“Vincent!  Rebecca!” exclaimed Susanna.

“Susanna!” the two responded in unison.

“Wait, you two know each other already?” Rebecca asked, perplexed.

“Um, well...”  Susanna and Vincent stared at each other, their facial expressions seeking an answer from each other.

Vincent spoke up, “Rebecca, this is the friend I was planning on meeting up with.”

“Susanna is your friend?  But you said she was your girlfriend!”

“Vincent, you said that?” Susanna said with shock, though blushing at the same time.

“I said no such thing!  I mean, that’s not to say...well, what I said was...” Vincent retorted and stammered, jumping to the defensive.  Sweat was forming on his brow.

Rebecca continued to look confused.  “Susanna, is Vincent the man you’ve been talking about all these months?  The one you’ve been going on all those ‘fantastic’ adventures with?”

“Um...yes.  Yes, he is.”

“You haven’t stopped talking about him for months!  I’ve heard so much about him from you I could have imagined him myself.  Though, I will admit, I thought he would be...taller.”

Both of Susanna and Vincent were beet-red in the face by now.

Susanna tried to shift the conversation.  “But you!  Rebecca, what were you doing out here?  I’ve been looking all over the house for you!”

“I got bored!  You were in your room ‘freshening up’ for so long!  It was like you were getting ready for a fancy dinner or ball, with all that makeup and perfume you brought with you!”

“I was only in there for twenty minutes!  That’s all it took for you to get distracted?  I say, young sister...”

“Say what you want,” Rebecca dismissed.  “I was only out here for a stroll when Vincent burst through the trees.”

“I thought Rebecca was you,” Vincent explained.  “You’ll have to admit, from a distance, your resemblance is uncanny.”

“Well, we are sisters!”  Susanna reached her arm around Rebecca and hugged her from the side.  “I guess now that introductions have been made, we can continue on with today’s plans.”

“Plans?” asked Vincent.

Susanna beamed a very wide smile.  She picked Vincent up in her palm then carried him in front of her face.  “Yes.  I have some very exciting news to share with you!  But I want to share it with you over dinner...in the manor!”

“I’m going into Cairnbridge Manor?” Vincent asked excitedly.  He had seen the exterior of the country house for many years, but only the outside and always from a distance.  Though he was curious of what lay inside, Susanna was rarely allowed in and could not show him around.

Susanna nodded and affirmed with a bright grin.

Rebecca gleefully clapped her hands.  “Ohh, I can’t wait!  This will be quite the celebration!”

~+~+~

As the trio made their way into the manor, Vincent’s eyes were wide as it grew increasingly larger and larger the closer they came.  To a regular human, Cairnbridge was quite impressive.  A classic example of the Georgian architecture of the late 1790s, it took on the simple rectangular shape of a box, standing two storeys high and stretch wide across the estate, with chimneys bookending both sides.  The facade was red brick and was dotted with large elaborate paneled windows that could be opened in the summer in years past to let the cool breeze enter.  On each side of the original structure, two wings had been added by later generations and added to its already considerable length.

Vincent stood on Susanna’s shoulder as she walked, holding onto her hair as he gazed in amazement.  Turning her head, she could see Vincent’s wide eyes and open jaw, taking in the magnificence of the manor.

“Never could I have imagined this...” he said.  “Even after seeing it from afar for all these years, I am simply at a loss.”

“Wait until you see the inside!” Rebecca chimed in eagerly.

Susanna nodded in agreement.  “Just wait until you see where we are dining tonight.”

They entered through a sizeable door at the front of the house and stepped foot into the foyer.  It was tiled with marble.  They were met with a wide stairway that led to the upper floor.  Each step would have been twice Vincent’s height: an impossible mountain for him to scale, were he limited to the ground.  

“Shall we take him on the tour?” Susanna asked her sister.

“Let’s!”

The tour lasted at least half an hour and involved peeking into numerous room upon room, down corridors, up and down staircases.  It was unlike anything Vincent had ever seen before.  No scene in the forest could compare to this place.  Though from the hallway, each door appear the same, every room was decorated differently and served a different purpose.  Some were bedrooms for children, others for visiting dignitaries.  Through one area of the house, Vincent saw the servant’s quarters, which were quite spartan, but still comfortable -- much cozier than his tree hollow could ever be.

Finally, they came to one last room.  Coming back near the foyer, the three stood before a beautiful set of French doors.  They were closed.

“What’s here?” asked a curious Vincent.

The two smiled and remained silent as Susanna opened the doors.

Vincent nearly fell over in Susanna’s palm.  The sheer grandeur of the room was overpowering and humbling to the tiny man, as it would have been for a man of normal stature.  The ceiling was far above his head, accommodating both storeys of the manor.  Three elaborate chandeliers hung down from its beams, each identically decorated with glass crystals.  They were needed not at the moment, as the large windows above them let in enough of the waning daylight to illuminate the room.  Artwork decorated the walls, portraits of previous inhabitants of the manor dressed in all varieties of clothing and fashions that had evolved over the generations.  A grand piano rested in the corner of the room near the elaborate mantle surrounding the fireplace.  Rather than the marble tiles, the area nearby was a cushioned wooden platform upon which partygoers would dance.

The most prominent feature of the room, however, was the table.  A long, wooden dining table took up nearly half the length of the hall.  It was made out of solid oak, likely from the forests of Cairnbridge.  Two rows of tall-backed chairs lined each side.  There was enough seating for twenty people to have a place at the table.  At both the foot and the head of the table were two particularly prominent chairs, which looked more like thrones, with armrests and velvet padded seats.  Three place settings had been laid on the side of the table closest to them.  

