by I.D. Blind
12. Art School
Eric had been wandering between the narrow alleys of the West Bank for the last hour, looking for the Art School. In the morning, he had received a note from Electra, asking him to come to the school and help her. She hadn’t been specific about the kind of help she needed. Eric was sure it had something to do with moving the easels or a piece of furniture, or maybe helping her to pacify her pupils.
After an hour Eric found the place he was looking for and entered a one-story house with an arched door flanked by tall paintbrushes. A dozen girls aged eight to ten were sitting in front of their easels and looking at their art teacher.
“Oh, there he is.” Electra sighed with relief when Eric entered.
“Hello girls,” Eric said, passing between the easels. “I would’ve come earlier if you had given me the correct address.”
“It was correct.”
“It wasn’t. It took me an hour to find you. You had written a wrong number on the paper.”
“It wasn’t wrong. I wrote Peach Alley 23.”
“It was 33.”
“I had written 23.”
“Then you have bad handwriting.”
“Until now you have been reading my writing perfectly,” Electra said, and turned to her pupils. “Let me introduce you to my girls. Ladies, this is Eric. My friend.”
“Her boyfriend,” he corrected her, making the girls laugh.
“Yes, my boyfriend. And he has come to help us.”
“But not with painting.” Eric shook his head.
“So you don’t want to help us?”
“Oh, sure, why not? I will if I can, but be warned: I’m not the best painter. Actually, I’m the worst you could get.”
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to paint. We need a model.”
“A what?”
“Come, I’ll show you what to do.”
Electra took Eric to the room next door, and after some persuasion and promises of rewarding kisses, they returned to the room with the girls. All of them dissolved into giggles when they saw Eric wrapped in a long toga.
“I told you this was a bad idea.”
“Today the girls learnt about the art of Ancient Rome, and we were supposed to paint a Roman citizen, but last week we broke Aurelio and needed a model urgently.”
“Aurelio?”
“It was the statue,” one of the girls said. “We broke him last week. Poor Aurelio’s head and hands smashed on the floor.”
“Now I’m sensing danger,” Eric jested.
“Don’t worry, I will protect you.” Electra giggled, then told the girls to take their pencils. “What is the first thing we need to pay attention to?”
“The light,” the girls answered.
“Then?”
“The silhouette.”
“That’s right.”
While Electra talked about Eric’s face, silhouette, and the light that was falling on him through the window, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He was thinking of how funny the scene might look from the outside, with him in a long white toga and the little girls trying to paint him as a Roman citizen.
“Will you stop laughing?” Electra scolded him. “You’re distracting the girls.”
Eric chuckled again. “Sorry, this is so funny.”
“There is nothing funny in the history of Ancient Rome.”
“My beautiful historian, how strict you are!” He pecked her on the cheek.
The girls giggled, and Electra blushed. “Not in front of the children,” she whispered.
“But what’s the problem?” Eric faked surprise. “It’s not like I did this.” And he gave her a smacking kiss on the lips. The girls burst out laughing again. “I only did this.” He again pecked her on the cheek.
The girls tittered louder. Because Eric was trying to hug Electra while she stood next to him tutoring her pupils, she had to give him a spear to hold. The spear didn’t help, as Eric was constantly moving and trying to kiss her, making the girls laugh harder.
“Oh, can you stop moving and keep quiet for a second? You’re a model, after all!” Electra exclaimed, tousling his hair.
“Alright, I promise I won’t move anymore, but when we finish this we’re going to have something to eat, because I’m starving.”
Electra promised they would go to Cauldron and Broom and have a snack, and it calmed Eric for some time. He managed to stand still for five minutes and then began rambling again. In the end, Electra sent him to the room next door to dress. While Eric was putting his shirt on, he felt the dizziness again and had to lean his hand against the wall for support. He sat down near the table littered with palettes and brushes, took a deep breath, and blaming the weakness on the hunger, dressed up.
Electra said they weren’t going to stay long at Cauldron and Broom. She went to the kitchen and soon came out with a wicker basket full of snacks. Then she took him to a place in the forest not far from their castle. There stood a treehouse with a wooden stairway, built on a big oak. The small house was quadrangular, with a flat roof, a round window, and a door that was hanging on a broken hinge. There was also a rope bridge that connected the house with the nearest tree.
“Is this the treehouse you told me about?” Eric asked, going inside and looking around. The place was nice but dusty, with cobwebs in the corners.
“It is.”
“Do you think we should be trespassing? What if Jack finds out? He may not like it.”
“I don’t think Jack has been here since forever. Once in a while the girls and I come and clean up the place, I don’t even know why. Maybe we just don’t want it to become derelict and broken.”
