I will forever remember the day Josephine moved to town. Her wealthy parents were from England, just like mine. She tells anyone who will listen, that she is related to the royal family. She is a royal nightmare!
She was not royalty but she acted like a princess. The only child, her parents spoiled her and fed her ego. Her collection of tailor made dresses included matching attire for her dolls.
I was so excited to see fancy new homes being built all around the dollhouse! New friends for me to play with. Emily warned that disturbing the ground too much can bring unwanted neighbors, and my goodness did it!
The day she arrived with her family and staff was an exciting day. I spent the morning hurrying with my chores so I could pick flowers to gift her. Mother baked fresh bread and pastries for Josephine's family, to welcome them to the community.
I waved to Josephine and she waved back, a gust of wind tickled my neck. It was a beautiful late summer day and the sun and breeze felt good against my skin.
I grabbed my basket of flowers and introduced myself. I could tell in that moment, life was about to get interesting!
We all liked Josephine instantly, with the exception of Emily. Samuel and Hugh are in love with her to this very day, still enchanted by her trickery.
Emily saw right through her. Emily says Madame Laveau warned her of tricksters like Josephine.
The day I met Josephine, we had on similar purple lace dresses and our dolls matched. We looked like sisters with the exception of our hair color. Blonde and dry like straw, is her hair.
My hair is shiny and stark black like the raven.
Papa insisted I befriend Josephine. In the beginning, she was fun and daring. I quickly realized that she enjoyed tormenting others, and her behavior constantly put me in overwhelming situations.
We all have trinkets and possessions that mean everything to us. To Emily, it's a doll. Madame Laveau had gifted it to her before she left New Orleans. The print on her doll's dress represents her family's tribe and it is all Emily has to remind her of her heritage.
Josephine wanted Emily's doll! She wanted it bad and discussed it endlessly! Her father had traveled all over the world and always brought her back a doll from each place he visited. But Josephine did not have a doll like Emily's. No one did. Not one girl in all of New Brighton!
Josephine always wanted to see it, touch it and play with it. Emily only had two dolls. The other doll my parents had gifted her when she came live with us and it looked more like our dolls. My parents had it made to look like Emily. Emily loved both dolls but for very different reasons. She always carried her doll from New Orleans with her, and the doll from my parents, neatly sat on her bed. She says it sits there to protect her new life in New Brighton, while her other doll has the essence of her ancestors and she protects her from a world that we cannot see.
Emily's doll from Madame Laveau was extraordinary and felt magical. Josephine insisted that she have one and was beside herself that she could never have one like Emily's. Emily's doll was blessed and Josephine knew and understood that.
The sky turned dark without warning.
Our perfect sunny day disappeared behind dark, angry clouds.
The birds stopped singing.
Emily, Josephine, Samuel and I were enjoying a picnic in our secret garden, when the storm began. We quickly packed up what we could and headed back to the dollhouse.
By the time we got inside, Emily realized her doll was missing. Panicked, Emily searched our basket. Her doll was gone!!
I knew Josephine had something to do with it!!
Emily knew it too!
Josephine's smug smile said it all!!!
Mother and Papa scolded Emily and I for accusing Josephine. So did Hugh and Samuel. The rest of our household could not be fooled by Josephine and her antics.
Emily went to bed that night with tears.
I could not sleep either. I was so bothered by what had happened. I needed to do something.
The next morning, I went to see the chief.
I explained to him about Josephine and Emily's doll.
He promised me that the spirit of her ancestors would return Emily's doll to her.
That entire day, I watched Emily struggle. Her smile and light was gone. She stumbled through her chores, sad and clumsy, fighting back tears. She did not want to play in the garden. She did not tell stories or sing in the grand room with us before bed.
I could not sleep again.
I looked at Emily's empty bed.
My heart hurt for her.
I grabbed a candle and headed towards the servant's quarters.
I hate ladders but I could not let her cry up there by herself.
In the corner of the attic, tucked in a ball, Emily sat, rocking back and forth, sobbing.
I hugged her as tight as I could. We prayed together, to her ancestors, asking for the return of her doll,
and we both drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, Emily and I headed off to visit the chief. As we walked by Josephine's house, Josephine waved from the window. We ignored her. Her smile made my stomach turn. Emily started crying again.
Determined to get back Emily's doll, we met with the chief and a shaman woman. Emily likes her and says she has the spirit of Madame Laveau. We sat in a circle in the grass. The shaman woman unwrapped a cloth that she had in a satchel. She explained each item to Emily and gave her the satchel to take with us.
I listened in wonder as she spoke. Her and the chief explained that it is important to always keep your heart as light as a feather. And to do otherwise, would bring great suffering into one's life. They told us that the one that stole Emily's doll would be revealed in time. Emily was to imagine herself as an eagle with the ability to fly above any storm. The chief told her to observe the world around her and wait patiently for her doll's safe return.
On our walk back to the dollhouse, we stopped at the crossroads. Emily left offerings of an apple, a rose, a feather and a coin that the woman had given her. She said a prayer under her breath.
Every day afterwards for a week, news of misfortune regarding Josephine was the daily conversation at tea time.
By the end of that week, Josephine was almost unrecognizable. Covered in a rash from head to toe, she sat on her stoop, arm's crossed, mad at the world! Her left leg was wrapped in bandages. Her right eye, black and swollen shut. Cuts and scrapes covered her arms and face.
Josephine thought she could steal another doll. This time it was Elizabeth's doll. And as she ran off with Elizabeth's doll, she tripped, fell in a fox hole near a bush of poison oak, injuring her leg!
When she fell, her satchel dumped out onto the ground, revealing trinkets she had stolen from the community, including Emily's doll!
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