Matilda POV
"And don't forget to feed the pigs!" Mama called down the stairs, where she was looking after little Heather and Jenny from next door while their Papa was at market.
"Yes mama!" I called back as I jumped down the stone steps at the back of our little house. I ran over to the pig pen first, as I thought I was the worst job, and poured the feed into their trough. I took one last look at them as I shut the wooden gate behind me and wrinkled up my nose. I skipped down the little path that led to the cows and climbed over the iron gate, which is quite difficult in an apron and black skirt with white, horizontal bands. I reached back over the gate and picked up the two buckets I had been carrying. I walked towards the second gate snapping a rather large branch off of a near by tree and opened it.
"Here!" I called and the cows looked at me. I took my stick and beet the still full bucket. They started to come towards me and I backed off. I turned and walked back down the little passage I had just come down. However instead of using the gate I used to get in I turned to my right where a second gate lay. It led to another field. I lifted the latch and led the cows in putting their food in the trough and walked out shutting the gate behind me.
I put the buckets back next to the back door and using my apron like a basket put seeds and corn into it. Now set for my next task I trudged off towards the barn. I entered through the double wooden doors even though I knew the chickens would probably be outside and scattered the seeds on the floor. I walked over to their water dish and looked inside. It was empty! But I just filled it up yesterday…
"Who's 'ere?" I shouted. "Niall?"
I was sure my big brother was doing this just to scare me and I knew, from playing hide and seek when we were little, that he would hide in the hay. So I climbed the wooden ladder up to the hay loft. Looking round I didn't see Niall but I did see a patch of green. I walked over as quietly as I could. Thankful for once that my boots were at least fourth hand and worn out. I looked over a pile of hay and saw a boy about my age. The green that had drawn my attention was his hair. But if I thought that was weird when he turned round, his eyes wide with fear, I was he was two colours. Black and white. Not like Jeffery down the road whose Mama is white and Papa is black. I mean like someone took coal and painted one side of his body with it! I can't really be mean 'cause everyone in the village thinks in weird too, so I'll be nice.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Z-Zetsu…" he stuttered in an accent I had never heard before.
"What you doing 'ere, Zetsu?"
"…"
"You look hungry want some?" I asked taking my roll from my skirt pocket.
"Please." He said so I snapped the roll in half and gave him some, "Can I ask who you are?"
"Matilda. You're in my barn."
"You're barn?" he asked munching on the bread. An expression of confusion painted itself over his bicoloured face.
"Yeah, Mama and Papa own the farm. And Papa let me pick an animal for the farm and I picked chickens. So Niall made me the barn fer the chickens," I explained, "You still ain't said what you're 'ere fer."
Zetsu POV
I can't tell her…she'll send me back… but then again she didn't run away screaming at my appearance …What should I do?
"Oi! I'm talkin' to you." Matilda said lightly tapping my head.
"Sorry…I was...um thinking…"
"So what you doin' in my barn?"
I guess I have to tell her. I mean even if she turns me over I think I could get a head start.
"Ok...but can you sit down?"
She looked at me like I had grown two heads, which at this stage in my life I wouldn't be surprised about, but she sat down anyway.
"Ok…well…first I'm hiding." I paused waiting for her to interrupt but she just sat there her blue eyes begging me to continue. "I'm hiding from a man called Orochimaru. He runs a freak show which my friends and I are part of. He doesn't care about how we are treated just about the money. So we came up this a plan to help get us out. I'm the best of all of us at sneaking in and out of places so they made a distraction and I managed to slip out. I was supposed to get help. But Orochimaru sent people after me and I ran through thick forests and rivers falling and getting scratched all the way. That's when I saw the barn, when I got out of the woods I mean, so I came in and saw the hay so I used it to dry off and hide in." I looked at Matilda expecting her to laugh or say she'd hand me over the first time she my pursuers.
"So you drank all the water?" I nodded "And you've been 'ere in the draughty barn all night?" Again I nodded. "How many friends are in the show?" I felt pleased she didn't use the word freak.
"Nine."
Her eyes widened but she didn't say anything.
"Well I guess you could stay here 'till you got some help of thought of a way to get them oot."
"What?" I was completely shocked at her kindness.
"Well you need to hide some where and Mama won't notice if some food goes walking from the kitchen. I could bring you the extra blanket fer my bed. So you could move the hay around"
"But someone could see me"
"That ain't true. No-one comes in 'ere 'cept me. My chickens, my responsible!"
"You mean responsibility." I corrected.
"Yeah that one! So you'll stay?" she asked. Matilda looked more excited than I think she should have been.
"Thank you I guess I will."
