Ella Fisher and Pluto's Wrath - Chapter I - The 'Big' Day
“Come on, Ella. Get up now! It’s a big day today!” Something
large and warm shook me gently by the shoulder.
“NNNRRRRRGHH!” I loudly groaned. “Mum?”
“Yes, Ella. It’s your first day at your new school. Aren’t you excited?” I rolled over and gave Mum a withering look. “I guess not. I let you stay in bed for as long as possible. Daniel and Miya got up half an hour ago! You have an hour until the school bus comes. Or would you rather I took you in the car today?” Mum asked, smiling. As yet, she had refused to wither.
“I’ll be fine on the bus today. But thanks for the offer,” I smiled.
“Alright, sweetheart. Breakfast will be ready in ten!” she replied. “I love you!” she called as she left the room. She flashed me a single sympathetic smile, before disappearing down the corridor.
I groaned noisily and turned over in bed.
My life before this was never simple. When I was little, I lived amongst the great, majestic mountains of Cumbria, in a small town called Keswick, in a flat above a small, sweet toyshop with my mum.
Before I go on, here’s a little info about my mum. Her name is Emma Fisher, and I have no idea how old she is, though in her thirties in probably likely. She is beautiful, the prettiest person I have ever seen in my life. Her long, dark hair is always glossy and falls gracefully down her back as if it is a waterfall of chocolate! Her eyes, a light grey, shimmer and glisten like stars in the daylight, and at night they glow luminously in an enchanting manner. Her pale skin radiates beauty in its divine perfectness. Like I said, she is very pretty. She is what I would call the perfect height – not too tall, not too small. She’s had numerous boyfriends, but none ever lasted long.
I’d lived in Keswick since I was a small baby, and I loved it there! My best memory of being there was definitely my old best friend, Maddy. We knew each other since pre-school and had been best friends ever since.
The first disaster struck a few years prior to us moving. I was about ten, when Mum lost her job. It struck us kind of hard, as we were renting our flat and our landlord was not particularly tolerant if rent was paid late. Just in time, Mum took out a loan so we could pay him, and sent a letter to my uncle, Nicholas, or Nick, asking for financial support. He, of course, obliged us. So, we paid off our loan using the money Uncle Nick sent us, Mum got another job, and we lived on as if nothing had happened.
Then, two years later, Mum lost her job again. She did exactly as she had done two years previously: get out a loan to appease the landlord, send a letter to Uncle Nick asking for help again. But, instead of offering us money, he decided to help us in a different way. He invited us to live with him. We had no choice. We accepted.
So that’s why we came to live with Uncle Nick in London. I sighed as I clambered, yawning, out of my bed. I threw on my new school uniform, and checked my watch. I was right on time for breakfast. I left my large, somewhat plain, room and wandered along the corridor of Uncle Nick’s mansion to the staircase. Yes, Uncle Nick’s house was a mansion! It was a large Victorian one, built just off Buckingham Palace. It was supposedly built for one of Queen Victoria’s advisers, and was probably the biggest house within ten miles of it, with the exception of the Palace itself! It had two swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), tennis courts (so many their numbers seemed infinite), eight huge bedrooms (not including the twenty other ones in the attic, used, when the house was first built, for servants), several huge living areas, a water slide beside the outdoor pool and several studies. There was plenty of room for Mum and me to move in!
I wandered down one of the huge spiral staircases, and looked at the pictures painted on the walls, mildly interested. They showed the Planets in the Solar System in which Earth is situated. Beside each, strangely, was a detailed picture of a person’s face. One in particular caught my eye. Beside Earth was a picture of a very beautiful woman, with a long, chocolaty waterfall of dark hair, glowing grey eyes and radiant, picture-perfect skin.
I was looking at a painting of my Mum.
“Are you alright, Ella?” came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, and saw my cousin, Daniel. He was dressed in his school uniform, the same as mine but a different tie. Where mine was a dark navy blue, with pale blue and white stripes, his was pale blue, with dark navy blue and black stripes. I had no idea why it was different.
“I’m fine. Why’s your tie different from mine?” I asked.
“Oh… It’s… well, it’s just that… I’m a school councillor this year,” he said, sounding unsure of himself.
“Cool! How’d you get to be one?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear. Even now, looking back on it, I have no idea why I was smiling in such a weird, cheesy way as that!
“Oh… Uh… We held elections at school last year. I won!” he smiled nervously.
“Why’re you nervous?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Come with me.” We moved down the stairs, away from the portrait of my mum. He led me off the huge main hall, which was also the main entrance to Uncle Nick’s mansion, and through a large, solid-looking set of double doors.
We emerged into one of the studies, one of the larger, more important ones by the looks of it. There were bookshelves covering three of the rooms’ four walls. The wall that wasn’t covered in bookcases was home to a huge window with a view of the mansions’ gardens, which flowed right down to the banks of the River Thames. The massive window was the only source of natural light in the room, which I found rather strange, as Uncle Nick loved the outdoors. A large desk dominated the centre of the room, behind which was a single high-backed, comfortable-looking chair.
“My study,” Daniel said as he swung the double doors smoothly shut.
“Nice place,” I told him, moving towards the window and looking out of it. The gardens seemed endless from my vantage point at Daniel’s studies window.
“Thanks, Ella. I like it too,” he told me. “Anyway: confession time!”
“What do you mean, ‘confession time’?” I asked, well and truly confused.
“I lost my school tie, so I borrowed one of Dad’s. Please don’t tell anyone!” he cried.
I burst out laughing.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“It’s fine,” I told him, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. I glanced down at my watch. “Hey, it’s quarter past! Breakfast will be ready by now!” I turned away from him and headed to the door.
“Are you going to tell on me?” Daniel called after me, the worry evident in his voice.
“Of course not!” I called to him. I turned to him and waved, doing my ultra-cheesy grin again. I turned, my frizzy blonde hair flying, and left Daniel’s study, smiling. I headed across the main hall and crossed it. I had a lot on my mind. Why was my mum’s portrait beside the picture of Earth? Why were those pictures there anyway?
