Free Eternal Melody by Anisa Claire West Page A

pounding headache and must go to sleep before I faint.” Rebecca exaggerated, though her head had begun to dully throb from the stressful encounter.
    To Rebecca’s relief, Gregory finally relented.  “Ethel and I will find accommodations for tonight, but this discussion is not over.  We shall be back in the morning.”
    Rebecca smirked triumphantly, knowing that she would be at work when he came back.  Gregory really was a poor listener, she thought, as she had moments ago told him that she was to begin a new job on the morrow .  Gregory and Ethel filed out of the room, and Rebecca marginally resisted the compulsion to slam the door so hard that the impact would rattle the window panes.
    Minutes after they left, Rebecca hurried downstairs to find Ryan.  From the hallway, she could hear a somber melody flowing from his violin.  Rebecca did not want to interrupt her brother in the midst of his art, but she had no choice.  She knocked firmly on the door.
    “Becky, come on in.” Ryan opened the door and looked at her with a compassionate expression that told her indisputably that he knew what was going on.
    “Ryan, will you please tell me why Gregory and Ethel are in Vienna?  They concocted some ridiculous story about Grandmother and Annabelle missing me so much that they had to bring them here!   But I want you to tell me the truth. ” She implored desperately .
    “Sit down, Becky.” Ryan motioned towards the corner of the room where a round wooden table sat with two chairs.
    Rebecca plopped into the seat .
    “Gregory lost his job at the steel mill.  It happened just two days after we departed Michigan.  When Grandmother told him that you and I had come to Europe, he saw that as a perfect opportunity to cash in and lead the life of leisure he’s always coveted.” Ryan saw that Rebecca was staring at him in blatant perplexity, so he explained.  “Gregory and Ethel seem to think that if you ’re an opera singer in Vienna, you will make a fortune.  They also fancy that they’ll be able to live off of this fortune.”
    Rebecca had been sitting rigidly on the chair, listening intently to Ryan’s account, but when he revealed Gregory and Ethel’s true intentions, she jumped up like a feral animal on the attack in the wilderness .  “What?!  Come again?  Please tell me that you’re joking, Ryan.” She looked pleadingly at her brother, not willing to believe that Gregory and Ethel exp ected her to be their benefactress .
    Ryan folded his hands and looked down absently at them, despising his role as messenger of ill tidings.  “I’m so sorry, Becky.  I wish I could tell you that it’s not true.  But it is.”
    “So Gregory just came right out and admitted that?” Rebecca asked as she wildly paced the narrow confines of the room.
    “Not in so many words, but he did strongly allude to it by asking what part you had gotten in the orchestra and how much you would be paid.  When I told him that there had been no more singing roles and that you were to stand by as an unpaid understudy, he and Ethel exchanged a transparent look that gave them both away.”
    Rebecca recalled vividly the look that Ryan must have seen, as she had just bore witness to it in her chamber and knew it amounted to deception.
    “What else did they say?” Rebecca asked with a sick feeling in her stomach.
    “Gregory said that since you indirectly dragged them across continents that you should be
    responsible for the outcome.”
    “Why do they keep blaming me ?  You also came to Europe of your own volition.”  Rebecca pointed out, trying to make sense of the whole situation.
    “Yes, I did, and I reminded them of that.  But they have stars in their eyes, Becky.  They truly believe that you will become a famous singer and provide a decadent lifestyle for them, that it is your duty to do so.”
    “Well at least they think highly enough of my singing to imagine that I’ll become famous.” Rebecca snorted cynically.