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Apr. 9th, 2012 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiery_ringCarlotta ties back her hair and places the hairbrush on her trunk. They're almost ready to go back on the road, but she found out yesterday that Will had been granted a half day leave. Time to have some... serious discussions.
First of all though, Will is keen to meet Molly, and Carlotta isn't going to do anything to ruin the moment when he runs up the drive towards them, scoops up the four month old girl, and holds her close.
"She's so fair." he whispers, kissing her on the head, then kissing Carlotta. "I always thought she'd be dark, like you."
"Well, there's fair people on both sides of the family." Carlotta says.
She gives them some time to enjoy each other's company. But there's things they need to get sorted.
"We need to talk. And before you say anything... I've decided it's time for an amnesty. We've got to sort this thing out with Fern, and so long as you tell me the truth today, I won't leave you."
"Okay." Will takes a deep breath. "Let's go into the caravan."
They go inside and sit down on the sofa. Carlotta leans on him gently, supportive. She's done being upset about this now.
"The night we argued, Fern got me drunk." Will says. "And I kissed her. But I don't remember sleeping with her and I certainly don't recall saying I'd leave you. So I can't promise I'm not William's biological father, but I'm pretty sure I'm not."
"William is albino." Carlotta says, sighing. "Guppy, a doctor I know, said being albino is more likely if your parents are related."
"Well, yes, but it's Fern's maternal grandpa that's albino. So she's not related to me on that side." Will says.
"Oh. In that case, that rules out that theory." Carlotta sighs again. "I can't believe you kissed Fern, you don't even like her."
"I can't believe you're taking it this calmly." Will says.
"I've had a lot of time to be angry, a lot of time to miss you, and a lot of time to forgive you." Carlotta says. "But I'm sick of Fern, especially since she just dumped William here weeks ago for your parents to look after, poor kid."
"Well there's one way we could solve this." Will says. "By finding someone else who would admit to being little William's dad. You're a trained secret agent, after all. If you can find a likely name, I can take a picture of William and make enquiries. For all we know, they might want to take responsibility for him."
***
This probably wasn't her best idea ever. After all, spying for your country was one thing, but this was breaking and entering. But Carlotta knew Fern's house should be unoccupied - after all, Fern and her mother had claimed they needed to go to the coast for a bit due to 'ill health', hense dumping little William at The Oaks.
It was pitifully easy to break into the house. It was a miracle they hadn't been burgled. Inside, Carlotta carefully replaced the blackouts, then turned on her torch.
She was surprised when she saw the inside. Furniture had clearly been removed; there were little marks on the carpet where more armchairs and such had been. Surely they wouldn't take things like that with them to the coast? There are half a dozen photos of Fern and her parents, but none of William. And frankly... this doesn't look like a house with a young baby in.
She looks through each of the rooms. There isn't even a nursery, or even a cot. Maybe the baby sleeps in Fern's bed, in this pink frilly room? Searching the room, there's nothing obviously incriminating, like a diary confessing all, unfortunately. But she searches thoroughly, and opens Fern's jewellry box. The box is empty - maybe Fern took her sparkly things with her. Opening the second layer, she finds a bundle of letters. Aha.
There's not much in the way of love letters though, in fact, a lot of this is final demands for bills. But at the bottom there are a few letters from a man, the last from about a year ago telling Fern not to write to him again. Fortunately Carlotta gets the name and address off the first one.
She looks back at the bills. Gracious, Fern is in dreadfully over her head, and has never been one to visibly scrimp on anything. Opening the wardrobe, it's full of Fern's lavish clothes, shoes and handbags, even accounting for those she took. At the bottom of the wardrobe is a box full of stockings, which can only be found on the black market.
She isn't sure whether to feel angry or worried. What has Fern got herself into? And though she'd be the first to say that material things aren't everything for a baby, it doesn't seem right that there's a lot of luxury for Fern and nothing here for William.
And now that she's broken in, she can't confront her. Damn!
She does a quick search of the rest of the house. Everyone except Fern seems to be struggling to get by, but there's a number of black market items to be found hidden in various places.
She telephones her old general the next day to call in a favour, then takes a trip to the barracks. It's not that she doesn't trust Will to do this, but this way, he can't be accused of making up the answer. The general greets her with a nod and a salute, before summonning a rather nervous-looking private.
"Private Grant!" the general barks, showing him a picture. "Have you been romantically involved with this woman?"
"Yes sir." Private Grant says, wondering where this is going.
"And you have a brother who is albino?" the general asks.
"Yes sir." the private frowns. "He's all right, isn't he?"
