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Christopher Hannachi stepped down from the handsome carriage and breathed in the damp air. A light mist was falling across the English countryside, leaving a fine sheen on his close-cropped hair and dark skin that might otherwise have passed for perspiration. He wiped his face with a handkerchief and reached out a hand to help his wife down.“I believe I might actually be nervous,” he said.
His wife giggled. Alyssum Highmore was accustomed to her husband’s nerves on most occasions, but very rarely when it involved their children.
“Oh darling, it’ll be fine,” she soothed, lifting her skirts to avoid the now-saturated grass as they made their way up the front walk. “I only think it a pity that we are unable to be home for longer than this. Four weeks gone, and now four weeks again already.”
“I know,” said Christopher. “But it cannot wait, I’ve already got the travel plans. I only hope the children understand.”
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“All of us?” their eldest daughter repeated, looking dazed.
Alyssum nodded, giving her a radiant smile. “Think of it as a holiday.”
Vienna snorted in a most unladylike way, and her mother’s eyes widened.
“Vienna Oleander, we are doing this together as family—”
“But you’ve barely been home five minutes!” Vienna exclaimed. “You expect you can just waltz in without even a how-do-you-do and we’ll all be raring to go just like that?” She glared at her mother. “What do the rest of them think?”
As if on cue, her sister London banged through the door, chattering excitedly.
“—all highly irregular, of course, but it’s so exciting, isn’t it?”
Raring to go, indeed.
Their other sister, Paris, trailed after her with a dramatic flounce.
“Of course it’s exciting, but I should have preferred a bit more notice beyond five minutes.”
Vienna glowered at her mother as the girls joined them. At least Paris agreed with her.
“Have you even considered the cost of uprooting us all like this?”
“Oh Vienna, don’t be so dramatic,” their mother snapped.
“Honestly though!” Vienna refused to be dissuaded.
Alyssum drew herself up. “As a matter of fact this has all taken months to plan. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but your father and I have weighed all our options very carefully—”
“But what of the social ramifications?” Vienna persisted.
“It’s not as if you have people to be social with,” muttered London, keeping her eyes on her fingernails as Vienna spun to glare at her.
“Oh and your calendar is full, is it?” she retorted. “Yes, I can see how you would be the center of every function, with your daredevil stories of tree-climbing and shooting targets. How utterly riveting that would be.”
London tossed her head, but her knowing expression said it all. She didn’t care a whit what anyone else thought of her, as Vienna knew all too well.
“Girls,” said their mother sharply. “Pack now, bicker later, please.”
Her sisters turned to leave, and Vienna began taking books down from the shelves. London flung herself over the back of an armchair, exasperated.
“Vienna, what are you doing?”
“Packing. You know I can’t go anywhere without Austen."
London rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else, and hurried to catch up with Paris.
“I’ll have to take my boots, of course,” she mused aloud as they ascended the stairs to their rooms. “Do you even own any practical wear?”
Paris gave her a withering look. “No, but it doesn’t matter. Effort is appreciated worldwide.”
London laughed. “I highly doubt animals will care one way or the other.”
“Well then, I’ll look good for my own peace of mind.”
----------
A brand new rucksack and carpetbag were already waiting by the front door when the girls made their way downstairs some time later.
“Took you long enough,” their brother noted. “If it were just Mum and Dad and me, we would’ve been in France by now.”
“Shove it, Denver,” Vienna growled. “I’ve got a headache and I’m not in the mood for you right now.”
Denver folded his hands and slouched further in his armchair. “Not much of a switch, since you never seem to be in the mood for my company.”
Vienna’s perfect ringlets seemed to bristle with barely-contained fury, but she said nothing.
“I really don’t see why you’re so bothered, Vienna,” said London, who was hauling her own set of luggage down the stairs. Her face was freshly washed and her hair was wrapped up in a scarf. “We’re going on an adventure, after all. Haven’t we all wished we could do what Mum and Dad did?”
“Yes, when I was younger,” Vienna stressed.
London waved a hand. “You know they wouldn’t have taken us when we were very small, it’s too dangerous,” she said. “Mother says now’s the perfect time, since everyone is finally able to take care of themselves.”
Denver didn’t miss the jab at his being the youngest. “Don’t pin it all on me,” he grumbled. “Even if she wanted us all to be teenagers before we did this, we still could’ve gone last year. And I was self-sufficient by the age of eight, I’ll have you know.”
“Guess Mummy didn’t agree with you,” London teased, dumping her things alongside his and sitting down in the window seat.
“Where are your things, Vienna?”
“______ is bringing them straight out once we’re ready.”
“Unbelievable,” Denver muttered. “The house isn’t that big, and you aren’t the high-maintenance one.”
Vienna narrowed her eyes at him. “And putting effort into your life is a bad thing?”
Denver waved her off. “Oh, stop it. You know what I mean. Paris, where are you?” he called up the stairs.
There was no answer for a moment, then Paris’ strained voice floated down to them.
“Erm, Den… could you help me?”
Denver glared upward. “No, don’t think I will. You’re already late.”
An enormous trunk came slamming down the staircase. Denver, London and Vienna all leapt to their feet as Paris sauntered lazily after it.
“What the bloody hell did you do that for?” Denver barked.
Paris shrugged. “I’m not late anymore, am I?”
Their father burst through the front door, his cravat askew as he took in the scene in the foyer.
“What on earth— ah, all ready to go, are you?”
“Of course, Papa,” Paris replied, flashing him her most winning smile.
Denver rolled his eyes, but straightened his jacket and bent down to retrieve a small case from behind his armchair. London froze when she caught sight of it and shot her brother a look that was somewhere between skepticism, apprehension and excitement.
Denver smirked at her and opened it.
“Ick, ohmygod! What is it?” shrieked Paris.
“Some kind of furry snake,” guessed London, squinting at it. “Like a cat-snake hybrid.”
“Don’t be stupid,” said Denver, twining the animal through his hands. “It’s a ferret.”
Paris wrinkled her nose. “It’s queer is what it is,” she sniffed.
Denver looked affronted. “He is not.”
“Oh, it’s a he, now, is it?”
“Ye— well, I don’t know,” Denver huffed. “I only just got it.”
Paris tittered. “Really, Den, how will you know what you can name it if you don’t even know what it is?”
“The same way Mum and Dad named you.” Then he bolted for the door, clutching his new pet to his chest.
Just posting a note to say I am SO looking forward to getting back to writing once VSMS closes. Reading Hamilton: The Revolution these last two days has only driven my mind more toward accomplishing the goals I have and reassured me that literally anything is possible. I can't even begin to explain to you guys what this show means to me and I haven't even SEEN the thing.I'm planning on using May and June to look over my most recent NaNo effort and July to get back to fleshing out and plotting my Weird Family idea (which I'll probably write a slew of for NaNo this year). So excited!!
Brief synopsis: Late 1800s. A rather eccentric family takes leave from their estate in the English countryside to study and track fantasy creatures around the world. Centaurs, sphinxes, succubi and more will cross their path on their travels. No title yet, as always seems to happen.