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| Tirymôr Mansion |
Evie carefully clasped a golden necklace around her neck. She stared at herself in the mirror and wondered what would become of her as soon as she stepped foot off of the docked Iberia. The light from the dim lamp next to her made the little crucifix on the necklace sparkle. She took a breath and placed the necklace under her white blouse with puffy shoulders and cuffs that was pristinely tucked into the top of her long gray tweed skirt.
The young English woman, ready for her new adventure on the island of Welshport placed a tweed jacket that matched her skirt over her shoulders just as her cabin mate, Catherine, opened her room door.
"The bell-hop was just here. He said your things have already been taken off the ship. There's someone already awaiting you below."
"Oh! Thank you. Am I the only one getting off here?" Evie asked.
Catherine furrowed her brow, it dawned on her that Evie truly had no idea where she was and just how desolate and remote this area of America was. No one was disembarking with Evie, no one. It was even a shock most, if not all, of the other passengers as to why anyone would even come here and why the White Star Line company had even decided to make this specific spot an official stop.
But Lord family money talked.
Evie was about to marry into made it clear to White Star that no amount of money was an issue...they would prefer Evie dock directly on the island; $20,000 made it happen and Evie got a personalized docking.
"Just you." Catherine said, smiling nervously for her new friend.
"It was so nice meeting you on this trip Mrs. Ruth. I wish you a wonderful rest of your trip." Evie said, her cobalt blue eyes sparkling in the glow of the orange lamp light.
As she set for the door of their shared cabin she slipped on one white glove but Catherine grabbed her free bare hand and pulled her back towards her. Her facial expression shone worry. Evie thought something had suddenly happened to her that perhaps the older woman was sick all of a sudden but it was only anxiety and worry all over her face.
"Darling please be careful. Stay alert in all you do and in all your acquaintances here in Welshport. Frankly, I don’t want to open my morning paper when I’m back in New York and read that something else has happened up here in this forgotten little island and your name be listed as yet another of the strange occurrences."
"What?" Evie replied, surprised at the bizarre request. "I...I’ll be fine." She added.
"I pray so."
"Mrs. Ruth, I think that maybe you've been mislead, maybe whatever happened here is just rumor or some kind of story that people misunderstood. You know how gossip travels." Evie replied as the bell-hop knocked on the door.
"Miss, they’re waiting for you." He said in his charming Irish accent.
"Thank you." Evie said, turning back to Catherine and pulling her arm back slowly that was still locked in Catherine's worried grasp. "I’ll be fine." she whispered back.
Catherine smirked and shook her head as if to shake out all the horrible thoughts she had. "Of course you will. I'm being ridiculous. Of course, of course. Go on, go. have a wonderful life my darling and as soon as I get back to New York I’ll send you a beautiful wedding gift. Please go...go and be happy."
Feeling as if she was leaving a family member, another mother of sorts, Evie lunged for Catherine Randall-Ruth and gave her a big tight hug. Over the course of their travels they had not become extremely close but close enough for Evie to feel a twinge of sadness at leaving her older friend aboard Iberia. Catherine was quite literally the only other person she had time to connect to while on the journey.
The two women released themselves and Evie was gone like a flash. Like a puff of smoke Like a ghostly apparition suddenly dissipating into a wall of darkness she was ushered to the lower decks of the ship where a long line of first class maids and butlers were lined up to see her off. In truth they had all known who she was. The new bride of Sebastian Lord, the proverbial mystery prince of Welshport Island. The whispers and hushed gossip had not held itself in the walls of Catherine and Evie’s shared room...it had spread, and they were all there to witness the young woman off to a place no one else dared to enter.
"Goodbye miss." the bell-hop who escorted her said helping her up onto a large ramp that lead off the ship and down to the awaiting silver and chrome car awaiting Evie at the bottom.
Evie took his hand and lifted herself on to the ramp and looked back. The maids curtsied and the butlers lowered their heads. Evie smirked and slowly walked down the ramp. She felt as if she were walking the plank of a pirate ship destined to fall into the cold icy waters of the Atlantic, a cold watery grave for her English life rebirthing into this American wife.
As she slowly made her way down the long ramp to the awaiting car she could see the village of Welshport sparkling below in the gauzy dusk evening of the island mist. It was adorable! She thought of how sweet the village seemed with its small little shops and adorable cafes. She could see townspeople walking about, hand in hand, arm in arm enjoying the ocean air.
The closer she got to the car and the edge of the village the more adorable it got. Cobble stone streets and Gas-lamps made up the small square like it had been recreated just for her to mimic the small 7 square mile neighborhood in London that Evie had called home.