Absentmindedly, I opened another heavy oaken set of double doors, and walked into an incredibly modernised room. A massive flat-screened TV dominated half of it, plus a few white leather sofas, a white acrylic coffee table and a popcorn machine! Towards the end I was in, there was a large, dark brown kitchen, with everything you could possibly need in a kitchen, including a small bar and two dark brown bar stools set against the back wall in the corner by the TV. In the middle, between the two was a large, stylish grey dining table sitting resplendent in its own personal glory. There were six chairs set around it at equal distances from each other. They were high-backed and comfy-looking, much alike, in fact, to the chair in Daniel’s study. This was, as Uncle Nick liked to call it, the Family Room, and, barring my bedroom, my study and the indoor pool, it was my favourite room in the entire mansion.
Two people were seated at the dining table. Mum was there, reading a magazine as she ate her bagel. At the opposite end of the table sat my older, antisocial cousin, Miya. Her blonde hair was tied back in a complex plaited style, revealing her pretty hazel eyes. She was on her tablet, playing on a game whilst eating her own breakfast of honey, milk and cereal, with a glass of fresh orange juice set to one side. She seemed engrossed, and was ignoring everything that was going on around her.
Inside the kitchen stood Uncle Nick, juggling frying pans and plates and jugs as he danced bizarrely around the kitchen, making even the most ordinary tasks look enjoyable. The table was set for five, so I headed across and sat down next to Mum. She smiled at me.
“Good morning, Ella,” she said. “Good to see you got downstairs without anything hindering you! Cereal, pancake, crumpet or bagel?” she asked.
“Pancake, please,” I smiled.
“Come and get it, honeypie!” Uncle Nick called to me. He is more than a little odd, just as a warning. Even though I’m his niece, he acts like I am his youngest and by far most beloved daughter! Then again, however, I do look a lot like him. I have the same oceanic green eyes as him, and we’re both kind of small…
I clambered up again, and walked to Uncle Nick’s side.
“Syrup, honey or chocolate spread?” he asked me.
“Syrup, please,” I said smiling. I watched as he tossed my pancake in the air, and, as it fell, poured onto it enough syrup to fill an ocean. The pancake landed. He lifted it deftly with a flick of his wrist and dropped it onto a waiting plate. He picked the plate up, and thrust it at me.
“Breakfast is served, my lady,” he smiled. I grinned at him.
“Thanks, Uncle Nick,” I said.
“No problem, princess,” he told me. I headed back to the table and sat down once again. I tucked into my pancake, smiling as the sweet juices from the syrup drizzled into my open mouth. I loved Uncle Nick’s pancakes.
“Now, where would little Prince Daniel be?” Uncle Nick asked me, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
“He was in his study last I saw him,” I told him.
“Probably reading again,” Miya murmured. “He’s always reading.”
“I’ll go and find him,” I smiled around at everyone. “See you in a minute!” I climbed up and went to the door. I opened it and stepped out into the main hall once more. I checked my watch again. Half past seven. I had about half an hour until the school bus came. Half an hour to find Daniel, finish my breakfast, brush my hair and pack my school bag. Great.
First, since it seemed logical, as it was the last place I’d seen him, I checked his study. He wasn’t there. I headed upstairs, and searched around his favourite hiding places in the attics. Not there either. I headed down from the attics once again, checking my watch as I went. Twenty to eight. Not looking good.
I decided as a last resort to check his room. He’d banned me from it when we first arrived when I came into his room and found him chatting to a girl he liked on Facebook. He’d screamed at me and told me that I was never under any circumstances to enter his room at short notice, but it seemed then that I had no choice.
I knocked on his bedroom door. If he was in there, I at least owed him that for disregarding the promise I’d made to him and entering his room.
“Go away,” came a voice from inside the room.
“Daniel,” I called softly. “Uncle Nick says you need to come for breakfast.”
“No! Leave me alone!” he called from inside.
“I’m coming in!” I called to him. Then I opened the door.
He was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor, sobbing. Strewn around him were a lot of clothes; I hadn’t known he had so many garments stored!
“Get out Ella. Tell Dad that I feel unwell and I’m staying home today,” he said, looking up at me. His blue eyes, normally warm and calm, were cold, almost icy. They were red rimmed and full of tears.
“No,” I said firmly. “Have you been searching for your tie?”
“Yes,” he said weakly.
“Let me look,” I told him. “Sometimes if your mind is focussed only on finding something, everything appears hopeful, therefore messing with your vision. Someone who looks without focussing on finding that thing is often the one who will find the object first.” I looked across the various items of clothing scattered haphazardly across the floor, vaguely hoping I wouldn’t have to root through Daniel’s long-forgotten dirty undergarments to find his tie. Then I saw it. Gleaming like a long, thin seam of gold, it lay amongst some of his school shirts.
“There!!!!” I cried, grabbing the tie from where it lay. I handed it to him. The expression of sheer shock on his face was priceless.
“Uhhh… Thanks,” he muttered, not meeting my eyes.
“Hey, it’s fine,” I told him. “We need to go downstairs now! We have, like, fifteen minutes, until the bus comes!”
“OK,” he smiled. We left his room together and headed down the hallway. We descended the staircase. Halfway down, I posed him with a question:
“Why are there pictures of people beside the planets?” I asked.
“Oh… Dad told me once. Ancient folklore says that each of the planets is a representation of… well, of the power of a god.”
“What!” I cried, stopping in my tracks.
“According to Dad, there was once a high goddess. She was the Sun. Legend has it that she had child-Gods, each one of these was personified by a planet in our Solar System,” he explained.
“OK… That’s a little weird,” I smiled. “Thanks for answering my question.” We carried on down the staircase together. A few moments later, we were in the main hall. I ran ahead of him to the family room while he put the finishing touches to his tie. I opened the door.
“Ella! Did you find him?” Uncle Nick cried, jumping up from the dining table, where he’d been eating his breakfast.
“Sure I did,” I smiled. “Here he is now!” Daniel was in the doorway, his eyes lowered, seemingly in shame, although I had no idea why.
