Page 3 of The Forgotten Life of Ella Moon
Lillian took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Motherdidn’t want me to tell you this before theMoonFestival, butI’drather you find out from me thanClara.Thingshave been tough for us.Forthe inn.Andunless we find a small fortune or…”Lillianstruggled with her words. “Thenthere is my mother.She’sgoing to be fifty this year.She’snot getting any younger.Andthe winters are getting colder and harder on her.”Lillian’sface softened. “WhatI’mtrying to say is we’re closing the inn.Iwill be leaving after the wedding, butMotherwill stay for a few weeks to finish out the reservations and close things up.You’rewelcome to stay and help, but she’ll need to leave byYule.Soyou’ll…”
“Need to find another place to live.”Whateverthat meant.Thislife might not fit, but it was the only life she knew.Rivertonwas the only home she remembered.Thethought of starting over felt daunting and tiring.
Lillian brushed a few crumbs off the large worktable. “Yes.Doyou have any plans or idea on what you will do?”
“No.”Ellashrugged.SissyandClaraseemed to have their lives planned out.Marriage, family, death.Noneof that sounded like anythingEllawanted.Atleast the marriage and family part.Deathwas just a part of life.
“Mother says you and the miller’s son,William, have been getting close.Haveyou given any thought to maybe?—”
“No.”Ellacut her off.Sherecognized whereLillianwas going with this.Williamhad already tried going down that road.Themarriage road.Thatwas a roadElladidn’t want to go down.Ever.
Lillian sighed. “Iknow marriage isn’t your first choice, but…”Lillianpaused, looking around the small kitchen. “Yourdomestic skills aren’t very good.I’mafraid no one would hire you as a maid.Andif they did, they’d fire you soon after.Andyou don’t seem to be very motherly, so being a governess is out of the question.”
Lillian’s words hung in the air between them.Sothat leftEllawith the option of marriage or working at a brothel.Andeven theRivertonbrothel faced hardship.Everyonewanted to vacation by the sea or in the mountains.
“Ella,IwishIcould be more help but…”
It had been almost a year sinceMrs.Ahad foundEllaasleep by the river with nothing more than a black ball gown and the two bracelets.Theolder woman could’ve turnedEllaover to the workhouse, but instead, she gaveEllaa name, a job, and a place to live.Itwasn’t meant to be forever.
“You’ve done plenty.”Besides, it had been a year, and no one had come looking for her inRiverton.Maybeit was time for a bigger city. “Youand your mother have been more than generous with your home.It’sbeen a year since theMoonFestivaland time for me to move on.Startfresh.”
“But where will you go?”Lillianreached forElla. “Wouldn’tmarryingWilliambe a better choice than leaving the only home you have ever known?Darbysays the mill isn’t doing the best.ButIam sureWilliamcan turn it around.He’syoung and seems smart.Itdoesn’t take much to support a family here inRiverton.Plus,Sissyis going nowhere, andClara, well, that poor twit will be here when the river finally dries up.”
PoorClara.She, likeElla, was stuck.Ina different life, neither of them would need a husband.Claracould run a tavern or trading house.Shepossessed shrewdness and a quick wit.AndEllacould read and write.Butthose weren’t skills men wanted in wives.Norwere they skills that women could use without a husband’s name to go with them.Sofor most women, marriage was the only way to have a future that didn’t involve servitude.Thougha husband still meant servitude, just a different kind.
“I’ll think about it,” she lied.Shedidn’t want to marry.Ithad nothing to do withWilliam.Hewas a nice enough boy.Handsome.Hewas far better looking than most of the men in the small village.Andhe had already asked her to marry him.Butshe couldn’t.Evenas much as she enjoyed her time with him, he felt destined for another.Andno matter how much he loved her, she couldn’t love him back.
And that was because somewhere, there was the man she loved.Shefelt that love in the marrow of her bones.Sheeven dreamt of him.Well, most of him, not his face or his name.Thosememories still lay locked away.Butshe had loved someone once.
“Please do.AndI’msorry,Ella.IwishIhad a better solution for you.”
“It’s not your problem to fix.”Ellaforced a smile. “Ibetter get going,” she said, grabbing her cloak and the basket beforeLilliansaid another word.
A new city would be a fresh start.Butit would also mean she’d have to explain why she didn’t know who her parents were or where she was born.Andwhat if her family came here looking for her?Whowould tell them where she had gone?Butthe real reason dread curled up her chest was a bigger city meant more people.Andmore people meant more noise, more lights, and more of the strange glow she saw in their chests.
A glow she felt certain no one else saw.
CHAPTER2
ELLA
The sun sat low in the sky whenEllapaid for the vegetablesAilithneeded.Herbasket was almost too heavy to carry, and she still needed to trade the woolen yarn for the silk threadLillianwanted for her wedding dress.Thedeliveries had taken longer than they should have.ThewidowHelgahad insisted thatEllahave lunch with her and her son,Albert, who had just lost his wife.
Ella spent the odd meal of stale carrot and cucumber sandwiches fighting offAlbert’sthree children, who crawled all over her andHelga.Alberthad been too distraught to interact with his children.Butnot too distraught to brag about his home inMorro.Heprattled on about the five bedrooms and the large copper bathtub.Apparently, copper bathtubs ranked highly on women’s lists.Abathtub wasn’t even on hers.She’dsettle for a face to go with the man in her dreams.
Last night, he had pulled her into his shadowy embrace and whispered words she couldn’t hear.Itwas the same man and the same sensation every night.Whenshe woke, the sound of his voice sat like a forgotten word on the tip of her tongue.Theharder she tried to remember him, the further he slipped into the cracks of her memory.Andlike all other times she dreamt of him, she woke with a loneliness she had to drag around with her all day.
“So,Ihear you dined withAlbert.ShouldIbe worried?”
Ella had been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t heardWilliamfall into step with her. “Thatwas quick.”
“Word travels fast in a little town that has little to talk about.Evenfaster when our beautifulEllais involved.”Williamtook the basket from her.
“Flattery will get you nowhere.”Ella'sbeauty differed fromLillian'ssoft brown eyes and tawny hair.OrSissy’swarm and playful smile.Thepeople ofRivertonall had the same warm and friendly look to them.Theylooked like they belonged living amongst the warm brick and wooden buildings that clung to the river.Elladid not.Theonly warmth in her looks came from her pale golden hair.Herfeatures were sharp; some even called them wicked.Andher ever-shifting eye color did little to help.
Ella’s peculiar looks were whyAilithchose the nameElla.ShethoughtEllalooked like theFaefrom the stories.Onewho lost her wings and fell in the dew-covered grass.Andfor a while, that was the rumor, thatEllahad been cast out from the land of theFae.Othersbelieved she was a changeling there to steal their children.
“Flattery gotAlberta midday meal.”WilliamnudgedElla.
