Chapter Five

It was Victor who moved first. He jumped back in recoil from the noise of the crash. He found a broom in a corner while Victoria stood motionless from shock. Oh no… she thought. If mother and father weren’t awake before, they are now, I suppose. She didn’t want them to see the bowl, however unlikely it was that they would miss it. It was more probable that they would be angry that Victor had broken it, or that Victor was in the house at all.

“Victor,” she said, getting the dustpan, “you should probably leave soon. I know,” she consoled him, noticing his look of protest, “you’re my husband, but my parents, they don’t really like you as much as they should, and they’ll look for any reason to find fault with you.”

He swept the glass into the dustpan, and Victoria threw the shards in a garbage pail. “Are you sure I don’t want you to be reprimanded for the bowl…” Victor sent Victoria a pleading look.
Victoria closed her eyes and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I believe I’d be more heavily reprimanded if they knew that you’d been here.”

“Well, only if you insist. I suppose I’ll see you later today then.” He looked as if he was going to hug her, but Victoria had other plans; she kissed him softly on the cheek and blushed.

“Bye Victor,” she whispered. “Thanks again for the help. Now go, quickly.”

Victor touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him and smiled. “Goodbye,” he said. He ran from the kitchen doors and out of Victoria’s sight.

Victoria sighed happily. So willing to take the blame…oh Victor, why do my parents hate you so? She found another bowl in a cabinet. Oh yes, she remembered, they think less of you because of your father’s fish business and your supposed lack of social status. She frowned, hating social hierarchies. She took the remaining eggs from the table and cracked them into the bowl. She mixed them quickly, and in her haste, she spilled some of the liquid onto the counter. “Oh well,” she said to no one in particular.

Victoria poured the eggs into the pan and placed the lid on it. She turned up the burner to speed up the cooking time. The clock on the wall read 10 o’clock. Come on, she thought impatiently, glaring at the pan. Cook faster. Eager to speed the waiting process, she picked up the two egg-ridden plates. Balancing one on each hand, she walked through the swinging doors backside first. She placed the plates at their proper places. Victoria picked up the only empty plate and returned to the kitchen.

Overwhelmed by the eggs’ scent, Victoria waved her hand in front of her nose. She checked on the eggs, delighted to see they were finished at last. She put them on her mother’s plate with care and found another lid for the plate. She placed it on the plate and returned to the dining hall, where she returned the plate to its rightful place.

Where are my parents? she wondered. Surely they’d be awake by now…just how much did they drink last night? Victoria wandered from the dining hall to the foyer. She climbed the stairs leading to her parents’ bedroom. “I hope they don’t mind being roused. Surely they would expect it, being this late,” she whispered. Finally she reached the threshold of her parents’ quarters. She knocked lightly on the door and asked, “Mother? Father? Are you awake?”

An intense burst of life resulted from that simple question. Two voices broke the house’s tranquil silence at once. “Go ‘way.” “Wait, is that clock right?” “Oh no, we should’ve been up hours ago!” “Girl, why didn’t you wake us earlier?” “You’re leaving today!”

Victoria sighed; ultimately, she liked her parents better when they were slumbering. Ignoring the bustling noises and commands, she resumed walking down the hall to her room. She opened toe door to see the three suitcases stacked orderly on her bed. Her thoughts consumed her. This will be one of my last visits to this room. She recalled Victor in her room; trying to escape her barred confines with a fire poker; climbing down two stories in the rain…she was flooded with memories. Soon I’ll have a room with Victor, and we can make new memories together. She smiled at these sunny prospects and closed the door.

“Victoria,” called her mother from what sounded like the dining hall. Oh dear, she thought. What now? Victoria hurried down the stairs and walked into the hall.

“Yes?” she asked, clueless to the reasoning behind her summoning. Her mother and father were seated at the table, staring at the place settings and the servings lids.

“What’s all this then?” asked her mother. She gestured to the lidded plate and the silverware so Victoria would know exactly what she was talking about. Shoot, thought Victoria randomly, I forgot drinks.

“Well, I thought breakfast would be nice, so I cooked some up.” That’s half true, Victoria reconciled herself.

“Bah,” said Maudeline, “since when do you know how to cook? Don’t lie to me, who helped you?” She stared expectantly at her daughter, awaiting an answer with a scowl.

