The End of Wythwood Boulevard

Part V - The Discovery Of His Dearest Sister

2nd January, 1830.

"I was just leaving," Elsie began as she made eye contact with Lenore. Good God, she was intimidating. "I should be getting home anyways, I'm sure I've worried my family much more than I've intended to." This was a most uncomfortable situation, to say the least, as Elsie had known that Lenore clearly didn't want her there.. and yet Elsie still stayed where she was.

Lenore's scalding glare swept over Elsie only once, barely even acknowledging her presence, before settling on Simon. "Your Clarke boy is downstairs looking for you," she grinned, in a fashion extremely similar to the way Simon had. "Ah," Simon's eyes widened upon hearing this, as if he had been startled into entirely forgetting Elsie was still there, "I'll go and see what he needs."

Lenore pushed herself further into the room as Simon hurried past her, carrying herself to the far corner where an easel and a couple bar stools stood. She glanced up at Elsie again before sitting. "Your shadow is in the way," she grumbled, then pointed to the unoccupied stool beside her, "come over here."

"Alright," she moved quickly, surprised she didn't knock anything over in the process. "You're an artist, yes?" She was quite suddenly feeling more comfortable, now that Lenore has spoken to her. Elsie let herself become distracted by everything going on in this corner of the room. This was all very interesting, to see how other people went about their lives. It wasn't something Elsie noticed often.. but then again she hardly left the house if she could help it. The people in town were terrible gossips, it would be difficult to even take a breath without someone noticing.

"Yes," Lenore answered, then went quiet. Every so often she'd glance at Elsie, then back up to her painting. The scene on the canvas was of an early morning, white light pooling through the window to the back of the couch and chair. What was most interesting about the painting, however, were the subjects that were pictured within it..

Simon, the white cat that was still curled up on the couch, and William. They looked awfully cheerful together, laughing and smiling. William was sprawled out over the couch with the cat curled on top of his thighs, head turned to the side to face Simon. The only thing missing from the canvas now were a few blank splotches of what Elsie could only assume to be the background near the corners.

"My brother?" She asked after a few minutes, not quite understanding why he would be included in the painting. "He's here quite often, hm?" Elsie shifted in her seat a bit, careful to not disturb the peace and process of her painting. Maybe she shouldn't ask so many questions.. Lenore seemed completely infatuated with her work.

"Yes, nearly every morning these past few months," Lenore spoke carefully, as if she were gauging Elsie's reaction to what she had been told. "I assumed his family knew where he was running off to," she finished, drawing a long stroke that could now be perceived as the door frame that led to the stairway.

"Ah, well, I knew he was somewhere around the office.. I just assumed he was constantly working." She obviously wasn't thinking too deeply into it, "I think it's nice that he's got people to welcome him, the man didn't have many people to talk to when he was younger, if any at all." After their father vanished William had sort of just.. thrown himself into his work, only thinking and speaking of his firm.

Lenore set her brush down and smiled at Elsie, her round eyes crinkling in the corners. "I'm glad, then. Even if it is rather annoying, watching them trip over each other's feet constantly. And, Lady really likes him too," she scoffed. Glancing up at Elsie's visible confusion, Lenore quickly clarified that this 'Lady' was in fact the cat.

From the storefront floor, suddenly rushing up the stairs to stare wide-eyed at Elsie and Lenore, came a shocked William. He was trailed by Simon, who had a devilish grin plastered onto his face. The blonde chuckled as he leaned over William's shoulder, glancing between him and Elsie with barely veiled excitement over what trouble he had certainly just caused.

"Are you not happy to see me?" Elsie was looking over her shoulder at her rather surprised brother, smiling before she turned back to continue observing Lenore.. and her work, of course. "I really thought I wouldn't be found," Elsie shrugged, straightening her back a bit more. She really wasn't used to these types of chairs, with no backing to support her.

The way Lenore worked was absolutely fascinating, leaning forward in her seat to be closer to her work. Her hands seemed to move effortlessly as if there was no thought required to the process.. she had nice hands, Elsie thought. Thin, with calloused fingertips and short nails befitting one who often worked with them.

Elsie's thoughts were cut short as William began to speak again, "You're not supposed to be here - how did you.." He'd trailed off, looking as if he'd said something he hadn't intended to. "Oh?" Elsie's voice lowered, almost at a whisper now. She almost looked hurt, the way her eyebrows furrowed. Did William not want her around? Or, was he just lacking the proper time to process the situation?

Lenore gave Elsie a fleeting pat on her shoulder as she stood, marching her way right over to the still-elated Simon. They stared at each other for a moment, seeming to speak a full conversation with only their eyes, before Lenore roughly gripped the sleeve of his shirt and yanked him downstairs. "Was nice meeting you, Elsie!" Simon shouted as he was dragged away, then let out a yelp as Lenore cuffed him over the back of the head.

"I don't understand what's happening." She'd turned around on the stool now, saddened by the fact that she wouldn't be watching Lenore work anymore. "Is there a problem? Did something happen?" She stood, finally, crossing the room towards her brother, "Is everything alright?"

"Elsie. Everything's fine," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index and thumb. "It's getting late, we should head home." He turned, not waiting for Elsie to follow before he headed down the stairs.

Once they were back down to the storefront, Simon was leaning over the counter with his chin in his palm. He gave a sheepish wave to William as he passed by, who in turn only gave a sharp glare at the man over his shoulder. Lenore stood next to Simon behind the counter, whispering quietly into his ear.

Elsie stopped in the doorway, offering up a big smile and a wave to the two before she shut the door softly behind her, beginning to follow her brother down the street. This was going to be a long walk home.

And maybe an even longer silence.