by J Armitage
“That was a long shower!”
“I finished in the shower ages ago. I saw that you were busy so I did a bit of tidying”
“Silly! I’ll never be too busy for you. I was only working on the painting so I could look at you as much as I wanted.”
“Can I see it?” Anais was curious to how she was depicted.
“No, not before it’s finished.”
“Is it nearly finished?” Anais smiled cheekily.
“No. I’ve got your likeness down but I’ve still got a long way to go before I’ll be happy showing it to you. Perhaps I should just look at you some more to make sure I’ve captured every detail perfectly.” She put down her paintbrush and palate and gazed at Anais.
“I don’t think looking at me more will get the painting finished. You paint, I’ll tidy up here.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s ok, I want to. I want to see the painting soon so that means you’ve got to keep painting it.”
Aethelu reluctantly picked up her brushes and carried on with her work.
They chatted all the while. About everything and about nothing. Eventually they both gave up the task and had a picnic lunch on the bed. They didn’t move for the rest of the afternoon. Anais didn’t ever want to lose the feeling she was experiencing. She was on a high and she didn’t care that she couldn’t stop smiling. Aethelu obviously felt the same way as she had the same silly grin on her face. They laid inches away from each other but not daring to touch because of the magical force Aethelu generated, although both of them wanted to.
“Have you ever kissed a girl before?” Anais was brimming with curiosity.
“No,” She paused and then added coyly “I’ve never really kissed anyone before.”
“That cannot be true!” Anais was incredulous. “You...You’re...”
“Six hundred years old. I know.”
“I was going to say gorgeous, but yeah, you’re six hundred years old.”
“I was very young when we drunk the elixir, and extremely shy. I wasn’t a particularly attractive child either. I spent most of my childhood climbing trees with your father. I was always covered in bruises with dirt on my face and twigs in my hair. I guess you could call me a late bloomer. At fourteen I was expected to be working and I did help my mother a little with the healing although I spent most of my time out having adventures with Ali.
One day, a beautiful girl came to us. I knew everyone in our village but I’d not seen her before. Her baby brother was sick and needed healing. My mother saw to the baby whilst I talked to the girl. She was around my age and incredibly beautiful. Luckily for her, her brother was not too unwell and my mother gave her a simple potion. I remember wishing he was a little sicker so my mother would take longer with him so I could spend longer with her. When she left I followed her from a distance, desperate to know who she was. It turned out she had come from the next village over. Every day after that I would make my way to the next village just to get a glimpse of her. I’d often hide behind trees just so she wouldn’t notice me.”
“Why didn’t you talk to her?” Anais interrupted.
“I was just too shy. I’d never felt like that before and I didn’t know what to do about it.
Then of course the plague came and you already know the story of us drinking the potion. What you don’t know is that I saved a tiny bit for her. I ran to the next village immediately to give her the elixir.” Aethelu paused.
“What happened?” prompted Anais
“I went to her house and told her everything, about the elixir, about how I’d been watching her and that I was in love with her.”
“She didn’t believe you?”
“She all but called me a freak. She spat in my face. It broke my heart. The next day we left the village and I never saw her again. Even though my new life had just started, it felt like it was over.”
“Oh Aethelu.” Anais heart went out to her.
“Arcadia had always been beautiful so she adapted to her new look very quickly and the boys were always full of confidence.”
“But you are beautiful, stunning!”
“I didn’t think so until I met you.”
Anais’ eyes were full of tears, full of pain for the fourteen year old Aethelu.
Aethelu laughed. “Don’t cry, silly. It was a long time ago. I’ve not thought about her for a very, very long time. Anyway tell me about you. Have you ever kissed a girl?”
“I never wanted to before I met you. I never even thought about it. I did have a boyfriend though, back at school in L.A.” Anais admitted.
“I hate him already” Aethelu joked
“He was nice, I just, I dunno, I didn’t really feel that much. We went our separate ways. I don’t think either of us was that bothered when it ended.
“Sounds like the romance of the century!”
Anais picked up a pillow and hit Aethelu with it, laughing.
“I guess high school was a much longer time ago for you huh?”
“I never went to school. In the 1300’s children played and when they were old enough they worked.”
“Wow, no school.” It was unthinkable that someone in this day and age didn’t have a formal education but then, she mused, Aethelu wasn’t from this day and age.
“I’ve got 600 years of life education under my belt. I can speak four languages including Latin, play most instruments, have passed tests and have licences for cars, boats and planes, oh and I can juggle too!”
“Show off!” Anais hit her with the pillow again.
“Five minutes and already this is becoming an abusive relationship,” laughed Aethelu as she attempted to get her own back with a small cushion.
“Who locked who in shackles now?” reminded Anais
“Ok point taken, let’s call it even.”
“Never,” said Anais whose competitive nature had already lost too many games of chess against Aethelu. The pillow once again went flying.
The afternoon passed in a hazy blur. Anais had never felt so happy but more than that, she had never felt so safe. Aethelu made her feel like nothing could harm her.
