The Crawford Affair: a literary novel in three parts (Book 1) by Adams M.R

Author:Adams, M.R. [Adams, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Solemn Chanting Press
Published: 2013-06-01T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Claire Gets a Bullseye

Eliza, Jessica, and Claire Covington stood, respectively, on a dense mat on the sprawling plains of Covington lawn, practicing their archery on targets pinned to hay stacks a distance out: red bullseye surrounded by violet ring, surrounded by orange, surrounded by indigo, then yellow, then blue, and finally green–a pattern hand-designed by Claire when she was eight for its prettiness (inspired by the rainbow) and its plethora of rings which made it more likely for even the novice to score.

Claire raised her bow and arrow, pulled back, and released...the arrow sailed through the air...and planted itself in the orange ring.

Eliza raised her bow and arrow, pulled back, and released–the arrow hopped into the grass five yards out, the bow going boooiinnngg.

Jessica raised her bow and arrow, pulled back, and released...bullseye.

“Wonderful, Miss Crawford,” said Eliza, scratching her knee through her jeans.

“Yes, Jessica. Excellence as usual,” said Claire. She never understood why Jessica was so good. She barely took lessons, and she had confessed to Claire years ago, when they were ten, that she only took up archery because her grandfather wanted them to become close, upon which Claire readily admitted that she only took up ballet (her father going through pains–bribes–to have her put in Jessica’s private lessons with some legendary Madame Hussein) for the same reason. Two years later and her father was still paying for these pains which delayed the arrival of her horse, Buttercup.

Anyway, their patriarchs had succeeded so well, Claire and Jessica had become so close, that they refused to turn on each other by dishing dirt. Claire maintained the secret of Jessica’s father and their cook, and Jessica maintained Claire’s secrets, like how her father had been running the family into the ground financially with poor investments. In their youth, the two became conspirers, pulling books from Jessica’s grandfather’s bookshelves hoping when the right book was unlodged (she had betted on The Sun Also Rises) that a secret passage would’ve been revealed: a stone path leading to a rickety metal spiral staircase leading to another stone passage lit by fire torches leading to a cavern with a lagoon, a canoe on its shore, which would lead to some dungeon where they would’ve found Fargus Sleamton paying for his atrocious use of the n-word.

She had missed Jessica the first week she left for Oxford (leaving under the pretense of acclimating to the new culture before attending university) and that fondness grew stronger as it was even more justified by Jessica’s true display of friendship: not calling her out after leaving, and returning, so abruptly, without word. She was sure Jessica had already worked things out in her mind, giving her the benefit of the doubt like when she gave her the fifteen thousand dollars to cover her loss on Lover’s Wish at the track, blaming her excessive behavior on Stephen for allowing her to get tipsy on chardonnay and betting the money in the first place. A good friend indeed.

Claire’s surroundings came into focus.

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