Chapter 6 - Words Across the Years
Back at Vance Manor, the house was warm and quiet.
A log fire crackled in the master study's grand stone fireplace. Outside, snow began to fall softly against the tall glass windows, covering the gardens in a thick blanket of white.
The three girls sat together on a plush leather sofa near the fire, wrapped in warm blankets, sipping hot cocoa with marshmallows.
Arthur sat at his large mahogany desk, his hands gently opening the rusted lid of the small red tin box.
Inside were four worn notebooks with hand-drawn floral covers, a stack of photographs, and a silver locket shaped like a heart.
Arthur picked up the first notebook. The pages were yellowed, covered in the delicate, elegant handwriting he remembered so well.
He opened to the first page:
October 14, 2015.
My dearest Arthur,
If you are reading this, it means God found a way to bring these words to your hands after I am gone. Today, three tiny miracles came into the world. I named them Clara, Anne, and Sophie. They have your chin, Arthur. They have your quiet strength.
Your mother told me you died in the hospital in Zurich. She showed me the newspaper clippings. She gave me two options: take a small sum of money and disappear with my babies, or let her place them in state care while she pursued legal charges against my family.
I know in my heart that you are still alive somewhere. A love like ours doesn't vanish just because a house burns or an engine fails. I could not fight her money, Arthur. I was weak, sick, and alone. But I saved our daughters. I hid them where she could never find them.
Teach them to be brave, Arthur. Teach Clara to lead, Anne to listen, and Sophie to hope. And remember that I loved you until my very last breath.
Arthur lowered the notebook to his desk, burying his face in his hands as tears ran freely down his cheeks.
The room was silent except for the crackle of the wood in the fireplace.
Then he felt small hands on his back.
Anne stood beside his chair, gently placing her arm around his neck. Sophie climbed onto his knee, wrapping her arms around his chest. Clara came to stand beside his arm, reaching out to touch the silver heart locket sitting on the desk.
"She knew you would come for us," Clara whispered. "Every time we went to the cemetery, she told us to leave three yellow daisies on the grass so you could find us."
May you like
Arthur pulled all three of his daughters into his arms, holding them tight against his heart.
"I found you," Arthur sobbed, kissing the tops of their brown heads. "I found you, and I am never letting you go."
