by J Armitage
By the time Anais had finished the breakfast, Aethelu had exhausted such topics as the weather (heavy snow again), what her brothers were up to (fighting over the same girl) and what she was going to bring Anais for dinner later (chilli – Anais favourite meal, she was already looking forward to it despite feeling stuffed from breakfast).
Aethelu was talking to herself as much as she was talking to Anais so Anais was surprised when Aethelu asked her about her life.
“Tell me about yourself.” Aethelu seemed sincere in her curiosity so Anais granted her request.
She told Aethelu about how she had grown up in Los Angeles which her mother had loved and how she had practically grown up on various movie sets when her mother became a make-up artist.
Aethelu listened intently when Anais talked about the movies (“Hey my sister works in the movies too.”) and when she talked about her mother but it was when Anais talked about her father that Aethelu seemed the most interested. She wanted to know everything about him from what he did for a living to what he liked to do on a weekend.
Anais told her about how her father had been an historian and a lecturer at York University when he had met Sarah. About how they had fallen in love despite it being disallowed by the University. Lecturers were not allowed to date students so when Mr Hockley, as he was known to his students, had fallen for the eighteen year old Sarah it caused quite a scandal. He lost his job and Sarah was unable to study there any more so when they found out that Sarah was pregnant, they all moved to Los Angeles where Alistair took up a post of lecturer of history and literature at UCLA.
There she was born and lived happily until a year ago when her parents decided to move back to York. When Anais got to the part where her parents were killed in a car crash she was surprised when Aethelu began to cry. It was a strange reaction from someone who had never met her parents. Anais wondered if she just had a heightened sense of sympathy. Watching the tears roll down Aethelu’s face, Anais had an overwhelming urge to comfort her. It was a weird situation to be in, wanting to comfort someone who had been holding you against your will but almost without thinking she moved over and put her arms around Aethelu who flinched slightly but did not back away. They sat that way in an awkward embrace for a few minutes until Aethelu’s sobbing finally subsided.
“Sorry,” she said repeating her mantra, “I should be the one comforting you not the other way round.”
“It’s ok,” said Anais although she was confused. She hadn’t realised it until now but she had wanted an excuse to put her arms around Aethelu. She had enjoyed the touch of her, the warmth and the slight smell of raspberry shampoo. It felt so natural. The thought that she had enjoyed hugging her kidnapper made her feel strange so she quickly changed the subject.
“What about you?” Anais said. She was intrigued by this strange woman who was keeping her captive although it was more than that. She genuinely wanted to know about Aethelu and her life. She told herself that if she could befriend Aethelu then maybe she’d let her go but the reality was she was beginning to enjoy Aethelu’s company. Over the next few days as Anais got to know Aethelu she began to wait with mounting anticipation for her next visit. More than she’d care to admit to herself. She wondered if she had some kind of Stockholm syndrome but she knew that Aethelu was the kind of person she’d like to hang out with if they had met in a normal situation. It was a shame that they had met in these weird circumstances because Anais knew that if they had met in a coffee bar, for example, she would have become friends with Aethelu. Something, she reminded herself that was impossible now.
Aethelu didn’t hold back. She talked about herself freely. She seemed to have done so much and she was well versed on any topic Anais cared to bring up. She was especially knowledgeable about history that Anais asked if she had studied it at university. She was surprised by Aethelu’s answer that she had studied at the University of Life. When Anais expressed her disbelief, Aethelu told her that there was an extensive library downstairs and she was a voracious reader.
Anais was surprised to learn that Aethelu’s favourite book was the same as hers. Her father had read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to her many times as a child, putting on silly voices for all the characters, and her copy of the book was one of the few possessions she had brought from America with her.
The day after finding this out Aethelu turned up with something behind her back and a grin on her face.
“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.” she was practically bouncing up and down with anticipation.
Anais almost laughed. She doubted any other kidnapper would be able to make her close her eyes without her being terrified of the result but there was something about Aethelu that inspired trust. She did as Aethelu asked and something heavy was placed into her outstretched palms.
She opened her eyes and there sat a book. It was Alice in Wonderland. It wasn’t a modern copy though. Anais knew enough about old books to know this was something special. She examined it more closely. Bound in red leather with the date 1866 printed on the inside. It was a first edition.
“Do you like it? You can keep it if you like.”
“Like it?” Anais was amazed. “Do you realise what this is? It’s a first edition! It’s worth thousands of pounds, hundreds of thousands. This is very rare. There are not many remaining.”
“It’s ok; we’ve got another first edition copy downstairs.”
Anais was stunned. To own one copy was amazing, to have two was unbelievable.
“You are kidding me right?”
“No,” Aethelu grinned. “It’s yours! Well it’s mine but you can have it. I’ve wanted to give you something to make up for keeping you here and when you said that you loved Alice in Wonderland I knew exactly what to give you.”
“So why am I here?” It was the one subject that Aethelu steadfastly refused to discuss. Anais knew she would be spoiling the moment by asking but a rare book did not change her situation, no matter how wonderful.
