A Musician’s Tale - Chapter 6

Miya ran to the three women and hugged them tightly. “I missed you guys!” Said Miya.

“We missed you too, Miya,” Jade said, stroking her hair.

“I think you’ve been wanting to take a look at this?” Ingrid had pulled out a small book. It was Ingrid’s notebook where she had recorded all the unique musicians she met all over the world.

“Kyaaa!” Squealed Miya as she kissed Ingrid’s cheek. “Thank you, big sis!” Marie called over the kids and they all came running.

“Big sisters!” The kids went to hug the women one by one. “Hi! Who are you?” Himari approached Catherine.

“My name is Catherine, and you?” Catherine addressed Himari kindly.

“I’m Himari!” She cheerfully introduced herself.

“Come on, Melodious! You have to meet the big sisters!” Hugo dragged Melodious out of his hiding spot.

“Oh, okay,” Melodious greeted the others. “Hi, mom, hi, aunt Jade,” Melodious kissed both of their cheeks.

“You are Melodious right?” Asked Marie.

“Yes, ma’am,” Melodious politely responded.

“Sister Jade is your aunt?” Evelina was shocked. “Uh, yes?” replied Melodious.

“ I wish I was related to one of them,”

Said Rob coolly.

“Same here!” Shouted Alisa. “And me!” Agreed Melaine.

“I think anyone would want to be related to them,” laughed Miya. “You’d have to tell my sister that,” sighed Jade.

“Ate, meron ba akong pasalubong?” Michael Asked .

“Finally a language I can understand! Of course, I have a present for you!” Jade pulled out her phone.

“I’ve sent it to you now. Now, where’s my kiss?”

Michael quickly kissed Jade’s cheek and thanked Jade.

“What did he say?” Asked Marie. Similar to Jade who didn’t know french, Marie didn’t know Tagalog which was Jade’s native language.

“Ate means big sister, and pasalubong is gift. He asked his big sister if she had a gift for him.” Explained Ingrid who was multilingual and the only one besides Catherine who understood most languages.

“Stiamo tutti parlando nella nostra lingua madre ora?” Asked Rob.

“Huh?” Both Jade and Marie didn’t know how to speak Italian.

“He was asking if we were all speaking in our native languages now.” Catherine translated .

“Please, no.” Said Jade rubbing her temples.

“Il n’y a pas besoin de cela!” Marie exclaimed dramatically.

The kids blankly stared at her confused as only Skyler and Melodious knew french.

“She said that there was no need for that,” Chuckled Ingrid as all the kids laughed with her.

“これはとても分かりにくいですね。” Sighed Himari.

“Ha! Finally one I know! She said that this was very confusing!” Shouted Jade as everyone laughed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Catherine, my name’s Roberto but you can call me Rob,” He said formally.

“You can call me sister too if you’d like.” Said Catherine kindly.

“Sister Catherine! Here! My name is Evelina, and I hope you like it!” Eveline came up to Catherine with a flower crown and placed it on top of Catherine’s head.

“Wow, thank you very much, Evelina,” Thanked Catherine.

“¡Muy hermoso!” Exclaimed Hugo. “Thank you,” laughed Catherine.

“And you are?” Catherine asked Hugo.

“¡Me llamo Hugo, hermana Catherine!,” Hugo declared, bowing.

“What did he say?” Alisa asked which Jade promptly translated. “He said that Catherine looked beautiful, and introduced himself in Spanish,”.

“Oh, I wish I knew how to speak more than one language,” Said Alisa sadly.

“I can teach you Japanese if you’d like,” Offered Himari.

“We can teach you too! We know french,” said Skyler and Melodious together.

“¡Sí! And I can teach you Español!” Hugo joined in.

“Me and my siblings would be happy to teach you Tagalog.” Said Miya happily.

“I want to teach Alisa, Italian with my brother too!” Evelina said excitedly as her brother laughed and agreed.

“Well, it seems that you kids are going to be busy. You can’t learn a language in one night so you guys better start now.” Said Catherine.

“Okay!” Said Alisa happily.

The four headed further into the garden and stopped at the fountain of Bella Notte.

“It’s been a while since I’ve last been here. I guess even the children know about the incident?” Said Catherine looking away.

Marie, Ingrid, and Jade exchanged looks. “You know they loved you a lot. You and your family.” muttered Ingrid.

“How did you know they knew?” Questioned Marie who placed a hand on Catherine’s shoulder.

“It was the way they were looking at Melodious… Evelina tried her best to distract herself from Melodious but you could see how pale she was compared to normal. Hugo has always been vibrant but he didn’t treat the kids he knew like siblings right away. He was always cautious but let his guard down with Melodious, glancing at him with a faltering smile. The rest are the same.” explained Catherine, sitting on the fountain.

“The kids have always been good at acting, but it’s not perfect yet it seems.” Jade said with a slight chuckle.

“About that boy Kai, who told your boys about Bella Notte… Did he ever go back to their school?” Asked Jade.

“No, he didn’t. But the boys told me that he was going to Bella Notte.” Catherine told them while chewing her thumbnail.

“You really should stop that,” Jade said, taking Catherine’s hand away from her mouth.

“Who do you think I got this from?” Said Catherine, glancing at Jade.

“Who decided to copy me? Copycat,” Jade laughed lightly.

“Kai… Do none of you find that name familiar?” Marie asked.

“It does sound a little familiar…” Ingrid muttered. Jade looked through the glass doors of the mansion.

“Guys… Was there really that many people in the ballroom when we left?” Jade asked, sensing something was off.

“I don’t think so.” Ingrid squinted trying to get a good look inside. “Definitely not.” Marie said, gathering her skirt to go warn the children.

Suddenly the glass windows broke and a high pitched note rang in their ears.

“Ah!” Marie was blown away by the sound and was knocked into a nearby tree.

“Marie!” Shouted Ingrid. “That’s definitely the sound of a trumpet! Ugh, come on, Catherine!” Jade pulled Catherine to a secret spot in the middle of the garden maze.

“It’s time for plan B.” Jade said undressing. Ingrid and Marie did the same. Now all three wore the same red dress as Catherine.

“Catherine, you didn’t forget to bring the wig did you?” Jade said, wearing a wig. Catherine shook her head and grabbed her wig from a secret compartment in her dress.

“Marie!” Called Ingrid.