of a clearing. Marcy groaned. “Look at it! I bet she doesn’t even know what a telephone is.”
“Oh I’m sure she does, darling,” her mom assured her. “It’s not like she lives in another century!”
“Wouldn’t count on that,” muttered Marcy. She swung open the door of the car and stepped out onto the gravel driveway. The rain had mostly stopped, replaced by a slight drizzle. Spitefully, Marcy slammed the door closed and stomped back to the trunk. She opened it and heaved out her glittery pink monogrammed suitcase and pillow. “Mom, can you get the rest for me?” she asked her mother, only because she didn’t want to take . “Absolutely,” Mrs. Stell answered. She lifted two other suitcases out of the trunk and her husband shut it. They all walked up to the front stairs. Annoyed as she was, Marcy couldn’t help noticing the architecture. The house was all stone, decorated with snarling gargoyles and smiling angels on each corner. Strangely, the stone was tinted black, giving the house a sinister feel. Marcy looked up at one of the gargoyles. It almost seemed to sneer at her, taunting her. She shuddered. Creepy.
Mr. Stell rang the doorbell. A long note sounded in the house. The door opened inward. Marcy peered inside. She got a glimpse of the hallway and inwardly groaned again. The wallpaper was flowered and looked like it was from the ‘70s. It was dark inside. I don’t think I can stay the entire summer in that house. Suddenly, a man stepped out from inside, interrupting her train of thought. He was wearing a tuxedo and looked to be in his early thirties. A butler. Great. “This is the Miss Jenny Stell residence, state your business,” he intoned. Marcy got the feeling he did that a lot.
“We’re Damion and Christina Stell, with our daughter Marcy. She’s staying with Jenny for the summer,” Mr. Stell answered. “Right, come on in,” the butler said, ushering them deeper into the old house. He led them through the hallway to a parlor. “Wait here please,” he said, then left, shutting the door behind him.
Marcy set down her suitcase and slumped in a chair that looked straight out of the 1900s. A cloud of dust poofed up from it, causing her to sneeze. “Ugh,” she coughed, quickly jumping up. She walked over to the large fireplace and examined it. The mantle was high and the stone was crumbling.
“Well, she has strange tastes,” her mother ventured timidly. “I’ll say,” Mr. Stell agreed. “Reminds me of my childhood. My grandma’s house looked like this.”
“And this is where I get to spend my summer.” Marcy turned to look at them. “I just know I’ll have tons of fun. Hah!”
Her father started to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. The Stells swiveled around to look at the source of the sound. That was when she got her first glimpse of Jenny Stell.
She was tall, like her brother, and had his red hair as well. One of the first things that Marcy noticed about her aunt was Jenny’s eyes. They were bright green and seemed to sparkle with a sense of fun and a mysterious secret hand-in-hand. She looked a bit older than the butler but wasn’t ancient like her house, Marcy noted thankfully. She wore blue jeans and a flattering black shirt which emphasized her slender form. The first thing she did was walk to her brother and hug him. “I haven’t seen you in ages, Damion,” she said happily. “I know, me neither,” he replied. They pulled away.
“You look fatter.” Jenny playfully poked his stomach. “Me? Nah! You, though, you’re a bit more plump than last I saw you!” Damion answered. The siblings laughed. Jenny looked over to her sister-in-law. “And Christina! I haven’t seen you since you were pregnant! You look wonderful!” They hugged and chatted about how life was going by too fast. Marcy stood by awkwardly, watching the reunion go on. Then Jenny spun to look at her. She gazed at her niece with a sad smile in her eyes. Marcy held her stare and then looked down at her feet. “You look just like someone I knew a long, long time ago,” Jenny said quietly. Marcy looked up, meeting her eyes again. “You’re a very pretty girl, Marcy,” she remarked, then clapped her hands. “But enough of that. You don’t care to know all about my past, do you? Good. Now, you guys”--she waved her hands at the Stells--“better go! You’re going to be late for your plane!” Marcy’s parents protested but Jenny insisted. “Go on! You haven’t much time!”
“It’s not like it’s a life or death situation!” Mrs. Stell giggled.
“I hate when she’s like this, she’ll never budge,” Mr. Stell commented to his wife.
“Exactly!” declared his sister. “Which is why you should go! Right now! Shoo! Away with you!”
And so the Stells, laughing all the way, were ushered out by Jenny, who pushed them out to the doorstep. Marcy kissed her parents goodbye, waved to them, and then suddenly--they were gone. That was faster than I thought it would be, she thought, standing on the steps with her aunt.
“Well!” Jenny dusted her hands off. “Now they’re gone. And now we begin our summer together! I’m so glad you’re staying with me. Oh!”
Marcy started. “What?”
“I get to show you your room!” Jenny said excitedly. “Let’s go! I’ll help you carry your stuff.” They walked back inside and Jenny picked up one of her suitcases. “Your room is upstairs. I think you’ll like it.”
Yeah, right. Bet it looks like it came out of a time machine, just like everything else in this house. Marcy lugged her stuff up the winding circular staircase to the hallway above. The ugly flower pattern continued until she got to the top and then--
Marcy stood at the top of the stairwell, shocked. The wallpaper had changed! The flowers and vines abruptly stopped where the hallway began! What…..? The wall now looked so different that Marcy had to look back to compare them both again. It was painted a beautiful light blue that brought out the light from several large windows placed strategic locations. White picture frames were mounted on the wall, showing off bright colored paintings of lovely mountain scenes. As Marcy unbelievingly gazed down the hallway, she saw white doors, some of which were ajar to reveal rooms painted shades of light green, grey, and more blue.
All of this happened in the space of ten seconds. Shaking herself out of her trance, Marcy followed her aunt, who had proceeded to a room on the left side of the hallway. She pushed open the door. Marcy got her first look at what was to be her room for the summer. ---------
My thingie is doing strange things, sorry for the indent.
Took a surprising turn? Yeah? Huh? Like it?
~~Zoë Wingfeather
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