Secrets and Love Don't Mix - Penelope
Only Part of Penelope's visitors and backstory. Would you like to read the rest?
"Mitchell?"
"Aye, lass, it be me! Now come ‘ere and give yer big brother a hug!" He enveloped me in his arms.
"Oh, stop. I know your accent isn’t THAT thick. You play the Irish thing way too hard."
Mitchell’s deep belly laugh erupted from his throat. I missed that laugh.
"Eh, true, but some people," his head tilted right, "Happen to like accents." Walking forward, I looked beside him… and screamed.
"Clarissa!"
"Penelope!"
I hugged my sister-in-law’s little form tightly. Letting go, my eyes flickered between her face and my brother’s. My eyebrow quirked upward. Someone’s missing. Clarissa’s mouth twitched into a grin.
"Auntie Penny?" A little boy walked from behind her, rubbing his eye.
"Hey there, Joey." I ruffled his candy-brown curls. "Just getting up from a nap?" He nodded sleepily.
"I missed you, Penny. But those men, they say they didn’t mean to do what they did. They didn’t ask questions ‘cause they didn’t see you much and didn’t know it was y-"
"Joseph." Mitchell spoke firmly, but without an edge. Almost with some degree of sadness. "That’s enough."
"That’s quite alright, Mr. Collins." My eyes widened, but I couldn’t myself to turn around. "We deserve any harsh words anyone has to say. Especially you… Miss Penelope."
"It’s Penny," I breathed. When I faced them, my head started to swim. "And that’s alright." Even I could sense how shaky my smile was. "I-I’d almost forgotten about the whole ordeal. Heh. I don’t even think about it much anymore."
"Well, uh… We got you these. We heard you were found… uh, that you liked them." The four men each handed me a sunflower.
"Jacob…" I whispered and stroked a petal. My gaze flickered upward. They. Were. Staring. At. Me. "Oh, thank you. I really appreciate-" My smile faltered and I glanced at a flower. A small spider jumped from a leaf and was climbing up my wrist.
"Penny?" Mitchell touched my shoulder.
I lost it.
Letting out a scream, I thrust the flowers forward onto the ground and fell, crab walking backwards.
"Penny?!" His voice was worried as he picked me up by my arms off the ground. Tears started spilling from my eyes and no matter how much I wanted to stop them, I couldn’t. "Shhh, shh, it’s okay."
"Th- the spi- spider. It was on me a-and," my sobs made my words come in gasps, "It was on my arm. It touched me! He touched me! Mitchell, he touched me!!" I didn’t care if people were staring or not. I cried into my big brother’s shirt and he held me.
"Shh, lassie." He was talking the way grandpa would. "There be nary a thing wrong. Nary a thing, lass."
"Is Penny okay, Pa?" I could feel Joey hugging my leg. It only made me hold on to Mitchell more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clarissa talking to the men.
"I don’t know. Someone took a part of her a long time ago. I don’t think she ever got it back."
****************************************************
I was prepared to write you all a nice little chapter or piece on Christmas Eve, but my compie chose not to work. Now, here's a nice little piece five days later.
"Aye, lass, it be me! Now come ‘ere and give yer big brother a hug!" He enveloped me in his arms.
"Oh, stop. I know your accent isn’t THAT thick. You play the Irish thing way too hard."
Mitchell’s deep belly laugh erupted from his throat. I missed that laugh.
"Eh, true, but some people," his head tilted right, "Happen to like accents." Walking forward, I looked beside him… and screamed.
"Clarissa!"
"Penelope!"
I hugged my sister-in-law’s little form tightly. Letting go, my eyes flickered between her face and my brother’s. My eyebrow quirked upward. Someone’s missing. Clarissa’s mouth twitched into a grin.
"Auntie Penny?" A little boy walked from behind her, rubbing his eye.
"Hey there, Joey." I ruffled his candy-brown curls. "Just getting up from a nap?" He nodded sleepily.
"I missed you, Penny. But those men, they say they didn’t mean to do what they did. They didn’t ask questions ‘cause they didn’t see you much and didn’t know it was y-"
"Joseph." Mitchell spoke firmly, but without an edge. Almost with some degree of sadness. "That’s enough."
"That’s quite alright, Mr. Collins." My eyes widened, but I couldn’t myself to turn around. "We deserve any harsh words anyone has to say. Especially you… Miss Penelope."
"It’s Penny," I breathed. When I faced them, my head started to swim. "And that’s alright." Even I could sense how shaky my smile was. "I-I’d almost forgotten about the whole ordeal. Heh. I don’t even think about it much anymore."
"Well, uh… We got you these. We heard you were found… uh, that you liked them." The four men each handed me a sunflower.
"Jacob…" I whispered and stroked a petal. My gaze flickered upward. They. Were. Staring. At. Me. "Oh, thank you. I really appreciate-" My smile faltered and I glanced at a flower. A small spider jumped from a leaf and was climbing up my wrist.
"Penny?" Mitchell touched my shoulder.
I lost it.
Letting out a scream, I thrust the flowers forward onto the ground and fell, crab walking backwards.
"Penny?!" His voice was worried as he picked me up by my arms off the ground. Tears started spilling from my eyes and no matter how much I wanted to stop them, I couldn’t. "Shhh, shh, it’s okay."
"Th- the spi- spider. It was on me a-and," my sobs made my words come in gasps, "It was on my arm. It touched me! He touched me! Mitchell, he touched me!!" I didn’t care if people were staring or not. I cried into my big brother’s shirt and he held me.
"Shh, lassie." He was talking the way grandpa would. "There be nary a thing wrong. Nary a thing, lass."
"Is Penny okay, Pa?" I could feel Joey hugging my leg. It only made me hold on to Mitchell more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clarissa talking to the men.
"I don’t know. Someone took a part of her a long time ago. I don’t think she ever got it back."
****************************************************
I was prepared to write you all a nice little chapter or piece on Christmas Eve, but my compie chose not to work. Now, here's a nice little piece five days later.
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