It’s about time I stood up for my rights, she thought, recalling her conversation with Victor earlier that morning. Without warning, Victoria stepped between her seated parents and removed the lids from the plates. “Eat up, or they’ll get cold.” She returned to the kitchen, noticing her parents’ stunned expressions before leaving the room: her father’s eyebrows almost touched his ever-receding hairline, and her mother’s mouth agape. She smiled I satisfaction. Not…where are the glasses? She began looking in higher cabinets, and soon she found three tall glasses that were usually used during their morning meal. She looked in the icebox, delighted to have found milk from the milkman’s last trip.

Baby steps, Victoria reminded herself. They’ll likely be put off my sudden rebellion and have something to say if I take things too quickly. She took the three glasses into the dining hall, and Victoria was surprised to see her parents humbly eating without protest or comment. She put the glasses in their proper places, but her parents didn’t even bother to look up from their meal.
She awkwardly returned to the kitchen for the milk and soon went back to the hall. She carefully poured the milk into each of the glasses before returning the milk to the icebox.

Wordlessly, Victoria sat down in her seat to finally eat breakfast. She cut into her eggs with subtle vigor, keeping in mind the possibility of her parents’ temper if she should break any etiquette rules. She washed the first few bites down with milk before her parents resumed speaking.

“So what, you’re not speaking to us now?” Her father spoke first, oddly enough.

After swallowing, Victoria replied, “No, I merely remembered that we needed drinks.” She returned to her breakfast. If they want answers, they’ll have to ask for them, she thought.

“So, tell us, who helped you? I won’t be angry,” her father persuaded. Victoria was slightly taken aback by her father’s kindness, but her mother soon intruded upon her daughter’s soon to be pleasant demeanor.

“Well, I will be angry!” Maudeline said. “I won’t have the whole neighborhood prancing around my home while I’m asleep!” She deepened her frown and furrowed her brow in anger.

“But that’s just it!” cried Victoria. “It wasn’t the whole neighborhood; it was just Victor. I for one believe I have every right to invite my husband into my current home.” Uncharacteristically, Victoria frowned and took another bite of her eggs. If she was dismissed from the table, she wanted to leave it with a full stomach.

“I agree with you to a point,” said her father. “Just ask us first next time.” Finnus noticed that his wife shot him a condemning look, and he ceased speaking.

Maudeline closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before shouting loudly across the table at her daughter. “NO, YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO INVITE HIM INTO MY HOUSE! YOU—”

Fed up with her mother, Victoria interrupted her. “What is wrong with you? I cooked you breakfast, I’m all packed, I’ve done everything short of leaving for the honeymoon now! I can’t understand your grudge against Victor, seeing as how you wanted me to marry him in the first place!” Victoria took another bite of her eggs before realizing she had lost her appetite. She took her plate into the kitchen and shoveled the remaining eggs into the garbage pail with her fork.

I can’t wait to leave this house, Victoria finally realized. Maybe I should just leave for Victor’s house now… She toyed with this possibility and made her decision. Yes, that’s good. Besides, I won’t be able to be around my mother much longer without getting myself in trouble, she thought. Intent on getting her house key so she couldn’t be locked out, Victoria reentered the dining hall with a quickened pace. Her mother looked as if she wanted nothing less than to strangle her daughter, but her father sent her a reproachful look.

“Come Victoria, can’t we talk about this?” her father asked. Even though Finnus didn’t particularly like his daughter’s new husband, he could sense that she really did, even though it had been an arranged marriage. Looking back on the day after he had been wed to Maudeline, he could remember how angry he had been and that it had taken him a full month to come to terms with his new wife. And here Victoria actually likes her husband, he thought.

“I’m sorry Father. I did talk, but my dear mother won’t listen.” Without another word, Victoria began the ascent to her room while her father continued calling to her.

Victoria ignored him with effort. She reached her room and shut herself inside. I don’t even want to face them on my way out, she thought dryly. At that moment, an idea entered her mind. What if I left from my room? she wondered. She recalled her previous departure from her room and smiled. Yes, that is what I’ll do. Victoria opened a drawer and pulled out two bed sheets. She tied the corners together. As a safety precaution, she tied the end of her makeshift rope to a bedpost and pulled on the opposite end with all her weight. She was delighted to see the knot withheld her weight. She gathered up the sheets and headed out into the cold from the glass doors that led to the balcony outside, thinking fondly of Victor.

