The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  The table was neatly set and just enough chairs encircled it to comfortably seat a family of eight. Thirteen-year-old Buster, twelve-year-old Bradley and ten-year-old Ruth were smartly dressed and seated, along with their mother, Ann. Matilda had sat next to Ann and Stephen, next to Buster.

  Ruth confidently said Grace, then primly tucked her pressed, white napkin inside the top of her blouse.

  “You have such mannerly children, Ann.” Matilda smiled.

  “Thank you. I do my best with them. These days so many out there are going astray because parents have fallen into the trap of running a slack home. Know what I mean?”

  Matilda nodded.

  “So Buster,” Stephen turned to the boy who had eagerly started eating his meal, “how are you doing with your lessons?”

  “Fine, thank you, sir,” Buster replied with his mouth half full.

  “That’s good.” Stephen nodded and then directed his attention to Bradley. “And you, young man?”

  “I find some subjects challenging, sir, but I believe I cope well enough.”

  “He certainly does,” Ann chimed in. “Bradley’s doing very well now, despite the recent setback. He’s had a lot to deal with, as you might understand, but thankfully, he’s risen above those challenges.”

  “And sweet, prim, little Ruth?” Matilda queried.

  Ruth’s smile was angelic and she had the whitest teeth Matilda had ever seen. Matilda was certain because of her beauty, she would break many a man’s heart when she grew up.

  “I am doing okay, I suppose.” Ruth glanced her mother’s way for approval. “I love learning new things.”

  “She’s doing more than okay,” Ann said proudly. “She catches on to everything very quickly and has been gifted with a photographic memory. She got that from her father.”

  The children’s mood seemed to be suddenly dampened by the mention of their father.

  Just then, the front door creaked open and a man of medium height and build entered the house.

  “Sorry I’m late!” He said as he hung his hat on the rack near the door.

  Matilda and Stephen were obviously caught off guard.

  The man went over and extended his hand to Stephen. “I’m George Macintosh. Ann’s fiancé.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Stephen returned the handshake.

  “Madam…” George hailed Matilda with a slight bow, who smiled in return.

  “Please forgive me,” Ann said as George took his place at the table next to Ruth. “I failed to mention that George here would be joining us for supper. I hope that is all right.”

  “Yes, it is,” Matilda said before taking a bite of her lamb.

  “No worries at all,” Stephen added.

  “George, these are my new neighbors, Matilda and Stephen...” She turned to them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your surnames.”

  “Curry – we both are,” Stephen said. “Two brothers’ children.”

  “A pleasure to meet you both,” George said.

  “They’ve just moved to town and trying to settle in.”

  “I’d be happy to take you to a few places and introduce you to some of the townsfolk,” George offered.

  Stephen glanced at Matilda who was looking down momentarily. “That would be very gracious of you, George.”

  “How about one day Stephen tag along with George and I can show you around? We can have some ladies’ time?” Ann suggested to Matilda.

  “I’d like that.” Matilda smiled.

  “Well, it’s settled then.” Ann continued eating.

  As various discussions at the table went on, Matilda noticed how eerily quiet the children had become, ever since George arrived. She occasionally glanced at them and noticed that Buster seemed most uncomfortable. He was almost sulking.

  “Buster, are you all right, honey?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, unconvincingly. Moments later, he looked at his mother. “Mommy, may I be excused?”

  “Already, Buster?” George had a smirk on his face.

  “I’m really tired. I think I need to lie down.” Buster again directed his comments to his mother.

  “Yes, you may be excused,” Ann responded. “Have you two finished your meal?” She asked Bradley and Ruth.

  “I’m stuffed.” Ruth rubbed her stomach.

  “So am I,” Bradley replied.

  “You may go to your room.”

  As Bradley got up to follow the others down the hallway, he suddenly tripped and Matilda swiftly realized he was about to land face first onto the glass table in the center of the main room. Ann screamed in anticipation of what was about to transpire, but Matilda with intensely focused eyes, mentally pushed the table quickly aside and the boy landed safely on the floor.

  Ann sprung to her feet and rushed to the child’s side. “Brad! Are you all right?”

  “Yes, Mommy.” He nodded.

  “Young man, you must be careful. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt,” she said.

  “I’m all right now, Mommy.” He got up and joined his siblings who were waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

  Matilda and Stephen heard a scrape of metal against the wooden floor. George had promptly stood up.

  “Now, how in the world did that table move?” He pointed. “I literally, with my own two eyes, watched it slide inches across the floor! Didn’t anyone else notice it?” He turned to the others.

  Stephen shook his head. “I didn’t.” He glanced at Matilda.

  “No. Neither did I,” Matilda said.

  Ann smoothed out the front of her dress with the palm of her hand. “I… I thought I noticed a shift in the table, but I can’t be sure. My gaze was more on Bradley than anything else. I’m just so grateful he missed that table. If not, he would have had to get stitches tonight for sure.”

  “All is well that ends well, huh?” Stephen nervously grinned.

  “Yes indeed,” Ann agreed, taking her seat at the table again.

