The Looking Glass Chapter Two

For lack of time to type out what I'm thinking, here's chapter two of my novel The Looking Glass. I posted the first chapter previously, so you can go look at it here if you wish.

Chapter Two
Holly looked at her older brother and grinned. The confusion and interest in his face mirrored her own original reaction, she was sure. Oh, as much as she'd wanted to believe the extraordinary tale, it seemed so impossible! Jared lay down on the grass and put his hands behind his head, "So what happened next?" He asked.
"Grandfather was getting tired," Holly said slowly, "He told me about this just a week before he died. So he told me that he couldn't share everything that had happened to him, but there was one thing that he really wanted me to know."
"What's that?"
"You know how the old woman..."
"Wait," Jared interrupted, "Didn't grandfather bother to find out her name?"
"If he did, he didn't tell me. Anyhow, she had said to him that this place was the land where every lad found his true love. Grandfather thought she was talking only about the citizens of Aeroth, but she meant what she said. Grandfather found his one true love there. Her name was Genevieve, but he called her Gem. After knowing Gem for a few months, grandfather was prepared to propose, but one day he was visiting the palace and he told the queen Aurelia of his love and she asked him if he knew of the complications to the union of two worlds. 'Why, no. What complications could there be?' he asked. 'Have you never thought of going back to your own world?' Queen Aurelia asked in surprise. 'Of course I've thought about it!' Grandfather sputtered angrily, 'I have a family back there! A home! A country! But no person I have talked to knows of any possible way for me to return to earth, so I may as well be happy here!' Queen Aurelia nodded and said, 'There is a way back, if you wish to know, and you can take Genevieve with you if she wishes to go, but no matter what choice you make, there will be consequences and probably pain.' 'What? What is this you're saying? Explain, your majesty!' Grandfather was excited about the possibility of returning to earth, and was sure that Gem would come with him. The queen took a deep breath and said, 'On the day of your wedding, you will become one. If you wish to return to earth, the two of you must go separately and you may marry in your world, for no married person can travel between the worlds. If you marry here, you can never return.' 'I'm sure that Gem with come with me! There is no sorrow in the choice. Her father and mother have been dead for years. She has no family!' Queen Aurelia nodded and said, 'But I have not finished yet. There is another piece to this puzzle. My dear John, any child with Aerothian blood in him will return to Aeroth when he is weaned, though we do not know what magic works for this to happen. This child cannot return to earth until he or she is twelve years of age, and then he or she will return only by their own choice. No person can be forced to travel the spaces between the worlds.' Grandfather was devastated. Would Gem be willing to give up her dream of motherhood for the sake of true love? He went and talked to her, but she refused to make the journey to earth. 'Our land is one where every man and woman finds their true love,' Gem said, crying, 'But not every person gets to reach happily ever after. You must go home, and I will stay here.' Grandfather's heart was broken, but he came home to his family. He met grandma three years later, but she was only 14 at the time. He kinda liked her, but she was nothing like Gem. He was nine years older than she was, and I think she told me that she was 22 when they got married. That means that it took grandpa 11 years to put Gem behind him."
"Wow. Some of this is confusing. Didn't grandpa tell you how he got home? Or why couldn't he come say goodbye to everybody and then go back to Genevieve? Did he ever tell grandma? And why exactly did he want to tell you all of this?"
"Grandpa didn't tell me how he got home, though I wish he had. It seems that he implied it would be somewhat difficult for me to do."
"Difficult for you to do? Wait, he wants you to go to Aeroth? How in the world is that going to happen?!"
"Jared, the whole reason he told me about it was because he wants to know what happened to Gem. If she's still alive, he wants me to apologize to her for his desertion."
"And how are you going to get there?"
"It'll take a few years, but you know how Mom and Dad are taking you on a trip as a graduation present? They said they'll do the same thing for me when I graduate. I'm going to choose to go to France."
Jared sat up, tipping his head back and gazing at the sky for a moment. Chuckling, he said, "I love the way those green eyes of yours sparkle when you're excited,"
"Glad you like it, but I still wish I had blue eyes. Blue-eyed blondes are supposed to be perfect beauties, but I don't hear too much about green-eyed blondes." Holly sighed. Looking at Jared she rolled her eyes. It didn't look like he'd heard a word she said.
Suddenly Jared sat up again and said, "You know, squirt, we were pretty close for most of our lives, weren't we?" Holly nodded. "I'm not sure why I let that change. You're a pretty decent kid, you know? I'll bet that a few years ago, I never would have dreamed of going out of the country and leaving you behind. We did everything together."
Holly's heart skipped. What was Jared saying? Surely he wasn't thinking...
"What if I asked mom and dad if you could come on the trip, too? We could go to France and both of us could try to get into Aeroth. I don't want my kid sister running around by herself in other worlds where queens can turn into ugly old women and princes are transformed into beasts." He winked at her, and Holly smiled broadly. Whether her grandfather's tale had been true or not, she had gained one wonderful gift from it. She had her brother back.