"He's fine." Carlotta says, stepping forward, and holding out a picture of little William. She's been looking Private Grant up and down as he speaks, and he does look a bit like William.
"How come you have one of my brother's baby pictures?" the private asks.
"Private... George. Is there any chance you could have had a child with Fern?"
George hesitates, then nods sheepishly.
"But she never said when she wrote." he says, sounding hurt. "Is that my boy? He looks like my brother." A small smile forms on his face. "What's his name?"
"William." Carlotta says.
"And how do you know all this?" George asks.
"It's a bit of a long story." Carlotta says. "Fern is claiming that a married man is William's father, and wants him to leave his wife. The man was drunk, and can't be sure he isn't the father. So we were searching to see if anyone definitely knew."
"How old is he?" George asks. When Carlotta tells him, he nods. "Well, I'm disappointed in Fern, but I'm sure William is mine. Taking his pigmentation into account, he looks a lot like me. I'll write to Fern and offer to support him but... I'm engaged to another young lady, who is also with child. If I'd known about William, I would have had to marry Fern, of course."
***
It takes just one more telephone call to Fern's mother, in her coastal hotel, to extract a confession from Fern that she did, indeed, lie about Will fathering her child. When interrogated by her mother, she broke down and admitted she had been furious when Will turned her down, and tried to seize the opportunity to win him over for good by using George.
Things are looking up, Carlotta considers, as she starts packing her things to go back on the road, as Ringmaster. She still has Will, she hasn't died giving birth to Molly, and her circus is only going to get stronger.
But there's a loose end. And Carlotta has noticed that her in-laws aren't getting any younger, and there's no sign of Fern coming back any time soon. Her heart goes out to her little nephew.
She heads back towards the house and goes into the living room to her mother-in-law.
"Polly? Would you like me to take William with us for a few weeks? To give you a break. We can pass this way again on our way to Leicester."
"Oh that wouldn't be fair, you already have Molly to look out for." Polly says.
"He'd be counted as a Ringmaster's ward - the shared responsibility of the circus folk. Like I was." Carlotta says. "Until Fern is well. I know Tom's heart isn't good these days, and you've got the stables to think of. I feel guilty leaving you to look after William as well."
Polly hesitates, then nods.
"I'll have him ready for you in the morning. Thank you Carlotta." she squeezes her hand. "I'm very, very glad you're not leaving Will."
"I love him." Carlotta says, smiling gently, then heading back to her caravan.
First of all though, Will is keen to meet Molly, and Carlotta isn't going to do anything to ruin the moment when he runs up the drive towards them, scoops up the four month old girl, and holds her close.
"She's so fair." he whispers, kissing her on the head, then kissing Carlotta. "I always thought she'd be dark, like you."
"Well, there's fair people on both sides of the family." Carlotta says.
She gives them some time to enjoy each other's company. But there's things they need to get sorted.
"We need to talk. And before you say anything... I've decided it's time for an amnesty. We've got to sort this thing out with Fern, and so long as you tell me the truth today, I won't leave you."
"Okay." Will takes a deep breath. "Let's go into the caravan."
They go inside and sit down on the sofa. Carlotta leans on him gently, supportive. She's done being upset about this now.
"The night we argued, Fern got me drunk." Will says. "And I kissed her. But I don't remember sleeping with her and I certainly don't recall saying I'd leave you. So I can't promise I'm not William's biological father, but I'm pretty sure I'm not."
"William is albino." Carlotta says, sighing. "Guppy, a doctor I know, said being albino is more likely if your parents are related."
"Well, yes, but it's Fern's maternal grandpa that's albino. So she's not related to me on that side." Will says.
"Oh. In that case, that rules out that theory." Carlotta sighs again. "I can't believe you kissed Fern, you don't even like her."
"I can't believe you're taking it this calmly." Will says.
"I've had a lot of time to be angry, a lot of time to miss you, and a lot of time to forgive you." Carlotta says. "But I'm sick of Fern, especially since she just dumped William here weeks ago for your parents to look after, poor kid."
"Well there's one way we could solve this." Will says. "By finding someone else who would admit to being little William's dad. You're a trained secret agent, after all. If you can find a likely name, I can take a picture of William and make enquiries. For all we know, they might want to take responsibility for him."
***
This probably wasn't her best idea ever. After all, spying for your country was one thing, but this was breaking and entering. But Carlotta knew Fern's house should be unoccupied - after all, Fern and her mother had claimed they needed to go to the coast for a bit due to 'ill health', hense dumping little William at The Oaks.
It was pitifully easy to break into the house. It was a miracle they hadn't been burgled. Inside, Carlotta carefully replaced the blackouts, then turned on her torch.