“I can’t tell you,” Aethelu repeated the familiar answer, looking wholly disappointed with what was obviously not the reaction she was expecting. She left before Anais could ask her again.
Anais examined the book more closely. She ran her fingers over Tenniel’s beautiful drawings and hoped that she’d be able to leave soon so she could show this to Winnie. There’d never been something so rare and so expensive in the Antique Book emporium. It was exquisite and perfect in its condition, amazing for its age. Winnie would love this as much as she did.
Aethelu’s visits carried on in much the same way over the next few days. She had obviously forgiven Anais for her lacklustre reaction to the Alice book. Anais, in return had softened and thanked Aethelu for such a precious gift, and vowed to herself to refrain from asking why she was being held here. For a few days at least. They spent hours talking, mainly about art and literature. Aethelu was so pleased that Anais loved the Alice book that she brought more books for Anais to read. Anais only accepted the other books on the condition that Aethelu take the Alice book back and store it in a manner much more beneficial to such an old book. She was sad to see it go but she couldn’t just have it lying around like a cheap novel. She explained how to keep a book this old safe and Aethelu promised to follow her instructions. Thankfully the other books brought up from the library were old but not rare and Anais felt quite happy to handle them albeit carefully.
After hearing about this library, Anais hoped she’d get to see it before she left.
The vow she had made to herself, not to ask Aethelu why she was being held prisoner lasted only a day. She tried many times over the course of that first week to get Aethelu’s reasons for keeping her locked up but it was the only subject Aethelu was not forthcoming on. All Anais could get out of her was that her father was making her, and that Anais was needed for something, although she refused to say what.
Any mention of leaving caused Aethelu to clam up and if Anais pushed the subject, then Aethelu just left, sometimes not co
ming back until the next day.
As Aethelu was her only source of company, Anais eventually stopped asking.
Aethelu would quite happily talk about her family though, a topic which Anais was eager to keep on. Any nuggets of information about the house’s other occupants would come in handy if she should try to escape. Of course Aethelu didn’t realise that’s why Anais was asking, putting it down to mere curiosity. Aethelu obviously loved her family, that much was plain. She talked about them all proudly, making it sound like they were the happiest family in the world. The happiest family who kidnapped teenage girls at least. They sounded blissfully happy as far as Anais could tell, so why would they want to spoil it by doing a spot of kidnapping?
As far as Anais could tell there was Aethelu’s mother and father, Astrid and Aldric, who were both away from the house at the moment visiting relatives (although Aethelu wouldn’t tell her where) Oldest brother, August, who apparently cooked all the amazing meals. Sister, Arcadia, who was living in the South of France at the moment and finally twin brothers Raphael and Alexander. Aethelu was the youngest. There was also a friend of the family living in the house called Andrew.
Anais noted all the A names and found it strange. Perhaps it was a family tradition although that wouldn’t explain Andrew. She wondered why Raphael was named differently. Perhaps it was just coincidence.
One day, after about a week of being locked in the room, Aethelu was late bringing Anais her breakfast. Anais had persuaded Aethelu to bring her a clock a few days previously but now it was mocking her with the late time.
Breakfast time came and went as did lunch with no sign of Aethelu. Anais realised that it was not only the food that she missed but Aethelu’s company. She felt silly thinking it in the circumstances but she wished Aethelu would hurry up and come back and not just for the reason of food, although she was terribly hungry.
A thought, like a weight, came crashing down on her that perhaps Aethelu would never come back. Perhaps that was the plan. Kidnap her, befriend her and then what? Leave her to starve? Something else? Her breathing began to get more erratic as thoughts of being trapped here forever resurfaced. All kinds of scenarios were running through her head and none of them were good.
‘Calm down, calm down,’ she thought to herself. There must be a good reason why Aethelu hadn’t turned up yet. Perhaps she’d had a late night and slept in, or maybe she’d had an accident? The last thought depressed Anais even more as she realised her sadness was not fear of being left here alone but fear that she might not see Aethelu again.
A sound came, interrupting Anais thoughts. She found herself praying it was Aethelu and her heart leapt when the door opened and Aethelu finally walked in. Aethelu came through the door, full of apologies and dripping wet. She handed Anais a shop bought sandwich, explaining that she had gone into town before breakfast but the car had got stuck in the snow forcing her to walk three miles home in a snow storm.
Anais was ready to shout at Aethelu but looking at her face, full of guilt she softened.
She didn’t want to let her off too easily though so she used the opportunity of Aethelu’s contrition to ask one more time about why she was here, hoping that the walk in the snow might have tired her enough to put her off guard.
Aethelu ignored the question as Anais had expected but she suddenly brightened up.
‘I have an idea.’ She disappeared through the door being careful to bolt it first. Minutes passed and Anais wondered if she was going to come back but soon enough there was the now familiar sound of the bolt being pulled back.
Aethelu entered the room with another table and a towel. The table was much taller than the small side tables that Aethelu had been using for Anais’ food. She set it down right in the middle of the room and then fetched a couple of chairs she had left just outside. She placed the chairs opposite each other, at either side of the table and beckoned Anais to sit on one of the chairs.