"Ok I have to go now but I'll bring the stuff later."
"Bye." I called and waved as Matilda lifted the batten that kept the door shut and walked out, waving.
Matilda POV
I returned to the house to be greeted to the site of Mama trying(unsuccessfully) to stop the twins from destroying the kitchen.
"You bairns 'ill be the death o' me!" She told them, casing after them with her wooden spoon. It was making me dizzy just watching then going round and round our little wooden table.
"Girls," I said earning myself complete attention, "Wanna play a game?"
"Yeah!" Heather called.
"We do!" Jenny said.
"Ok then 'ere's what it's called: maze tig! You know the apple and orange trees out the back?" here they nodded in unison "Well take this coal and what you have to do is run round through all the trees 'till yous get to the horses but if you see each other you have to coal the other! First one to the ponies and back here wins! Ready? GO!" I called and they zoomed passed me. I watched them as they ran down the gravel path and listened to them giggle before turning back to Mama.
"Thanks Tilly. But whose gonna clean then when they git back 'ere?"
"Um... you?" I said running upstairs narrowly dodging a playful whip with the spoon
"You weans are all the same!" She called up the stairs.
I giggled running into my room which I shared with Niall. Luckily Niall was at the market with Mr MacMillan (Heather and Jenny's Papa) and my Papa so he wouldn't ask what I was doing. I went over to my bed and took the patch work blanket Mama and I had made when I was little and wrapped a spare potato sack inside. Quietly I tiptoed down the worn stairs and peered round into the kitchen. Luckily Mama had gone out to the pigs to I snuck over to the cupboard and took out a few rolls and then some cheese. Then I went over to the drawer next to the sink and cutting a piece of porridge out. Wrapping all this safely up I snuck round the horse field and into the barn. I shut the door behind me and climbed the ladder.
"'ere's the stuff I promised." I said when I had reached Zetsu.
"Thanks." He said looking up from where he was playing with the chicks.
"Sorry I have to go back and help Mama with the housework. Oh, you can stuff the potato sack with hay to make a pillow." Once more I left the barn thinking of Zetsu all the way back to the house. I found it cute that he seemed to love those little balls of fluff.
Once I arrived home I saw Heather and Jenny covered in coal and being (not very well) pushed towards the metal bath. The twins noticed me and were about to call out when I put my finger to my lips, pointed to Mama and snuck back upstairs. I sis not want anymore tasks today! I continued to bring Zetsu food and anything else he needed over the next few days. Each time I went back I stopped for a chat and played with the steadily growing baby chicks. After a while I found out I was coming back even when he did not need anything. Then the days turned to weeks and I made my first proper friend.
Zetsu POV
"Ugh…" I woke up to a thumping noise. I pushed myself up off the wooden floor and walked over to the barn door and peeked outside. The moon was high in the sky and I could see the stars sprinkled across the velvet sky. The animals were all settled down for the night. The only thing out of place was the house. It was lit up like the sun and there were far more people moving inside than there usually was.
Moving so I could get a slightly better view, yet still staying in the shadow so as not to attract attention from the figures bathed in moon light that sat on the stone steps. From where I stood I could make out Matilda dancing with a boy about 3 or 4 years older than us. Her arm was over his shoulder and his was the same. They took three steps forward and then turned taking three more steps backwards. Then the repeated this process but coming to wards the window instead of away. The boy then twirled Matilda around 4 times moving away form the window again. He then put one had on her waist and the danced round the room. I noticed too that the boy was wearing a skirt! It had a sort of stripy yet chequered pattern to it. Matilda had a similar skirt on but it was accompanied by a sash that went for the right shoulder to her waist.
A feeling I had never had before rushed through my veins. I may have been ignorant at first to what it was but then I remembered my friend Pein explaining that this was how he felt when Orochimaru kissed Konan, who was his girlfriend. Of course Konan was not a willing participant. Pein called it jealousy and anger mixed together. I couldn't understand why I would feel jealous and angry about this about this. I looked around the room and saw everyone else was doing exactly the same thing. I watched for a bit longer and saw that music was coming from a live band in the corner of the living room which all the furniture from had been put outside. I walked back inside perplexed at what this would be.
Next day
Matilda came up to the hay darn carrying a basket which se told me was for lunch.
"Matilda, what was all that noise last night?" I asked once she had settled down on one of the piles of hay I had dragged over to create a sort of seating area.
"Oh! You mean the ceilidh!" she exclaimed happily.
"The what?" What on earth is that????
"The ceilidh! It's a dance!" Matilda explained.
"Why did the guys wear skirts?"
