New book! The Year of 1901

Hey guys, so my book that I shared on here before I am making better! It still is in draft but it's better than before. I changed it a bunch! 

Chapter 1

“We are in a Hurry!”

A middle-aged woman ran across the floor to the base of the stairs. “Girls, please hurry! We will be late!” shouted Mrs. Billing up the steep steps. In less than a few seconds, two girls came leaping out of an upstairs bedroom. Kitty, the second eldest, came out leading the way. Her long blond hair was pinned up in a bun, but a few curls still hung partway down her back. The eldest, Priscilla, followed. Her brown hair was done similarly; only her hair was shorter, so her curled hair barely passed her shoulders. They walked quickly down the stairs not even minding the railing and trying to not trip on their long skirts nor their heeled shoes. They both held a coat, hat, and handbag which they had not placed properly on themselves. For when their mother had called them, they were not getting ready at all but merely chatting and glancing at themselves in the mirror. Reader, I shall now babble a bit and tell you what has happened in the previous 20 minutes. Mostly about one of the younger Billing sisters.

Now, the three Billing girls had been getting ready for the Crawford’s lady tea in Priscilla's, the eldest, bedroom. The youngest of the three, Esther, had disappeared to her bedroom, which she shared with her next eldest sister Kitty. She had gone to get her earrings because it was nearly time to leave if they did not want to be late. Placing small shiny dangles in her ears was something that she did not do. At least at first. First, she glanced at her appearance in the mirror to see how she looked in Priscilla’s old pink dress. Priscilla did not fit it anymore and was kind enough to let Esther wear it. The dress was simply lovely with lace at the throat and the hem of the skirt. Esther gently spun two or three times looking at her reflection and then posing for her own pleasure. Her wavy hair, which Priscilla had helped her put part up, flew around as she spun. Esther’s eyes though did not stay on herself. For when she looked in the full-length mirror, she quickly noticed the book on her nightstand. She had been interrupted by Kitty telling her to get ready earlier that afternoon. I shall just read a bit and then get my earrings. Was something like the thought that crossed her mind. Reading the small book, she did but reading her book for just a page or two she did not. She finished off that chapter which was about five more pages and then being invited to the next chapter by a cliffhanger, she quickly read on as if it was still the same chapter. She took no notice of what chapter she was on nor the title of it for that was not important. Even though the book was extremely noteworthy she did not get two pages into the next chapter before her mind was enthralled by the description of the hero. The heroine’s description was of no importance to her. No notice of it was taken. For her own description she had put in its place. But the hero’s description was so boldly placed in her mind’s eye that she immediately put her book down (without moving the bookmark) and raced to her desk. She pulled a piece of paper and pencil from her desk’s top drawer and started on what was a masterpiece in her brain. Now reader, at this time all thoughts of the earring and the lady’s tea were very much gone. For her mind was in another world’s universe. Now, I shall come back to the present time.

The 20 minutes have now ended. 16-year-old Esther, who had been called Es all her life, still sat at her desk with her lovely pink dress flowing over the sides of the chair. One hand was covered with charcoal marks. Her right hand held a charcoal pencil drawing the face of a man while her left steadied the paper. So far Es was not exactly pleased with the portrait. What she had in her mind was not what was leaking out of her pencil. Her mother’s voice from the bottom of the stairs had not been heard by her small ears. For her bedroom door was closed and (as I said earlier) her mind in another world.

………………..

“Where is Es?” asked Mrs. Billing when her two daughters had reached the bottom.

“She went to get her earring a while ago,” said Kitty, the second oldest Billings girl, “She’s probably coming.” Mrs. Billing had heard what her daughter said and then quickly turned her head toward the kitchen door.

“Mrs. Waterford,” she called loudly as she shoved her left hand in a white glove. And just like that, a little round cook came out of the kitchen’s swinging door. She glided across the glossy floor as if she had no legs. The old cook was a kind woman whose face showed that she had lived a good bit of a lifetime. Her frizzy brown hair showed white streaks in it and in her right hand she held a wooden spoon with white past on. This was most likely part of the dinner that the Billings' would eat later that day. A white apron was looped over her head and tied behind her waist. Noticeably, the same white mixture that appeared on her spoon was also on her apron. 

“Yes mam,” said the cook in a ruff voice as she neared her mistress.

“Is the carriage ready?”

“The carriage mam?” questioned the old women not understanding.

“Yes, the carriage,” replied Mrs. Billing with a nod and showing that she was in a hurry. The cook's face showed that she still did not understand. “For the tea at the Crawford’s' this afternoon. We are in a hurry and are going to be late!”

“I did not know about any tea.”

“Are you telling me the carriage is not ready?”

“No one told me anything…”

“Never mind,” said Mrs. Billing with a sigh interrupting the old woman. “Just go tell Stevens to go get it ready now and bring it to the front. We are really in a hurry!” Mrs. Billing shoved her other hand in her glove as she said this. 

“Mam, but I can’t…” said Mrs. Waterford before being interrupted again.

“And tell Mr. Waterford to help him.”

“But mam…” Mrs. Billing did not try to interrupt the cook this time, but she noticed that Esther was still not down with the other girls so she shouted for her right as the cook started to talk.