“Or maybe you always knew that one day you’d bring your boyfriend to a romantic picnic in this house,” Eric said, observing the walls, the wooden furniture, and the colorful pillows on the green carpet.
Electra sat on the carpet in the center of the only room and beckoned Eric to join her. “It would be more romantic if I had come here in the morning and cleaned all the cobwebs.”
Eric sat beside her and took a sandwich from the basket. “So, your brother built this house?”
“Not really. He was young then and wouldn’t have managed to build a house like this. Uncle helped him a lot; or rather, Uncle built it while Jack helped. Oh, he was so enthusiastic about this house. He wanted it to look like those houses deep in Mysterious Forest, the ones where the dryads live. But what he had envisioned was massive and required a lot of labor and time. Uncle couldn’t spend so much time on the treehouse, so they came up with this small hut.”
While Electra spoke, Eric took another look around. The place was cozy, with a small coffee table, round paintings, and a mirror with a silver frame. Eric noticed a name carved on the wall.
“Elora? Who’s that?”
“Make a guess.” Electra poured cherry juice into their cups. “Would you like another sandwich, with cheese and mushrooms?”
Eric took the sandwich and looked out the window. The day was misty, and the depths of the forest were shrouded in darkness. He sat back by Electra, who was now setting dessert on the carpet. She took out two strawberry pies and two waffles with cream and placed them on the tablecloth.
“I like our little picnic,” Eric said. “Maybe we can come here more often? It’s a real pity this nice house is abandoned.”
Electra smiled and gave him a heart-shaped pie.
“I wonder why Jack doesn’t come here. He could invite Ariadne to this house.”
“Jack and Ariadne?” Electra asked dubiously.
“Don’t tell me you can’t see that.”
“You might be right, though I’m not really sure. I mean—oh, I don’t know.”
“Do you see a problem?”
“I don’t know. You’re right—Ariadne seems to be totally absorbed by Jack, but I’m not sure about him.”
“You think he could break her heart?”
“I’m afraid of that. I love them both dearly, but I don’t know if Jack cares for her as much as she car
es for him, and yes, I’m afraid he might break her heart.”
They stayed in the treehouse till evening, talking about their friends, Colin and Shay’s release from the prefecture’s prison, and the Chocolate Fair, which would be taking place in a week. They chatted until Eric remembered he had to be at the Old Curiosity Shop. Putting the leftovers into the basket, Eric and Electra left the treehouse.
13. Unexpected Revelation
Raymond had promised Cassandra to take her on a ride in his carriage after work. She was waiting for him in the hospital when Dickens brought his bandaged dog for examination. To Cassandra's relief, Dr. Robinson was present, and she felt less awkward than she would have if she were alone with the McCormacks’ aggressive son.
While Cassandra and Dr. Robinson applied a new bandage, Dickens stood behind and didn’t speak a single word. A few times Cassandra turned towards the shelves stocked with medications, and noticed his stern glance on her. She thought he was probably enjoying the sight of the scars left on her neck and shoulder by the sheriff’s whip. Or maybe he was angry that she was touching his dog, but she didn’t care.
In the evening, Raymond brought Cassandra back to the blue castle. He was leaving Hollow for a week, and was supposed to be back on tournament day. “Just save a couple of chocolate rabbits for me,” he told her. “I’ll have them when I’m back. And don’t be sad, my sweetheart, it’s only for a week.”
“I am missing you already.” She hugged Raymond and for a very long time didn’t want to let him go.
“You will have so many things to do at the fair that the time will pass quickly, and meanwhile, I’ll take Bonnie back to Ornshire and come back to you.” Raymond at last tore himself from her embrace, but a second later took her back in his arms. “Oh, Cassie, I can’t wait for the day… But wait, I’ve got a present for you.” He took a parcel from the carriage and gave it to her. “Open it.”
She tore the wrapping and examined the tome on both sides. “Animal Biology! How did you know I was searching for this book?”
“Because when you talk, I always pay attention.” Raymond put his hands on her shoulders and once again bestowed her with his beautiful smile. “Grandmother has problems with her health. When she feels better, I am going to talk to her.”
“About what?”
“About us—me and you.”
Cassandra’s eyes turned wide like saucers.
“What is it?” Raymond chuckled. “You were not expecting to hear that?”
For some seconds she was lost for words, then she tried to speak, but nothing came to mind. Instead, Cassandra bit her lips and continued to stare at Raymond.
“Alright, you seem too startled.” Raymond chuckled again. “We’ll talk when I’m back.” He kissed her goodbye and left the courtyard. Cassandra was hoping to talk to her sisters about her conversation with Raymond, but she wasn’t expecting to find all her friends in the fireplace hall. Ariadne and Medea were sitting on the carpet, Jack was near the window, Hector was leaning against the mantelpiece, and Eric and Electra were sitting on the couch, holding hands. They were discussing something, and when Cassandra entered the hall, Jack said, “Here comes the animal lover. Cassie, tell us if the animals have warned you of anything.”