At this Matilda burst out laughing so much that her curly brown locks bounced around her head. The sun glinted off it making it look like running chocolate.
"T-they a-ain't skirts!" she managed to say between laughing.
"What are they then?" I asked even more confused now because they certainly looked like the skirts Konan used to wear before the show came.
"They're kilts! It's traditional for Scotland." Matilda said, finally over her fit of giggles.
"Oh…" I said feeling quite stupid.
Matilda POV
I think I just upset him…
"Hey, dinny worry 'bout it. You ain't from 'ere. You ain't expected to know." I told him trying to make him feel better. It must have worked 'cause he stopped examining a knot in the floor boards and turned his sunny gaze to me. "Come on lets have lunch!" I smiled.
I took a rug out of my wicker basket and with help from Zetsu laid it out on the creaky boards. Zetsu the brought the basket over and I took out the food placing an orange, an apple and a piece and jam in front of both of us. We began to eat our lunch and Zetsu asked many questions about my life. I think it was a shock to him to learn that I worked for a living but enjoyed it. We talked about everything from family to shoes.
"Um... I hope this isn't rude but you talk funny and you don't always get your words right. Why is that?" my secret lodger asked.
"You speak funny to me! It's 'cause o' where you're from. And with my voccabbulylarry-"
"Vocabulary." He corrected.
"Yeah that's the word. I dunno how to read or write 'cause I dinny need to know, so big words are hard to say."
"Oh! I thought everyone one knew how to read and write." Zetsu exclaimed
"Nah most girls in the village dunno how to and some boy dunno, too."
"Why?"
"Well we ain't going to market so we dinny need to know how. Plus the Elders dinny 'ave all that much time to teach. Someone must 'ave taught you."
"Tilly!" a boy shouted from outside the barn.
"That's Niall!" I said.
"Tilly! Come on! We'll be late!" the voice came again.
"Who's Niall? Who's Tilly?" Zetsu asked me.
"Niall's my big brother if you saw me at the ceilidh he was the one who I danced with. Tilly is me. It's my nickname. You can use it too if you like…"
"TILLY! IF YOU DON'T COME NOW YOU CANNY COME!" Niall shouted even louder than before.
"I have to go" I said standing up too quickly. My foot got caught in the blanket and I fell down. When I looked up I realised that I had fallen into Zetsu's lap. My face was just a few inches from his. As he sat cross-legged one of my hands was on the floor between his legs and the other near his waist. A massive rush of heat surged it's was to my cheeks causing them to go as red as the tomatoes we grew. I noticed that Zetsu's cheeks had gone a purple-y colour which I took to be a blush.
"I-" I started.
"Tilly!" Niall called.
Quickly I pushed myself up from his lap, thankfully not falling down again, and scurried down the ladder and out into the field leaving the things behind. I could always come back later for them and I didn't want to go back in looking like a tomato.
"There you are! Come on we'll be late for Granny's party!" Niall said as I bumped into him. "Hey, are you ok?" He put his hand on my forehead.
"Stop it," I said brushing his hand off my head, "come on you said we'd be late!"
When I go back from Granny's party I looked beside the front door and there was my wicker basket and the blanket all folded neatly.
"Och! You silly wean! If it had rained it wid aff been ruined!" Mama exclaimed.
"Now Morag I'm sure Tilly didn't mean it." Papa tried to appease her.
"Sure she didny." Mama replied walking into the house. Papa gave me a look that meant 'take care of it and don't annoy your Mama again'. I picked up the basket and was about ot go in when Niall put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. I read his face and remembered that I have gone straight form the barn to the cart and didn't have the basket with me. I quickly made my face a mask 'cause this is what Niall does every time he thinks something is wrong. After studying my face he shrugged and went inside. I followed and put everything back where it was supposed to go. By the time I had got to my bedroom Niall was changed and sprawled out on his bed, completely out. I tried not to wake him and quickly slipped my dress and apron off. I then took out my rough nightgown and crawled under my blanket. The last thing I thought of was Zetsu all alone in the barn, probably quite cold.
Zetsu POV
Quietly I inched forward. Just a bit more…Closer…There! I pushed my finger tips into Tilly's side and she screamed, jumping and dropping the food bucket. When she turned round the expression of annoyance, that did so clearly not belong on my ray of sunshine, made me laugh. When did I start thinking of her as mine?
Till wrinkled up her button nose and for the first time I noticed the sprinkling of freckles over her cheeks and nose.
"Oi! What was that fer?" She asked.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it" I explained once I had finally got my laughter under control.
"What you doin' out 'ere? What if someone sees you?" Tilly was panicking by this point.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Your mum and dad went down the road and said something about now being back for a while." I tried to comfort her.
