Characters: Rhiannon and Andromeda Date: Tuesday 17th January, 1979 Setting: Scarborough campsite, in the woods Content: Some sadness, some bonding, possibly some peyote Summary: Rhiannon is mourning. Andy is too. Status: Incomplete
The last few weeks had seemed like a blur for Rhiannon. Christmas had been a fun, festive affair. As it always was in the Kelly house. She had joined her wandering parents and siblings at their Grandmothers house, as had Rhiannon's seventeen aunts and uncles and their hoards of children. Life was never quiet with the Kelly's, and music and mead flowed freely. She loved being home, loved bouncing her baby brother on her knee and singing with her Daddy and finding the coin in the Christmas pudding.
For New Years Eve the Kelly Family Singers played in the Manchester Town Square, all twelve brothers and sisters joining their mother and father again for the first time in years. Rhiannon had dearly missed this, and her clear voice rang out over the crowd. And then everything exploded.
It was still hard, knowing that only a few weeks ago there had been 12 Kelly siblings, and now there were only nine. It didn't seem real. Ennis, with his strong hands and gentle eyes and near magical skill with a guitar. Rian, with his mischief and his laughter and his little silver pipes. And Tomas, only four years old, the sweet baby with golden hair and chubby cheeks and a tiny voice that lilted perfectly in tune. He had been showing signs of magic. Rhiannon had planned to take him to his first day at Hogwarts...
She didn't even remember leaving the campground, her body simply hijacked itself and took her to the place it knew she needed to be. The forest. She was so at home in the trees, surrounded by nature and animals and the primal magic of the earth. She folded herself up on a mossy boulder and wrapped her arms around her knees, tears flowing freely down her face. She wasn't ashamed to cry.