Afton Hensley stood with his best buddy and brother, Robert, waiting to enter the great doors of the church and across the aisle, to where his beloved Courtney stood…
~
Shivering, freezing and all alone, a six year old little girl strode across the icy streets of Kinsley. Clad in only her mere thin rags, her barefooted had feet turned purple and was numbed by the snow; she sat on the steps of a mansion in solitude. In her hands she clutched her mother’s golden brooch tightly in a grasp, the only thing her birth mother left her.
“What happened to me?” She questioned. Her little breath of warmth drew a puff of cloud in the silent, cold streets.
She was once a rich young miss, never spoilt and would never hurt a fly. But it was just a week ago when her parents were killed in a ship wreck, and she was suddenly orphaned. Supposedly, she would have been in the custody of her cruel Uncle Steve and Aunt Lira, but they took only the fortune and left the girl on the streets.
Behind her, the great mansion doors pulled open and a smartly dressed servant came out to address the little girl.
“What is your name, dear?” The woman asked warmly.
“Courtney Greenswick, Madam,” she replied in a weak voice.
“So you’re the young miss of the Greenswick family, then. Such nice people are the Greenswick, before the unfortunate incident. Why are you in the streets alone? Where are your guardians?” The woman asked.
So Courtney Greenswick told her. The woman then brought Courtney into the kitchen of the grand mansion for some bread, butter and warmth. Little did Courtney know that she was in the great mansion of the Hensley, a close family-friend of the Greenswick. Long ago, Mr. and Mrs. Greenswick already knew that their cruel relatives only care for the money and never their daughter, so they had asked for the Hensley to adopt their only daughter should anything untoward happened to them. The Hensleys had asked for Courtney shortly after the death of the Greenswicks but Steve and Lira simply told them that she was somewhere roaming the streets.
The woman was the cook of the Hensley house, and she didn’t know that the Hensleys were fervently looking for little Courtney Greenswick. She didn’t dare bother Mr. and Mrs. Hensley about a young orphan she found sitting on the steps of the mansion, so she planned to help Courtney herself.
Courtney spent her days with Sarah and Robert, the children of the cook, in the huge basement cellar, but she was instructed by the cook never to leave the kitchen and never to speak to the Hensley children, Belle and Afton Hensley.
“I had never spoken to Belle and Afton Hensley before, coz’ mama says that they are the rich kids and their mama wouldn’t want them to mix with us, the lesser kids,” stated sweet Sarah.
“Yeah, I met them once before, and mama instructed me to call them Young Miss and Young Mister,” quipped the bright-eyed Robert.
That is how Courtney Greenswick spent the next two years of her life, together with Sarah and Robert in the basement cellar of the kitchen. She forgot her usual lavish way of the past, where her parents pampered her and showered her with toys and pretty frocks. No matter how much love she got from her parents, she never did have so much fun before. Courtney learnt to bow her head and lower her eyes whenever she crosses the path of servants of higher rank than the cook.
Once, she was carrying food to the guest table when she suddenly heard voices from the steps above her. Two young voices spoke with such eloquence and refinery that she was suddenly jolted to her past where she remembered that that was how she spoke with her parents. It was Belle and Afton! She made a quick dash behind the staircase so that she would not meet them, as was instructed by the cook.
The footsteps stopped and another voice sounded. It was Mrs. Hensley!
“Children, mind your manners later when you meet the Autumns. Be nice to the Autumn children and share your toys with them afterwards. Belle, close your mouth when you eat. Afton, don’t slurp on your soup. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Mother,” Belle and Afton chorused.
Mrs. Hensley brought Belle to rearrange her hair while Afton climbed down the steps and turned the corner, banging into Courtney. The cakes on the plate she was carrying cascaded onto the carpeted ground while Courtney let out a shriek.
“Oh dear! I’m terribly sorry!” Afton hurriedly bent down to pick up the cakes to put back onto the plate.
“No, no, it’s alright,” she gushed.
“Hey, you are? I didn’t see you around in here before. Are you new? “Afton asked as he looked into Courtney’s soft, brown eyes.
“No! Err, yes. Sorry, I’ve got to go!” Courtney took the plate and sped away, remembering the cook’s words not to speak to the Hensley children.
But as she ran away, Afton stared after her, and this brief encounter with Courtney was forever etched in his mind. Some may call it love at the first sight, but little Afton didn’t know that yet.
Soon, little Courtney Greenswick turned eight. Her eighth birthday was a solemn one, as it marks the death date of her beloved guardian, the cook. On the death of the cook, Courtney was sent away to an orphanage by the cook’s husband, the Hensley’s housekeeper, despite the strong protests of Sarah and Robert. Meanwhile, the Mr. and Mrs. Hensley took pity on the cook’s husband, and offered to pay for his children’s education. And so, Sarah and Robert were enrolled into the same prestigious school as Belle and Afton. The Hensleys never knew the existence of Courtney Greenswick in their household for the two whole years, as they continued to search high and low for her.
On an early autumn Sunday, Courtney was bundled up in her worn but warm coat, and with a couple of Sarah’s old clothes and her mother’s brooch packed into a little rag bag, she departed on a hay cart, much earlier than the time when the Hensleys and the cook’s children departs for their semester in the Hillock’s Autumn School of Finery. Courtney pushed open the back door of the kitchen and stepped into the early autumn breeze, turning back once every three steps to wave to Sarah and Robert.
“Take care, Courtney! Please visit us someday!” Sarah called with tears brimming in her eyes.
“I will. Stay happy in your new school, and wipe the tears of your face, Sarah!” Courtney replied bravely, forcing a smile onto her face.
