Chapter 13- Wicked Forest

Jeanette ran her hand through her hair. No matter what she did, it didn’t work. The more she tried, the more Crystal went off the rails. Her husband was no help. He blamed her for putting the coven in danger. Little did he know that she would never call the wedding off, therefore the coven was safe.
“Mother,” Ruby called, and Jeanette turned to the sound of her voice.
“In here,” she called and switched the kettle on.
Ruby sat at the kitchen table and waited while she had made a cup of tea.
“I am worried about Crystal. What should I do?”
She had called Ruby as she was the sensible one, the voice of reason when all hope seemed lost.
She looked at her daughter and pride filled her body, Ruby was smart and obedient, the perfect example. Plus, she was the only one that could get through to Crystal at times and that is what she needed at that moment.
“You need to back off. The more you tighten the reins the more she will pull away,” Jeanette felt her mouth open at the shock and sharp tone in Ruby’s voice.
“What?” she managed to spit out.
“Mother, you are suffocating her. Just look at her, talk to her. It is hard enough being a teenager. Do you remember what that was like?” Jeanette pursed her lips and thought back.
“Well, I do. I hated everyone. Most days it felt like everyone was against me. The world was against me. Take a step back and loosen up. If the Carmichael’s want it as much as you then they will wait.”
“We can’t do that Ruby.”
“You can, you just don’t want too. Think about Crystal, put yourself in her shoes. Show her love and attention.”
Jeanette was silent. How could she tell Ruby that she didn’t feel the same about Crystal as she did her other daughters? Ruby was sensitive and would never understand, having never had a difficult child or any child for that matter.
“There is something I want to tell you,” Ruby said with a smile bringing her out of her thoughts.
“Go on.”
“I’m pregnant,” she gushed. Jeanette physically paled. She felt the blood leave her face.
“Congratulation’s,” she stuttered while her heart spilt in two. For the remainder of Ruby’s visit Jeanette tried to sound and look happy for her glowing daughter. When she left, she crumbled into her chair in the living room.
“What’s wrong,” she heard Henry ask. Figures one look at her face and he instantly knew something was up.
“It’s Ruby. She’s pregnant.”
Henry gasped. “All the better to wait,” he replied.
“We can’t and you know it.”
“By the time the wedding is here she will be too far along and won’t survive. You and I both know that.”
“Maybe she will. Ruby is strong,” Jeanette said with hope. But the doubt tugged away inside. Could she risk losing her girl? Did she really have a choice?
***
Ruby had thought her mother would be happy with the news of her pregnancy. Instead, she had noticed the look upon her face.
She sighed as she made her way through the community to the two-bedroom house her and her husband Greg lived in. As usual his car was missing.
Ruby wasn’t a fool and knew he was out chasing skirt. He wasn’t faithful and never would be. Yet she endured the pain of knowing she wasn’t the only woman in his life.
Her mother wouldn’t understand and make her keep quiet if she told her. In the end it was better to keep it to herself. Living with a man she despised with every fibre of her being was her own hell. She knew how Crystal felt. She felt it too. Yet she had painted a smile on her face and pretended that she was happy and in love with the poor excuse of a man she called her husband.
Biting her nails, she sat on the couch. She had hoped her pregnancy would have taken some of the strain and attention away from Crystal. It was never going to happen she could see that now.
A knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts. Getting up she made her way to the passage. The shock on her face must have been clear.
“What can’t I visit my sister?” Pearl said stepping past her.
“Come in,” Ruby muttered and followed her to the living room. Pearl was a woman that Ruby avoided at all costs. She was a seer; she would pick up on Ruby’s secret. Panic and fear filled her body as she took a seat on the couch facing her older sister whilst picking at a thread of cotton that had come loose on the couch.
“When are you going to tell mother?” to anyone else the question would sound odd. Yet Ruby knew exactly what she meant.
“It’s none of your business,”
“If you don’t tell her your dirty secret I will,” Pearl said with a look of disgust. “Perfect Ruby. You’re not so perfect anymore.”
Ruby felt her body turn to ice. If the coven found out, she would be put on trial and banished. It would bring shame to her family and her mother would hate her.