The staircase curved like a DNA helix. Eleanor held Estelle's hand as they ascended.
Buster's claws clicked on the hardwood: tick-tick-tick. Shadow flowed up the banister like liquid ink.
"We prepared the East Wing for you," Eleanor said nervously. "I hope you like it. If not, we can burn it down and start over."
She wasn't joking.
They stopped in front of double white doors. Eleanor pushed them open.
Estelle stopped breathing.
The room was bigger than the entire trailer park lot. The walls were a soft, creamy pink. The ceiling was painted with clouds and cherubs. A four-poster bed sat in the center, draped in silk that looked like spun sugar.
But it was the smell that hit her. Fresh lavender. New fabric. No mold. No stale smoke.
"Is this... for everyone?" Estelle asked.
"No," Eleanor said, kneeling to look her in the eye. "Just for you."
Estelle walked in. Her feet sank into the carpet. It was so soft it felt unstable.
Buster didn't hesitate. He leaped onto the bed. He circled three times on the silk duvet and collapsed with a grunt of pure satisfaction.
"No! Buster!" Estelle lunged forward. "Get down! You'll ruin it!"
"Let him stay," Eleanor said quickly. "The sheets are replaceable. His comfort isn't."
She walked to a wall panel and pressed a button.
A section of the wall slid back.
Estelle's jaw dropped. It was a walk-in closet. But it wasn't just clothes.
It was a museum of a lost childhood.
On the left, tiny dresses for a three-year-old. Then slightly larger ones for a four-year-old. Five. Six. Seven.
Rows and rows of clothes, tags still on, organizing the years Estelle had been gone. Shoes that had never touched the ground. Coats that had never felt the cold.
Eleanor walked over and touched a red velvet dress in the size-five section.
"I bought this for Christmas that year," she whispered. "I thought... maybe you'd be home by morning."
Estelle looked at the empty sleeves. She felt a phantom weight in her chest. Her mother hadn't forgotten. Her mother had been waiting, buying ghosts, year after year.
"I'm here now," Estelle said. It was the first time she had comforted someone else.
Eleanor sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Yes. You are. Now, let's get you clean."
The bathroom was made of white marble. The tub was a Jacuzzi.
Eleanor turned on the gold taps. Water rushed out, steaming and hot. She poured in rose oil. The scent filled the room.
"I can do it," Estelle said quickly, clutching the hem of her dirty shirt. She didn't want her mother to see the bruises. The cigarette burns on her shoulder. The map of pain written on her skin.
Eleanor froze. She saw the hesitation. She understood.
"Okay," Eleanor said, forcing a smile. "I'll be right outside the door. I won't leave. I promise."
She stepped out, closing the door until it was just a crack.
Estelle peeled off the filthy clothes. They hit the floor with a wet smack.
She stepped into the water.
It burned, then soothed. The heat seeped into her bones, dissolving the tension. She watched the water turn gray, then brown, as the dirt of the last three years floated away.
She scrubbed until her skin was pink. She washed her hair three times.
When she finally stood up, wrapped in a towel that felt like a cloud, she looked in the mirror.
The girl staring back was still thin. Still scarred. But the dirt was gone. And under the grime, she was... pretty.
She looked like the woman in the painting.