  George was still standing. He looked bewildered. “I’m telling you all, that table moved. I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.”

  “It’s amazing how our eyes can sometimes play tricks on us,” Matilda said. “There were times I could have sworn I saw something out of the corner of my eyes and lo and behold, nothing was there. Maybe that’s what happened to you, George. We’ve all had those types of experiences.”

  He muttered something, reached for his chair again, then said: “Perhaps, you’re right. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

  Stephen cleared his throat and stood up slowly. “I guess we had better be going now. Ann, thank you very much for the splendid meal.”

  “It was delicious.” Matilda stood with Stephen. “I’m sorry we must leave so soon, but we’re quite exhausted, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

  “Yes, I can,” Ann replied. “Let’s do this again sometime. Shall we?”

  “Most certainly. Next time, it will be our treat.” Matilda smiled.

  “Where did you say you were from?” George asked them.

  “Stephen mentioned that they moved here from a little town up north, although he didn’t give the name.” Ann told George.

  “Up north, huh?” George thought for a moment. “I have a few relatives living up north. Where about did you travel from?”

  Matilda was getting uneasy. “It’s a little town called Aidersville. Do you know it?” She asked him.

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t think I’ve heard of it.”

  “We didn’t think you would’ve,” Stephen said. “That’s why we didn’t mention it before. Very small community up there.”

  “Why’d you leave?”

  “Excuse me?” Stephen was taken aback by George’s determination to pry.

  “Why’d you leave Aidersville to come here? Sounds like it might’ve been a cozy community similar to this one. Most people these days live and lie in the town where they were born.”

  “Uh… please e
xcuse George’s distasteful inquisitiveness,” Ann interjected. “Really dear, people have a right to live anywhere they please. Some folks just need a healthy change of scenery. Am I right, neighbors?”

  “You certainly are,” Stephen replied.

  Ann got up. “Please, let us walk you to the door.”

  George followed her lead and they saw Stephen and Matilda out, who could hear them quietly arguing after they left.

  5

  _________________

  Stephen locked the door behind them as Matilda slipped off her shoes.

  “Matilda, I thought we had an understanding before we left Mizpah that you would not use your abilities,” Stephen said sternly. “You don’t want to draw attention to yourself. That’s the whole point of us leaving – to start anew in order for you to be safe! What you did in there was unacceptable!”

  “So you would have preferred that I allow the boy to fall and seriously injure himself? Would that have been acceptable to you, Stephen?”

  After a few moments of silence, he sighed heavily. “I’m just saying that you must be careful, Matilda. I know you did what you thought was right, but in future, you must resist the temptation.” He gently gripped her shoulders. “Do you understand what I mean?”

  “I guess so.” She turned around as a hint that he let her out of the dress.

  Stephen willingly unbuttoned her dress. It had a vertical row of large, off-white buttons evenly spaced two inches apart.

  After she disrobed, he kissed the nape of her neck. “So sweet,” he whispered.

  She turned around and looked lovingly into his eyes – the man she trusted with her heart and life. She could sense his aching desire for her, yet again, and knew that one day she would completely surrender to him in body and soul.

  Stephen pressed his lips against hers, then eagerly captured her delicate tongue. For a while, she feared the fervency of his kiss might detach it from its hyoid bone. He caressed the side of her face while reluctantly pulling away, then took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom they would share for the first time that night… in that town.

  After an unforgettable romantic interlude which lasted for more than an hour, Matilda and Stephen lay awake, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you,” Stephen said.

  Matilda heard a slight crack in his voice. She looked at him. The light of the moon had served as her lamplight. “Are you crying, Stephen?” She wiped away the tears that just escaped from his eyes. “Why the tears?”

  “Matilda, please promise me that you would not use your gift anymore. Please, promise me that.”

  She leaned up slightly. “How can you possibly ask that of me? Are you asking me to deny myself?”

  “By no means,” he quickly responded. “I just...”

  “What, Stephen?”

  “I know that in spite of how you were raised, you are not a very religious person, but from the church we passed on our way here, it’s obvious that these folks around here are, just as the people were where we came from. I don’t want anything to happen. That’s all I am saying,” he explained.

  “I understand your concern, and I assure you nothing will happen.” She lay down again and sighed.

  “What’s wrong?” Stephen asked.

  “Probably everything.”

  He leaned up this time. “What do you mean?”

  “If I was born a normal child, I wouldn’t be here right now. I would still be at home in Mizpah with my family and they would not be ashamed of who I am.”

  “Your family is not ashamed of you, Matilda. How can you say that?”

  “Yes, they are. If they weren’t, my mother would not have sent me away.”

  “She sent you away for your own good. It had nothing to do with being ashamed of you.”

  “How would she know if this, where we are now, is good? Me, going off and leaving the only place I ever knew. How would she or anyone else know if this is for my good, Stephen?” She shook her head vehemently. “No, it has everything to do with pride – concealing the imperfections in order to make the problem go away. Keeping a good image in the community at the cost of losing a child, possibly for forever.”

