Chapter one- Arriving at a new home

It was a calm fall afternoon, I was arriving at my new home with Anticipation, Waiting to get out of my cousin's carriage because he was giving me a look I didn't approve of.

As we arrived at my mother's friend's house, I got out of the carriage, not holding back on leaving.

"Are you sure you want to stay here, I got plenty of room at my mansion if you-"

As my cousin was about to finish his sentence, I interrupted him.

"I'll be fine Henry…" I said as I closed the door and got my stuff out of the back of the carriage.

It had been at least two months since the fire from the civil war that caused my parents to die at our family bakery.

I could remember it all too well... I was in my nightgown as I witnessed the entire bakery burst in flames. Not only that, but I could not understand why, society had become so barbaric that they thought it could be a good idea to wreak havoc in the state of Reidsville North Carolina.

As I walked up to the front door, Amerrite, my mother's friend and my God mother, came out to greet me.

" Oh good heavens... I'm sorry about your parents, I just got a telegram that you were coming" Amerrite said as she held my shoulders and looked at me sadly.

"I hope you don't mind me being here…"

"Oh child… I don't mind at all, Clairese and Alan would be delighted to see you…"

Amerrite has two kids, Her eldest son. Alan, who is two years older than me, and Claire, who was born the same year as me.

I walked into her house, it felt different from what I was used to, but I know I needed to get used to this new place and my new life all together.

"Thank you so much Mrs-"

"Oh please child... just call me mama Ame"

I smiled at Ameritte as she patted me on the shoulder. After I finished getting settled, I started helping Ameritte in the kitchen as she was getting dinner ready.

"Put that pot down child...you shouldn't be doing work right now "exclaimed Ameritte as she stopped me from picking up stuff.

"Let me help you Ma, it's the right thing for me to do"

"Well …if you want…help me roll the Doe will ya?"

I grabbed a bowl and a bag of flour and helped Ameritte make dinner for everyone as soon as they got home.

As soon as we finished cooking dinner, I could hear loud noises coming from the front area of the house that led to the front door.

"God Woman! Why can't you stop complaining for one minute!"

I and Ameritte went to the front door to find Clairese and her husband, Richard arguing like they have just been through loads of poverty.

Their daughter, Connie Sue, or "Sue Belle" is what her family calls her,runs into Ameritte's arms, looking a little upset at the situation.

"grandmama...is dinner ready?"

"Dinner is already my little Sue, Go and get Ya'self seated…"

Connie walked into the dinning room and sat herself down in a chair. Amerrite got in front of both Richard and Clairese and glared at them.

" Go and y'all selves to the dinner table,, so we can eat!" Ameritte yelled as she yelled at both Richard and Clairese.

Richard and Clairese sat down next to Connie Sue, as she was mesmerizing at how good the food looked. As soon as me and Ameritte were heading towards the dinning room, The front door opened, showing a tall figure taking off his hat as he came inside.

"mama I'm home"

"welcome home Alan, You remember Ella don't you?"

Alan looked down at me with a warm smile and hung up his coat. Alan, Ameritte's son, was a butcher that would cut meat in the town nearby. Even though we were both a few years apart, we still cared about each other deeply.

"It's nice to see you again Ellie…"

"It's nice to see you too Al…"

Soon we all sat down at the dinner table, prayed and then started eating, I could feel a bIt of tension in the room like before. Clairese looked at Connie, feeling rather disappointed that she was eating the food me and Ameritte prepared, thinking that it wasn't nutritious.

"Sue Belle...why would you be stuffing your face with-"

A

"Clair... stop that.. your offending our mother.."

Alan looked up from his plate and glared at Clairese like she was an ungrateful brat smooching off of their family members.

"I wasn't cooking by myself,I had some help from Ella.."

Everyone at the table looked directly at me, I put my head down feeling a little shy as Ameritte mentioned my name.

"I didn't really do anything special…"

"Sure you did… Your help in the kitchen was amazing if I do say so myself…"

Everyone continued eating, then, Clairese suddenly spoke up after she finished her meal.

"How long is Ella staying here?…"

"Clair!…"

Amerrite calmed Alan down as he was ready to scold his younger sister.

"For your information Clair...Ella will be living with us from now on…"

"Why?...did she get Kicked out or something?"

I stood up from my seat with my head looking at the floor, I could already feel my emotions bursting.

" My parents Died during the battle in North Carolina…they ended up perishing in our family bakery…"

Tears fell from my face when I recalled that night, I remembered hearing my parents screaming in that fire… I tried to save them…but they told me not to.

"After Attending their funeral..I thought to myself that I could never be the same again.."

After saying those exact words, I rushed out of the dinning room, sobbing on my way out into the backyard, Everything that I had felt from that very moment just came back to me. After a while, I went back inside and walked into the kitchen to help Ameritte with the dishes.

"I'm sorry that I stormed off from the dinner table…"

"Don't worry about it Chile... Clair was out of line, she should've fixed herself before you ran off"

I finished up helping Ameritte with the dishes and sat down on one of the couches in the living room.

"Ella, just remember,The past you've experienced, can't collide with your future"

Amerrite held me close to her and hugged until all the tears came out.

It had felt like my entire world was crumbling all at once and the feeling of loneliness just melted.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***