“Hi, guys,” he said in a low voice, taking a bowl from a cupboard and helping himself to cereal.
“You have ten minutes, guys, to get ready, so Miya, I think you should turn you tablet off now,” Uncle Nick said as I sat down and tucked in once again to my now-cold pancake. It was still delicious, however, so I finished it in a flash. I clambered, smiling, to my feet.
“I’m going to brush my hair,” I began, but Mum cut me short.
“It looks fine as it is, Ella, so don’t bother. Brush your teeth and have your wash, and no-one will be able to tell the difference!” she cried.
“OK,” I said. I left the family room and headed back upstairs for about the fifteenth time that morning. I went into the nearest bathroom, and washed, smiling to myself. When I was finished, I checked my watch. Five to eight! I just about had time to put a few things in my schoolbag, then I’d have to go! I rushed to my room, and grabbed my schoolbag. I crammed my pencil case, a notebook and my PE kit into the protesting bag, and rushed downstairs. Daniel and Miya were at the door, waiting for me.
“Well, you certainly took your time,” Miya said scornfully.
“I had to pack my bag as well, you know,” I snapped, walking out of the door with Daniel.
“OK, OK,” Miya said, sighing as she followed us out of the door. We headed down the driveway, which was strangely short, compared to the huge expanse of the gardens surrounding it. We were bang on time to the bus stop. We arrived just as the bus pulled up. I watched as several other kids, both older and younger than me climbed aboard. Then, I followed.
The bus had a musty smell about it and was very cramped. I paid my bus fare and got a weeks’ pass in return. Then, I wandered to the back of the back of the bus, and sat in the only remaining seat: beside a young girl who looked to be in year seven. Miya had sat further foreword in the bus with a few of her friends, and Daniel had sat nearer to the back, with two other boys. They were chatting like best friends, and that, after a moment of delusion, was what I thought them to be. The young girl next to me wasn’t talking to anyone. She appeared to be deep in thought, so I left her alone.
The bus journey was quite short, and we appeared to have got on at the final stop. Soon, we drew up at a large building, which had so many windows it looked like it was made from glass! Everyone spilled off the bus like water released from a dam, and headed for the entrances. I waited by the bus for Daniel. He soon got off, with his friends from the bus.
“Kane, Matt, meet my cousin, Ella. She’s staying with me and Miya at the moment,” he smiled encouragingly at me. “Ella, these are my best friends, Kane Meyer and Matthew Jackson.”
“It’s great to meet you,” I smiled at them.
“Uh… You too,” Kane muttered, his face bright red.
“What he said,” Matthew grinned. Out of the two, Matthew seemed the nicer one.
“Come on, let’s go to registration,” Daniel smiled. We all followed him through the school (it seemed that Kane and Matthew had no idea where they were meant to be going) and soon we arrived outside a room labelled ‘9B’. A few other kids, including, to my surprise, the girl I’d sat next to on the bus, stood outside, waiting for the teacher to appear.
“Who’s she?” I asked Daniel gesturing to the girl.
“Oh… That would be Zara. She’s eleven.”
“So why’s she in a Year Nine class?” I asked.
“She’s too clever for Year Seven, or Year Eight for that matter! They moved her up upon seeing her results for the entrance assessment,” he told me.
“I wish I was that clever!” I smiled.
“Yeah, but… Zara doesn’t really have any friends,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked him.
“She is so young to be in this year group. Too young. Nobody wants to be friends with her because they’re worried about the consequences of being with her.”
“What consequences?”
“Victoria Cartmell. Year eight. Real mean and ugly. A bully. No one likes her, but they never speak out about it because they fear her wrath. Also, Julius Smith in our year. He loves aiding her in beating kids up. Never trust him, he’s as slippery as a snake.”
“Advice taken,” I grinned. “Who’s our teacher?”
“That would be Miss Woodlands. Here she comes now!” Miss Woodlands looked very nice. She had ginger hair tied up with a green ribbon, and her blue eyes shone with warmth and friendliness. I couldn’t help liking her, as she walked past us and unlocked the door to our classroom.
She ushered us in quickly, and sent us to the back of the room while she sorted out a seating plan for us. Then, she sent us all to our new seats. Mine was at the very front, between Kane and Zara. I studied them both carefully as Miss Woodlands began her welcoming speech.
Kane had short spiked dark hair and pale skin. His eyes were a little alike to mine, as both mine and his reminded me of the ocean. The difference between them was that, where my eyes were obviously green, his were a deep, dark blue. My eyes were probably more alike to the colours of the shallower oceans, whereas his were more like a deep-sea hue. He was seated on my left, and had his attention fixed on Miss Woodlands. To my right, Zara sat. Her hair was dark, around the same colour as Kane’s, and it was long and extremely tangled, as if she’d been dragged through a thorn bush sometime between leaving her house and getting on the school bus. Her eyes were an incredibly dark grey, so dark that, unless I looked very closely into them, I could not distinguish the irises of her eyes from the pupils. She was small and painfully thin, and appeared to be quite athletic. Her skin was astoundingly pale, and appeared devoid of any warmth. Her eyes were cold and calculating, a sure sign that portrayed how clever that Zara was.
“Will there be any questions?” Miss Woodlands asked. Zara’s hand shot into the air. Miss Woodlands glanced at her seating plan. “Yes, Zara,” she said.
“I was wondering why I am in a year nine form. I am clearly not a year nine!” Zara said, the interest clear in her young eyes. She was completely fearless of teachers (unlike me) and was willing to ask any question for the benefit of either her own or the rest of the classes’ knowledge.
“Zara, you are eleven, and you were moved up two year groups to provide a tougher and more beneficial learning atmosphere for you. Is that adequate?” Miss Woodlands asked, smiling.
“Yes, thank you,” Zara replied.