Eventually, after hours of chatting, of playing, and of enjoying each other’s company, the topic of conversation came around to telling the rest of the family about their relationship.
“What do you think they’ll say?”
“I don’t know. Do we have to tell them? Can’t we keep it a secret?” Aethelu was only half kidding.
“Yes, we have to tell them, what’s the alternative? We spend every day sneaking around and playing footsie under the table when we think nobody is looking?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
“What will they say?” Anais repeated her earlier question.
“Cadie will think it’s great. She’s always telling me to find a man, I think the shock of me finding myself a girl will delight her. August will be happy if I’m happy and Andrew won’t even notice if we made out on the dinner table right in front of him. His head is full of amazing things but he doesn’t have much of a clue about real life.”
“What about Alex and Rafe?”
“They will both be gutted. I overheard them betting against each other about which one of them you’d go out with?”
“No way! Really? I heard them arguing over a girl but I didn’t realise it was me.”
“I guess you are going to let them both down. On the bright side, neither will lose any money over it.”
“I thought Rafe hated me.”
“Na, He’s always like that. He’s a nice guy really but he can be so serious. The girls seem to go for it though. They all say he’s a brooding character; it draws them in like a moth to a flame. I’m not sure I get it myself but there you go, both he and Alex have always got girls queuing up to date them.”
Anais knew what Aethelu meant. ‘Brooding character’ summed him up very well, but she couldn’t figure out what it was that attracted the girls to him. He was attractive, certain
ly, but she’d seen a mean side to him too. She guessed some girls must like that. Alex, on the other hand, was much easier to understand. He was as gorgeous as Rafe, but unlike his twin brother, was gorgeous on the inside too, easily likable and a whole lot of fun.
Eventually they could put it off no more. They descended the ladder and walked hand in hand back to the main house. Aethelu putting her gloves back on first to protect Anais. Anais had protested at first, wanting nothing more than to touch Aethelu again but had to agree that now was not the time to master the power of The Light and that they’d have plenty of time for that later.
They didn’t have to worry about the family’s reaction. August was busy in the kitchen preparing another splendid meal. He was rushing around, stirring, chopping and occasionally throwing a scrap of meat to Baker who was yapping around his feet. He didn’t even notice they were in the kitchen let alone holding hands.
They found Arcadia on the phone in the parlour. Gone was the black bob and green eyes. Now she sported long auburn hair that shone as it waved down her back. Eyes, now hazel, glanced over at them. They sat holding hands, waiting patiently for her to finish what was obviously an important call. She was perceptive enough to notice the hand holding and as soon as she hung up the phone, she ran over and hugged them both, saving them having to tell her the news themselves.
“What a wonderful development. My little Lulu finally has found someone special, I knew it! Darlings! This calls for a drink.”
She picked up a bottle of already opened champagne which she had obviously been drinking before they had walked in. She fetched a couple more glasses and refilled hers.
Anais wondered if they bought champagne in bulk. They seemed to drink it like a normal person drinks tea.
“How exciting! Now tell me all about it, I want to know all the gory details.”
“Oh Cadie, stop,” Aethelu said blushing the colour of her top, although she was grinning too.
“Oh Daddy is going to just flip out. I bet he never expected this when he brought Anais to the house.”
Aethelu started to look a little green.
“Oh don’t worry. He’ll come around eventually,” Arcadia carried on. “It’s the twenty first century, besides who could not be happy when you’ve found such a beautiful young person to be with.”
Anais felt strange being called beautiful by the radiant Arcadia. She felt like a dandelion next to a rare orchid in her presence but she grinned all the same.
Arcadia grilled them for information although she stated that she’d guessed it would happen. When she finally had enough details she let them go. They decided to help August with the dinner and tell him at the same time. When they got into the kitchen, August was just hanging up his mobile phone. When he saw them he raised his eyebrows.
“Girlfriends eh? How very modern.” It seemed all he had to say on the matter as he went back to peeling carrots.
Anais was dumbfounded.
“That’s the reason I told Cadie first,” Aethelu said quietly.
“The phone call!” Anais caught on. “Arcadia must have called him as soon as we left the room”
“And now we don’t have to tell anyone else. Cadie will do it for us. She’s the best big sister but she’s a terrible gossip. She can’t help herself”
Aethelu was right. By the time the whole family gathered for dinner that evening, everyone knew.
Everybody seemed happy for the new couple which was a relief to Anais as she didn’t want to come between Aethelu and her family. Alex and Rafe both seemed a little subdued but Anais put that down to both having lost bets. Andrew also seemed a little disconcerted by the announcement but he too smiled and congratulated the pair.
‘For such an old family, they sure do have a modern outlook on things,’ thought Anais. Still it was nice to be accepted as a member of the family.
That night Anais begrudgingly made her way back to her room on the second floor alone at the end of the night, but not before she had stolen a kiss from Aethelu at the bottom of the grand staircase when no one else was looking. The tingling lips accompanied her off to sleep.