She was surprised when she saw the inside. Furniture had clearly been removed; there were little marks on the carpet where more armchairs and such had been. Surely they wouldn't take things like that with them to the coast? There are half a dozen photos of Fern and her parents, but none of William. And frankly... this doesn't look like a house with a young baby in.
She looks through each of the rooms. There isn't even a nursery, or even a cot. Maybe the baby sleeps in Fern's bed, in this pink frilly room? Searching the room, there's nothing obviously incriminating, like a diary confessing all, unfortunately. But she searches thoroughly, and opens Fern's jewellry box. The box is empty - maybe Fern took her sparkly things with her. Opening the second layer, she finds a bundle of letters. Aha.
There's not much in the way of love letters though, in fact, a lot of this is final demands for bills. But at the bottom there are a few letters from a man, the last from about a year ago telling Fern not to write to him again. Fortunately Carlotta gets the name and address off the first one.
She looks back at the bills. Gracious, Fern is in dreadfully over her head, and has never been one to visibly scrimp on anything. Opening the wardrobe, it's full of Fern's lavish clothes, shoes and handbags, even accounting for those she took. At the bottom of the wardrobe is a box full of stockings, which can only be found on the black market.
She isn't sure whether to feel angry or worried. What has Fern got herself into? And though she'd be the first to say that material things aren't everything for a baby, it doesn't seem right that there's a lot of luxury for Fern and nothing here for William.
And now that she's broken in, she can't confront her. Damn!
She does a quick search of the rest of the house. Everyone except Fern seems to be struggling to get by, but there's a number of black market items to be found hidden in various places.
She telephones her old general the next day to call in a favour, then takes a trip to the barracks. It's not that she doesn't trust Will to do this, but this way, he can't be accused of making up the answer. The general greets her with a nod and a salute, before summonning a rather nervous-looking private.
"Private Grant!" the general barks, showing him a picture. "Have you been romantically involved with this woman?"
"Yes sir." Private Grant says, wondering where this is going.
"And you have a brother who is albino?" the general asks.
"Yes sir." the private frowns. "He's all right, isn't he?"
"He's fine." Carlotta says, stepping forward, and holding out a picture of little William. She's been looking Private Grant up and down as he speaks, and he does look a bit like William.
"How come you have one of my brother's baby pictures?" the private asks.
"Private... George. Is there any chance you could have had a child with Fern?"
George hesitates, then nods sheepishly.
"But she never said when she wrote." he says, sounding hurt. "Is that my boy? He looks like my brother." A small smile forms on his face. "What's his name?"
"William." Carlotta says.
"And how do you know all this?" George asks.
"It's a bit of a long story." Carlotta says. "Fern is claiming that a married man is William's father, and wants him to leave his wife. The man was drunk, and can't be sure he isn't the father. So we were searching to see if anyone definitely knew."
"How old is he?" George asks. When Carlotta tells him, he nods. "Well, I'm disappointed in Fern, but I'm sure William is mine. Taking his pigmentation into account, he looks a lot like me. I'll write to Fern and offer to support him but... I'm engaged to another young lady, who is also with child. If I'd known about William, I would have had to marry Fern, of course."
***
It takes just one more telephone call to Fern's mother, in her coastal hotel, to extract a confession from Fern that she did, indeed, lie about Will fathering her child. When interrogated by her mother, she broke down and admitted she had been furious when Will turned her down, and tried to seize the opportunity to win him over for good by using George.
Things are looking up, Carlotta considers, as she starts packing her things to go back on the road, as Ringmaster. She still has Will, she hasn't died giving birth to Molly, and her circus is only going to get stronger.
But there's a loose end. And Carlotta has noticed that her in-laws aren't getting any younger, and there's no sign of Fern coming back any time soon. Her heart goes out to her little nephew.
She heads back towards the house and goes into the living room to her mother-in-law.
"Polly? Would you like me to take William with us for a few weeks? To give you a break. We can pass this way again on our way to Leicester."
"Oh that wouldn't be fair, you already have Molly to look out for." Polly says.
"He'd be counted as a Ringmaster's ward - the shared responsibility of the circus folk. Like I was." Carlotta says. "Until Fern is well. I know Tom's heart isn't good these days, and you've got the stables to think of. I feel guilty leaving you to look after William as well."
Polly hesitates, then nods.
"I'll have him ready for you in the morning. Thank you Carlotta." she squeezes her hand. "I'm very, very glad you're not leaving Will."
"I love him." Carlotta says, smiling gently, then heading back to her caravan.