“Excellent,” Miss Woodlands smiled. Then she checked her watch. “OK, you have ten minutes until first lesson is due to begin. Chatter away!” she beamed around my class. Then she noticed me. “Oh, and 9B?” everyone turned to look at her. “We have a new girl joining this class. Her name is Ella Fisher. Please make her feel welcome!” with that, Miss Woodlands leaned back in her chair, smiling. I sat there, unsure of myself. Kane was chattering away to Daniel and Matthew, who sitting together behind him. Slowly, I turned to Zara. She wasn’t talking to anyone. I decided to try to befriend her. Looking back on it, it was one of the best things I have ever done in my whole life!
“Hi,” I said quietly. Zara turned to me.
“You’re not like the others,” she muttered. “You want to be my friend, don’t you?”
“Yes!” I smiled nervously. “You’re Zara, right?”
“Yep,” she said with a small grin. “You’re Ella Fisher.”
“I agree with you on that!” I smiled. Her grin widened considerably. We chatted for quite a while. Zara, it turned out, had an excellent personality and was among the kindest people I’d ever met! We talked all through the remainder of registration and all the way to our first lesson, Maths. I had been put the middle set until they could assess my abilities. I was seated next to a tall, slightly chubby boy called Julius. Apparently he’d been moved down a school year because he had learning difficulties. He was nice enough, but I didn’t talk to him much as I was engrossed in the maths problems that had been set for us to do. It was easy.
After maths, the day flew by. I boarded the school bus and sat next to my new best friend, Zara. The journey went so fast I barely noticed that we had reached my stop! I climbed off the bus with Daniel and Miya and headed up the driveway to our house. That was when my day went slightly sour.
We walked into the main hall. Miya and Daniel dumped their bags. Miya took out her tablet and went on Facebook to chat to her friends. Daniel went in his study, mumbling something about reading as he went. I went into the family room and found Mum and Uncle Nick screaming at each other.
“You horrible man! You said you’d stay by her side!” Mum shouted.
“I can’t do that, Earth, you know I can’t! Looking after for two young mages is hard enough without the added risk of having the most powerful of your daughters ever to have lived under my protection!” Uncle Nick shouted back. “Take her with you, for goodness sake!”
“You know why I can’t do that! She could, and probably would, die if she came with me! Do you want that?” Mum screamed. I’d never seen her so angry before!
“Of course I don’t, Earth. But-“ he’d noticed me. “Ella. How was school?” he asked, forcing a smile.
“It was fine, Uncle Nick,” I said. “What were you arguing about? What did you mean?”
“It’s nothing, sweetie. Your Mum and I were just having a little argument, that’s all! Oh, and there’s a surprise for you in your room,” he said forcing a sickly-sweet smile as he spoke.
“That doesn’t answer my questions…” I said, though I was suddenly dying to see what the surprise in my room was.
“Just go and see what’s in your room, please, Ella,” Uncle Nick pleaded.
“I’ll torment you people until you die about what the heck you were arguing about!” I joked as I turned to leave the family room.
“Ella,” I turned around, hearing the voice. Then I saw Mum. Her grey eyes were glowing even more than normal.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I’ve got to go somewhere,” she began.
“What? Where?” I cried, shocked.
“Unfortunately, I got a call from my old manager. He says that I must resume my work in Keswick imminently. He’s offered me accommodation and I told him I’d take him up on his offer. Only later did I find that he was not including your accommodation. You will have to stay here.”
“But… I really want to go with you,” I cried. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Angrily, I blinked them away.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t. We can’t afford it, I’m afraid,” Mum told me.
“Uncle Nick could pay!” I looked imploringly at Uncle Nick.
“Ella, Nick has helped us enough now. You must stay here.”
“Emma speaks the truth,” Uncle Nick chipped in. “I am unfortunately entering a slight financial situation of my own. Not nearly as severe as the ones you and your mother have endured, but still not good for my health. I cannot afford to give you accommodation. I’m sorry,” Uncle Nick did look very truthful.
“OK,” I sighed. “When are you going, Mum?”
“Now,” she said.
“What? Don’t you have to pack?” I cried.
“I already have, sweetie,” Mum told me. “I was waiting here to say goodbye to you before I went.” We (as in, Uncle Nick and I) escorted Mum to the end of the driveway.
“Bye, Mum,” I said, hugging her. “When will you be back?”
“A few weeks at most,” She smiled gently, ruffling my hair. “I’ll see you soon, OK?”
“OK,” I whispered in her ear. She held me at arms’ length and smiled encouragingly. Then she turned, and headed out of the gates to where a taxi was waiting.
“Bye!” I called. “I love you!”
“I love you too, Ella!” she called back. She flashed me a small smile, climbed into the taxi and was gone. Was it just me, or was there a hint of sadness in her smile? Just me, most likely. But Mum and I had lived for so long with only each other for company. We had grown able, or at least I had, to read the other’s emotions with no errors whatsoever. I’d also learned from her to trust my instincts.
My instincts told me that she was sad.
“Come on, Ella. Let’s go back to the house. Do you have any homework that needs doing?” Uncle Nick’s words smashed through my thoughts like a sledgehammer through cheese (that simile was a little odd, but never mind!). I shook my head.
“I’ll ask Daniel if we got any, but I don’t think we have,” I said, as we walked back to the house. “What were you and Mum arguing about?”
“Oh… we just had a small disagreement over her leaving you here,” he said.
“Why did you call her Earth?” I asked.
“I honestly have no idea!” he blustered. “Did I really?”
“Yes, you did. Twice.”
“Ah… I’m not sure why I did!” he was obviously lying; I could see the heat rising on his cheeks.
“OK, Ella, listen closely.” Suddenly he pulled me off the driveway and behind a bush. “Your curiosity will get you killed, that I am sure of! You never heard any of what I just said. If I hear that you have told anyone about that conversation between your mother and I there will be terrible implications! Do you understand?” I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I said:
“What do you mean?”
“Damn it, Ella, you’re going to get us all killed!” he hissed. He shook me, hard, making my teeth clatter around inside my mouth. “Do you understand?” he shouted at me.
“Y-y-yes,” I managed. He let go of me.