As the hay cart pulled away into the autumn, Courtney didn’t know that in the darkness of the kitchen, little Afton Hensley stood watching her take her leave. It was his second time seeing Courtney as he took a drink from the kitchen. Again he was puzzled. Is she was a new house girl, why didn’t he see her around the house with her chores? And he knew that the cook have only two children, Sarah and Robert, and why is she leaving now?
Soon, the sun rose, basking the autumn in its warm golden glow. The four children got prepared in their smartest autumn uniforms and went to the door, waiting for their horse carriages. As the servants loaded their massive luggage into the carriages, the Hensley gave the four children goodbye hugs and well-wishes. The children left soon after, blowing kisses from the carriages to their parents standing at the porch of the mansion.
As the children were enrolled together, they were in the same classes and dorms, and they became fast friends. The cook’s children were warm and cheerful while the Hensley children were polite and friendly. Nevertheless, the cook’s children often thought of Courtney Greenswick, their childhood “basement cellar” friend. Soon, they grew trust for each other, and Sarah and Robert shared about the times they’ve had with Courtney. As Afton came to learn about Courtney, he found her so familiar but he didn’t know why. Actually, Afton and Courtney were childhood playmates when they were little toddlers. Soon after Belle came along, the Hensleys were busy with the new baby, and so the Greenswick seldom make visits to the Hensleys.
Meanwhile, over at the orphanage, Courtney was often hungry, cold and lonely. For many years, no one adopted her and she felt lonely, missing the company of Sarah and Robert. The Hensleys were still furiously searching for Courtney Greenswick but she had since changed her name, taking the same surname of Sarah and Robert. The Hensleys had been to the orphanage once, but they were told that Courtney came from a cook’s family and wasn’t picked from the streets or sent by Courtney’s rich relatives, as the Hensleys had thought Courtney was to be.
One day, when Courtney turned ten, she was adopted by a poor shopkeeper and his wife, in need of an able-bodied child to work for them. The shopkeeper wanted a strong boy but his wife wanted a daughter to accompany her, so they settled with Courtney. Courtney grew to love her family very much, with a mother that loved her and a father that sheltered her well. She worked hard for the family, running chores when her mother’s leg was bad, doing the housework and tends the shop when she was needed. Soon, under the wise help of Courtney, the shop flourished. She ran the household fully when her parents’ health deteriorated and paid for the medical bills. Sadly, when she was fifteen, her parents passed away due to an unknown flu.
Courtney continued with the business for a few months, but she remembered the wish of her mother for her to be reunited one day with the people she knew before she was adopted. Hence Courtney wrapped up the business, sold the house took the earnings and went back to Kinsley. She bought a shop and with her business mindset, she set up yet another profitable bakery business at a tender age of sixteen. Then, she began her search for her childhood friends, Sarah and Robert.
On the other hand, the four children, Belle, Afton, Sarah and Robert were still close friends. The cook’s husband, the housekeeper had also passed away due to an unfortunate incident and the Hensleys adopted Sarah and Robert and treated them like their own. The Hensley tried to match make their sons, Afton and Robert Hensley with the daughters of the Autumn family. The match between Robert Hensley and Germania Autumn was successful, but Afton’s heart was with the girl he crashed into at the bottom of the steps many years ago, Courtney. Meanwhile, the Hensleys were still searching for Courtney Greenswick, the daughter of their family-friend, the Greenswicks. Afton and his parents were searching for the same girl, but they didn’t know that. On the other side of the street, beautiful Courtney Greenswick was searching for her childhood friends, Sarah and Robert.
One winter morning, Robert, Sarah and Mrs. Hensley happened to stroll into her bakery shop to order some muffins and tea cakes for Robert’s wedding. At the first sight of Courtney, Sarah let out a sharp shriek.
“Courtney? Courtney is that you?” she squealed, as a flicker of recognition flashed in Courtney’s eyes.
“Oh, good heavens! Sarah and Robert! I’d recognize you both anywhere!” Courtney blabbered as the three of them squeezed into a group hug, tears of joy spilling from the corners of their eyes.
“Courtney Greenswick! You’ve been missing for eight whole years! I was still waiting for your visit!” Sarah gushed as she grabbed Courtney’s hands.
Mrs. Hensley stood there, witnessing the whole scene.
“Wait a second. You’ve said Courtney Greenswick, Sarah? You’re Courtney Greenswick, dear?” Mrs. Hensley gushed, “Oh my! I’ve found you my dear! We’ve been searching high and low for you!”
Mrs. Hensley explained everything as yet more tears of joy and relief cascaded down her cheeks. Her ten-year-search is over at last! Suddenly she saw the golden brooch on Courtney’s apron.
“Oh, Courtney, my dear! That pin of yours was your dead mother’s, am I right? I gave it to her on her wedding day, to think that she passed it on to you!” smiled Mrs. Hensley sadly, while reminiscing of her past.
~
Afton stood at the doors of the huge library, ready to go in for a family conference.
“It must be about my marriage again. How many times must I tell them that I will not marry the Autumn girl!” Afton told Belle, his voice with a slight tinge of annoyance.
“Brother! Maybe it’s about Robert’s wedding!” laughed Belle in her girlish voice.
In the library sat Courtney Greenswick with Mr. and Mrs. Hensley, Robert and Germania Autumn, and Sarah. She remembered those voices she heard at the door, the same care freeness their voices carried as she’d heard eight years ago, before she crashed into young Afton Hensley. Afton Hensley, the young master of the household. Afton Hensley, whom she thought of so much… Stop thinking! She chided herself and braced herself for the encounter.
The great doors open and there stood Afton Hensley, looking right at Courtney. At that moment, time stopped, Courtney and Afton were connected not only be the sight, but by their hearts.
~
Soon after, there was a double wedding bliss. Afton married Courtney, and Robert to Germania. So they lived, happily, ever after.
THE END (*^_^*)
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