Something about the home was familiar. It was like I had been there before, but for the life of me, I couldn't seem to remember when that had been. When an elderly woman with wisps of white hair and warm brown eyes opened the door, it all came back to me.
It wasn't the woman as much as it was as the smell of fresh brownies that seemed to cling to the interior of the home like the clasp of a leech. The familiarity hugged me like my mother had done when I had woken up with nightmares as a child. This was the home of one of my best friends from my younger days. It had been ages since we had last spoken, and with good reason; we had been in a big fight when we were ten, and had avoided each other like the plague ever since.
Funny how now, I couldn't remember what that fight had been about. And I didn't even have any hostility when I thought of her. She had been three or four years older than me, so now I had to wonder how she was doing and where she was. I wondered if she had succeeded in her dream of marrying a man who had as much of a love for travelling as she did. I hoped so.
"Mrs. Chifa!" I greeted, still getting over that it was her who had opened the door.
Lindsay Chifa was probably the nicest little lady in Greensvale. She was always making brownies and cookies for everyone. More than once she had shown up on our doorstep, having walked through the woods just to give us a batch of her famous chocolate fudge brownies. She would always claim that she just "had a feeling" that we were in need of some good old fashion goodies, but really, I think that Mrs. Chifa was just lonely. After all, her daughters were gone and married, as were her sons.
The crinkles that swept from Mrs. Chifa's eyes were highlighted when she smiled, "Oh, little Ella, how you've grown!" She made a show of spinning me around and smiled proudly at my mother. "Your little girl became quite a beauty!" she exclaimed, giggling a sort of shy schoolgirl laugh. "I remember how gangly and awkward she was growing up. But she filled out quite nicely!"
I didn't know what to say, but could feel the heat flushing my cheeks an even deeper red. Mother stooped in with grace and saved me from stumbling over my words. "Oh quite! She always has been tall. But not as tall as your Nathan!"
Nathan? Who was - ?
Ohhhhh. That Nathan. Now it made sense. Nathan was the younger brother of my once best friend, Natalie. Natalie and I had had a fall out because I had told her that I thought that Nathan was cute, and she had caught him kissing me under the mistletoe at a Christmas Party years ago. The pieces were falling together, and since I was here, that meant...
No. No way. I looked between my mother and Mrs. Chifa. They both had sly gleams in their clever eyes, and I knew without a doubt who I would be meeting today.
But that also meant that he was going to be going off to war by the end of the month. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. All my worries about being married off to some suitor who I would hate were pointless. I had had a crush on Nathan for years, but Natalie had always been there at the back of my mind, making me feel guilty every time that we spoke. I mean, it wasn't like the few conversations that Nathan and I had held since the fight between me and Natalie (I think I broke her nose and called her a few choice words) had been significant. He helped run one of the break markets in the town, and oftentimes we bought our loaves of bred from the one he worked at.
Now that I thought about it, Mom had always sent me to get the bread from there. Never Sam or Sullivan. Ohhh these two were good. Maybe a little too good.
"How long?" I heard myself asking over Mom and Mrs. Chifa's chatter. They turned to look at me, holding almost mirrored expressions of confusion.
"What do you mean?" Mother inquired, feigning an innocent look.
At that moment, Sam and Sullivan returned with the helpers who had helped Mother and I off of our horses. I bit my tongue, suddenly feeling as though asking how long these two had planned this marriage was taboo. "H-How long do you think the war will last?" I finally managed to stammer out. I tried my best to look concerned, which wasn't hard. My father was going to be at the forefront out there, helping to retrieve injured soldiers from the battlefield and to mend their wounds.
Mrs. Chifa smiled kindly, "We don't know, sugar. It could be as short as a month and long as a lifetime." It didn't make me feel any better, but I smiled faintly as I had been taught. Stiff upper lip. No crying in public.
"Okay," I nodded.
"Ella." I almost thought that I hadn't heard anything, because it was just so faint.
"What?"
It slipped out before I had meant for it to. Too late, I realized that it been another one of the incidences with me just hearing things.
Everyone looked at me. "What?"
I cursed under my breath, then smiled. "I thought that I had misheard something, I am sorry."
Sam and Sullivan snickered, but Mom smiled apologetically at me and shrugged to Mrs. Chifa. I stared down at me feet, knowing that I would get a serious talking to when I got home. Way to go, Ella. Now Mrs. Chifa's going to think you're crazy. Just great.
"Why don't you all come in," Mrs. Chifa offered. "Nathan should be home soon. I sent him out to pick up some flour." She held open the door for us, but Sullivan quickly stepped up and held it for her.
"After you," he offered with an awkward little bow. I grinned at him as I passed by, and judging by the look of terror in his eyes, he was now well aware that I was not going to ever let either him or Sam live down their day of gentlemanly chivalry. Which wasn't a bad thing, but from the two pranksters who did their best to make their lives a day to day laughing fest by pranking every unfortunate soul who happened to be around when they were scheming.
Mrs. Chifa smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "Such a good young lad," she cooed admiringly. She then turned to look back at Sam, "Take notes, young man. Your brother will get a much better turn out than you unless you learn to be as well mannered as him.
Unable to hold it back, I let out a laugh, but at a leer from my mom, I shut my mouth and grinned. Hey, the guy I was supposed to be winning the heart of wasn't here yet, and as far as I knew, Mrs. Chifa loved me. Well, I guess she had to if she had arranged with my mother for me to marry her son.
The inside of her home was as magnificent as I remembered. The colors were a mix of earthy tones and warm colors, namely red. There were a few new things, like a painting above the fireplace of Mrs. Chifa and her late husband, who had died of cancer a few years back. I felt bad for her. No one deserved to suffer that much, and yet, Mrs. Chifa never stopped giving and never taking.
Once, mother and I had grown some blueberries, but the batch had been greater than what we needed, so we came to give some to Mrs. Chifa as thanks for all the times that she had baked brownies and cookies for us. She had politely declined and insisted that we keep them, despite our insisting that we had plenty.
Mrs. Chifa sat us down on her plush sofa and half-waddled to the kitchen as a timer dinged. Her plump form disappeared for a moment, and while it was gone, Mother turned to me.
"Ella, no more of that hearing things nonsense," she chided, sounding harsh compared to how lighthearted she had sounded before. I nodded quietly, leering out of the corner of my eyes at Sam and Sullivan as they chuckled. They enjoyed it a little too much when I was the subject of chiding rather than them.
Moments later, Mrs. Chifa returned, and with another person. My blood turned to ice as I realized who it was.
Natalie.