“Good,” he said. “Let’s get inside.” With that, he set off in a confident stride back to the house, leaving me with a lot of questions buzzing around my head.
“NNNRRRRRGHH!” I loudly groaned. “Mum?”
“Yes, Ella. It’s your first day at your new school. Aren’t you excited?” I rolled over and gave Mum a withering look. “I guess not. I let you stay in bed for as long as possible. Daniel and Miya got up half an hour ago! You have an hour until the school bus comes. Or would you rather I took you in the car today?” Mum asked, smiling. As yet, she had refused to wither.
“I’ll be fine on the bus today. But thanks for the offer,” I smiled.
“Alright, sweetheart. Breakfast will be ready in ten!” she replied. “I love you!” she called as she left the room. She flashed me a single sympathetic smile, before disappearing down the corridor.
I groaned noisily and turned over in bed.
My life before this was never simple. When I was little, I lived amongst the great, majestic mountains of Cumbria, in a small town called Keswick, in a flat above a small, sweet toyshop with my mum.
Before I go on, here’s a little info about my mum. Her name is Emma Fisher, and I have no idea how old she is, though in her thirties in probably likely. She is beautiful, the prettiest person I have ever seen in my life. Her long, dark hair is always glossy and falls gracefully down her back as if it is a waterfall of chocolate! Her eyes, a light grey, shimmer and glisten like stars in the daylight, and at night they glow luminously in an enchanting manner. Her pale skin radiates beauty in its divine perfectness. Like I said, she is very pretty. She is what I would call the perfect height – not too tall, not too small. She’s had numerous boyfriends, but none ever lasted long.
I’d lived in Keswick since I was a small baby, and I loved it there! My best memory of being there was definitely my old best friend, Maddy. We knew each other since pre-school and had been best friends ever since.
The first disaster struck a few years prior to us moving. I was about ten, when Mum lost her job. It struck us kind of hard, as we were renting our flat and our landlord was not particularly tolerant if rent was paid late. Just in time, Mum took out a loan so we could pay him, and sent a letter to my uncle, Nicholas, or Nick, asking for financial support. He, of course, obliged us. So, we paid off our loan using the money Uncle Nick sent us, Mum got another job, and we lived on as if nothing had happened.
Then, two years later, Mum lost her job again. She did exactly as she had done two years previously: get out a loan to appease the landlord, send a letter to Uncle Nick asking for help again. But, instead of offering us money, he decided to help us in a different way. He invited us to live with him. We had no choice. We accepted.
So that’s why we came to live with Uncle Nick in London. I sighed as I clambered, yawning, out of my bed. I threw on my new school uniform, and checked my watch. I was right on time for breakfast. I left my large, somewhat plain, room and wandered along the corridor of Uncle Nick’s mansion to the staircase. Yes, Uncle Nick’s house was a mansion! It was a large Victorian one, built just off Buckingham Palace. It was supposedly built for one of Queen Victoria’s advisers, and was probably the biggest house within ten miles of it, with the exception of the Palace itself! It had two swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), tennis courts (so many their numbers seemed infinite), eight huge bedrooms (not including the twenty other ones in the attic, used, when the house was first built, for servants), several huge living areas, a water slide beside the outdoor pool and several studies. There was plenty of room for Mum and me to move in!
I wandered down one of the huge spiral staircases, and looked at the pictures painted on the walls, mildly interested. They showed the Planets in the Solar System in which Earth is situated. Beside each, strangely, was a detailed picture of a person’s face. One in particular caught my eye. Beside Earth was a picture of a very beautiful woman, with a long, chocolaty waterfall of dark hair, glowing grey eyes and radiant, picture-perfect skin.
I was looking at a painting of my Mum.
“Are you alright, Ella?” came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, and saw my cousin, Daniel. He was dressed in his school uniform, the same as mine but a different tie. Where mine was a dark navy blue, with pale blue and white stripes, his was pale blue, with dark navy blue and black stripes. I had no idea why it was different.
“I’m fine. Why’s your tie different from mine?” I asked.
“Oh… It’s… well, it’s just that… I’m a school councillor this year,” he said, sounding unsure of himself.
“Cool! How’d you get to be one?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear. Even now, looking back on it, I have no idea why I was smiling in such a weird, cheesy way as that!
“Oh… Uh… We held elections at school last year. I won!” he smiled nervously.
“Why’re you nervous?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Come with me.” We moved down the stairs, away from the portrait of my mum. He led me off the huge main hall, which was also the main entrance to Uncle Nick’s mansion, and through a large, solid-looking set of double doors.
We emerged into one of the studies, one of the larger, more important ones by the looks of it. There were bookshelves covering three of the rooms’ four walls. The wall that wasn’t covered in bookcases was home to a huge window with a view of the mansions’ gardens, which flowed right down to the banks of the River Thames. The massive window was the only source of natural light in the room, which I found rather strange, as Uncle Nick loved the outdoors. A large desk dominated the centre of the room, behind which was a single high-backed, comfortable-looking chair.
“My study,” Daniel said as he swung the double doors smoothly shut.
“Nice place,” I told him, moving towards the window and looking out of it. The gardens seemed endless from my vantage point at Daniel’s studies window.
“Thanks, Ella. I like it too,” he told me. “Anyway: confession time!”
“What do you mean, ‘confession time’?” I asked, well and truly confused.
“I lost my school tie, so I borrowed one of Dad’s. Please don’t tell anyone!” he cried.
I burst out laughing.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“It’s fine,” I told him, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. I glanced down at my watch. “Hey, it’s quarter past! Breakfast will be ready by now!” I turned away from him and headed to the door.
“Are you going to tell on me?” Daniel called after me, the worry evident in his voice.
“Of course not!” I called to him. I turned to him and waved, doing my ultra-cheesy grin again. I turned, my frizzy blonde hair flying, and left Daniel’s study, smiling. I headed across the main hall and crossed it. I had a lot on my mind. Why was my mum’s portrait beside the picture of Earth? Why were those pictures there anyway?
