Hi, so here is another story. This i am thrilled to announce will be my ninetieth story as well so i am very happy about that.
This is based on the episode Survival in season 1. This is by far one of my favourite episodes ever and certainly the best of Season 1 or so i think. Season 1 had a kind of magic to it that i think wasn't repeated in the later seasons or perhaps that is just me. Anyhow i was inspired to write a little something and this was what came up.
This is a selection of four missing scenes told in the point of view of Charles, Caroline, Mary and Laura from this episode and these chapters will be updated in bulk due to me going away soon.
Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.
Please Read and Review.
Survivor
Missing scenes from the episode Survival in Season 1. Four chaptered fic-from the point of view of Charles, Caroline, Mary and Laura.
Part One-Charles.
The Scene before the Dinner.
When Charles was fifteen his Pa had taken him outside and given him his first axe. While they had been chopping wood his Pa had told him about a man's obligation to his family. Family was everything, second to only God his Pa had told him and Charles had agreed because he'd already had his eye on someone at that point and starting a family was something he wanted very badly.
Someone had once asked him, a passer through, did it matter that he only had a girls. Did he not want a son? The only reason Charles hadn't punched him in the face was that the reverend was nearby and he thought it wold be undignified.
And of course, his heart still ached when he thought of his baby boy condemned to a life under the ground but he had three very alive and healthy girls that were currently shivering in the run down shelter he had managed to find them that had been so neglected it was clear that the previous owner had left in a hurry.
His Pa had told him that nothing comes in between a man and his family, not another woman, not another man and not nature. Nothing comes between you when it comes to protecting your family.
And he had failed at that.
Right now he was chopping wood in the corner of the makeshift barn and he was pretending that he was going to sleep easy tonight. That the chain of events that had taken them upon this path could not in their entirety be placed at his door.
It had been his suggestion that had seen his family on the path that they were on now. He had suggested to Caroline that he take the girls with them on this trip. It had been worth it in the beginning, living their lives so close to a big city but never getting to see one, the girls had taken in the big sights with wide eyes. They had stayed in a hotel for the first two nights before relocating the wagon for the reminder of the trip and the girls had been thrilled at the sight of the bathtub different from the tin tub they had.
Anyhow he had took them on this trip and now he had three little girls and his wife trapped with a blizzard about to hit and no prior warning.
Thankfully they had some kind of shelter. It wasn't much but it was enough. It would keep them warm at least once the wood pile he had been building was enough to last them a couple of days. He forced his cold arms to keep chopping. They had lived in colder, some of the winter's they had suffered in the Big Woods had been almost life threatening, but they had had time, him and Caroline to prepare. Now they had limited rations, limited means and if the bounty hunters were right a renegade Indian chief to worry about.
He hauled in the wood after a while. The sky was soon beginning to turn dark and the house inside would be cold. He imagined Caroline would have given the girls their supper as best she could and then hurried them into bed least they get too cold. Coats would be turned into blankets tonight he knew.
The girls had borne well with the blizzard. None of his girls were the prissy sort like Nellie Olsen and it was something he looked upon with pride. They knew how to handle themselves in a crisis. Mary and Laura had helped each other and their sister through the snow their boots slipping each of them trying so desperately to keep up with the other least all three of them fall.
He dragged the wood inside leaving the horses warm in the barn. He only took as much as he thought they would need for tonight and tomorrow, the rest would stay in the barn and hopefully he would be able to get them come the morning of the third day.
It took Charles two goes to carry all that wood across and Caroline had already started a fire, a weak one but a fire all the same. The window that had proved such a worry was boarded up neatly and the girls were curled into a corner, Mary just brushing out the knots in Laura's hair. The girl would have usually slept in plats but Charles knew the knots would be a nightmare come morning.
The fire he managed to build engulfed the small ramshackle shelter with a warmth from the fire which immediately stopped the shivering and gave the place a much less frightening appearance.
Within seconds Caroline was tucking the girls in. Little Carrie was already asleep protected by the warmth of her older sisters but both Mary and Laura were still sleepy eyed and staring around them as if they still surprised that this was where they ended up. They curled around their baby sister and then fell asleep one by one. He waited until their breathing evened out the three of them, their hair spread across the pillows the blonde, the faint brown and the fierce brown and then he turned to his wife who was busy cooking what seemed to be last night's dinner in a tin can over the stove.
Charles moved closer to the fire, achingly aware that his fingers were trembling with the aftereffects of the cold. They had four walls and a roof and a fireplace and something resembling a lock on the door and shelter for the horses. It was better than finding some sort of hollow protection in the woods he knew but he couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible that he was in this predicament. That his girls were in this predicament.
Caroline however saw through him. She had always seen through him. When they were children, when they were teenagers and he had been a blushing fool, when they had left school and she was studying for her teaching qualifications and she was attempting to be courted by James Beckett and his stomach had burned with jealously. And especially since they'd been married and they'd become parents together. If anything he would say her abilities to read him had sharpened somewhat.
"Don't do that" she said turning around and folding her shawl into neat folds. He stared at her. She ignored him and turned to check the stew bubbling away.
"Don't blame yourself, you could hardly predict the weather"
He nodded. It did nothing to stop the remorse flooding through him but he knew that she had a point. He had not known what was coming and had he known he would have certainly pushed back the deal with the grain farmers until he was sure it was safe for him never mind his family. He shook his head again at his own foolishness but Caroline was serving dinner with an annoyed look on her face and he knew should he continue to voice his belief that he was to blame for the events that had led them here she would become angry.
And experience had told him sleeping next to an angry Caroline was not particularly enjoyable. He shook his head forcing himself to breathe the smoky air and to focus on the food in front of him.
Caroline smiled at him and the smile was still as breath-taking as it had been the day he had first seen it too many years ago than he would care to count.
"Besides" she said smiling again and shooting a rather devious look at the three sleeping girls behind her. "When was the last time that we got a chance to have some time to ourselves?
He tried to cover his laugh but he couldn't stop himself from sending another thank you to God that he had these crazy, loving, incredible girls in his life-all of them.
She was right of course, they had four walls, a roof over their head, fire in the fireplace and some food if not much. For tonight they were warm and safe and secure.
For tonight he had done his job in protecting his family just like he had silently promised God when each of his baby girls were passed into his arms for the first time and he got to see them grow up in a loving household that he could give them, money not being an option in that department.
For tonight, for one blessed night, they were it seemed, all safe.
And let me know what you think. The next chapter will be from Caroline's perspective. This is a new writing style and a new fandom for me so let me know what you think.