Then, from the backseat of the chauffeured driven chrome car popped woman with tight curly hair pulled up in a beautiful bun. She was dressed almost exactly like Evie, a tweed skirt and white long sleeve blouse that had tiny lace ruffles around her wrists. Her deep brown eyes sparkled in the last gasps of sunlight that was creeping over the hills behind the ship from mainland Maine give her mocha colored skin a glow of bronze that Evie was entranced by.
"Miss Jordan, hello, welcome. I’m Celeste DeViana, I work for the Lord family and have been tasked as your personal lady-in-waiting. I’m very happy to bring you to your new home. How was your trip?" The beautiful Celeste said, her gorgeous foreign accent filling Evie’s ears like a song.
"Thank you Celeste. I was not expecting someone to come with the car." Evie replied as the driver opened the car door for her and Celeste.
"But of course. The Lords are very eager to have you and welcome you into their family they wanted to be sure everything was perfect for your arrival." Celeste said.
"So far it has been. The trip was long but I was able to rest some." Evie replied.
"That is good to hear. The family is sure you’ll need more time to rest so your belongings have already been taken by another car ahead of us back to the estate so that when you arrive you’ll have nothing to do but enjoy your new home." Celeste replied sounding like the concierge to a fancy hotel.
"You work for the family then?" Evie asked as the driver cleared his throat signaling he was still holding the door open for the women.
Celeste smirked and said "Yes. I am to be your lady in waiting. But not in the typical sense. I have my own life, this is my profession. The Lords have asked me to be more of a guide for you as you get used to your surroundings. Help you with your clothes, your personal affectations, anything you need, I will be there to help facilitate getting it. But its not like the old days if that makes sense. I’ve known the Lord family for a very....very long time and this is a job they have provided for me over the years. I used to work with Mrs. Lord...Sebastian's mother, but...." Celeste replied stopping short of finishing her sentence.
"That’s understatement." another woman’s voice said from beyond the car.
Celeste turned to see a light haired woman holding a basket of goods just purchased at a corner store lifting an eye brow at the whole welcoming of Evie. It was Mary Goode, and Celeste knew her very well too.
"Mary." Celeste replied placing herself between Evie and Mary like a stone figure blocking any negative energy coming from Mary’s eyes.
"So you're Sebastian’s young bride, huh? Welcome dear. The whole town’s been waiting for you. The whole town. You’re like the first fresh bloom after a bitter...bitter winter frost to this place, you're arrival has been so eagerly awaited." Mary said with a passive aggressive curtesy.
Evie smiled unable to note Mary’s obvious snide tone and stepped around Celeste who reached for Evie's hand to pull her back but missed.
"Are you friends with Sebastian?" Evie asked. "Evie Jordan." She added extending her hand to shake Mary’s.
"Friends?" Mary said squinting her eyes expecting Celeste to correct her connection to Sebastian but when Celeste said nothing Mary surprisingly said "Yes, friends."
"Well then I hope to see you at our wedding." Evie said naively.
Celeste gasped, her body leaped towards the two women as Mary giggled at Evie’s seemingly girl-like innocence at truly not knowing who Mary really was. It was Evie’s first test in a world that felt so strange to her the second she stepped foot on Welshport land.
The ship behind them blared it's deep foghorn as it set off for New York City, a clear sign that they had been on the dock much too long.
"We should go Miss Jordan. The family is waiting." Celeste said, quickly pulling Evie away from Mary and tucking her away in the car with it’s white leather seats and chrome window frames and accents.
Still outside the car, Celeste snarled at Mary who only stood on the cobble stone streets with her groceries as she giggled to herself at Celeste’s scrambling to get Evie away as fast as she good.
"See you." Mary mouthed to Celeste who only rolled her eyes and finally got into the car herself.
"Miss Jordan you should really be more careful at who you invite to the wedding." Celeste said once they were in the privacy of the moving car.
"Did I do something wrong? I thought she said she was friends with Sebastian?" Evie asked.
"She is not a friend. At all."
Evie turned to Celeste confused. "Well then who is she?"
Celeste turned her head to looked out of the small car window as Mary’s body was getting smaller and smaller in the distance the further away the drove. Mary waved at the car in a teasing manner as she knew the whole interaction would have set Celeste into a tailspin of having to figure out how to explain who she really was.
"Well?" Evie asked still waiting for Celeste to respond.
"Miss Jordan, I will show you who your friends are. I will show you the ways of Welshport; its important that you trust in me...give me all the trust you have because this place is not as forgiving as it looks. Stay away from Mary Goode." Celeste explained.
Evie’s heart sank a bit into her chest. She suddenly felt as if she were being reprimanded by her mother or some schoolmarm, like she'd errored and now her new family would hear of her stupidly inviting someone they’d perhaps not want to the wedding.
"Will she come to the wedding? I feel awful. I... I didn’t know." Evie said.