Absentmindedly, I opened another heavy oaken set of double doors, and walked into an incredibly modernised room. A massive flat-screened TV dominated half of it, plus a few white leather sofas, a white acrylic coffee table and a popcorn machine! Towards the end I was in, there was a large, dark brown kitchen, with everything you could possibly need in a kitchen, including a small bar and two dark brown bar stools set against the back wall in the corner by the TV. In the middle, between the two was a large, stylish grey dining table sitting resplendent in its own personal glory. There were six chairs set around it at equal distances from each other. They were high-backed and comfy-looking, much alike, in fact, to the chair in Daniel’s study. This was, as Uncle Nick liked to call it, the Family Room, and, barring my bedroom, my study and the indoor pool, it was my favourite room in the entire mansion.
Two people were seated at the dining table. Mum was there, reading a magazine as she ate her bagel. At the opposite end of the table sat my older, antisocial cousin, Miya. Her blonde hair was tied back in a complex plaited style, revealing her pretty hazel eyes. She was on her tablet, playing on a game whilst eating her own breakfast of honey, milk and cereal, with a glass of fresh orange juice set to one side. She seemed engrossed, and was ignoring everything that was going on around her.
Inside the kitchen stood Uncle Nick, juggling frying pans and plates and jugs as he danced bizarrely around the kitchen, making even the most ordinary tasks look enjoyable. The table was set for five, so I headed across and sat down next to Mum. She smiled at me.
“Good morning, Ella,” she said. “Good to see you got downstairs without anything hindering you! Cereal, pancake, crumpet or bagel?” she asked.
“Pancake, please,” I smiled.
“Come and get it, honeypie!” Uncle Nick called to me. He is more than a little odd, just as a warning. Even though I’m his niece, he acts like I am his youngest and by far most beloved daughter! Then again, however, I do look a lot like him. I have the same oceanic green eyes as him, and we’re both kind of small…
I clambered up again, and walked to Uncle Nick’s side.
“Syrup, honey or chocolate spread?” he asked me.
“Syrup, please,” I said smiling. I watched as he tossed my pancake in the air, and, as it fell, poured onto it enough syrup to fill an ocean. The pancake landed. He lifted it deftly with a flick of his wrist and dropped it onto a waiting plate. He picked the plate up, and thrust it at me.
“Breakfast is served, my lady,” he smiled. I grinned at him.
“Thanks, Uncle Nick,” I said.
“No problem, princess,” he told me. I headed back to the table and sat down once again. I tucked into my pancake, smiling as the sweet juices from the syrup drizzled into my open mouth. I loved Uncle Nick’s pancakes.
“Now, where would little Prince Daniel be?” Uncle Nick asked me, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
“He was in his study last I saw him,” I told him.
“Probably reading again,” Miya murmured. “He’s always reading.”
“I’ll go and find him,” I smiled around at everyone. “See you in a minute!” I climbed up and went to the door. I opened it and stepped out into the main hall once more. I checked my watch again. Half past seven. I had about half an hour until the school bus came. Half an hour to find Daniel, finish my breakfast, brush my hair and pack my school bag. Great.
First, since it seemed logical, as it was the last place I’d seen him, I checked his study. He wasn’t there. I headed upstairs, and searched around his favourite hiding places in the attics. Not there either. I headed down from the attics once again, checking my watch as I went. Twenty to eight. Not looking good.
I decided as a last resort to check his room. He’d banned me from it when we first arrived when I came into his room and found him chatting to a girl he liked on Facebook. He’d screamed at me and told me that I was never under any circumstances to enter his room at short notice, but it seemed then that I had no choice.
I knocked on his bedroom door. If he was in there, I at least owed him that for disregarding the promise I’d made to him and entering his room.
“Go away,” came a voice from inside the room.
“Daniel,” I called softly. “Uncle Nick says you need to come for breakfast.”
“No! Leave me alone!” he called from inside.
“I’m coming in!” I called to him. Then I opened the door.
He was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor, sobbing. Strewn around him were a lot of clothes; I hadn’t known he had so many garments stored!
“Get out Ella. Tell Dad that I feel unwell and I’m staying home today,” he said, looking up at me. His blue eyes, normally warm and calm, were cold, almost icy. They were red rimmed and full of tears.
“No,” I said firmly. “Have you been searching for your tie?”
“Yes,” he said weakly.
“Let me look,” I told him. “Sometimes if your mind is focussed only on finding something, everything appears hopeful, therefore messing with your vision. Someone who looks without focussing on finding that thing is often the one who will find the object first.” I looked across the various items of clothing scattered haphazardly across the floor, vaguely hoping I wouldn’t have to root through Daniel’s long-forgotten dirty undergarments to find his tie. Then I saw it. Gleaming like a long, thin seam of gold, it lay amongst some of his school shirts.
“There!!!!” I cried, grabbing the tie from where it lay. I handed it to him. The expression of sheer shock on his face was priceless.
“Uhhh… Thanks,” he muttered, not meeting my eyes.
“Hey, it’s fine,” I told him. “We need to go downstairs now! We have, like, fifteen minutes, until the bus comes!”
“OK,” he smiled. We left his room together and headed down the hallway. We descended the staircase. Halfway down, I posed him with a question:
“Why are there pictures of people beside the planets?” I asked.
“Oh… Dad told me once. Ancient folklore says that each of the planets is a representation of… well, of the power of a god.”
“What!” I cried, stopping in my tracks.
“According to Dad, there was once a high goddess. She was the Sun. Legend has it that she had child-Gods, each one of these was personified by a planet in our Solar System,” he explained.
“OK… That’s a little weird,” I smiled. “Thanks for answering my question.” We carried on down the staircase together. A few moments later, we were in the main hall. I ran ahead of him to the family room while he put the finishing touches to his tie. I opened the door.
“Ella! Did you find him?” Uncle Nick cried, jumping up from the dining table, where he’d been eating his breakfast.
“Sure I did,” I smiled. “Here he is now!” Daniel was in the doorway, his eyes lowered, seemingly in shame, although I had no idea why.
