Clara Spencer

Chapter 2

Almost 2 Years After The Death of Clara's Parents

How long had it been since she'd last been here?

She purposely had avoided coming here for a while. She probably wouldn't have come if it wasn't for June's stubbornness. Although June would say she wasn't the only one being stubborn here.

Thus it is how Clara found herself standing on the cobbled street that led to her isolated childhood home. It was very daunting standing there. Looking upon a house that once brought her so much joy. Now, it just stands as a reminder of what she lost.

June standing next to her cleared her throat quite dramatically,

"So...." She claps her hands and grins. "Ready to go in?"

"Not really." Clara answered demurely.

June rolls her eyes. "Come on, we've talked about this. I understand if you never step foot inside again but you at least have to have the house ready if you ever plan on selling it."

Clara remained quiet, not willing to admit that she was right. June grabbed her hand and pulled her forwards. They opened the gate which was in desperate need of oil based on the creaking noise the hinges made. Her mother's beloved garden was clearly overgrown with some plants completely mauled by animals. It had no resemblance to how it was when she was younger, which only served to make Clara feel a wave of guilt. Holding her breath, she finally stepped inside the house.

Scanning the room, all she saw was covered couches, armchairs, the familiar wallpaper, and wooden coffee table in the middle of the living room. She exhaled. For a second Clara held onto the stupid belief that they'd still be there. Instead she was faced with the somber atmosphere of a dusty home. A dusty home that was cold and stuffy inside.

June turned on the light and drew the drapes open, exposing the view of the outskirts of the English countryside. June instantly regretted it when a wave of dust crashed upon her, failing to cover her face in time. She let out a number of curses and coughs.

"Bloody hell, Clara! It really has been long since you've been here." June stepped away from the window and crossed her arms comforting herself from the slight chill in the room. She looked around.

"It's pretty gloomy here" June glanced at Clara who was still standing by the door. She seemed like a stranger in her own home. "Obviously not like how we remembe–."

"Can we just get it over with?" Clara interrupted, placing her hands in her pockets. She knew June was just trying to not make it awkward but they hadn't even been here for a few minutes and she was dying to leave already. Not only did being here remind her of her parents but of the dark times that came afterwards that she still hadn't quite gotten over.

"Yeah sure. The moving truck should be here in an hour. We just have to put the remaining stuff into boxes." June hesitated. "Umm I know your parents' things are already packed from back then, but didn't you say there were some things missing?"

Clara nodded her head still looking over the living room with misty eyes. "It's mostly a bunch of legal docs and knick-knacks."

"Ok well, I'll start here and you can start in the Study. I'll go get the boxes from the car." She walked towards the door but stopped next to Clara. Looking at her daydreaming face she touched her shoulder to get her to listen. Clara blinked out of her daydream and looked at June.

"Will you be okay? Or do you want me to do it with you?" June asked with a gentleness in her voice.

"I'll be fine," Clara said as she finally started walking towards the stairs and turned around to give June a thumbs up. "I'll let you know if I need anything though."

"Ok." June said before giving her a small smile.

Clara went up the stairs to head towards the office, the steps creaking with every step she took. She really needed to make some repairs.

Turning the door knob to the study she saw her father's desk and chair right in front of the window. A bittersweet smile formed on her face as she recalled a memory with her dear Papa. Him on the phone multitasking from his desk trying to keep her from not disturbing too much stuff in the room. Her Mama was off running errands leaving her Papa to take care of her. Being a very curious child it meant she was always interested in getting her hands on anything new. And her Papa had a lot of curious stuff in his office for a 9 year old. Ultimately he was able to get her settled down by giving her tools to paint with. But it was only a couple minutes later that she began asking him questions.

"Papa?"

"Oui, mon chou?" He looked over at her from his desk.

"Why can't I go to real school with all the other kids?" She asked continuing to paint and not wanting to maintain eye contact. She remembered now that her Papa was very surprised at the question. She'd never asked questions before about this topic and to him it probably came out of nowhere.

He stood from his chair and walked over to her kneeling to get to her eye level. "What's with the sudden curiosity?"

She stopped painting and shrugged her shoulders. She wouldn't ever tell him the truth, that it was the daughter of one of his colleagues that asked her that question.

Eyebrows drawn together, her Papa struggled to answer. "Well uh, you know how we travel a lot for your mum and I's work? She nodded. "If you were in regular school, we couldn't do that. Being homeschooled lets you come with us and not worry about missing school when we travel."

Young Clara has a puzzled look on her face. "But why can't you just work here, like June's parents?"

"Our work doesn't work like that mon chou." He looked adoringly at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Now what exactly are you painting?" He stood up and was befuddled at what he saw. "Is that me?!"

And just like that, the conversation ended. Growing up she continued to have more probing questions, but unlike when she was young, she wasn't always satisfied with the answers they gave her. Her parents were doctors for example. There were plenty of jobs that they could've taken so they could stay in their hometown. It wasn't until she was ready for a university that her parents finally acquiesced to her wish to settle down, and allowed her to attend a real school.

She was pulled back from her memory by a loud bang from downstairs that was followed shortly by an apology from June. She must have dropped something.

Nevertheless, Clara made for the desk and file cabinets that she needed to sort through. She pulled out the key given to her by the lawyer. It was supposed to be for one of these locked cabinets, seeing as she had another key for the rest. However, after several attempts at each of them, she was just about ready to give up. Clearly, the key was not for any of these.

Slowly pacing around the room trying to think of where the key could go, her eye caught a peculiar book on one of the bookshelves. How had she not noticed that book before? It was rather colorful and just looked out of place next to the other books. She's been to her Papa's study a lot through the years, usually to see if he'd let her borrow a book. But he usually forbade her from touching these books claiming they were rare or first prints.

Getting closer, she noticed it was slightly taller than the other books next to it. Her hand reached for the book to pull it out, but instead of coming out it tilted towards her at an angle as if it was attached to the wood wall. She heard a click coming from the side of the bookshelf.

Letting go of the book she went to the edge of the bookshelf only to let out a gasp at the gap between the bookshelf and the wall that wasn't there before. It was a secret door! Clara pulled the bookshelf back, and stared flabbergasted at the small room before her. No, not a room but more of a closet. A closet containing two file cabinets almost identical to the other ones she'd seen.

Clara moved towards the cabinets and hoped the key would work. Inserting the key and turning it she was greeted by the pleasant sight of the cabinets springing wide open. Now the question is, what could be so important that her Papa thought it fit to hide it behind a secret door?