One Heart- The Greatest Showman

Chapter 14

Elizabeth's Pov

I have be confined to the Helen's bed unless someone, like Phillip, carries me around the house. I can kind of hop but I am only allowed to go to the bathroom two doors down and that is it. 

Mrs Barnum is out in the garden, hanging the washing out, while I had two girls who attempted to entertain me with their own circus which they had been rehearsing. 

Helen and Caroline were dancing and singing "Come Alive" as well as "This is me" . Helen laid out a piece of twine along the floor and began to walk on it, telling me that she was going to do tightroping as well.

Caroline began to do some simple acrobatics that she had taught herself. Holding her body weight on her hands for a few second before coming back down from her handstand. 

I laughed and clapped in response before Helen cried out,  "Do the walking one Caroline!" 

Caroline laughed herself before pushing her self to do another handstand and slowly began to move her hands forward an inch at a time,  walking upside down. 

Walking upside down! Of course why didn't I think of that sooner! 

"You girls are pure geniuses!" I exclaimed as I began to lift my self onto one leg. I took a deep breathe before launching myself up into my own handstand, legs straitening for maximum balance.  I paced back and forth for a bit, until I got us to walking on my palms, before walking out the door. The two girls laughing and skipping along. 

We had managed to sneak downstairs ( I slid down the railing before continuing to do my walking handstand) to sit in the living room.  

We all flopped onto the couch just as Charity walked in. 

"How did you get down here?" She questioned laughing. 

Instead of explaining myself, I just showed her. Just like the girls, she fell into a fit of laughter while admiring my persistence. 

Mrs Barnum sat down on the couch, besides myself, picking up a  newspaper off the table in front. 

" Is this today's paper?" Charity questioned, the look of playfulness removed from her face. 

"Yes, Phillip brought it over when he went to pick up bread this morning." I replied, confused by the sudden outburst of seriousness. "Is everything okay Charity?"  

"My mother wanted me to come over with the girls  today but it seems I have completely misplaced the date." 

"Your parents are only down the road a bit correct?" I asked, to which she nodded in response, "Then you might as well go, I'm fine here by myself for bit." 

"Are you sure? I just don't want to leave here in case you get hurt." She said worriedly. 

I looked around the living room before my eyes fell on a big bookcase that filled with several books, including those of Shakespeare's. 

"There is a bookshelf right there, I should be fine for the rest of the day." I smiled. 

The girls quickly ran up stairs to get dressed in their nicest dresses, while Charity put some food and water on the table for me, in case I get hungry during the day, before going to get changed herself. 

Once they had left, I had the house to myself.  I hobbled over to the bookcase and picked out "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne. 

I read for around an hour before I felt inspired to go exploring myself. I placed all my weight onto my hands once again before moving swiftly around the house. I only looked at the areas which were open for viewing; the kitchen, dinning room, study. Those kinds of areas. I didn't go into Mrs and Mr Barnum's room nor did I go into Phillip's ( which Caroline accidently revealed that he was staying at the other end of the hallway, in the right wing of the house). 

Eventually I got bored with being inside and decided to go out into the garden. I scribbled a note just in case someone came over looking for me before limping out of the door. 

It was obvious that Mrs Barnum took pride in her garden as it was beautifully kept yet had a wild factor to it, unlike the garden in England. There was a swing attached to the large oak tree and, by the looks of it, it appeared to be built my Mr Barnum. 

I sat onto the swing, the wind softly pushing me back and forth. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the sound of the ocean's wave crashing upon the beach in the distant. 

This, however, was interrupted by the sound of horses coming through the gates. I held onto the rope tightly, the touch almost comforting, as I looked out to see who had come to the house. 

Phillip. 

Once the carriage was gone, he just stood there for a while before turning his head to look at the garden. 

" His thinking spot" I said, mentally, to myself.  He waved before coming over to see me. 

"How did you get out here?" Was the first question that he asked once he was in close enough proximity. 

"Walked." I stayed, deadpan. 

He chuckled at my response, like everyone else had, as he sat down on the ground next to the swing. 

"You live here now." I half asked, half stated. 

"Yeah. My parent's kicked me out once I became more involved with the circus." He announced, looking at the vines which grew over the iron gates. 

"That's terrible" I muttered softly, but loud enough for him to here. 

He stretched his arms back behind his head before laying down, gazing up at the sky. "Just add it to the list." Phillip commented. 

I slowly navigated myself off the swing and down onto the ground, letting my wild brown hair run wild in the grass. 

"List?"  I implored as I found myself wanting to know more about what happened to him.

"Yeah. They have been taking things off me one by one until eventually I will be left with nothing. They hope I will come crawling back to them." 

"Will you?"

"Never"  Phillip replied automatically. 

I let the silence creep over for a little bit before speaking again. 

"You won't be left with nothing." I stated, moving my head to the side in order to face his. "You have joy and happiness and they are worth far more than any house, land or inheritance . It takes some people years to find them, but you. You have found them within the circus. You have found them within your home." 

He didn't reply to this. All he did was gave me a smile,  a true smile before looking up and the sky once again. 

"Thanks Lizzy" I heard him whisper before we continued to watch the clouds run from one side of the sky to the other. 

And that's how we stayed for the rest of the day.

A/N

Bit of a boring chapter I know but I will get more exciting in the next couple of chapters. I thought that they just really needed to connect again after the "rewrite the stars" scene.

The next chapter will be out tomorrow!

Maya