"You want to go where?" Dad asked in surprise. "Son, what happened? You wanted to raft the Amazon last week, and now you're saying that you want to go explore the woods of France with your little sister?"
"Is that a problem?" Jared replied.
"No, not at all! I'm just wondering if you have some ulterior motive for this. I thought you were really looking forward to photographing snakes and crocodiles. Somehow I'm not seeing how World War Two battle locations fit into your photography."
Jared winked at Holly as she mouthed 'ulterior motives' to him. "I know it doesn't make sense, but I was talking to Holly today, and she told me some stuff about grandpa's experiences during World War Two that I didn't know before. It's really got my interest up, so I think it would be cool to go to France."
"Okay. That works for me. When did you want to leave?"
"Yesterday?" Jared offered with a grin. Dad nodded and said, "I'll see if your Mom can get tickets tonight."
Jared and Holly high-fived and Holly ran upstairs to her room to pack. Maybe they could leave by the end of the week! She yanked her dresser drawers open and dumped each one out on her bed. What all would she need? She pulled dresses and jackets and shoe boxes out of her closet until she finally unburied her suitcase.
"Holly?" Mom's voice came along with a tap-tap-tap on Holly's bedroom door.
"Come on in, Mom! Just keep your eyes closed. It's a mess in here."
Mrs. Spencer opened Holly's door and stepped in. "My, my. You're right. What a mess! Can you believe this, Holly? I've always dreamed of going to France! We'll have to see the Eiffel Tower, go shopping in some of the Paris shops, and eat at some romantic cafe. Maybe you and Jared can have a movie night at the hotel and let your father and I out for a night?"
"Mom, we're going to France to visit World War Two sites, not do romantic stuff. And certainly not go shopping!" Holly said, then she laughed, "You and dad really should do something like that, though. Maybe even go spend a few romantic nights in Paris and let Jared and I... go camping?" Holly's initial reaction had been frustration, but now she saw the potential behind her mother's love for fine and romantic things. If Holly and Jared could get a few days alone, it would be the perfect opportunity for discovering the little cottage!
"Camping? I don't know. We'll see how things work out. In the mean time, I guess I'll go see what kind of vacation deals I can find online. I'm so happy Jared changed his mind! Dad and I were happy to take him anywhere, but France really does work better for me than the amazon forest!"
As her mom left, Holly followed her out into the hall, knocking on Jared's bedroom door. When he didn't answer, Holly wrinkled her nose and turned back to her room. Two hours later when her mom called her downstairs to set the table, Holly was pretty sure that she had almost everything she needed. Somehow in spite of the amount of clothes she had packed, her room was still a complete disaster.
While Holly was setting the table, her mom told her that they were going to be in France for two weeks and that they were leaving next Wednesday. "It seems a long way off," Holly commented.
"Holly, this morning when you woke up, it was going to be about four years before you could leave the country, and now you can't wait eight days?"
Holly grinned and shook her head, "Aren't you excited, too, Mom?" She asked.
"Well, yes, I am. I have to talk to your dad, but we might even take your little suggestion of a romantic weekend away while you kids are somewhere else. Jared can take care of himself and you're pretty responsible. My main concern would be that you don't speak French."
"We should be fine if we stick together and you give us some money," Holly said with a laugh. Mrs. Spencer pursed her lips and put her head to the side. "We'll see." was all she would commit to, but Holly was hoping everything would work out it her favor.
After supper, Holly followed Jared up to his room. "Where were you all afternoon?" she asked, "I thought you'd be packing or something."
"Holly, do you realize how long it would take to figure out where grandfather was? I was trying to come up with something before we leave."
"Oh, I guess you're right. We don't have a lot of time in France, do we?"
"No, and we have even less time to get where we're actually going. Even if dad talks mom into doing something by themselves, it'll only be for an afternoon, or at most a day."
"Dad wants to talk mom into something? I was talking to mom about the two of them doing some kind of honeymoonish for a weekend."
"A whole weekend? That would be awesome! Do you think she'll go for it?"
"Maybe. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. Anyhow, did you find out anything to help us?"
"Yep. I got the name of grandpa's best friend and did some research to find his daughter. I'm going to find her phone number and call her in the morning if I can."
"There's something else we could do," Holly said thoughtfully, "Doesn't that trunk in the garage have a bunch of grandpa's things? Maybe he kept a journal or something."
"Okay. You can look through that stuff. If I get done talking to Mrs. Peters quick enough, I'll come help."
Holly went back to her room and began to put things away. By the time she went to bed her room was cleaner than it had been for months. After tossing and turning, Holly finally gave up on sleep and turned on her light. Pulling out her book of fairy tales, she began to read.