The Underground

Chapter 5 - Birthday Presents

On the morning of her tenth birthday, Elizabeth flew out of bed and got dressed in a hurry. She was nearly ready when she heard a knock on her door. Quickly she pulled her shirt over her head and turned to the door, "Come in!"

The door opened to reveal Thomas, still in his bedclothes, with a box in his hands, and a grin on his face. "Happy Birthday Lizzy!" He said, using her nickname. "This isn't my official present to you, because if it was, William would kill me."  He winked, "But who said I ever listened to him anyway." 

She opened the box, and in it was a beautifully carved frame, with nothing in it. 

"what is it?" She asked, feeling for anything else in the box, there was nothing.

"Here, let me show you." He took the frame and touched the center with his hand. It trembled and a picture appeared in it, a landscape with trees and hills and a river winding away into the distance. "here, you try."

Elizabeth placed her hand on the image, and it was replaced by a painting she recognized, a lady in a simple brown dress sat with her hands folded on her lap, Her eyes seeming to follow her wherever she went, and behind her was a faded backdrop of wild land, a few trees and paths scattered here and there. The Mona Lisa. Her favorite painting. 

"It shows the painting or image that you most want to see," explained Thomas, "Mine was just an image of the place we went camping last summer. William's is a picture of his girlfriend at Hogwarts, that's why I gave it to you, I got tired of looking at Freida Monteral."

"Thank you! I love it!" Elizabeth cried joyfully, throwing her arms around her cousin. 

"You're welcome," said Thomas, hugging her back, "Happy Birthday." 

Breakfast was bacon and eggs with sausages. Elizabeth's favorite. She gobbled down two helpings and drank a tall glass of milk, then full, she challenged William to a game of Gobstones. He refused, but said he would play chess if Thomas didn't help. Elizabeth agreed, and Thomas was banished to the kitchen as the chessboard came out in the living room. Elizabeth took white before William could, and set up the pieces. William had an air of anticipation about him as he quickly prepared to decimate the opposition. After only ten moves each, Elizabeth's Queen had been the unfortunate victim of a strangely violent pawn, both William's knights had been killed by Elizabeth's right bishop, and a number of pawns on both sides had been slain. William however had the upper hand, and made good use of it, making his Queen dance across the board taking out several of Elizabeth's pieces before being killed itself, and bringing the contest to level ground again. Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she studied the board. The remains of her army were scattered, she only had one chance to win, and it was slim. Slowly and carefully she moved her last rook toward William's King, "Check" 

William had two choices, kill the rook with his rook, or put his rook in front of the King, protecting it. She hoped he would take the first option, because that would leave her bishop with a clear checkmate.

William picked up his rook, thought for an agonizing moment, and put it down in front of the king. An evil grin passed across his face. Elizabeth groaned and killed his rook in one stroke. Then the king killed her rook, and her bishop dashed to put the king again in check. That move however opened up her king, and William seized the moment with his bishop. "Checkmate!"

Thomas's voice drifted in from the kitchen where he had been watching the game with his critical eye. "You could have won long ago, with your queen, but you didn't, you went on a pointless killing spree and almost lost because of it." 

William's eyes looked frightening as he glared at his brother. "I didn't ask for your opinion!"

"OK." Thomas got up and left. 

"Rematch?" asked Elizabeth.

"You're on!"

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When it came time to unwrap the presents, they were all just as amazing as Elizabeth had hoped! A box of fancy paints from William, Canvases from Thomas, freshly baked cookies from her aunt, and a book about magical artists from her father. Now there was only one more gift left. The joint present from Uncle Jacob and Jonathan, Isaac and Martin. She tore off the wrapping and found a small box inside. She opened it and found a small bag inside of it, made of a strange scalely material, and inside that were two tickets to the muggle art museum! She jumped up and gave her Uncle a BIG hug! "Thank you!!!!" She squealed, bouncing around to hug her cousins, her father, and her aunt. "This is the Best Birthday Ever!"

The bag turned out to be made of dragonskin, a very durable material, and it also could hold more then she first expected. It became the home for her art supplies, including the paints and canvases she got from William and Thomas. But her favorite gift of the day was the magic frame that Thomas gave her. It was currently displaying the Riverdragon in her father's case, its blue-grey scales flashing as it seemed to swim round and round in a stream.

For dinner that evening they had potatoes and gravy with fried vegetables on the side. Not quite Elizabeth's favorite, but close. Martin spilled his gravy all over the table, causing a resounding sigh to issue from the adults. They would be happy if Martin learned to control his hands better. 

Just before bedtime, Jacob turned on the radio. The news was the same, the newscaster droned on and on, his voice slow and almost hypnotic. She watched as her father leaned back in his chair by the fire and slowly fell under the sleepy trance coming from the radio. Only uncle Jacob was listening, everyone else was dozing. Elizabeth was annoyed that the grown-ups were listening to such depressing news on such a happy day! Why would they do that? And then it hit her. Her mother...