Rose, Wilted: Book 1

Chapter 23 - Family Reunion

 I smoothed down my skirts one more time, fluttering my fingers anxiously against the fabric. It was the red dress again. The dresses I had brought home for my sisters were too fancy for my tastes and wearing them while doing to housework was absurd. My old clothes had done me well after so long, but now I...I wanted to make a good impression.

I squinted into the third sunset that I'd been home to see. Just down the road, coming through town, there was a carriage, pulled along by a pair of horses. I squinted to make out more detail but the dust it kicked up clouded my vision and passed out of view in the roll of the hill. But in the next moment it was rumbling over the hill and clattering to a halt at the front steps. The dust settled and the horses tossed their heads. The battered carriage creaked as the door opened and a slipper emerged. In the next moment a woman stepped out of the door. My blood froze when the sunset caught her gold hair, thinking instantly of Jayla, but relaxed at the sight of Ilsa's brown eyes.

I wasn't the only one frozen. In my letter I had neglected to mention that I was home, signing Father's name instead of my own.

Ilsa's mouth hung open in a small 'o' for a moment, the frayed hem of her blue, silk dress fluttering around her ankles. She looked...well. She had a little more color in her cheeks than she used to and less tense, less anxious than she had been in the village. She raised a hand to her mouth.

"Anna?"

I nodded, blinking quickly. The sun was making my eyes water.

And then she ran forward and hugged me. I stiffened, unsure of what to do, how to react.

"Anna, you scared me. I thought-,"

I remembered what I was supposed to do with my arms and hugged her back, relaxing.

"I know, Ilsa. I know. It's okay."

"It is definitely not okay," said another voice. I glanced up.

Blair's hair shone violently orange in the light and her brown eyes were no less severe, maybe even more so since I'd left. This was more of what I had expected.

"Blair I-,"

"Couldn't even have given us warning in your letter."

I opened my mouth but Blair cut me off.

"Yes, I know it was your letter. It was in your handwriting, Annalise. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were, Blair."

Blair crossed her arms. Her dress was a golden brown fabric, cleverly sewn up throughout to conceal the moth holes. I decided it would not be a good time to mention that the dirty hem of her dress was short enough to see that her shoes were mismatched either.

I extracted myself carefully from Ilsa's arms, noting the tarnished ring on her finger and the flash of metal on Blair's.

"So you two...got married while I was gone?"

Blair gave me a superior smile, evidently very pleased with herself.

"We did actually."

"This is it?" said another voice.

I glanced back to the carriage where two men had climbed out. One was dressed in a faded tunic that had been patched several times over with curly, dirt brown hair and a spray of bold freckles across his nose. He was actually shorter than Blair's height of five foot nine by about four inches. The other man was more quite the opposite, towering over all of us. He was probably a few inches under six and a half feet tall, and had blonde hair and a soft smile. He too was dressed in a patched up tunic with tarnished buttons. His boots were scuffed and breaking, but it had to be hard to find large enough shoes and clothes when one was so tall.