“Esther please come down right now! We are in a hurry!” Mrs. Billing only called Esther her full first name when she was excited or upset.

“Mam,” said the cook after the loud shout.

“Mrs. Waterford are you still here?” was Mrs. Billing's reply with a sigh. She swung her coat over her shoulders. Mrs. Waterford tried to talk again but never got farther than opening her mouth. “I think you are making an awfully bad habit of this. When I tell you to do something you should do it. You are not paid to… to,” Mrs. Billings was having a hard time finding the right word “to contradict everything I say. Dinner can wait.” All this was said in a firm tone though Mrs. Billing’s did not raise her voice much over its normal level. Mrs. Waterford started to open her mouth again, but her mistress stopped her. This time Mrs. Billings was a little harsher and louder. “Nothing that you can say to me is of any importance. Do you want me to fire you?”

“No one in this house has ever been fired before, mam,” was the old woman's serious reply as she shook her head.

“Do you want to be the first?” said Mrs. Billing sarcastically. “If you say another word, I will fire you,” she emphasized "will" to show that she was serious. “Now please hurry.” She waved her hand towards the back door which led outside.

Mrs. Billing was one of the most respectable (not to mention one of the richest) women in Philadelphia and did not want to ruin her reputation by being late. Though reader, their reputation was a bit more ruined than one would like. This was because of many things that their family was known for which I do not have time to talk of right now. I shall talk more about that subject later. Mrs. Waterford could see that her mistress was serious and with a sigh she hurried off to tell her husband to get the carriage. Mrs. Billings then picked up her hat to put on her head. All this time the two eldest girls had been standing by their mother pining their hats on and putting their dainty fingers in their gloves. Now, reader, you might be wondering if Es had heard the second call from her mother even with her door closed and her mind in another universe’s world. She did. She had just finished the eyebrows of the portrait after finishing the eyes, which may I mention were the only two facial features drawn. She had leaned back in her chair to see how it looked. She did not think it was looking much like the hero from her book. Based upon the description it gave. For it had no pictures just like most books those days. Just then she heard her mother’s impatient voice. She gasped at realizing that she had forgotten about the tea and tried to stand up without scooting her chair away from the desk. This was a mistake for in doing this she hit her thighs on the desk, fell back in her chair, which tipped quite easily, and rolled to the ground. She did all of this in a very clumsy manner and if you would have seen her most likely would have had a hearty laugh. Es though paid no attention to her clumsy falling, and after catching herself with her hands stood up in a rather unladylike manner. Profoundly, she reached for her hat on her bed, raced to her closet, and grabbed a brown coat. The weather was a bit chilly that day. Remembering the earring that she had come to get quite some time ago, she raced to her dresser and grabbed them out of her jewelry box. She pushed them in her ears as fast she could while looking in her dresser mirror. 

 With one great leap towards her bed for her handbag, one to her bedroom door, and one great motion of opening and closing her door, she was out of the room. Esther started down the stairs and looked over the railing. Her mother, Priscilla, and Kitty had just finished putting on their coats. From the top of the stairs, you could see a clear view of anyone at the bottom. After seeing their gloved hands, she turned right around and went back into her room. She grabbed her gloves from her dresser and was out again. She neither walked nor ran down the stairs but bound. As she bound for the 3rd or 4th time she slipped on the stairs with her heeled boots and landed quite hard on a step. It really did hurt but she took no notice of her clumsy mistake. Es just stood up and continued down the stairs with a hat, coat, gloves, and handbag in hand. she reached the bottom surprisingly, Esther still looked quite nice even after having raced around her room and bounding down the stairs with some mistakes involved. Neither her mother nor her sisters took any notice of Esther’s clumsiness for they were busy tightening their cloves on their fingers and adjusting their hats on their heads.

“What took you so long?” asked her mother. Without waiting for an answer, she picked up her handbag from the small, round table to the left of the stairs, and started toward the door. Es quickly pinned her pink hat on her head and then started toward the door to catch up with her mother and sisters. Before coming 3 feet close to the door Mrs. Billings turned to her daughters and said, “Oh dear, we have to wait for the carriage. It is not yet ready. No servant in this house ever knows what is going on. Come to think of it I haven’t even seen Stevens at all today.”

“I don’t think I have either,” said Kitty also. “When I rode this morning, I saw only Mr. Waterford and he was busy in the Garden. Mrs. Billing just walked over to the mirror on the wall, looked at her reflection, and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. Mrs. Billing was an exceptionally beautiful woman who had aged quite well. Her nut-brown hair was twisted back quite lovely and her large pearl earrings made her face glow. Turning around and looking behind herself, she glanced at the grand clock that sat against the left wall. “Oh, we are late already!”

“Don’t worry mamma,” said 18-year-old Priscilla trying to comfort her mother. “The Pearson’s are always late.” This though did not comfort her mother but only upset her more.

“We are not like Pearson’s. We are respectable citizens of this town,” said Mrs. Billings rather sharply. None of the girls argued with their mother even though they knew their family’s reputation was not as good as it should have been.  

 

 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

 

That's it for the first chapter. :D