Gray clouds covered the night sky. Soft thunder rolled in the distance. In a small cottage near the village, two young girls lived. They were best friends and close sisters. When they were little, their mother died, their father, Richard, remarried but never fully recovered from his first wife's death. He spent his days in the pub downtown. The girls rarely saw him, but they could hear him coming home late at night. Their step-mother, Larine, barely took care of them. They only had only each other to rely on. Every day, the girls heard their step-mother with a new man in her bedroom. Nights were hard to sleep through. Whether it was Larine with a stranger or their drunken father trying to make his way up the stairs Emily and Jennifer hardly ever slept.
The clouds crashed together and the sky lit up. "Jenny, are you still awake?"
Jennifer rolled over, her chocolaty brown hair falling over her face and covering one of her hazel eyes, "Yeah" She mumbled.
"Well, I was thinking that maybe…well maybe…we should get out of this place. I'm sick of this house and the people in it. Besides you of course."
Jennifer looked worried, "Emily," she said, sitting up now, "there's no way we could get away with it. It sounds like they are downstairs now." It was true, from their bedroom they could hear their father banging around downstairs and Larine yelling at him.
"What if," Emily paused, thinking, "we didn't go out the front door; we could sneak out our window. Our house isn't even one story. It won't be hard."
Jennifer was still unsure but she trusted her sister "Alright, but we've got to plan it. What are we going to bring, how we are going to get out, where we are going to go…" She continued.
There was an earsplitting crash downstairs as Larine hurled a bottle of whisky at Richard. Both girls paused for a second before Emily stood up out of bed and pulled a dress over her nightgown.
"What are you doing?" Jennifer asked
"I can't stay here anymore," Emily replied somberly, "I'm leaving tonight with or without you."
Jennifer watched her sister stuff a bag with clothes before getting up her self, "okay," she agreed though still hesitant.
The girls didn't bother saying goodbye to a house they never knew. Emily went first, climbing out of the window with ease. Jennifer trembled onto the edge of the window and looked down at the dimly lit grass. "I don't think I can do this," she quivered.
"Don't worry, I'm not dead," Emily touched her stomach and legs, a hint of humor in her voice, "see?" Jennifer closed her eyes and jumped, landing on the overgrown grass a few inches away from her sister.
"Maybe this isn't such a great idea" Jennifer said as thunder rumbled overhead. "It's going to rain. Maybe we should go back."
Emily looked up at the sky and then at the window. She considered climbing back up and pretending this never happened. There was another crash from inside. She shook her head, "no, we can't go back." Emily led her sister to a small vegetable patch; the girls had started growing it when they were little. They looked at it and realized to their disappointment that none of the vegetables were ripe. Emily swore under her breath.
Then Jennifer leaned over and picked up two rosy red tomatoes. She grinned and gestured towards the tomatoes on the ground at her feet. Emily grinned too and scooped up the two dozen ripe tomatoes. "Now for the horses" Emily said looking ahead.
"Horses?" Jennifer asked but Emily had already walked away.
When the girls were young, before their mother died, they each had a horse. Their mother taught them to ride and they did whenever they could but after their mother's death, Larine decided taking care of horses was too much work and sold them to the local farm.
"We're stealing?!" Jennifer asked incredulously when they arrive at the old barn.
"We are not stealing; we are taking what is rightfully ours. Now hurry up before someone comes." Emily said, tacking up her horse.
Following her sisters lead, Jennifer uneasily tacked up her horse.
"Ready?" Emily asked, climbing onto the horse.
"Ready." Jennifer agreed, quivering. And the two sisters begin their journey into the woods with only the moonlight to guide them.
"I'm so cold that I can't feel my fingers." Jennifer grumbled.
"I would certainly enjoy a nice hot bath right about now," Emily smiled at the thought then added, "be careful it looks like there's a muddy patch up ahead, it might be slippery, and it's a big fall."
"That's comforting." Jennifer replied. "Do you have any idea where we are going?"
"Yes," Emily turned around to give her sister a smug smile just in time to see her sisters horse miss her footing and slip down the slope. "Jennifer!" She yelled. "Whoa Pepper," she commanded the horse. She jumped down and stood at the edge of the slope her sister just fell down. "Jennifer!" she called into the darkness. No answer. Quickly Emily jumped back on her horse and ran to find an easier way down the hill.