“Hi, guys,” he said in a low voice, taking a bowl from a cupboard and helping himself to cereal.
“You have ten minutes, guys, to get ready, so Miya, I think you should turn you tablet off now,” Uncle Nick said as I sat down and tucked in once again to my now-cold pancake. It was still delicious, however, so I finished it in a flash. I clambered, smiling, to my feet.
“I’m going to brush my hair,” I began, but Mum cut me short.
“It looks fine as it is, Ella, so don’t bother. Brush your teeth and have your wash, and no-one will be able to tell the difference!” she cried.
“OK,” I said. I left the family room and headed back upstairs for about the fifteenth time that morning. I went into the nearest bathroom, and washed, smiling to myself. When I was finished, I checked my watch. Five to eight! I just about had time to put a few things in my schoolbag, then I’d have to go! I rushed to my room, and grabbed my schoolbag. I crammed my pencil case, a notebook and my PE kit into the protesting bag, and rushed downstairs. Daniel and Miya were at the door, waiting for me.
“Well, you certainly took your time,” Miya said scornfully.
“I had to pack my bag as well, you know,” I snapped, walking out of the door with Daniel.
“OK, OK,” Miya said, sighing as she followed us out of the door. We headed down the driveway, which was strangely short, compared to the huge expanse of the gardens surrounding it. We were bang on time to the bus stop. We arrived just as the bus pulled up. I watched as several other kids, both older and younger than me climbed aboard. Then, I followed.
The bus had a musty smell about it and was very cramped. I paid my bus fare and got a weeks’ pass in return. Then, I wandered to the back of the back of the bus, and sat in the only remaining seat: beside a young girl who looked to be in year seven. Miya had sat further foreword in the bus with a few of her friends, and Daniel had sat nearer to the back, with two other boys. They were chatting like best friends, and that, after a moment of delusion, was what I thought them to be. The young girl next to me wasn’t talking to anyone. She appeared to be deep in thought, so I left her alone.
The bus journey was quite short, and we appeared to have got on at the final stop. Soon, we drew up at a large building, which had so many windows it looked like it was made from glass! Everyone spilled off the bus like water released from a dam, and headed for the entrances. I waited by the bus for Daniel. He soon got off, with his friends from the bus.
“Kane, Matt, meet my cousin, Ella. She’s staying with me and Miya at the moment,” he smiled encouragingly at me. “Ella, these are my best friends, Kane Meyer and Matthew Jackson.”
“It’s great to meet you,” I smiled at them.
“Uh… You too,” Kane muttered, his face bright red.
“What he said,” Matthew grinned. Out of the two, Matthew seemed the nicer one.
“Come on, let’s go to registration,” Daniel smiled. We all followed him through the school (it seemed that Kane and Matthew had no idea where they were meant to be going) and soon we arrived outside a room labelled ‘9B’. A few other kids, including, to my surprise, the girl I’d sat next to on the bus, stood outside, waiting for the teacher to appear.
“Who’s she?” I asked Daniel gesturing to the girl.
“Oh… That would be Zara. She’s eleven.”
“So why’s she in a Year Nine class?” I asked.
“She’s too clever for Year Seven, or Year Eight for that matter! They moved her up upon seeing her results for the entrance assessment,” he told me.
“I wish I was that clever!” I smiled.
“Yeah, but… Zara doesn’t really have any friends,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked him.
“She is so young to be in this year group. Too young. Nobody wants to be friends with her because they’re worried about the consequences of being with her.”
“What consequences?”
“Victoria Cartmell. Year eight. Real mean and ugly. A bully. No one likes her, but they never speak out about it because they fear her wrath. Also, Julius Smith in our year. He loves aiding her in beating kids up. Never trust him, he’s as slippery as a snake.”
“Advice taken,” I grinned. “Who’s our teacher?”
“That would be Miss Woodlands. Here she comes now!” Miss Woodlands looked very nice. She had ginger hair tied up with a green ribbon, and her blue eyes shone with warmth and friendliness. I couldn’t help liking her, as she walked past us and unlocked the door to our classroom.
She ushered us in quickly, and sent us to the back of the room while she sorted out a seating plan for us. Then, she sent us all to our new seats. Mine was at the very front, between Kane and Zara. I studied them both carefully as Miss Woodlands began her welcoming speech.
Kane had short spiked dark hair and pale skin. His eyes were a little alike to mine, as both mine and his reminded me of the ocean. The difference between them was that, where my eyes were obviously green, his were a deep, dark blue. My eyes were probably more alike to the colours of the shallower oceans, whereas his were more like a deep-sea hue. He was seated on my left, and had his attention fixed on Miss Woodlands. To my right, Zara sat. Her hair was dark, around the same colour as Kane’s, and it was long and extremely tangled, as if she’d been dragged through a thorn bush sometime between leaving her house and getting on the school bus. Her eyes were an incredibly dark grey, so dark that, unless I looked very closely into them, I could not distinguish the irises of her eyes from the pupils. She was small and painfully thin, and appeared to be quite athletic. Her skin was astoundingly pale, and appeared devoid of any warmth. Her eyes were cold and calculating, a sure sign that portrayed how clever that Zara was.
“Will there be any questions?” Miss Woodlands asked. Zara’s hand shot into the air. Miss Woodlands glanced at her seating plan. “Yes, Zara,” she said.
“I was wondering why I am in a year nine form. I am clearly not a year nine!” Zara said, the interest clear in her young eyes. She was completely fearless of teachers (unlike me) and was willing to ask any question for the benefit of either her own or the rest of the classes’ knowledge.
“Zara, you are eleven, and you were moved up two year groups to provide a tougher and more beneficial learning atmosphere for you. Is that adequate?” Miss Woodlands asked, smiling.
“Yes, thank you,” Zara replied.
