prince ♛ cole mackenzie

14 | hold on

Cole painted with precise movements of his hand, always knowing where to add which colour and how to balance the details of the woods. Silas had offered to bring his book on creatures of the forest to help him, even though he would most likely be fine on his own. Cole accepted his help anyway.

"It looks great," Silas called up to Cole.

"Thanks. Uhh— is there a raven in there?" he replied.

Silas flicked the pages to show him the dark-feathered bird. He liked this job; it was much better than joining the choir or on-stage performers.

"I forgot to tell you, I told Anne you were ready to play the main role. Diana won't mind you taking her part," joked Silas.

"Thanks. You've got a solo in every scene and a duet with Josie Pye."

"I've always wanted to be a musician. I think I'd be a hit."

"It would be entertaining at most," laughed Cole.

Silas watched Anne struggling to lead a group of their classmates in a dance of some sort. Mr. Phillips was dramatically showcasing one of his two short scenes with Prissy Andrews.

He shot orders to her quickly between his over-exaggerated lines, making Prissy look unhappy. 

"Mr. Phillips is at least fifty, isn't he? Why is she choosing to marry him? She's foolish," Silas said when Cole came down the stepladder to retrieve more paint.

"Nobody knows. But I think he might be some sort of evil wizard, there's no other explanation."

Silas chuckled. "Poor Jane. Future brother in law."

"At least Billy has to deal with him, then."

"They deserve each other."

*   *   *   *   *

Silas shivered as he entered the house that evening. His mother had left a note to tell him they were 'in town working tonight'. He was not to enter Daisy's room unless she needed water.

He decided to spend his time flicking through a book on taking care of a dog, something he longed to do one day. The book was boring and filled with long Latin words he did not understand.

Silas wandered out of his room and gradually down the stairs, towards a dark wooden door. He lingered there with his hand upraised halfway to the handle.

this is stupid.

Still, he entered.

The room was quite depressing. Spare bedsheets had been fashioned into curtains to try and keep the room warm. A rug lay on the wooden floor and a simple chair for his mother or father stood beside a bed. The bed jutted from the wall, draped in as many spare blankets as possible.

Beneath the blankets was the frail body of his younger sister. Her dark jaded eyes were bagged, her cheekbones could be seen sharp through her bronze complexion and her arms were too thin.

"Hi," he said.

Daisy's eyes found him and instantly dilated. "You're not meant to come in here, what if you get sick?"

"It doesn't matter."

Silas approached the bed slowly and collapsed into the chair.

"I've missed you, 'Daise." His voice cracked near the end of his sentence.

She reached her little hand towards him, which he took in his own. They stayed there for some time.

"I want to play with my friends again. Mom promised we could go home as soon as I'm better," she told him.

Daisy's eyes twinkled at the thought.

"You'll see them in no time."

"Is school good? Do you have any friends there that could play with me in here?"

Silas chucked softly. "I have a few. There's Diana and Anne and Jane and Ruby. They're all very much like you and I'm sure they'd love to meet you. Jane is quite marvellous and Ruby is the sweetest girl I've ever met —after you—, and Anne is so very intelligent. Diana is good at making people happy, she's very kind. They all wear colourful dresses and their hair with bows."

Daisy listened to his words with a wide, toothy smile. "Wow!"

"Then there's Josie and Billy Andrews. I don't like them much, or the teacher, Mr. Phillips. I think Tillie Boulter is friends with Josie, but I guess she's alright."

Silas also smiled now. "Then there's Cole. He's wonderful. He can paint anything and make it look as good as the real thing. He's gentle and considerate and funny. He has some little sisters and a cat, too, but he doesn't really like them much. He has the most brilliant laugh."

"I'll bring apples from those trees on the way to the house and share them with all your friends! I can learn how to sing, too, when I get better. And I'll paint! I can paint those deer you like," Daisy spoke fast.

"They'll like you just as much whether or not you can speak fluent French," he laughed. "But I'll still take an apple, thanks."

Daisy asked countless more questions about Avonlea through the evening until the sun began to set in a golden array of colour.

"They have great sunsets here. Cole and I watched one in a meadow filled with butterflies," Silas informed her.

"Can I go there, too?"

"Maybe, if Cole lets you," he winked.

There was a thought on his mind that hadn't left his head all that evening. He sighed quietly and decided to risk releasing the question.

"'Daise, do you think it's . . . if a man felt he did not want to be with a woman . . . is that wrong? That he'd rather be with another man?"

"What d'ya mean?"

"If . . . a man— a boy preferred to kiss another boy, is that wrong?"

Silas raised his eyes for a moment to catch her expression. She had the same light in her face that came with being eight years old that she had been wearing for most of the conversations.

"If they love each other then they're meant to be together. Why does whether they're a boy or a girl have to matter? Unless they're spiders, spiders don't deserve love at all."

Silas closed his eyes and relished those words.

"Si?" Daisy said, sounding concerned.

Silas reopened his eyes and found tears stinging the corners.

"I didn't mean to make you sad. I wouldn't kill a spider or anything, I just—" she tried to explain.

He leant forward and hugged his sister, tight.

"I'm not sad. I'm happy. So, so happy, 'Daise. Just promise me you'll . . . you'll hold on, okay?"

Confused, Daisy made her attempt to hug him back.

"As soon as you're better, we'll find Cole and we'll paint home. You can tell him all your stories. He can do your hair, you know, like the ladies in the city. He does it really well."