Harly

Chapter Five (Edited 08/2021)

Mrs. Dee didn't die on impact. The ambulance took her to the hospital where she held on for a few more hours, but ultimately passed away in the end. Ella was absolutely distraught. The kids were silent. Ella tried to keep them from this scene to the best of her ability, but Lilly was already affected for her own reasons.

She stayed real close to me through the whole night, even climbing into my lap as we stayed at the hospital. She was stricken with fear and confusion. She hadn't quite figured out the heaven thing and the death thing had correlating ties. All she knew was that Mrs. Dee got badly hurt, her mom was crying, and everyone was way too serious.

"What do you mean Harly pushed her?" I had whispered harshly, grabbing her arm and gently pulling her to face me. It was like she couldn't keep her eyes off of Mrs. Dee's body, staring in shock and disbelief. She finally drug her eyes away and whispered back.

"Harly pushed her down the stairs." She repeated, her cheeks wet with tears. "He was mad that she was mean to him when we were eating so he said 'let's punish her,' but..." She started to really cry at that time, and we couldn't speak any more about the situation as Ella had finally come tearing down the stairs. She saw me holding on to a crying Lilly and probably thought the worst. But when she slid over to us and checked her over, she glimpsed down the stairs and gasped.

"Oh... Oh, god." She murmured, whipping out her cell and calling 911. She made sure I had Lilly under control, and yelled to the others to stay upstairs. I scooped Lilly into my arms and went up to join them and fill them in with as little detail as possible.

But now, Lilly was practically mute, she hadn't said a word since. When Ella asked what happened, Lilly looked at me with big eyes. I don't know why I did it, but I lied. "She fell." The words came out of my mouth so easily, not even a hint of hesitation. "She went to go get my shirt and before I could make it, she already tripped." Ella didn't even question it. Lilly didn't say anything.

It was a dark secret the two of us shared. Or rather, three of us. Because when Lilly finally spoke, she said, "Harly says thank you." I didn't know what to say, so I didn't.

There was a very real possibility that my four year old niece just killed the housekeeper, and I just covered for her.

I called my manager the next morning and partially explained the situation. I needed some days off after that. No one could possibly expect me to function normally at a job when I just basically witnessed a murder. I didn't even want to get out of bed the next day, but I knew Ella would need help with the kids now that she didn't have the staff to do it.

So in the early AM, I crept downstairs and started cooking breakfast. Just because I ate sandwiches all the time doesn't mean I didn't know how to cook. I just didn't have a reason to cook for myself.

But I cooked enough scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes for the whole house and maybe even the next door neighbors. It was the least I could do.

Ella woke up as I was finishing the feast. "Oh, Emma, you didn't have to do that." She muttered, rushing to come help me, but I brushed her off.

"Don't worry about it. Go get the kids. It's almost ready." I tried to smile, but even she knew it was fake. She sighed and put her face in her hands.

"Poor Mrs. Dee..." She mumbled and I flipped a pancake in agreement. Poor Mrs. Dee indeed. This secret was eating me alive, and I considered telling Ella right then and there. But she was already distraught, and I doubt telling her that her kid was a stone cold killer would cheer her up any.

The kids came in one by one, Lilly first as she was on the first floor. She pulled out the chair next to her, waited a second, and then pushed it back in. I almost questioned her until I remembered about Harly. The homicidal imaginary friend. She sat in her own chair and threw her weight forward until she had scoot in all the way.