Chapter 2 - Invitation

"Mama!" a young girl made her way inside the humble house of the Harris with an envelope in her hand, "Look at this!" her voice was full of glee and excitement that she could barely contain. She waved the envelope in her hand, she looked around the house, "Mama!"

Not finding her mother or her sibling inside, the girl made her way to the backyard of the house where she saw her mother and her younger sister who were hanging the wet clothes on the clothes line. The sun was bright and warm enough to dry the clothes they had washed in the river.

"Mama! Maddie!"

"Stop shouting, Beth. I am sure even Mrs. Parkins can hear you over the fence," said the woman who had an apron tied around her waist and her hair tied in a bun, "What's gotten you excited?" asked her mother.

The girl named Beth smiled at her mother and showed her the envelope in her hand, "Look what I received," there was a red seal on the envelope that had been opened, "It is an invitation to the grand ball of Hallow in the King's castle."

"That is not possible. Why would the King send an invitation to us?" her mother asked and then took the letter from her to notice the seal that was on the outside, "Oh well, I cannot read."

The grand ball of Hallow took place every year in the King's palace and it was a ball that many wished to go but it was not for the lower people but only for the men who worked for the King and his other acquaintances who mostly hailed from the rich class. People like the Harris' family didn't have the opportunity to get an invitation which was why the woman wondered if her older daughter was imagining things.

The youngest daughter, Madeline said, "Let me take a look at that, mama," and she read what was written in it. Her eyebrows furrowed, "It is indeed an invitation from the King. We have our name in there."

"I told you!" the older girl replied, clapping her hands and coming to stand next to her younger sister who was two-inch shorter than her. Beth had dark brown hair that almost looked black and eyes that were green in color, acquiring her features from her father while the younger girl took after her mother's pale features with blonde hair and brown eyes that had her living in her older sister's shadow, "What do you think? Should we go to the ball?"

Madeline who was the youngest smiled at her elder sister who was a year older to her who looked excited to go to the ball. It was obvious she had been wanting to go there like many other folks who couldn't afford to even step into the castle and only look at it from afar. Her brown eyes shifted to look at her mother who was in deep thought.

She could tell that her mother was calculating the cost if they were going to attend the ball. Birds flew up in the sky, chirping as they made their way towards the forest.

"How did we get invited?" asked Madeline to her sister Beth, "Is it for everyone?" she found it hard to believe that the king or the people who worked for him had decided to send an invitation to a family where the crown would not benefit anything from it.

Seeing the frown on her younger sister's face, Beth said, "The King has decided to be generous enough in inviting many families to attend the ball this time instead of limiting it with minimum numbers. I was right there in the market when I heard the announcement made in front of the village's scaffold."

"How kind of him," Madeline murmured under her breath. With what she had heard, the King was nowhere generous and had the reputation of a cruel tyrant. People like her or many of them who lived on this side of the village had never seen the king but had heard only stories.

Some good but mostly bad.

"Are we going, mama? It is not every time we are invited by the king and get the opportunity to see the castle," Beth eagerly waited for her mother who said,

"We will need gowns, shoes and carriage to travel which we can't afford. Your father is working really hard and the little money we have saved is for one of you married and settled while we seek the help of whoever gets married first," Beth looked glum hearing this.

The elder woman gave it some thought, her eyebrows knitted together. If one of her daughters were able to acquire a male's interest who was of high status, everything would fall in the right place. There were enough suitors who were already trying to woo her daughters. Like every mother, she had the best interest of her daughters in her heart and wanted to see her daughters married and have a good life.

"I suppose you are right. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity but you will need to arrange the gowns, Beth. I will ask your father if he can arrange the carriage," said their mother to have Beth scream in joy.

"Oh, mother, thank you! I will ask Mr. Heathcliff if he can rent us some clothes for that evening. Surely, he wouldn't mind for a day," Madeline heard her sister speak excitedly where she could see her elder sister was already dreaming about it, "You wouldn't mind if I take Maddie along with me, do you, mama?"

"Don't go too far!" their mother yelled when the girls stepped out of the house.

The woman knew out of her two daughters, it was her older daughter who was interested to go and keen on finding a suitor amongst the possible crowd in the ball that was going to take place in the castle. Maybe it was a good thing and the probability of Beth placing a man as husband was higher than Madeline as she was the stunning one out of the two girls. It would place her daughter in a better position while it would also improve the Harris' status and wealth.

But no one knew what fate had in store.