Dreamstone

Home Comforts

My twin stepsisters hugged me so hard I thought I might break, but they did not mention the previous day, at all, not even once. I had just appeared in the kitchen, shepherded downstairs by Caroline, who had her hand on my shoulders as Chloe and Grace enveloped me. We were all wearing our Deepdene uniforms, ready for school, and it was a sea of striped blazers amidst a cacophony of delight. So, I did not need my inner Cate to tell me that they loved me, or that Caroline was keeping her promise about putting the previous day behind us. We had talked in the early hours, when it was still pitch-black outside, initially when she got me up to put me on the toilet, and then when we both awoke before the alarm went off. I did not say much, although I did not remember the conversations in detail, but I said more than I had before, and she came to the conclusion that I was not ill, and that my 'episode' as she had started calling it, was just an aberration, possibly caused by the Redstone ruck, but definitely not to be harped on about or investigated like a major crime. Which suited me fine, of course. Despite the negative voices in my head, which were proving harder to ignore in the cold light of morning, I could not talk about what had really happened at the museum, and I could not come up with any reasonable excuse for Catherine effectively running off, for no apparent reason. So, I repeated the excuse Kelly, with Cate pulling her strings, had given to Miss Walker, about being lost, and although Caroline did not believe me for a moment, she accepted it and moved on. Then, when we agreed that there was nothing much wrong with me, and the slight temperature had gone, she said that there was really nothing to stop me going to school, hence my arrival for breakfast all ready to go, and the enthusiastic greeting from her daughters.

"Morning princess," Charles Buckingham-Montague said, pulling me into a hug of his own as soon as Caroline made the twins let me go and get back to the breakfast table. It was such a strange moment, being smothered by two kids I had never actually met, but felt something for inside of me, and then being hugged by a man who thought he was my father. So, I do not think I responded too much, to any of them, but whatever Caroline had said to them, to stop the girls asking questions or Cate's poor father demanding answers, seemed to have worked, and I was allowed to take the last place at the table without further pressure. And it was quite a kitchen I noticed, taking in my surroundings. I had been quite amazed by my parent's bedroom, and the attached bathroom, the night before, and their kitchen was really impressive. It had to be half the size of Kelly's whole flat, full of gleaming gadgets, and so much space. And Caroline filled it with hustle and bustle, putting a jug of juice on the table, and then producing three bibs out of the pocket of her apron. Inner Cate reminded me that she treated us like babies.

"Almost Easter, girls," Charles said, making conversation as his wife moved behind Chloe and tied a white bib on her, presumably to protect her smart uniform. Of course, I thought, with Cate there in the background, if we were not already wearing our school blazers, there would be no need for any protection in the first place. But the twins did not seem to mind, even if it was a bit babyish, and when it was my turn, I just accepted it. "Get your end of term tests out of the way and we can have some fun...I am going to take a few days off."

"Can we do some days out, Daddy?" Chloe asked, her bright eyes shining at her father, or rather her stepfather. Whilst inner Cate seemed to have problems with Caroline, the twins did not seem to have any doubts about Charles.

"I should think so...where would you all like to go?" He grinned, before taking a bite out of a slice of toast.

"Could we go to the Victoria and Albert Museum?" I piped up, immediately seeing a chance to get back to the Dreamstone. I was, quite understandably, obsessed by the damned thing, and even without my body there as well, and a cooperative Cate, I wanted to touch it again, because something might just happen.