"She won’t. She knows better. Just forget this happened. Forget you met her. Forget her." Celeste said grabbing Evie’s hand and squeezing.
Evie smiled. She had no choice but to trust her new friend Celeste. In her nervous heart she felt that indeed Celeste had her best interest and that if she were to make a good impression on her new family, Celeste would be her guide into the good place. And slowly, as the car continued it’s way through the winding and curling small cobble stone covered streets of Welshport Village, Evie began to feel better.
****
On a large plot of land deep inside the Tirymôr forest, the Lord family had their home. It was a large mansion built of limestone and marble. Built over several generations of family members that used their money, power and prestige to hold court as the island’s unofficial Royal family.
The gothic style mansion had two large towers on either side that stood over the millions of trees like the lookouts of a ship’s crow’s nest.
The Lord family’s home was secluded within the forest by design. The family enjoyed a bit of mystery and most of all their privacy. Anyone entering the land had to travel a 3 mile long winding road up to the main house. And as the visitors arrived they were greeted with a home of four stories and large glass windows that glistened with the lights from the first floor parlors and drawing rooms that were covered by soft colored wallpapers and nautical themed paintings.
Inside, the main drawing room was awash of nerves and anxiety awaiting the new family member. Sebastian Lord, Evie’s soon to be husband, stood staring intensely into the roaring fireplace the kept them all warm from the chill of Maine’s Frenchman Bay wind. His grandmother, Rebecca, sat on a cushioned taupe love seat in her black dress carefully doing her needle point of a large black crown as the orange glow of the night’s fire bathed her white hair in the light like a personalized sunset.
Rebecca’s youngest son and Sebastian’s uncle Jacob flipped through the newspaper of the day that he has already read twice. His dark handsome features matched those of his even more handsome nephew Sebastian. The two not only looked alike but were dressed alike too: dark suits with white cotton shirts that came together in a handsome Windsor knot tie.
Jacob quickly licked his fingers to turn the news page while his own daughter, 8 year old Charlotte played with a doll on the large oriental carpet dressed in her best little white frilly dress ready to meet Sebastian’s bride.
“She’s late.” Jacob murmured as Sebastian rolled his eyes.
“Uncle Jacob I would have thought raising a little girl as rambunctious as little Charlotte you would have had built up a bit more tolerance and patience. Evie’s belongings are already here…she’ll be along soon.” Sebastian replied to his uncle Jacob who he always felt was trying to antagonize him.
“You seem very calm just before meeting her.” Jacob replied as not once looking up from his paper. “It’s almost as if you already know you love her.” He added, clearly jealous of his nephew’s handsome looks and closeness to Rebecca as a grandson than Jacob was as her son.
“Should I be nervous?” The bridegroom asked.
Jacob smirked and finally did fold up the paper and stood up. He adjusted the soft fabric of his vest, slipping it back down to it's correct place around his torso.
"You haven't seen Evie since you were 11 years old. What if she's not what you expect? What if she's some kind of English Gargoyle with jagged teeth and a mole on her face the size of the whole island of Welshport." Jacob said teasing his nephew.
"Stop it Jacob." The matriarch said looking up from her needle point of the black crow. "When Evangeline arrives I want nothing but the upmost respect to her. She'll be exhausted from her trip. I want her to feel at home the minute she walks in through that door."
“I’m just stating the obvious. As the clear heir to this family’s mass fortune it’s a bit brazen then we trust the next generation to this girl… this girl we don’t been know.” Jacob said.
“What are you saying?” Sebastian asked defensively.
“I’m saying that perhaps we’ve all been a bit too hasty on welcoming in a new member of this family without properly vetting her.” Jacob said shocking Sebastian.
“Oh this is ridiculous!!!” Sebastian shouted. “You’re constantly talking about money always worried about money and who it’s going to. I’ve never even thought about any of grandmother and grandfather’s Publishing companies, you just keep…” Sebastian said getting interrupted.
“ENOUGH!!” Rebecca shouted. “I won’t have this energy in this room any minute more. That’s enough. Now both of you straighten your behaviors and act accordingly.” Rebecca said trying to their minds off of the vast publishing empire the Lord family has acquired and that Jacob was so obsessed with.
Both men bowed their heads respectfully agreeing to Rebecca's request.
Rebecca continued to knit as Sebastian walked over and sat next to his grandmother on the lumpy olive green sofa. She dropped her knitting needles and gazed at him through loving eyes. She adored him and wanted only what was best for him. But the spirits, she knew, always had other plans. Rebecca saw her mission as to thwart the fates and keep her family in the direction her husband and his father, and his father before him had created.
"You must be good to her, do you understand?" Rebecca asked of her grandson as Jacob rolled his eyes from his corner of the room.
