Elle and the Fairy

Ch. 1 A Little Girl

There was once a young woman who died, like many women of her time, attempting to bring a son into the world for her lord and husband. Her only legacy to the world Elaine, her daughter aged six years.
The Lord and Lady Anderfield were not descended from the most noble of families. They had acquired their title many generations ago for “deeds done in the name of the king,” but since had not kept up with their ancestor’s legend of greatness. For the most part Lord Anderfield used his title to help with his trading contracts. Having a title gave being a traveling merchant a little more class and better food on the road.
Even though Lord Anderfield was a merchant, Lady Anderfield, when she was alive, had been the picture of lady. She was delicate, dainty, polite, excelled at sewing, washing, cleaning, and cooking. Her only failure had been providing Lord Anderfield with a daughter before a son. She had been trying to atone for this but it was hard when her husband was never at home for more than one night.
In fact, Lord Anderfield was not even home the night of his son’s supposed birth. In the big and dreary Anderfield Mansion only two small figures stood next to the bed of the brave Lady Anderfield. Her daughter and an aging woman so bent that she was only half a foot taller than the small girl. But this did not stop the widow and midwife, Gilda, from barking orders to the young girl, pushing her to run up and down the steep servant stairwell connecting Lady Anderfield’s bedroom and the kitchen many times.
It was a difficult labor for Lady Anderfield; she was a small woman and birthing did not agree with her. Eventually the babe became too much for her, and both were lost.
Gilda did not shed a tear. She had seen such things many times. Elaine never had. She did not know what had happened. One minute, Lady Anderfield had been bustling about pushing heaving and groaning, and in the next, there was a deadly silence causing her to drop the final bucket of water.
Where was the baby? Was he here? Was that why they were quiet?
“Mommy?”
“Where is he, Mommy?”
“She’s not here girl.” Gilda’s dead pan voice washed over Elaine like a spider crawling up her back.
“Are you crazy she’s right there.”
“No she’s not. Don’t you see she no longer breathes?”
Elaine rushed to the bed, not believing the old woman’s words for a second. Her mother had never left her, never would. She was Mommy’s little girl, and they would be together forever.
The small girl, covered in sweat and dirt, tugged her way onto the massive bed. Shaking her mother to wake up. But she never did. She never blinked. She never moved. Her eyes had glazed over. Blood was everywhere soaking into Lady Anderfield’s treasured goose down bed. She looked like the old men on the street when Mommy would take her to town. They would just lie there, not moving, and Elaine would stare at them for brief seconds before Mommy would put her hands over Elaine’s eyes and tell her to hurry along.
Gilda pulled her off the bed with a swift pull.
“She’s gone. I told you.”
“No. No! Mommy wouldn’t leave me.”
“She’s dead, girl. Dead.”
Wide brown eyes stared at her like the first time a young deer sees the hunter. Disgusted, Gilda pulled the girl down the stairs. Not bothering to comfort her. Her problem was now what to do with the girl. An old woman like Gilda didn’t have time to put up with little girl who was so sheltered from life that she didn’t even know what death was. Living up here on a hill away from other children, what kind of girl was Lady Anderfield raising?
“Dead?” It was a word only spoken about people far away not Mommy. A word meant that person was gone forever. Mommy couldn’t be dead.
“They’re both gone. I’ll write to your father and tell him. You clean this mess up.” Gilda turned Elaine around and pushed her towards the spicket outside. They would need a lot more water. Gilda turned around and started searching for something to wrap Lady Anderfield in. It was such a pain when things did not go according to her plan.
Noticing the girls still standing there dumb founded, she waved her hands at her, “Go.”
Elaine ran. She ran out the back door and straight into the wood that she and her mother knew so well. She ran until her little legs could run no more. All the while only one thought ran through her head: Mommy was dead.
When Gilda had finished writing and sealing the letter to the now widowed man and saw the bedroom still a bloody mess she whispered, “Damn. Now where has that girl gone.” She hated cleaning up messes even more than she hated when her job went wrong.

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So there it begins hopefully I finish it. Just to warn everyone reading this I have a tendency not to update regularly So I'm sorry if I let you down and let the story drop but please keep up with it. I really do like this story and fairies!!! Who can deny that and it really does have a good plot so please just put up with me. I'll try my best to be consistent.

Thanks