The days that followed slipped by like golden threads in a summer tapestry, each one warm, bright, and full of small wonders.
Pamela, Ivan, and Ivy quickly became inseparable, their laughter becoming a familiar echo within the stone halls of Mendel Manor.
Every morning began with a race down the wooden staircase. Ivy always leapt the last three steps; Ivan pretended to be above such childishness—until the day Pamela beat them both to the bottom and raised her arms in victory. From that moment on, even Ivan joined the race, his competitive streak impossible to hide.
They spent long afternoons exploring the manor grounds. There was the pond behind the stables where water lilies floated like stars, and where Ivan once slipped and fell in—an accident that sent Ivy into uncontrollable laughter and Pamela into a panic until she saw him resurface, drenched but grinning.
