Living With Mary... Chapter 1

Dear reader
My name is Geri and I’m going to tell you my story. It has been something of a dream to me, and only now that it’s over do I really remember. Share this story with me, but bear in mind that it is my life and the things I did in it should never concern you.

Geri

CHAPTER 1

It all started ten years ago when I was twelve. Twelve was a horrible age for me because it was in that year that I really experienced my life, every moment of it.  I was at the orphanage, like always, when the rain came. It was hard and cold and from the window I could see the people on the street scurrying inside the nearest shop, desperate the escape the raging thunder outside.
Mary came in through the back door, she was soaked and I still remember the look in Mrs. Alfred’s eyes as she looked at the wet, muddy lady who had just entered her kitchen. Mary, however, was not in the least perturbed at the mess she was making, she just smiled at Mrs. Alfred and asked if she could by any chance have a cup of tea. The other three girls who were sitting in the lounge were also watching Mary carefully, ready to jump up and prove themselves worthy at the first opportunity. It was exciting, back then, to get a visitor because normally it meant they wanted a child, and children we would all be.
Mary and Mrs. Alfred talked as Mary dried herself in front of the fire, a steaming cup of tea in her right hand. We all gave up on her eventually, it was clear to us all that the only reason she was there was because of the storm.
It was only a bit later that I began to think otherwise, Mary was watching us all with those beautiful blue eyes. She and Mrs. Alfred even went upstairs for a while, probable to look at the other children. The storm raged on and Mary stayed, she walked around and talked to all the children, mostly just the girls from about eleven to thirteen years of age though. She came to me and sat down on the cushion next to me, from close she was even more beautiful with her long black locks and those blue eyes. She asked me about myself and I told her everything, she asked about the orphanage and I made a few dry jokes her eyes lighting up each time. We talked for a long time, I laughed at her because she amused me and she laughed at me. I wasn’t surprised when she asked me if I wanted to be adopted, we had a connection. Although I wasn’t surprised, I was happy and I really did want to be adopted. It was all I had ever dreamed about since I had started dreaming. Mary looked at me once, her blue eyes reading mine and then said twelve words that would change my life as I knew it, “Let’s go tell Mrs. Alfred that you’ll be coming home with me.” A few sighs surrounded me and I felt sorry for those others who still hadn’t had their chance to leave, I always thought I would be one of them forever.
Mrs. Alfred was not very fond of me and did not even try hiding her displeasure at me being chosen; she however, would not dampen my spirits. Not now.
Mary signed a few papers, but not many, and then we were on our way. A few times we had left the orphanage on an outing, but never before had I left with someone I might one day be able to call Mom. This amazed me, even though it never happened…

Mary and I got onto the first train out of London, to a place I’d never heard of before. Her house was beautiful and old, it was big and even had ivy growing up the one side. It was the type of house you see pictures of in books, but never really see in real life.
“Do you live alone?” I asked her quietly.
“Yes, my mother left this house for me. I never had any siblings and haven’t married yet. One day I’ll marry, you and I will still live here though, but with my husband. Wouldn’t that be nice?” she asked.
“Yes, it would,” I said, thinking of my new future. We walked in through the front door, inside there was a staircase leading upwards and a few doors behind it. I had never seen such a big staircase, it was wide and the handle had carvings in it, that house must have been a couple of hundred years old. The landing had a brown carpet over the floor, we walked across it into the kitchen. In my whole life at the orphanage never had I been in a room bigger than our dorm, which had been small. Maybe that was why I stood staring at the kitchen for about ten minutes when we walked in, it was huge. The dining room was attached to one end of the room, but even without it, it would’ve been big. The stove and the kettle and the fire place were all black, but surprisingly the room didn’t look too dark. Mary didn’t say anything but set about putting the kettle on the fire and making us some tea.
“Do you like it here?” Mary asked as we sat down and sipped our tea. The dining room table was cold against my hand.
“Yes, it’s beautiful. Thank you so much!” I said, I had never cried before while reading a book or even in a film but I felt so happy then that I nearly cried. Mary saw my eyes go wide and watery, she looked at me once and then reached across the table and squeezed my hand. It was like she understood everything about me, and I everything about her. I think that moment was one of the happiest moments of my life.
We finished our tea and then she led me to my bedroom, which was at the other end of the landing. It was also huge. My bed was in the corner of the room and there were cupboards all along the one wall. The other three walls were a creamy colour. I sat on the bed and explored the rest of the room with my eyes, there was a small mirror and dresser and an armchair next to it. I also had a window, it looked out onto green fields and the distant coast. I put my small bag of belongings on the floor and looked up at Mary. She was smiling at me and waiting for me to talk. I smiled, “Thank you,” I whispered quietly.
She blushed and brushed her hair out of her face, “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.” Mary’s bedroom was next to mine and the two shared a bathroom with a separate toilet. There was also a lounge next to the kitchen, like the rest of the rooms in the house, it was huge. There were red couches in the room and a red fireplace, I remember thinking what a colourful house this was. We looked out the window together and I saw Mary look out towards a small hill on the left.
“What’s up there?” I asked following her view.
“Abbotsbury, it’s a small village. I work there in the library three days a week,” Mary said.
“Is it pretty?” I asked.
“Very, you will have to come with me some of the time. You’ll help me with shopping and selling, sometimes.”
“Selling what?” I asked.
“I make crafts sometimes and on market day I sell them. It’s always fun to look at the stalls,” Mary said, smiling.
We walked back down the stairs after seeing the lounge, to the rooms that were behind the staircase. There were two, the first had books on the shelves all around and a desk with papers on, “This is where I work and where I make my crafts,” Mary said as I looked around. The second room was small and messy, packed with furniture that wasn’t wanted.
“This is where I’ll teach you, once it’s clean of course,” Mary said closing the door on the dusty furniture. I went up to my room after that, for a while I lay on the bed, thinking of  what was happening to me and hoping with all my might that it was real. After a while Mary came in, I was sitting on the window frame staring out at the ocean, the gentle sound of the waves clear to my ears. Mary sat next to me and for a while both of us just stared at the sea. Now that I looked closely, I could see a few lights coming from one of the hills, Abottsbury.
We stayed like that for a while, neither of us talking and then Mary looked at me and said something that touched me like nothing else would, “I’m so glad you’ve come. I’m so glad I have you now.”