Anais cautiously sat on the chair whilst Aethelu took the other one. Aethelu stuck her head under the table which surprised Anais. She wasn’t sure what Aethelu was doing but it looked like she was searching for something. Aethelu muttering, “where is the bloody thing?” confirmed her suspicions. Suddenly, Aethelu reappeared from under the table with a big grin on her face. Anais noticed how much her face lit up when she smiled. She also noticed that Aethelu’s hair was dripping onto the table top. It unnerved her a little when she realised she was staring and she quickly looked away. Aethelu noticed the drips and picked up the towel to dry her hair with. The table had started to make a whirring noise. Some mechanical feature had been set off by a button under the table. The top folded in on itself and then flipped inside out and came up back to its original position. Instead of the rosewood surface that had been on top before, now there was an odd looking chessboard. It was the same dimensions as a normal chessboard but with the nearest two rows and furthest two rows missing. Instead there were two rectangular holes. The whirring continued and Anais was delighted to see chess pieces emerging, already in their correct position, from inside the table. They were being raised up by the rest of the missing chessboard which slotted into place with a click. The whirring noise finally stopped and the manoeuvre was complete. Anais was spell bound. If she’d not just seen the chess set emerge as it had, she would never have guessed that it was made up of three parts. The white squares were inlaid with mother of pearl and the black were some dark wood, possibly ebony. The chess pieces were intricately carved but they were not traditional. She picked up what she took to be a knight. It was an intricately carved horse with an equally intricate person on its back. The detail was amazing. The tiny figure was so lifelike carved into ebony. A young man with a strong face leaned forward as if giving a war cry. His front was inlaid with a light sapphire. Anais was so absorbed in this little character that she almost didn’t hear Aethelu saying her name. She looked up as Aethelu passed her another chess piece, this time a white one from her own side of the chessboard. It was a bishop. Anais took the chess piece and examined it. It was Aethelu in miniature. She looked up at the real Aethelu to find her beaming. Pure joy brightened her whole face, giving her an ethereal quality. It only made her more beautiful. Anais turned her attention back to the chess piece. The artist had done an amazing job capturing every detail in ivory, from the curls, which were almost the exact same colour as the real Aethelu’s hair, to the pixie-like expression on her face.
Inlaid into the Aethelu chess piece was a ruby.
Each of the other chess pieces must have represented other members of Aethelu’s family. The pawns were all dogs. Not one the same, many different breeds were included but they all stood in the same way. Facing forward, heads held high, almost looking proud.
Anais handed back the bishop to Aethelu who put it back in its correct position.
“My friend Andrew made this board and carved all the pieces. He’s a bit of a genius.”
“I’ll say,” replied Anais, “It’s amazing!”
As white always goes first, Anais, using the black pieces waited for Aethelu to make the first move. Aethelu picked up a small ivory beagle and moved it forward two squares.
Anais had found her only equal in chess in her father who had taught her the game at an incredibly young age. In fact she had only lost two of the hundreds of matches she had played during her time in chess club in school. She made her move, confident that the game would be over soon, with her being the victor.
Half an hour later, the game was still being played. The tension was rising. It was a thrilling game for Anais as she usually found chess matches too easy. She had grossly underestimated Aethelu and missed a couple of moves she should have made. As it was, Aethelu had had her in check a couple of times already. Anais was fighting a losing battle and as she moved her rook (a huge man with a shaggy beard inlaid with jet) she knew it would be her last move. Sure enough Aethelu’s knight took her rook and put the king into checkmate.
Anais was stunned that she had lost
even though it had been inevitable from about five moves back. She never lost! It had been so exciting though! Aethelu had chatted throughout the game with such enthusiasm about how she had learnt chess and how much she loved it. She reminded Anais of her father and his childlike passion for board games, another trait she had inherited from him.
“Good game, well done.” Anais was practically breathless. “Let’s play again.”
She’d already started positioning her playing pieces.
Aethelu laughed and obliged her.
They played for hours, game after game, chatting all the while. She was having so much fun that she could almost forget that she was being held against her will.
At dinner time Aethelu brought two plates instead of one and joined Anais at the table (the chess set once again in its closed position inside the table).
They both ate a wonderful dinner of lamb and shared a couple of bottles of wine which probably moved the evening on more quickly. She was surprised how sad she felt when Aethelu finally left in the wee hours of the morning.
That night, as Anais laid on her bed she thought back over the last few hours. She’d had an amazing time, she’d really enjoyed herself. More so than she had in a long time. Aethelu made her feel special and she was so interesting and fun. She’d not had such a good time since she left L.A.
Damn her, why was she feeling so good? She was locked in a room without her consent with no idea why or how long she’d be there. It began to worry her how much she was enjoying herself and that the more she enjoyed being here the less effort she would put into escaping. No, not damn her, Damn Aethelu. It was probably the bottle of wine she’d consumed but she began to get pretty angry with the situation.
Tomorrow she’d have it out with Aethelu. She’d had enough. No matter how great the company was or how delicious the food, she was still here against her will and that was going to change.
The next morning when Aethelu brought her breakfast, Anais was ready to attack.