Quills: the Rise of the Northern Matriarch-Chapter 78: Nora

12 Years Ago.

"I do not like Daddy's car, Mommy. Why can't he come with us?" Ivy whined to her mother and kicked in her booster seat. Nora looked at her sister, she agreed, his car was dusty. She felt the buckle tighten across her waist as she looked at her mom's smiling face as she fastened the booster seat tightly. Nora looked up dazedly. He had just come home from a long trip and had already gone off.

"Lenora has to go to the doctor, she might have an infection in her ear or something else nasty, Mon Chou." Fiona said, looking at her cute daughter waiting patiently inside her booster seat. Fiona placed a kiss on her forehead. "Did the Tylenol not help, baby?" Fiona said. Her mothers coconut and vanilla perfume was so soothing, she could smell it between her sniffles. Fiona gently caressed her face. She loved her Mothers attention. Nora felt her hot sore ear with her hand and pouted.

"I do not want the icky medicine from the Chemist, it does not taste anything like a banana." Nora whined. Her head pounded and she was feeling miserable enough already, the sickly thick antibiotic goo was not her idea of a good time. Pills could be taken with chocolate milk or other sweet drinks like juice that her mother liked to limit. She might even be able to have a fizzy drink.

"Honey, you know that they may not have any other flavors. I will try." Fiona explained and sighed.

"I can take a pill Mommy. I can remember. I am good at it. " Nora assured her mother. Fiona laughed. Her daughters were in too much of a hurry to grow up.

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"I will talk to Dr. McCrae. If she says it is okay and prescribes pills, then we will be fine. You might have to bear with the children's stuff. No protesting, please!" Fiona said. Fiona finished her safety check. She placed another kiss on her daughter's forehead, which was burning up. Malcolm did not normally let her use his Mercedes, but her Nissan's tires were all flat. She did not like driving high-profile vehicles. It was like putting on a sign to invite a carjacker. She had learned her lesson in her teens. She often learned from her mistakes. Malcolm was one. He was not here again. She went to the other side of the vehicle to work on Ivy's seat.

"Mommy, can we listen to music in the car?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, hold on a second and Mommy will put it on." Fiona dug her iPod out of her pocket and added the stereo adapter from her car. She turned on the car and flipped the ignition off to keep the battery running. She put on Taylor Swift's "Two is better than One" and began to sing along and serenade her girls. Fiona felt her daughter's forehead again.

"Poor baby, it must hurt so much" Fiona said and looked at the time and hurried up. Fiona closed the door and headed to the opposite side of the car to get in. She slid on her way to the door, slipped on her way to the other side of the car, and grabbed the vehicle itself. Ivy cackled at her mother.

"What if she hurt herself, Ivy?" Nora whined.

"She is okay. She has not sworn." Ivy retorted. Fiona opened the door and stuck her tongue out at her daughters.

"Ivy, do not play with the straps." Fiona said sternly to her fidgety daughter. Fiona adjusted the seat and pulled out of the driveway, thankful that the hard work was over. She would need to call someone to tow her own car later. She needed a vehicle. The snow-covered scenery flew by as she drove. It was early and there were only two other vehicles on the road. She missed living in the city, it was isolating to be away from her friends.

"Out again, maybe a hospital would be better?" Fiona talked to herself. Nora dozed off, despite the music and singing. Mom had a beautiful voice. She heard her Mother flick on the heater as the windows fogged up. Her eyes opened again, and they drooped closed again. Nora awoke to hearing a panicked voice from her Mother and honking. Three cars were driving erratically around them.

"Mommy, I am scared. Do they want to hurt us?" Ivy cried.

"Do not be scared, my babies," Fiona said. She reached into her purse and fumbled around trying to find her phone. Fiona wanted to cry, she could not find it. There was no one else that could take it. "No, no, no." Fiona said in front of her children, panicking. "Close your eyes and tuck in like what they showed you on the airplane, babies. We might crash." Fiona sobbed desperately as she tried to maneuver the car. "Do it!" Fiona ordered desperately. The road was so bare. This had to be on purpose.

"Oh, no." Fiona said. The car out front of them suddenly stopped and Fiona turned hard. The brakes were not responding now. They were doomed.

"Damn it." Fiona cried. The slickness of the road caused the car to slide and hit a barrier and flip. "Don't forget how much I love you both. I love you. I always wi-" Fiona said desperately as the car continued to flip. The glass shattered and rained around them as Fiona's side of the vehicle's roof caved in and broke her neck moments later. The car flipped end over end. She saw her sister's seat coming loose as they rolled. A sharp tree limb speared through Ivy, who had been rolling around the cabin like a rag doll in her seat. Nora looked to see her own seat belt barely holding her booster seat. Her eyes widened. Ivy's looked like it had been cut.

"Ugh." Ivy grunted. Ivy started to cry softly. The tree limb snapped as the car fell in mere fractions of a second. The accident seemed like it took hours as her young eyes saw her mothers blood and sister's blood splattering on the fabric of the seats. The car rolled down the embankment towards the water and rested on the bank.

"Mommy!" Nora screamed. The cars interior chilled, beeps came from the console periodically.

"Lenny. It hurts." Ivy started to cry and whimper. Nora tried to reach for her twin and could not reach her.

"Hold on, Ivy." Nora said as, she fumbled with her buckles, unable to release herself, and she started to sob.

"Mommy, I cannot get out. Wake up! Mommy! Wake up please Mommy. Ivy's hurt Mommy. She needs a doctor." Nora cried. She kicked her little legs, trying to get the remaining belt to tear like her sisters had. Nora looked down on the roof of the car and bitterly sobbed."Mommy!" Nora tried again. "Help!" Nora started to scream.

"Lenny, Lenny. Lenny. Mommy is not here anymore. It does not hurt anymore," Ivy said to her sister. Her little hand reached out for her sister's boot, desperate to hold on to her for comfort. "Don't kick, just let me hold it. Lenny." Ivy said quietly, Blood started to come out of her lips and trickled out of her open mouth.

"Ivy? Please hold on, Ivy. Don't close your eyes. Do not sleep." Nora sobbed. "Don't leave me alone." Nora sobbed.

"I am trying to Len-" Ivy mumbled. Her eyes drooped, staying a fraction open. The steam from her breath gradually stopped. Nora hung upside down, Snow started to fall and the cold air started to waft into the cabinet. Nora wept and lost consciousness briefly. She woke when she heard car doors opening and a call.

"Oh god, there are children in there." one woman said to another outside.

"You just got your certificate, you know you cannot move them until they get here," the pair argued.

"I can bloody well comfort them." one of the outside voices shouted back.