"Well what about Naill?" Matilda inquired, still worried.
"He's out with the horses. He won't see me."
"You've did your rayserch." Tilly seemed to be alright now.
I resisted the urge not to correct her. I walked round to the other side of Tilly and picked up the food bucket.
"Here, let me help." I offered. I lifed the gate and placed the food as instructed and then walked back out while Tilly shut the gate.
So for the rest of the day Tilly and I did all her jobs together. We picked apples and oranges, silently sneaking some into our pockets, and fed all the animals. Once we got round to the chickens Tilly and I played with the not-so-little chicks and made little nests for them.
Matilda POV
"Hey, you awake?" I asked when I gently pushed open the red door.
"Yeah I couldn't sleep. But what are you doing here, Tilly?" Zetsu asked sticking his head out over the side of the hay loft.
"I snuck out 'cause Niall snores and I couldn't sleep." I told him climbing up the ladder.
"How did you cope in the past then?" He said as he took my hand in his black one, pulling me up the last couple of rungs.
"Beat 'im up with pillows."
"Yeah I can picture that!" Zetsu laughed. I looked at him and saw a smile that I knew I never wanted to fade.
"So now you've heard all 'bout my life I wanna talk 'bout yours."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Well where do you want me to start?"
"Um…" I thought, "Where did you live before the show?"
"Well my family were part of a small village that lived off the land. My job, since I was too little, at the time, was to look after the village children and help the women with any weaving. Our village was carefully hidden. Our homes were the trees, our garden a small natural clearing that everyone shared. Every child was taught, as soon as they could walk, how to climb the trees and build a tree house. That house would look so like the tree that unless someone had been told exactly where it was they would never find it. Of course these homes where for emergency use only. Our true homes were hidden within the trees them selves. Even wanderers and trades men who walked straight through our village did not know of its existence. Every third generation one child would be born with the ability to communicate with animals. It was called The Gift."
"So who was that?" I asked, completely captured by Zetsu's story.
"…it…was me…" he said very embarrassed. I didn't say anything but nodded to show him to continue.
"We were farmers at our roots but with the war starting between the five grate nations we were forced to learn. One day a man came through so injured that my Father, the medicine man, took him into our house and nursed him better. In return he man was our tutor of war fare. Many people in the village felt it was wrong to fight and left. They apparently went to find peaceful lands but no-one had heard from them The one who possessed The Gift responsibility was to renew the deal with the animals. I set out and had renewed the deal so returned to my village. One I got there however no-one was there. I looked all around but not one person of the village was there. I heard voices in the distance so I walked that way…… I won't go into details here because no-one should have to see but they were all lying in a pit; dead. I was grabbed form behind and knocked out; when I woke I was in the freak show. That's when I met my first friends outside of the village. " Zetsu rounded of his story.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." I tried to apologise.
"Why? Its not you're fault."
"But I made you talk 'bout it!"
"Don't worry once a month my friends and I talk about our past; it helps." He smiled at me.
"Hey do you smell that?" I sniffed at the air, "It smells like burning!" I ran down the ladder as fast as I could.
Zetsu POV
I watched Tilly run out of the door and followed as fast as my legs could carry me. She was just standing there staring. The little house with its thatched roof was a blaze. The flames licked the night and the smoke choked the sky. The house heaved in an effort to stay together but failed; its support beams fell downwards like Alice in the rabbit hole. However even a two year old would know there would be no tea party at the end.
"Mama, Papa…" Tilly whispered, "Scott!" She ran forward trying to get into the house. I saw the pain that flitted across her face and recognised it from when my family died.
"No!" I screamed running up behind her I grabbed Tilly's waist and pulled her back.
"Let me go I have to help them!" She cried beating her fair hands on my chest in a vain attempt to get free.
"Tilly, listen if you go in you'll die too."
She didn't reply but buried her head in my cheats and cried. Tilly knew she couldn't help them but she wanted to try anyway. I tucked her head under my chin and rubbed her back truing to comfort her. Violently she was ripped form my hold and I saw a man with glasses and silver hair push a pressure point, knocking her unconscious the put a sack over her head. I tried to get free but my two captors held on like snapping turtles. I tried to turn and see who they were but one grabbed my head and pushed it forward. I tried hard, I really did but a child of 16 is no match for two fully grown men. Another man came in front of me.
"Let her go!" I screamed at him
"Always the hero," said the man who I could not make out as he was silhouetted against the blazing house. "And you thought you could get away." Suddenly I recognized the voice but it was too late.
Every thing went black………….