The next morning she was awoken by an urgent knocking on the door. She jumped out of bed and ran to the door wondering what the emergency was. Flinging the door wide she barely had time to register it was Aethelu before she was enveloped in a huge hug which nearly knocked her off her feet.
“Morning!” Aethelu sang. She let Anais go and then continued in an almost breathless voice “I came up to get you. I thought we’d have breakfast together.”
Anais laughed at her enthusiasm. It was the same level of enthusiasm Anais would reserve for winning the lottery. Aethelu was practically bouncing on her feet. Anais took Aethelu’s still gloved hand and followed her down to the kitchen, still in her pyjamas.
Over bowls of cereal and toast, Aethelu told Anais she had a surprise for her. A surprise which would involve a trip into the woods. As Aethelu could barely contain her excitement, Anais thought it must be something pretty wonderful.
After breakfast and after they had both got dressed they once again met up in the kitchen. Aethelu opened the big oak door and beckoned Anais outside. The snow was floating lazily down in big soft flakes which reminded Anais of white cotton candy. She enjoyed the feeling of the snow falling on her before she followed Aethelu through the gate and into the woods. Once they were under cover of trees the snow thinned out and in some places barely made it to the ground. They followed a path that Anais had not been down before. It skirted the dry stone wall boundary to the right of the property. The wall was approximately a metre high and had odd metal posts sticking out of the top every ten metres or so which reached another metre into the air.
“Invisible electric fence,” explained Aethelu, “similar to those that dog owners have to keep their pets in the gardens except this fence doesn’t require the wearing of a collar.”
“Andrews design?”
“Spot on! Daddy asked him to make the house more secure after Alist...your dad died, and this is what he came up with.”
They walked for quite a way further, much further than Anais had ventured before. Suddenly Aethelu stopped. Anais looked around to see why they were stopping but this bit of woods looked much the same as everywhere else.
Aethelu said “Watch this” and quickly climbed a nearby tree, jumping from branch to branch as she went.
Anais wondered what Anais was doing but then she spotted a large branch overhanging the fence, much higher than the tops of the metal posts.
Aethelu shimmied along the branch, over the electric fence and leaped to another tree on the other side of the fence. She then dropped down to the ground and performed a little bow for Anais sake before beckoning her over.
Anais expertly climbed the tree and followed Aethelu’s route until she dropped down, landing right next to Aethelu. They were still in the woods although at this side of the fence it was much denser and there was no path in sight.
Aethelu started walking through the trees with Anais following close behind. Aethelu obviously knew where she was going as she picked her way through the leafless trees following an invisible route to an unknown destination. Eventually, after fifteen minutes or so, they came to a wide path or cycle track which had been concreted over. Anais could tell it was a popular route through the woods because of the multitude of tracks worn through the snow. The path made its way up a steep hill and was extremely slippery; indeed Anais could see where people had slipped by the marks on the ice. She decided it was safer to walk at the side of the path, the part that wasn’t concreted over to avoid slipping herself. Aethelu led her downhill for almost ten minutes until she could see light amongst the branches and the way out of the woods. When they reached the woods edge, Anais could see a wide stretch of grass ending with a children’s playground. A road, visible just behind the playground was empty. Nobody was braving driving in the current icy conditions. Anais expected to head towards the road so she was surprised when Aethel
u turned left. She had stopped at a metal gate and was trying to turn a key in the lock. As she did, Anais read the sign above the gate.
Shipley Glen Tramway
Closed for the winter
“This is the oldest cable tramway in Britain if you don’t count cliff lifts on the coast. We’ve been riding it for over a hundred years.” Aethelu finally got the key to turn in the lock and the gate creaked open.
“Is it yours?”
“No, I think it belongs to the local council now but I know the guy who runs it.” She winked at Anais.
Through the gate a little ticket kiosk and a small building stood, which Aethelu told her was an old fashioned sweet shop. Anais could see metal signs advertising products from days gone by. To the left were a couple of tiny platforms and the quaintest little tram Anais had ever seen. All open except for a canopy that covered the length of it. Vibrant red paint decorated the back (no wonder Aethelu loved it) and a white star painted right in the middle finished the look.
Aethelu strolled to the front and manoeuvred the seat to face it forward. She told Anais to get in.
Once Anais had sat down, Aethelu made her way back to the little ticket office and rang the bell that was attached to the wall, very loudly.
Anais heard a similar bell answer its call from a distance, way up the hill and then a little jolt told her that she was moving. Aethelu ran and jumped onto the slow moving tram, climbing over the seats until she found her place next to Anais.
Anais had grown up in California, where some of the biggest and best theme park rides in the world are, but this little tram was thrilling her much more than any rollercoaster she’d ever ridden. It was so slow that she could have easily have kept up with it if she had run, but it was the magical passage through the woods in the snow and the amazing Victorian engineering that captured her imagination. The tracks followed to the right of the concreted path they had walked down earlier and now she could see a couple with a dog braving the slippery path. Aethelu waved with such enthusiasm at the couple that they laughed and waved back.