"Good to her!!" Charlotte shouted.
"Of course Grandmother. I want her to be happy here." Sebastian replied.
Rebecca smiled and took a deep breath as if she was bracing herself for a titlewave of emotional days to come.
"Come Charlotte," Rebecca said, lifting her old frame from the sofa. "let's wash up before our new guest arrives." Rebecca added reaching her hand out for little Charlotte to grab on to.
"Who?" Charlotte asked.
"Your new cousin. She'll be here any minute and we must look our best." Rebecca replied.
Rebecca's flowing black dress almost engulfed the entire floor of the drawing room. Charlotte got up from the floor and reached her grandmother's boney hand and as she did she reached too far and her pinky finger was pricked by the needle sticking out from the work Rebecca was doing.
A drop of blood fell from Charlotte's hand and hit the carpet.
Charlotte's eyes filled with tears but she only made a small squeal.
Rebecca kneeled down and pinched the tiny wound on her pinky alleviating the pain and holding the blood in.
"The force of life, don't let it escape, Child." The Lord family matriarch said of the tiny drips of blood coming from the girl.
"Ma'am, Sirs?" A pale skinned English maid named Georgina said entering the dim room of shadow flickering fire light. "Miss Jordan is on her way up. Her car is making it's way up the drive now."
The family looked at each other. Butterflies filled Sebastian's stomach. He felt the coolness of nerves swirl into his body like an ice cold salty sea wave crashing on to naked skin.
"Ready or not...." Jacob said again to his soon-to-be married nephew as Rebecca turned to them both and lifted a disapproving eye brow as the family slowly made their way to the main foyer to welcome Evie.
As the Jacob passed his mother Rebecca, he took hold of Charlotte's hand and along with Sebastian, the three went into the foyer. Rebecca lagged behind. As she did so, she pulled the tarot card of THE RED RIVER out inside a small pocket sewn into the bodice of her large black dress. She looked at, the cold frame of the paper and the large red river painted in the center of the card symbolizing, like the blood from Charlotte's finger, the life force. But the card showed that there was an end to the river. It flowed into a patch of painted green tress and came to an end, thus symbolizing the end of something. The end of life. The end of the life force.
Death.
She took a deep breath realizing that this card of a slowing dying red river was a dangerous and frightening omen in her tarot card reading from earlier that evening with Gaspar. Having it pulled just in time for Evie's arrival too made Rebecca's stomach fill with butterflies, but not for the same reason as Sebastian. Hers were butterflies who's wingers were poison and lethal. She knew something horrible must be coming.
The tarot cards told her so.
Evie looked out of the fogged up glass of the Lord's car. She could see the giant lawn leading up to a massive estate of stone that was cloaked in a thicket of large forest trees. It was like a wonderland swathed in sea fog and overcast skies.
"It's impressive isn't it?" Celeste says of the Lord estate. "This is Tirymôr House, they named it after the Tirymôr forest that surrounds it. All of the wood that built this house and much of the town came from this tiny little forest. It miraculously came back, thicker and more majestic than before." Celeste further explained.
"It's beautiful. The house, the island, the forest. All of it." Evie marveled.
As the car slowly made it's long way up to the mansion, the family finally exited to a cold gust of wind that blew through the many trees. It was a breeze that swayed the branches so much that it was hard to tell what the sound was: the crashing waves of the sea all around them or the trees singing in the wind.
With the flog lifted slightly, the 3 maids and the 2 butlers stood in a straight light outside ready to great the young new mistress. The car pulled up to the family all standing on the top steps near the front door. The wind blew again and Evie and Celeste stepped out. Celeste grabbed hold of Evie's arm and passed the maids who all curtsied and the butlers bowed their heads in a quick nod.
"Mrs. Lord," Evie said to Rebecca, "Mr. Lord, Mr. Lord," She added to both Jacob and Sebastian. "I present to you, Miss Evangeline Jordan."
Evie smiled politely and stepped forward to Rebecca's extended hand just as Charlotte released her grasp from Jacob and rushed up to Evie. The little Lord Heiress pulled at Evie's wrist and lowered her hand in a quick motion then bit Evie on her pinky breaking skin. Evie screamed in pain as Celeste pulled Charlotte away and Evie close and helped her quickly wrap the wound with a pure white handkerchief.
"CHARLOTTE!!" Sebastian shouted pulling the girl further back away from Evie.
"My God, child!!" Jacob replied in horror, pulling her back.
Then, with her lips stained with crimson smears of Evie's blood Charlotte, tilted her and smiled. She looked deep into the horrified eyes of Evie Jordan with a bewildering look on her face as if she herself didn't know why she had done this.
Then, for unknown reasons she repeated what her grandmother had just told her:
"The Force of Life, Don't Let It Escape."
