Silence is Golden

03. Big Day

'No, not here, and not here either, damn and blast it! Where...ah – No! That's not it either! Damn it all to hell!'

Trousers, shoes and shawls were flying through the air in a confusing cacofashiony of clothes. And yes, blast, I knew that wasn't a real word! Right now, I didn't care!

My sister Ella stood beside me, watching, mouth agape, as I disembowelled my wardrobe. I ignored her. Right now, I didn't have time for her.

'Blast, blast, blast! Where is it? I know I have it here somewhere!'

'Um...Lill?' Ella asked, cautiously.

'Is it...No! Damn! That's too dark! That can't be it!'

'Er...Lill? I was just wondering...Why do you have that many clothes in your wardrobe?'

'Where did I put it? I know I put it somewhere, only where?'

'It's just, Lill, Uncle Buford only ever bought us two dresses each, and now you open your wardrobe and it's full of clothes and, um, well, I don't know how to put this delicately, but most of them look an awful lot like men's clothes.'

'Damn and blast! It isn't in the wash, is it?' I pulled my head out of the wardrobe, strode past Ella and was just about to pull open the door of the room we had shared ever since we were little, when a realisation struck me. 'No, it can't be in the wash. Aunt Brank would have found it, and then Hell would have broken loose. It has to be here somewhere!'

'Lill? Did you hear what I said? There are men's clothes in your wardrobe!'

'Maybe I put it in the chest,' I mused, tugging at my ear, lost in thought. 'Or I could have stuffed it in the dresser...'

'There's not a man in there, too, is there?'

'Or maybe I folded it and put it in one of the boxes up on the wardrobe...'

'Oh God! Tell me there's no man in there, Lill, please!' Cautiously, Ella crept towards the wardrobe and peeked inside. All that greeted her was a tangled web of clothes. No lechers and rakes were hiding in my wardrobe, or if there were, they were hiding very, very well. But Ella seemed only partially relieved. Turning back toward me, she gestured at the trousers and hats strewn all over my bed. 'What's this? Why do you have them? Where did you get them? And most importantly, what do you do with them? They're men's clothes, Lill! Men's clothes!'

'I've noticed,' I murmured, striding back to the wardrobe and starting to rummage again. In some part of my mind I realised Ella had been asking me some questions, but I didn't have the time or patience to answer right now. I was on a mission.

'Lill, did you hear me? Lilly, this is important! You have to answer me...and...tell...me...'

Ella's voice slowly drained away as I pulled something from the back of the wardrobe and held it up, triumphantly. The very something I had been searching for.

'Aha! I knew I had it here somewhere! Didn't I tell you? I knew!'

'Goodness gracious!' Ella's eyes were wide, staring up at the thing in my hands with awe and wonder. The men's shirts, top hats and even the trousers were forgotten. 'Where did you get that?'

*~*~**~*~*

I climbed out of the cab and handed the driver his money.

'Here you go.'

'Thanks, Miss.'

He nodded, and drove off. I stood for a moment, looking after him. Ordinarily, I would not have driven to work in a coach. Ordinarily, I didn't waste my money on things like that when it wasn't far, especially not if you were the proud owner of a brand-new velocipede. But in this case...