“I can’t say much. Just the same thing I’ve been saying all this time: something worries them. Sometimes they are scared, but all they say is that the weather is changing. I don’t know what that means.” She sat by Medea and Ariadne on the carpet.
“The weather is changing,” Jack muttered. “We know that. And we also know it was changing thirteen years ago. Sometimes animals died, but most importantly, the townsfolk began acting strangely. They turned aggressive. I hear about arguments and fights all the time.”
“I haven’t heard about fights,” Cassandra said.
“That’s because you’re either in the hospital or strolling with Raymond,” Jack said. “But don’t forget that one of the incidents involved you and Eric. And in most of the arguments, the McCormacks, the Baldrics, or the Van Balens were involved. I think my point is clear.”
“It’s indeed clear,” Hector said. “They are up to something.”
“Maybe we could help with ideas if you gave us the diaries to read?”
Everyone in the hall stared at Medea.
“What diaries?” Electra asked.
“She’s raving,” Jack said.
“Stop lying! I don’t only have great eyesight, but good ears, and brains to think. Why won’t you share with your sisters the content of those diaries? I’m sure we could find out something. Do you think we are stupid? No more than you, Hector, and Eric.”
Electra turned to Eric. “Is she telling the truth? There are diaries, and you have read them?”
Eric pouted and looked away. Not receiving an answer from him, the girls looked at Hector, then at Jack.
“Jack, why would you hide them from us?” Cassandra asked. “Medea has a point; we can help.”
Eric tried to lend Jack a helping hand. “Girls,” he said. “If Jack hasn’t given you the diaries or hasn’t told you anything about them, then he thinks they are of no importance.”
“Listen, I didn’t tell you about them because they are not cute stories; they are gruesome, violent, and depressing.”
“What makes you think we can’t handle them?”
“Medea, what makes you so inquisitive?”
“It’s not only her, Jack,” Electra said. “We all are curious. We all want to know what’s going on.”
“Why won’t you just trust me? I’m your brother. If I’m not saying something, it means I have reasons for doing that.”
“I am sure Jack has reasons to keep the diaries from us,” Ariadne said. “And I suppose that we all have already understood what the reason is.”
“Oh, stop it, Ariadne,” Medea said. “You will always find a reason to defend him.”
“I’m not defending him. All I’m saying is that I think he is right about not giving us those diaries. If they are about the Hunt—”
“Of course they are about the Hunt! Why else would he hide them from us? He thinks we’re too soft and can’t handle gruesome stories or the shocking truth, but what he doesn’t understand is that our imaginations have pictured any possible barbarity throughout these years, and we’re ready for anything!”
“Alright, Medea, you’re becoming aggressive,” Jack told her.
“So is this what the people on the East Bank want to achieve? Disarray. Suspicion. Distrust. People are fighting. We are fighting all the time.”
“Calm down, El, we’re not fighting all the time,” Medea said.
“More than we used to,” Electra countered.
“I don’t want to see anybody fighting,” Jack said. “I admit I was hiding those diaries from you, and I’m still not going to give them to you—” Medea tried to protest, but Jack stopped her. “I won’t give you the diaries, because, as I said, they are gruesome and upsetting. However, Hector and Eric and I will tell you what we’ve learnt from those diaries and what we think will be happening soon.” Medea again tried to interrupt, but Jack didn’t let her speak. “The weather will change for the worse. Animals will behave strangely. People will argue and fight. There will be much hate, lies, and gossip. This all will lead to a big problem, because every time the town sinks into this kind of mess, they come back.”
“They?” Ariadne asked.
“The Hunters. The Dark Men. The Executioners.”
When everyone became silent, Medea raised her hand.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“I have a question.”
“Well, go on.”
“Thank you, you’re too kind,” she mocked him, then added, “Where did you get those diaries from?”
“Trust me, you don’t need to know that.”
“And still?”
“Please be a good girl and don’t ask.”
“Jack!” she yelled. “You’re not letting us read them, so at least f
eed my curiosity and tell me where you got them from.”
Jack pressed his lips together and looked at Hector. He shrugged and shook his head. The girls turned to Eric.
“Don’t look at me, I have no idea where those diaries come from.”
“Listen, the less you know, the better you’ll sleep,” Hector said.
“Oh, no, no. You’re keeping too many secrets from us. That’s enough. You said yourself that you don’t want to see us fighting, so at least be so kind as to tell us where you got these diaries from,” Medea demanded.
Jack sat down and buried his face in his palms. He then raised his eyes and looked at his sisters. “From the sheriff’s house.”