Story Snip from Larksong: Chapter 6 and Zurich Photos!

apter 6!

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!

In chapter 4, we get a hint that Alice finds George attractive and interesting -- but also unbearably rude.

In chapter 5, they had their first argument.

Now, in chapter 6, they argue once more, but the stakes are higher -- war is on the horizon...

The girls were chatty, luckily, and their prattle covered up what might otherwise have been a coldly silent meal.
"This pork pie is yummy," Lucy chirped at one point.
Alice was about to thank her on Elsie's behalf when George grumbled, "It's tinned. It's not as though she baked it."
"Well it tastes good to me!" Lucy snapped, as only a sibling could retaliate.
"We're going marketing tomorrow," Eleanor added.
Alice was pleased at their defensiveness, yet flabbergasted that it was necessary. All right, George had to eat with one leg propped on a chair. And perhaps the thin sock covering his shoeless foot wasn't enough to keep his toes warm. But if he showed just a modicum of politeness, she'd be willing to lend him the chunky wool stocking Granny had knit for her cast-wrapped leg. Was it truly the pain that made him so crotchety or was this his nature?
Still, she'd only met him a few hours ago, and she was the one lying to the family. She grit her teeth and maintained a submissive governess' attitude.
After some further bickering back and forth, brother and sisters subsided, and Alice brought in the tinned fruit. At least the cream was fresh; she'd brought it with her, and Elsie had whipped it up beautifully. Lucy devoured two helpings and though George had only a small share of the fruit, she was gratified to watch him smother it in whipped cream.
Emboldened, she spoke up, asking the girls about their studies, trying to determine the subjects that would be best for a summertime course. Likely the real Miss Underwood had discussed all this with their mother beforehand but, thankfully, it appeared no one had yet solicited the girls' opinions.
"How about history?" she asked, after they'd established that Eleanor was in the fourth reader in English and Lucy was learning her multiplication tables.
"We read about Sir John Alexander MacDonald at the end of last term," Lucy said, pronouncing each syllable of the first Prime Minister's name with exaggerated emphasis, obviously proud to have remembered it all.
"Very good," Alice said. "We can read about Monsieur Laurier next. In the afternoons, we can read from the newest LM Montgomery." The girls let out demure cheers. "And yourself, Eleanor, in history?"
Eleanor's shoulders slumped. Cheer clouded by a glum look, she muttered, "British monarchs. It's always British monarchs. I hate memorising all those dates!"
"Goodness, we don't have to do that all summer!" Alice said, and a glimmer of hope appeared in Eleanor's eye. "How about we try something different? We'll get the papers tomorrow––"
"Yes, I'd like to see them," George interrupted.
"Fine. We'll get the papers tomorrow and after your brother has read them, we can discuss a little modern history."
George let out a snort. "What's to discuss? If Germany doesn't keep its promises to England, we're headed for war."
Eleanor gasped. Alice shot her a look, mentally calculating. Perhaps their father or an uncle had fought in the Boer War, as Alice's uncle had, surviving its bloodiest skirmish––minus a hand.
Denying George the deference due to the head of the household, she rallied to Eleanor's defence and spoke to George directly. "I have more faith in the human spirit, Mr Cunnick. I'm sure the ministers are doing all they can to prevent a war."
"It's naive talk like that that'll bring us to the brink. The Kaiser doesn't sit around hoping. He moves to take what he wants."
"Well, I may not be privy to a foreign chancellor's "wants", but I trust our Prime Minister to keep us safe. If England cannot handle the situation diplomatically––"
"Then we'll have no choice. If England goes to war, her children go to war."
At that, she glanced from Eleanor to Lucy, from the former's fiery gaze to the latter's wobbling lower lip.
Then she caught the blazing look in George's eyes. He'd forgotten his leg entirely. "Canada's young men will prove themselves worthy," he proclaimed.
"Of what? Of being slaugh––" She remembered herself just in time and swiftly changed tack. "I highly doubt Prime Minister Borden wants to bring us to such a pass. Over a matter that hardly seems to concern the Dominion." "'Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them,'" George quoted.
"'But not for love,'" she retorted. "Diplomacy may yet win the day. Why, I've spoken with any number of––" She clammed up. Of course, a governess would never have attended the sort of salon her mother had hosted last month, with all those eminent Montreal lawyers and politicians in attendance, many of them with direct links to Parliament.
"Yes? Who've you spoken with? Believe me, all the talk is the same. War will come and the bravest will go. Let the cowards stay behind!"
At that moment she noticed the glazed look in Lucy's eyes and the tears now pooling in Eleanor's; the younger girl was merely sleepy now, while the elder might have an inkling of what such talk could portend.
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," she cited, one of Granny's favourite aphorisms, and rose to clear the table. She spoke swiftly, over the top of her racing heartbeat. "Have you girls finished your unpacking? We might have time before bed for me to show you a new knitting pattern, if you like."

***

We visited Zürich over two days last month! Hardly enough time to explore, it's a great city!

We went to the zoo, visited James Joyce's grave, admired March Chagall's stained glass, and ate some yummy desserts...

I have a new story! It's a short little piece about yearning for a walk in the rain.

Do you enjoy walking in the rain?
What's your favourite dessert?