NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 17: Ancient
With each stroke of the brush, she felt a strand of hair wrestle with the bristles and eventually break away. As delicately as she could, she combed her hair but still felt her hair fall. "I am balding," Emberoine said to no one in particular. Her hair, which was up in knots just a few minutes ago, now sat flatly against her shoulders. Emberline sighed and stood from the chair. Her thoughts were occupied by matters of utmost importance.
Emberline held the small reticule in her hand, stuffing it with as much money as she could have. Elena was otherwise always asleep at this time, but Emberline's stomping and clacking could have awoken a beast from its slumber.
"Going to see that old woman?" Elena asked, peering through the door of her room, stretching her arms across the headboard.
"I am already late," Emberline said as she rushed from one corner of the room to another, picking one thing and then another.
"Better get going before she falls to the floor and dies," Elena said, slumping her head below the bed as Emberline made her fleeting exit.
She felt the fabric of her dress, hoping that it hadn't creased during her rampage. Mrs Marshall was a very keen and observant woman, voicing her opinion on every seam and lace she found undesirable. Emberline hadn't felt the need to impress anyone since the first time she had attended a ball. But then, she was surrounded by men in lavish suits and women in deep colors to impress, now it was judt an old woman.
Emberline felt the chilling cold in the air seep into her bones. Even the newly combed hair on her scalp stood. The more she progressed, the more she felt like she had entered cold waters. She held her back tightly to her waist, which had been sinched by the corset she borrowed from Elena. Emberline felt the difference in their sizes when she turned a corner in the street and felt the wires prick her skin.
Emberline followed a gravel path leewardly into the city, counting the torches that Mrs Marshall talked about having. An occasional poster of ransom money in exchange for vicipus criminals was plastered across the walls. Emberline turned away. She was not to be depressed by the thought of corruption. She felt clean and joyous, and even a glimpse of the bad could make her turn around.
She spotted the old woman, clearing a table and perking up the flowers in the vase. The lanked old woman almost danced as she ordered her husband around, who seemed to sulk beside her. Emberline felt her instuitive gaze upon her, and she gained vigor. "There you are, my dear!" She called from across the street. Emberline tried to return her enthusiasm, but she felt that it couldn't be matched. "I'm sorry i could not be on time, I could not manage to tell the time," She excused as Mrs Marshall pulled her in for a tight hug. Emberline felt the wire dig deeper into her flesh, and she couldn't help but seethe.
Mrs Marshall released her and pushed her onto the table. "No more words, young lady, the foods are going cold," she said as she seated Emberline and ushered her husband to bring the tray of foods that made Emberline regret coming. She was not fond of sweet potatoes or teas.
"Come on now, husband, be quick on your feet," she cooed as she sat herself down and poured tea. Mr Marshall did as asked, quitely retreating to the small house. "That's not very kind of you," Emberline mused, taking a small bite of the pie she had baked.
"Oh, let me! It's the only face i got to see for so long, " she hissed into her ear, chugging the hot tea after each bite. "I could get used to seeing younger faces," she added.
"Being young does not make me good company, Mrs Marshall," Emberline said softly, her words emerging from within without a motive.
"It certainly does not, I mean— what a mope you are!" Mrs Marshall said, leaning into her table.
"One is only as young as his spirits, and you, my dear girl, are old!" She chuckled as she poured jam on her food. "I wish to have young company, but you— oh poor you! Had I not been young by heart, i would certainly have bored you with talks of these wicked children and my dirty in laws, but oh no, dear child! And Oh, what company i am, i have straughtened your act. Now you dress less like a drag!"
Emberline laughed haughtily. "You are not just young by heart Mrs Marshall, i certainly can not tell you apart from the royalties of my age," She said as she pointed to the shiny locket that Mrs Marshall had worn.
"It is beautiful Mrs Marshall," emberline said, taking all attention away from herself once more. "I did not know your husband was such a romantic."
"Oh, he is not! Never! I mean— I had to beg him for this. I had seen it in the shop, and i could not bring myself to part from it, " Mrs Marshall said, continuing her never-ending story that would certainly lead to another and another. She had lots to say.
Emberline listened intently, making small gasps and jabs as was customary. She felt that the old woman's spirits raised each time she smiled at her, so she displayed more of it ingenuinely.
The day that Mrs Marshall had entered the hospital for treatment, she had wondered what had compelled Emberline to take to her treatment. Today, under the canopy of soft daylight, she felt the resemblance. Her mother's once vacant eyes, which stared blankly into nothingness in the photographs, now seemed full of life as they mirrored the lively expression of this elderly woman. She never remembered her mother, but Mrs Marshall had certainly made her feel her absence.
The plates on the tables shook, and the tea in the cups reflected against its own walls. Mrs Marshall went silent as the cars rolled about, the threatening glares of the policemen and the stillness of the air made Emberline more uneasy than she had initially been.