Chapter5

* We reached High Meadows at Thirty minutes past nine. And that was because the horses sped. "Oh my gawd, I was so worried about all of you!" Aunt Christina exclaimed when we entered the house. The electricity was cut because of the rain and so she had lit candles everywhere in the house. "You should all sit down. I made hot soup." "Thank you." uncle ken and dad said. "Um, I'm not hungry. I just wanna sleep." I was more than tired. "You sure?" uncle Kenneth asked. "Yes." "Sorry it didn't go as planned, son." my dad added "No problem, dad." "Okay. I'll be joining you shortly." "Okay. Goodnight, uncle ken." "Goodnight, Sheridan." I took a candlestick and went up the staircase to the room I shared with my dad. I changed into warm pyjamas and got under the warm blanket. I was about to sleep when I heard the door open slowly. I looked up, waiting for the person to appear in the candle light. It was Heather, in her pink pyjamas and with her teddy bear. "Heather?" I whispered. "Yeah?" she whispered back. "Y'all aren't sleeping yet?" "Sawyer is. I was worried about you, dad and uncle Paul. That rain was heavy." "Yeah. But it's alright now. We're home. And as you can see, I'm all warm." I smiled and she smiled back. "Good to know. G– goodnight, Sheridan." "Goodnight." She turned to leave but then stopped and faced me again. "D– do you want to sleep with my teddy bear? He'll keep you warmer." she proposed softly as she handed over the teddy to me. "Yeah, of course." I took it. She smiled, her face reddening. I smiled too. "Come let me tell you something in your ear." I said. She came over. And when she leaned to listen to what I had to say, I kissed her cheek. A gasp escaped her mouth and she looked at me, surprise in her doe eyes. I smiled. She reddened even more and ran out of the room. I smiled to myself and adjusted for sleep, holding her teddy tight. It smelt like her. It smelt like peppermint. I turned over in my bed as sunlight shown bright into the room. I felt the softness of something that I was holding tight against my chest. A teddy bear. Peppermint. Heather. I smiled and slowly opened my eyes. "Aaaah!" a short yell escaped my mouth when I saw Sawyer's frowning little face by the bed. I turned to see if my dad was still on the bed but he wasn't. He'd probably taken a bath and gone downstairs already. "What are you- You scared me!" I exclaimed, sitting up. "I'm telling mom." she stated dryly. "Telling her what?" I asked confused. "That you slept with Heather's teddy." she smirked. "Can't you be cool for once? Why are you so unfriendly?" I asked, annoyed. She looked at me for a while and I thought she would give up. Wrong. "MOMMY!!" she screamed all of a sudden and ran out of the room. I rolled my eyes and got out of bed. Quickly, I went to their room to keep the teddy. Luckily, Heather was in. I gave it to her quickly. "Act like you never gave it to me. Sawyer went to report. She nodded. I left the room quickly and returned to my dad's so I could take a bath and get ready for breakfast. *** Sawyer's wicked plan hadn't succeeded as aunt Christina was in a bad mood about something and didn't want to listen to her foolish reports. We had breakfast altogether as usual. The day went on well. I played with Heather and even tried to play with Sawyer but she sent me strolling and preferred to play with her dolls all by herself. If that was her will, then who was I to stop her. But who was I to minimise her too. While I played with Heather in the fields, aunt Christina appeared from no where angrily, Sawyer with her. She pulled Heather away from me with a hand. I looked at her confused. "I don't ever want to see you around Heather. You hear me??" she said. I looked at her, unable to realise what she'd just said. "What?" "You heard me, you little idiot! Because of you, Sawyer feels left out. Don't you speak to her again throughout your stay here." she frowned. I was shocked. Heather too. She looked at her mother in confusion. "But mommy-" "Shut up, Heather!" she turned to me, "And you, find an excuse to give your dad if he ever asks you why you don't play with Heather anymore. Understood?" I was speechless. Scared. Intimidated. My eyes began to water. Did aunty Christina hate me? She always pretended to like me when her husband or my dad was around. I knew better not to tell them about her real face with me. "Didn't I ask you something, you dummy??" "Uh, okay." "Good." she held both her daughters' hands and left. I felt humiliated and horrible. I sat on the grass, my head resting on my bended knees, and sobbed. And I had to pretend that she'd never spoken to me. All of a sudden I realised I couldn't cope. I wanted to leave High Meadows. The week wasn't over yet but with aunt Christina and Sawyer, everything could go wrong. I would miss Heather but I wanted to leave. I stood up with a made up mind. I was going to tell my dad. Neither did I know that my life would change from that night. *** I was moody for the rest of the day until evening. My dad and uncle ken returned in time for dinner. But uncle ken was too tired and decided to go to bed directly. Meanwhile, dad joined us. We all had dinner. I avoided to look gloomy but I failed. "You don't look okay, Sheridan. What is it?" he asked while we ate. I looked up at Heather. She had a gloomy look on too. I turned to aunt Christina who gave me a quick menacing look.