“Excellent,” Miss Woodlands smiled. Then she checked her watch. “OK, you have ten minutes until first lesson is due to begin. Chatter away!” she beamed around my class. Then she noticed me. “Oh, and 9B?” everyone turned to look at her. “We have a new girl joining this class. Her name is Ella Fisher. Please make her feel welcome!” with that, Miss Woodlands leaned back in her chair, smiling. I sat there, unsure of myself. Kane was chattering away to Daniel and Matthew, who sitting together behind him. Slowly, I turned to Zara. She wasn’t talking to anyone. I decided to try to befriend her. Looking back on it, it was one of the best things I have ever done in my whole life!
“Hi,” I said quietly. Zara turned to me.
“You’re not like the others,” she muttered. “You want to be my friend, don’t you?”
“Yes!” I smiled nervously. “You’re Zara, right?”
“Yep,” she said with a small grin. “You’re Ella Fisher.”
“I agree with you on that!” I smiled. Her grin widened considerably. We chatted for quite a while. Zara, it turned out, had an excellent personality and was among the kindest people I’d ever met! We talked all through the remainder of registration and all the way to our first lesson, Maths. I had been put the middle set until they could assess my abilities. I was seated next to a tall, slightly chubby boy called Julius. Apparently he’d been moved down a school year because he had learning difficulties. He was nice enough, but I didn’t talk to him much as I was engrossed in the maths problems that had been set for us to do. It was easy.
After maths, the day flew by. I boarded the school bus and sat next to my new best friend, Zara. The journey went so fast I barely noticed that we had reached my stop! I climbed off the bus with Daniel and Miya and headed up the driveway to our house. That was when my day went slightly sour.
We walked into the main hall. Miya and Daniel dumped their bags. Miya took out her tablet and went on Facebook to chat to her friends. Daniel went in his study, mumbling something about reading as he went. I went into the family room and found Mum and Uncle Nick screaming at each other.
“You horrible man! You said you’d stay by her side!” Mum shouted.
“I can’t do that, Earth, you know I can’t! Looking after for two young mages is hard enough without the added risk of having the most powerful of your daughters ever to have lived under my protection!” Uncle Nick shouted back. “Take her with you, for goodness sake!”
“You know why I can’t do that! She could, and probably would, die if she came with me! Do you want that?” Mum screamed. I’d never seen her so angry before!
“Of course I don’t, Earth. But-“ he’d noticed me. “Ella. How was school?” he asked, forcing a smile.
“It was fine, Uncle Nick,” I said. “What were you arguing about? What did you mean?”
“It’s nothing, sweetie. Your Mum and I were just having a little argument, that’s all! Oh, and there’s a surprise for you in your room,” he said forcing a sickly-sweet smile as he spoke.
“That doesn’t answer my questions…” I said, though I was suddenly dying to see what the surprise in my room was.
“Just go and see what’s in your room, please, Ella,” Uncle Nick pleaded.
“I’ll torment you people until you die about what the heck you were arguing about!” I joked as I turned to leave the family room.
“Ella,” I turned around, hearing the voice. Then I saw Mum. Her grey eyes were glowing even more than normal.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I’ve got to go somewhere,” she began.
“What? Where?” I cried, shocked.
“Unfortunately, I got a call from my old manager. He says that I must resume my work in Keswick imminently. He’s offered me accommodation and I told him I’d take him up on his offer. Only later did I find that he was not including your accommodation. You will have to stay here.”
“But… I really want to go with you,” I cried. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Angrily, I blinked them away.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t. We can’t afford it, I’m afraid,” Mum told me.
“Uncle Nick could pay!” I looked imploringly at Uncle Nick.
“Ella, Nick has helped us enough now. You must stay here.”
“Emma speaks the truth,” Uncle Nick chipped in. “I am unfortunately entering a slight financial situation of my own. Not nearly as severe as the ones you and your mother have endured, but still not good for my health. I cannot afford to give you accommodation. I’m sorry,” Uncle Nick did look very truthful.
“OK,” I sighed. “When are you going, Mum?”
“Now,” she said.
“What? Don’t you have to pack?” I cried.
“I already have, sweetie,” Mum told me. “I was waiting here to say goodbye to you before I went.” We (as in, Uncle Nick and I) escorted Mum to the end of the driveway.
“Bye, Mum,” I said, hugging her. “When will you be back?”
“A few weeks at most,” She smiled gently, ruffling my hair. “I’ll see you soon, OK?”
“OK,” I whispered in her ear. She held me at arms’ length and smiled encouragingly. Then she turned, and headed out of the gates to where a taxi was waiting.
“Bye!” I called. “I love you!”
“I love you too, Ella!” she called back. She flashed me a small smile, climbed into the taxi and was gone. Was it just me, or was there a hint of sadness in her smile? Just me, most likely. But Mum and I had lived for so long with only each other for company. We had grown able, or at least I had, to read the other’s emotions with no errors whatsoever. I’d also learned from her to trust my instincts.
My instincts told me that she was sad.
“Come on, Ella. Let’s go back to the house. Do you have any homework that needs doing?” Uncle Nick’s words smashed through my thoughts like a sledgehammer through cheese (that simile was a little odd, but never mind!). I shook my head.
“I’ll ask Daniel if we got any, but I don’t think we have,” I said, as we walked back to the house. “What were you and Mum arguing about?”
“Oh… we just had a small disagreement over her leaving you here,” he said.
“Why did you call her Earth?” I asked.
“I honestly have no idea!” he blustered. “Did I really?”
“Yes, you did. Twice.”
“Ah… I’m not sure why I did!” he was obviously lying; I could see the heat rising on his cheeks.
“OK, Ella, listen closely.” Suddenly he pulled me off the driveway and behind a bush. “Your curiosity will get you killed, that I am sure of! You never heard any of what I just said. If I hear that you have told anyone about that conversation between your mother and I there will be terrible implications! Do you understand?” I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I said:
“What do you mean?”
“Damn it, Ella, you’re going to get us all killed!” he hissed. He shook me, hard, making my teeth clatter around inside my mouth. “Do you understand?” he shouted at me.
“Y-y-yes,” I managed. He let go of me.
“Good,” he said. “Let’s get inside.” With that, he set off in a confident stride back to the house, leaving me with a lot of questions buzzing around my head.