However, what caught Vincent attention the most was that which was upon the table.  His eyes beheld a great banquet!  A great variety of different food was spread upon the table’s surface, all resting upon fine china and shiny, metal platters.  There were cheeses, breads and crackers, fruits of all kinds, an assortment of sliced meats, as well as a couple of choice samplings of cake and pudding!  Though each dish and plate was actually rather simple and inexpensive, great care had been taken in preparing it.  Regardless, it was far more food than Vincent had ever seen and it excited him greatly.  Though he had proven to Susanna that nuts and berries could be very delectable, they certainly had grown boring over time.

“What do you think?” Susanna asked Vincent anxiously.

“I think that I am unsure whether or not I am in one of my dreaming states or not!”

“Ha!  How about we sit down and you can eat some cheese and find out if it’s real or not.”

Vincent did not know what cheese was, but it very much intrigued him.  His adventurous spirit also extended to his appetite and palate.  Leaping on the table, he ran towards the great heap of cheese cubes that stood twice his own height.  Each cube went up to his knees; one would have satisfied him plenty.  Some were a dark yellow, others were nearly white, and yet others were combination of both.  He bent over and picked up one of the yellow ones with both arms (he would later find out this type was called “cheddar.”)

“Not so fast, young man!” said Susanna.

“Your friend does not know table manners very well, does he?” Rebecca inquired in jest.  “You can’t just eat off the platter, Vincent!”

Vincent looked up confused at them.  He just wanted to eat, like instructed.  Why did everything, especially a joy like eating, have to have such rules?

The two sisters sat down on either side of the table, leaving the place setting at the head for Vincent.  There, Susanna picked up him and set him down upon the middle of his plate.  To his eyes, it was nearly 25 feet wide!  

“Sorry we don’t have any Vincent-sized tableware for you,” Susanna said with a giggle.  “You’re going to have to use your hands, I suppose, considering that your fork is four times your size.  I trust that your hands are at least somewhat clean...”

Susanna and Rebecca proceeded to serve out their dinners.  Rebecca eagerly licked her lips in anticipation as she chose out her choice of smoked ham and turkey, placing a sizeable helping on her plate.  Susanna shook her head at her sister, not being surprised at all.  Susanna herself had reached first for the red grapes, plucking off a cluster of seven or eight of them.  They were very plump and filled with succulent juice.  Both sisters laughed as they watched Vincent attempt to carry a piece of rye bread on his back and carry it to his plate.  He lost his balance and tumbled forward, the bread landing on top of him, covering him.

“Do you need some help?” Susanna asked.

A muffled voice called out from beneath the rye: “I can manage!”

Rebecca reached over and lifted the slice, carrying it over to Vincent’s plate for him.  From then on, Vincent would just point at what he wanted and one of the two women would retrieve it for him.  Before long, his plate was filled with more food that he could possibly eat himself.  Furthermore, he was greatly astounded at the plates of the two women!  He tried not to stare, but he was in awe of how much food had been piled upon their ceramic china dishes like hills.  Despite how much food he thought he had for himself, each woman had nearly ten times that amount!

“Shall we begin?” Susanna asked.

“Yes, yes, yes!” responded Rebecca.  “Lunch on the train was far too light.  My stomach has been growling this whole time!”  

Vincent could attest to that fact. Even from a seat away, he could hear the rumbling of Rebecca’s belly as it anticipated its incoming offerings.  He himself had been growing hungry and he looked forward to commencing the meal.

“Wait!  How could I forget?” Susanna said.  She reached to the middle of the table, beyond the cheese tray and fruit bowl, to a bucket of ice.  Submerged into the ice cube was a long green bottle filled with a dark beverage.  It tapered at the end and was plugged with a light brown cork.

“The wine!  How can we have a celebration without wine?” said Rebecca with eagerness.

Vincent was unsure what to think of the red liquid that was pouring into the massive glass chalice in front of him.  He had never had alcohol before, but Susanna explained that it was a drink that would make him “feel relaxed.”  He watched as the wine cascade from the bottle.  It pooled in the bottom of his cup to an amount that would have only been a single sip for one of the women, but was more than enough for himself.  The glass itself was a deep, transparent pit for him, but it was all that was available.  He was going to have to levitate himself down into it whenever he wanted to drink its contents.

“I propose a toast!” Rebecca said, raising her glass.  Susanna followed suit.

“To what?” Vincent asked.

“To the whole reason for this celebration, silly!  Did Susanna not tell you?”

“I was waiting until now to tell him,” Susanna answered.  Her face was very happy and excited to share the news.

“What is it??”

“I’m moving in to Cairnbridge!!”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yes!”

Rebecca cheered and offered the toast: “To Susanna’s new job as the manager of Cairnbridge Manor!”

~+~+~

Over the last several months, Susanna’s father, Roger, had noted keenly his daughter love and passion for his family’s estate.  It bothered him greatly that ownership of the property had fallen into the hands of the ungrateful cousins, knowing how well Cairnbridge would prosper if Susanna were there.  The cousins treated it as merely a summer home, one of many that they possessed.  The last year, they had spent barely a week on the premises before moving on to the coast.

He decided to do something about it.  He contacted his late brother’s wife, who was serving as the manager for the estate.  His brother had been a good and honorable man in his life.  While his progeny were not “bad” people, they were rather vain and aloof.  His sister-in-law found managing the estate to be a hassle.  It worked out perfectly, then, when Roger suggested that Susanna take over care of the estate.  It would still belong to her and her children, but all of the oversight and upkeep would now be Susanna’s responsibility.  She would take care of the finances and hiring of staff, while being given free room and board, as well as a small stipend.

As imagined, Susanna was ecstatic when she found out.  She needed to celebrate and she could think of no better people to do so than with those around her at the table.