The Sisters of Castle Stone

#8: Mrs Chicken

The late evening moon cast its cool brightness across the castle grounds, the glowing sphere visible in the black sky. Stars sparkled above, as Charlotte opened the front door. Bethany followed, the sharp sound of her stiletto boots against the cold stone courtyard echoed in the silence.

Charlotte carefully closed the door behind them and quickly followed her sister around the back of the castle where the cars were kept. Bethany's pace quickened into a slow jog, and she approached the old stone garage. The garage at Castle Stone would have been home to old carts and pretty carriages in the past, was now where the family's cars were housed. It was a sizable building made of local stone, its roof was old and missing a few tiles, that let the water in when it rained. Heavy stoic wooden beams, the same ones added when the garage was built, held the high ceiling up. It was the sort of place people could imagine being turned into a luxury barn conversion and was certainly big enough.

Holding a set of car keys in her hand, she carefully opened the garage door. Charlotte watched from outside as Bethany stepped inside. As not to cause any alarm, the girl turned on the torch on her phone instead of twitching on the light.

Inside the building was cold, and as the girl breathed, the mist of her breath became visible. She shivered and pulled her small denim jacket closer around her slender body. The sound of her boots echoed in the darkness with every step she took.

"I thought we were getting a taxi?" Charlotte questioned.

Dad's brand new BMW sat inside the garage, covered by a huge white cloth to protect it from dust and dirt. Bethany ran her hand across the bonnet.  "Taxis are for losers, Sis. Do you know how much it will cost to get anywhere from here? Why pay when you can drive?"

Charlotte sighed, "and how many driving lessons have you had?"

"More than you! So there!" Bethany made her way around the vast space. And her younger sister watched from outside as she made her way across the space towards their older sister Bella's little run-around.

Her name was Minty, the car, that was. Its pretty greenish paint sparkled in the light of the torch. It was only a small run around, really just something to get Bella to university and back. Charlotte remembered the day their grandfather Gino took Bella to look at a few cars. Vehicles had always been a hobby of his, and since he was unable to drive due to ill health, he loved to take his favourite granddaughter around to different car showrooms to test drive some of the latest, and fastest models. Bella didn't think for one minute that he would buy her one, but he did. And for her eighteenth birthday the previous year, Bella Greyson finally became the owner of a brand new city car. Sadly, grandad's health took a sudden turn for the worst, so he never really got a chance to see her drive it.

It broke Bella's heart to know that he spent all the money that was left over from selling his house to fund his care, to buy the girl a car. Minty was more than just a car. It was Bella's connection to Grandad and painted in his favourite colour, bluey-green, the colour of his eyes.

Bethany paused for a moment, she reached across and in one split second, yanked the cover off their sister's car.

"N, n, n, no! No Bethie, you can't! Please don't do it."

Bethany rolled her eyes, "come on, Nan, lighten up. Let's have some fun!"

"I'm not Nana! I just don't want you to do something stupid."

Bethany pressed the button on the key fob and they heard the door unlock. She pulled open the door and climbed inside the driver's compartment. She put the key in the ignition and turned it.

"Fine then, I won't call you Nana, Mrs Chicken! No, or are you coming, or do you have to go to bingo or play cards with the rest of the old ladies?"

Charlotte felt as if she were stuck between a rock and a hard place. She'd come so far, she couldn't head for home. She climbed into the front passenger seat and closed the door behind her. Bethany gradually started the car, and Charlotte sat next to her, as she began to drive it out of the garage. The speed dial showed twenty miles an hour, as the girls moved down the long driveway and away from the castle and onto the dark, narrow country lanes.