  Stephen knew her heart was breaking and she had convinced herself of nothing more than a lie. He figured it was probably the only way she could deal with the pain of missing them so badly.

  He held her head to his chest and felt the sobbing she had so desperately tried to restrain. His firm, but gentle grip only slackened when they both fell asleep.

  In a dream… later that night

  “Hand me Sophia!” Matilda told Carlotta who was sitting near the bedroom window, combing the doll’s long, brown hair.

  “I’m combing her hair. Wait your turn!” Carlotta replied sharply.

  At the tender age of nine, Matilda didn’t take kindly to Carlotta being unruly, especially since she was only seven and they repeatedly heard their mother speak of the importance of respecting their elders.

  Seated on the floor with her legs crossed, Matilda said, “Well, if you don’t hand it over, I’ll just take it!”

  Carlotta held on to the doll tightly, prepared to put up a fight if Matilda thought she was girl enough to take it away from her, but instead, something totally unexpected happened. She soon felt the doll escaping her firm grip, then rising slowly, but surely into the air above her hands. When she glanced Matilda’s way, she realized she was just sitting there staring at the doll with a serious gaze; her lips puckered tightly and a hand slightly raised.

  The doll gradually glided through the air, making its way across the room to Matilda, who then reached up and grabbed it.

  Carlotta screamed, then ran out of the room to get their parents.

  “Mattie did something to the doll! She made it fly!” Matilda heard her younger sister squealing. It was the first time Carlotta had seen what she could do with her mind.

  Their mother and father dashed into the room.

  “Matilda! What have you done to your sister?” their father asked. Peter Curry was a tall, handsome man with narrow features.

  “Are you doing things again that your father and I told you not to do, Mattie?” Joy asked.

  Carlotta was standing between her parents, sucking her thumb.

  “She wouldn’t give me the doll, so I took it!” Matilda angrily replied.

  “You took it how?” her mother asked.

  “The way she takes everything when she’s too lazy to get up and get it,” Peter commented. “You see, this is why we can’t take her anywhere now — not even to church. We have to keep her cooped up here all the time like we don’t even have another daughter.”

  “It’s for her own good; you know that,” Joy reminded him.

  “And how long is this supposed to go on? How long are we supposed to keep our daughter hidden away?”

  “Until she learns to control it better, Peter. Until we finally get through to her that doing things openly like what she did in this room could be dangerous.”

  “Well, you’d better hope she can do a better job controlling it soon because there’s no way we are going on like this. Letting her outside at night to get into the fresh air cannot work for much longer and she needs to interact with other children aside from her own siblings.”

  “You’re telling me something I already know, Peter. In time, everything will fall into place.”

  He abruptly the room. Joy stooped down to Carlotta’s level. “Carrie, you are not to mention a word of what you saw, okay? It’s very important that you obey me.”

  “Yes, Mother.” The child nodded.

  “I mean it, Carlotta. You know what happens to disobedient children, right?”

  “They are punished.”

  “Yes indeed.” She looked at Matilda. “I don’t want you ever doing that to your sister again. You hear me?”

  “Yes, Mother,” Matilda answered. She knew her mother only had to say it once as in those days her
father believed in punishment by switch and each of the girls had a taste of that.

  “I’m sorry.” Matilda told Carlotta who was still standing at the door with their mother.

  “You don’t have to be afraid,” Joy said to her youngest. “Mattie will not do it again and she definitely won’t ever do anything to hurt you.”

  “You promise?” The girl sought confirmation from her mother.

  “I promise,” Matilda said.

  Joy smiled, patted Carlotta on the head and left the room.

  Matilda walked over to her sister. “I’ll never do anything like that again, Carrie… unless you want me to.”

  Carlotta had a puzzled expression on her face.

  “Kidding!” Matilda laughed.

  The dream shifted to a couple of weeks later as she and Carlotta were outside in the yard after nightfall.

  Agatha and Betty were inside helping their mother with Christmas decorations.

  “Can you move it… with your mind?” Carlotta asked while looking at the overturned wash tub at the side of the house.

  Matilda nodded.

  “Well, do it then!”

  “You won’t tell Mother or Father?”

  “I promise I won’t!” Carlotta replied eagerly.

  Matilda’s focus was then on the wooden tub that her mother kept on some blocks. She zeroed in on the rim and imagined sliding her hands underneath it in order to lift it. Then seconds later, she imagined she was holding it and lifting it – and in reality, the tub slowly moved and was beginning its gradual suspension inches above the blocks where it once sat – then a foot higher it went, then two, then three. Carlotta looked on in sheer amazement. The more deeply Matilda focused, the higher the tub rose.

  Suddenly, Stephen awoke by what he thought was a jounce, and to his horror, found the bed they were lying in suspended in mid-air. Looking up in the dark room, he was certain the ceiling was only three feet above them-if that. Unsure of what was happening, he immediately started shaking Matilda.

  “Matilda, wake up!” he cried. “Wake up!”

  The instant she woke up, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What… what’s wrong?” she asked tiredly.