in my chest. There was so much to do in that amount of time, and I doubted my parents—let alone myself—had expected that I would be leaving so quickly. In my attempt to grasp the immediate proximity of our voyage and all that I needed to do beforehand, Bram had turned and was now walking away from me and through his house.
“I expect you’ll need some luggage,” he called loudly to me though the open front door.
I nodded my head, eyes wide, and I quickly jogged after him into the house. I was completely surprised to see that all of his furnishings, paintings, sculptures, and light fixtures were covered by white sheets. The windows had all been shuttered and reinforced. I could see from my place in the foyer that the fireplaces in both the drawing room and library had been cleaned and were now barren. The iron firewood grates waited empty and desolate in their places, while a meticulously stacked bundle of wood had been placed neatly beside the hearth for future use.
“Bram?” I called to him as I rushed past the large staircase and into a backroom that overlooked the seats we had been sitting in the afternoon before.
The little, but ornate and well- appointed room, served as his personal study. It was generally used for his “business dealings” and correspondence with his family and associates. But at the moment, it was also serving as a sorting room as Bram prepared himself to leave. Just to the right of the door were a large trunk and a small handheld suitcase.
“Use the smaller one for the day -to-day things that you may need while we are travelling, and the trunk for everything else,” Bram instructed aside as he gathered and sorted papers into leather-bound carriers.
“Bram, my parents have agreed to pay for my travel expenses. I need to know how much to reimburse you, as well as how much I’ll need for the remainder of our journey,” I said as I stooped to pick up the small suitcase from where it was standing on the floor in front of the trunk.
Bram stopped sorting the papers and regarded me with an incredulously raised bushy, white eyebrow. His mouth pursed in absolute rejection. “Go and ready my wagon, boy—we’ll take the trunk to your parents’ home immediately. We’ll be traveling by train to Paris, and from Paris to Le Havre. From there, we’ll take a ship to Dublin. I have some business there, but once it has been concluded, we’ll proceed by coach to Drumcliff.”
It would appear that he was going to neglect the question of reimbursement entirely.
“Bram?” I asked as he again returned to sorting the papers on his large mahogany desk. “What if I had told you ‘no’?”
Again, he looked up from the papers, only this time it was with a smile instead of a gruff scowl. “That would have been the wrong decision, and I have always taught you to choose what is right.”
I too smiled at his absolute logic, and left him happily to do as I’d been instructed. I readied the h orses and carriage, and then reentered the house to grab the trunk and smaller suitcase from Bram’s study. Surprisingly, they were already waiting beside the door. Bram exited his house just as soon as I’d discovered the luggage, and sprightly jumped up into the driver’s bench.
I struggled as I loaded the heavy trunk alone, with Bram watching amusedly from his perch. The trunk must be lined with lead , I thought to myself as I strained to lift it off the ground. After I had managed to wrangle the massive piece of luggage onto the luggage platform on the back of Bram’s carriage—with no help from Bram besides the occasional chuckle I might add—I jumped up onto the seat beside him. Without further delay, we were on our way to my house.
While my father helped me laboriously bring the trunk up to the house, Bram sat comfortably at our well-used table enjoying coffee and a pastry with my mother. Once we had the trunk inside the house, my father sat down at the table with a great huff.
I was too
“I expect you’ll need some luggage,” he called loudly to me though the open front door.
I nodded my head, eyes wide, and I quickly jogged after him into the house. I was completely surprised to see that all of his furnishings, paintings, sculptures, and light fixtures were covered by white sheets. The windows had all been shuttered and reinforced. I could see from my place in the foyer that the fireplaces in both the drawing room and library had been cleaned and were now barren. The iron firewood grates waited empty and desolate in their places, while a meticulously stacked bundle of wood had been placed neatly beside the hearth for future use.
“Bram?” I called to him as I rushed past the large staircase and into a backroom that overlooked the seats we had been sitting in the afternoon before.
The little, but ornate and well- appointed room, served as his personal study. It was generally used for his “business dealings” and correspondence with his family and associates. But at the moment, it was also serving as a sorting room as Bram prepared himself to leave. Just to the right of the door were a large trunk and a small handheld suitcase.
“Use the smaller one for the day -to-day things that you may need while we are travelling, and the trunk for everything else,” Bram instructed aside as he gathered and sorted papers into leather-bound carriers.
“Bram, my parents have agreed to pay for my travel expenses. I need to know how much to reimburse you, as well as how much I’ll need for the remainder of our journey,” I said as I stooped to pick up the small suitcase from where it was standing on the floor in front of the trunk.
Bram stopped sorting the papers and regarded me with an incredulously raised bushy, white eyebrow. His mouth pursed in absolute rejection. “Go and ready my wagon, boy—we’ll take the trunk to your parents’ home immediately. We’ll be traveling by train to Paris, and from Paris to Le Havre. From there, we’ll take a ship to Dublin. I have some business there, but once it has been concluded, we’ll proceed by coach to Drumcliff.”
It would appear that he was going to neglect the question of reimbursement entirely.
“Bram?” I asked as he again returned to sorting the papers on his large mahogany desk. “What if I had told you ‘no’?”
Again, he looked up from the papers, only this time it was with a smile instead of a gruff scowl. “That would have been the wrong decision, and I have always taught you to choose what is right.”
I too smiled at his absolute logic, and left him happily to do as I’d been instructed. I readied the h orses and carriage, and then reentered the house to grab the trunk and smaller suitcase from Bram’s study. Surprisingly, they were already waiting beside the door. Bram exited his house just as soon as I’d discovered the luggage, and sprightly jumped up into the driver’s bench.
I struggled as I loaded the heavy trunk alone, with Bram watching amusedly from his perch. The trunk must be lined with lead , I thought to myself as I strained to lift it off the ground. After I had managed to wrangle the massive piece of luggage onto the luggage platform on the back of Bram’s carriage—with no help from Bram besides the occasional chuckle I might add—I jumped up onto the seat beside him. Without further delay, we were on our way to my house.
While my father helped me laboriously bring the trunk up to the house, Bram sat comfortably at our well-used table enjoying coffee and a pastry with my mother. Once we had the trunk inside the house, my father sat down at the table with a great huff.
I was too
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