~

A few minutes later, Maudeline was still ranting on to her husband about their daughter. “How dare she defy me? I’m the reason she would up with that boy anyway.” She took a ravenous bite of egg and drank some milk.

Finnus sat up from his slouched position. “No,” he said quietly. “She wouldn’t. Not after last time…”

Maudeline looked over at her husband, one eyebrow raised with confusion. “What? What is it?”
Finnus rose from his chair. “Come on,” he said, looking at his seated wife. “There might not be much time.”

His wife rose from her chair and followed him up the stairs. “What?” she asked again. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” They climbed the stairs and reached the hallway that led to Victoria’s room.

“It’s…Victoria,” Finnus managed to huff out. Physical fitness was not one of his stronger qualities, and even the hastened trip up the stairs had left him out of breath. “I think…she might have…left.”

Maudeline stared at her husband, doubt etched on her face. “But how?” she asked. Finally, Finnus stopped in front of his daughter’s bedroom door. He wrenched it open, and Maudeline gasped.

“Oh, Victoria,” her father sighed. The room was unoccupied, and the glass doors that led to the small balcony were wide open. One of Victoria’s white sheets could be seen fluttering from the base of one of the posts surrounding the edge of the balcony.

Maudeline screamed in a fit of rage, “VICTORIA!” before collapsing in a crumpled heap on her daughter’s bed, pounding her fist on the mattress.

~

Victor was upstairs in his room, gazing at his portrait of Victoria. He thought of her affectionate kiss in her kitchen, and he penciled in the lace along her sleeve. Finished at last, Victor thought happily. He set off downstairs in search of a frame. Perhaps I can give this to her as a wedding present. I already know she’ll like it, he thought. Victor had just spotted a frame under an older book when he heard a knock at the door.

His father rose from a chair in the room and called, “I’ll get it!” Victor picked up the frqame and brushed some dust off of the side as his father opened the door.

“HelloisVictorhome?” said a familiar voice from the doorway. Is that…Victoria? he wondered. He put down the frame and picture and rushed to the door. His father beckoned his bride inside, and she rushed into the house. She looked a bit different than how she’d looked when she had when she’d entered the house earlier that day; her teeth were chattering, her hands and cheeks were red from the cold, and she wasn’t wearing a jacket.

“Victoria! Where’s your coat?” Victor took his won coat from a hook on the wall and put it around her trembling shoulders. “What’s happened to you?” he asked.

Victoria and Victor walked into the sitting room, and both of them sat on the couch. “Well, I got into an argument with my parents after I woke them. My mother asked who had helped me. I told her, and then she became very angry at what I’d done. I wound up going to my room, and well…” If Victoria’s cheeks hadn’t been so red, she would have blushed. “I kind of snuck out.” She giggled softly and closed her eyes.

Victor smiled at her and patted her ice cold hands. “Oh my,” he said. “At least you have our trip to look forward to.”

Victoria opened her eyes and took Victor’s hand. “I am. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to it. I—” She was interrupted by the front door opening and a gust of wind blowing into the room.

“Oi, it’s a cold one today. Almost looks like…” Nell set her eyes on Victoria. “Snow. William, you didn’t tell me we had company,” she said to her husband.

William, who had taken a seat, stood up and said, “Well, it was unexpected…”

Victoria looked at Victor’s mother and said, “It’s true. I wasn’t scheduled to come by for another few hours. Your family has graciously taken me in.” She smiled politely and squeezed Victor’s hand.

“Oh, right. Anyway, I’ve found the strangest thing outside in our post box.” She presented an envelope from her coat pocket and handed it to Victor. “The weirdest thing was that a crow was perched on the box and flew away soon as I came near. Crows don’t usually come this far into town during the winter…” Nell took off her coat and left to hang it up.

Victor and Victoria stared at the envelope. There was a bit of an unearthly glow to it. However, the thing that Victor’s head spin was the return address: Elder Gutknecht, Land of the Dead.