Chapter 1

A Parting Gift

Twelve-year-old Mindy Dunkle, was a pale, and slender little girl who wore thick-rimmed spectacles that magnified her bright green eyes, and perfectly accented her short black hair. Her brother, Garret was three years younger, and was also thin, with equally pale skin, and his eyes were the same shade of bright green. He had jet-black hair, and although it was not cut short, it was difficult to tell because he always kept it slicked back tight against his head. He preferred to wear only button up shirts and slacks, and more often than not, a clip-on tie. Tyler, the youngest of the three, did not look anything like his older brother or sister. For one, he was not as pale; he had sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and he did not own a single piece of clothing one could wear to church. Life had been rather hard for the Dunkle children. Shortly after learning about the loss of their father in the war, Mrs. Dunkle became very ill, and was forced to hire a nurse by the name of Miss Dorrey. Miss Dorrey was a mild mannered middle-aged woman with cool silvery hair and a warm smile. She took very good care of Mrs. Dunkle, and doubled as the children's nanny. Yet, despite all of Miss Dorrey's efforts, Mrs. Dunkle's condition was not improving, and it was becoming increasingly difficult tending to her needs, while at the same time, keeping a watchful eye on the children. Therefore, it was decided that the best thing to do, was to send the children away for the summer to stay with their uncle Tibias, at his farm in the English countryside. It was news not well received.

"A right down waste of a good summer" Tyler said, kicking his suitcase across the floor and flopping onto his bed with huff "now what'a we gonna do, we'll miss the carnival, you konw that, right? And this was supposed to be the year that I would finally beat that nasty litt'le sod, Alec Milltic in the county bike races, I've been practicin' all year long, and for what, so he can win again and rub it in my face, stupid prat"

"Language, Ty" Mindy scolded. As the oldest of the three, she often took it upon herself to keep her younger siblings in line "you could at least bring me your clothes, while you complain" she picked up Tylers' suitcase and set it next to her own. However, Tyler ignored her and continued thumping the bed with his fists and ranting on.

"I bet that old geezer's never even seen children before - oh, oh and what if he doesn't even own a radio " at this thought, Tyler leapt from the bed and flung open the door, but only a few steps into the hall he ran straight into a wall of grey dress, and fell back on his elbows. Moments later, he returned to the room under escort of, Miss Dorrey. Yelping and flailing his arms about, he struggled with all his might.

"Ged'off, ged'off me, I'm not going to some rotten old house and I'm not spending the summer with some rotten old geezer. I said let me go " Tyler caught hold of the door frame and was now spread out like a spider, trying to grip the sides with both his hands and feet. For a moment, Miss Dorrey attempted to force him through, but Tyler would not be giving up so easily.

"Not for a bazillion pounds – I'm not going"

"Oh c'mon now Ty "pleaded Miss Dorrey."Your uncle Tebbs, is rather excited about the three of you coming to visit"

"I don't care! I want to stay here, why can't we just stay here"

"We ought' just lock him in the basement, and be done with it" said Garret, as he sat re-straightening the edges of his shirts. Mindy rolled her eyes, made an irritated sniff, and shoved him so hard that he fell into the bed knocking his clothes onto the floor.

"What was that all about" Garret moaned, but Mindy simply tipped her nose in the air and walked over to her youngest brother. She placed her hands on Tyler's shoulders and knelt down to be eye to eye.

"Uncle Tebbs lives on a farm, Ty" Mindy whispered "just think about it for a second, animals, trees, huge fields, and we'll have it all to our selves - for the entire summer. Doesn't sound that bad, does it?"

"Well" said Tyler doing his best not to look interested "I - guess it could be - oh, alright" he finally released his grip and stomped back into the room, kicking garret in the leg as he passed. Furious; Garret tried to kick him back, but missed and fell against the bed, once again knocking his recently re-folded shirts back to the floor. Miss Dorrey put her hand under Mindy's chin and smiled proudly.

"My dear, you really are growing up, I'm certain you'll take good care of them, now hurry along and pack, the cab will be here at noon"

For the rest of the morning they packed quietly. Garret busied himself by sorting his clothing into neatly stack piles; first by type, and then by color, and once again by occasion. Mindy on the other hand, had hardly managed to do any packing of her own as she was far too busy making certain that Tyler packed something other than his toys. This took a very long time because he kept sneaking them back into his bag at every opportunity. Eventually they made their way down stairs, each toting an overstuffed case. The cabbie was waiting on the threshold to take their luggage. He was a thin wild-eyed man, with a long pointed chin. He was dressed in a very uncomfortable looking suit and tie, and on his head, he wore a stiff black top hat that covered a mop of silvery grey hair. Just as Mindy was about to open the front door, Miss Dorrey suddenly called down from the top of the stairs.

"Come quickly, she's awake"

Without a seconds hesitation Garret and Tyler dropped their suitcases and bolted up the stairs fumbling over each other all the way down the hall. Mindy was close behind but careful to avoid her wrestling brothers. Miss Dorrey had positioned herself in the doorway to head them off and she had to reach out just in time to catch Tyler as he tripped over Garrets foot.

"Easy there, big guy" she chortled, and from somewhere in the room there came a soft weak voice.

"Is that my Ty'bear "

"MOM" Tyler pushed himself free and vanished through the door. Miss Dorrey simply gave a heavy sigh and followed in after him. Garret was the next to go in, but Mindy stayed put. She was not quite as excited as her brothers were to see their mother. It had been over three months since they had even been allowed near room. After a long moment, she took in a deep breath and held it as she passed through the archway. Compared to the rest of the house this room was very dark. The heavy curtains blocked out all the daylight, and it was very musty and cold. The only light came from a small oil lamp on the bed-stand. Miss Dorrey was standing over the lamp and fetching up various bottles, examining them in the firelight before taking one or two pills from each to put into a single cup. At that moment, she looked up from her counting and there was a certain expression of understanding in her eyes as she spotted Mindy still lurking in the doorway.

"It's alright dear" she said, motioning to Mindy "come on over"

Mindy closed her eyes and moved a little further into the room, clenching her hands together over her chest she wished with all her might that perhaps this time when she saw her mother, she might at least recognize her face. She opened her eyes slowly to see Garret kneeling down next to the bed. Tyler was on the bed, lying curled in a ball with two very thin and very frail looking arms wrapped around his shoulders. Feeling the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Mindy quickly wiped them away and approached the bedside. Somewhere deep inside, Mindy felt that she did not want to see her mother this way. She would've rather remembered her as she was before she got sick. Full of life and color, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, and the beautiful sound of her laugh. But the laughter was gone, the life and color had become faded and cold and for Mrs. Dunkle smiling was terribly painful. Just then, Mrs. Dunkle's eyes opened, slowly, and she turned her head just enough to look up at Mindy, and somehow, despite all the pain and difficulty, she still managed to smile.