Story Snip from Larksong: Chapter 4 and ROW80 Check In

hapter 4!


Larksong is set in Montreal, July 1914.

In chapter 1, Alice, after her grandmother's funeral, arrived at the family cottage to take care of her grandmother's aviary, only to find that her parents had already leased the cottage to another family for the summer.

The only way she could have one more summer in her favourite place was to surreptitiously take on the role of governess to the two young girls...

In chapter 2, we met George, laid up at the hospital with a broken leg. Instead of joining his friends on a Grand Tour of Europe, he's being sent off to recuperate at a rented cottage in the country...

In chapter 3, we returned to Alice's point of view, and saw her bonding with George's younger sisters. Then she got a surprise -- George was arriving at the cottage that very day!

Now we find out what happens...

"What?" She scrambled to her feet, following the line of Eleanor's pointing finger to where a cloud of blue smoke heralded the turn of a vehicle onto the drive.

The rattle and bang filling her ears, she hurriedly packed up the basket and rolled up the towels. The girls trooped ahead, and Alice followed, tying the belt of her banyan tightly round her waist before she set off.

The gloved and capped figure hunched over the steering column must be James. George's cap was only just visible and it wasn't until the car pulled to a crashing halt before them that she could see him fully, lying across the seat, propped against the door. It must have hurt him terribly to hold that position all down the long road from the city. She'd ridden a handful of times in a jalopy, and the bounce and jostle had been exhilarating along city streets; peering down at scurrying townsfolk, speeding past horses lumbering at a mere five miles per hour. She could easily imagine the effect of such a bouncing and rocketing all the way from Montreal to the country.

Yet George did not look any the worse for wear. He glared at his brother's back as James leapt nimbly from his seat and swept off his gloves. Then he turned his scowl on Alice and his sisters. She recalled suddenly her own ungainliness in a cast from when she had broken her leg last summer and realised that he would not want an audience as he attempted to unfold his cramped body out of the car.

"Come, girls." She reached for their hands and they instantly slipped their young paws in hers, a gesture touching in its sweetness. She had only a day or two in which to wire the real governess, to ensure she could remain here. "Let's help by carrying your brother's bags into the house." She led them round to James, who was unbuckling suitcases at the back of the car. James ruffled his sisters' hair, and pretended to give them each a too-heavy bag to hoist.

George must have understood her intent, understanding that she was doing more than simply helping to heft baggage, and flashed her a grin around what seemed to be a perpetual grimace of pain. Closer to, he did appear a bit peaked from the long drive, and his stay in hospital, no doubt. She smiled back over the girls' heads.

She allowed herself a moment to appreciate that he was rather attractive. James was dark and craggy, cap still pulled low over beetling brows, but George had a long, lean face, with ruddy cheeks and green eyes that might be bright when he stopped frowning.

Once he got over his tiredness and had settled onto the long sofa in the parlour, or the divan on the porch, with a mug of tea and a good book, he'd feel better in no time.

But she'd forgotten that not everyone had the same habits that she had.

And that in playing the role of governess, she couldn't speak her mind as fully as she might otherwise have done.

His attractiveness paled in comparison with his surly disposition, as she discovered late that afternoon, the first time they locked horns.

Sky and fruit and flowers!

Brief ROW80 check in -- I've been writing! I hope to have some different posted snips to share as the month progresses.

And I just got some detailed feedback on a chapter from a beta and I'm gearing up to tackle all those suggestions.

How do you force yourself to put emotion aside and take on a difficult task?