Like a Bat Out of Hell
"Isabella! Quit following me!" Guy practically wailed. This was the tenth time he had told her and he was well beyond fed up.
Daintily plucking another flower to add to her growing collection the seven year old replied, "I'm not following you, Guy. I just happen to be walking in the same direction." She glared vehemently when her brother rolled his eyes dramatically. Guy stormed off crossly, knowing full well that she would continue to vex and plague him.
As he stomped his boots, which were a handsome shade of mahogany, Guy encountered a unnoticed mud bog. His feet began to slide out from under him and he gave a yelp of surprise. Guy's unruly feet tried several times to go in opposite directions and he was fighting a loosing battle with balance. When he finally did get them together it was only for a fleeting moment when the two appendages squirmed and sloshed in a flawed attempt to run from danger's wake. Fortunately for the young Lord, he had the astuteness to curl into a ball and roll when he was flung forwards. This action had the effect of enabling his body to miss the majority of the mire - only the edge of his maroon cape was scathed. Guy sat panting at the rim of the quagmire thanking God that he had not been entirely submerged in filth. If he hadn't been so lucky he could hear the exact words his Father would quote to him - Lord knows Guy had borne witness to them enough.
Tentatively Isabella approached her disheveled brother and made certain that he was, atleast for the majority, intact and then she smirked down at him. "Tisk Tisk," she said, "Look at your boots." His smoldering eyes refused to leave hers for several moments, she stared right back at them not daring to blink lest she be the first to falter in the challenge. Guy finally broke the stare and turned his gaze to his untidy boots. He glared at them as well, as if blaming them for his predicament and woes.
Guy sat there, in the dirt, legs spread out before him - that was until Isabella lifted up the edge of his cloak, "There's mud on your hem too, Guy." He took hold of the garment himself and gave it a mighty tug, it snapped out of her hands and floated to the ground to be with its master.
The black haired eleven year old watched his sister for her reaction. Guy never knew what to expect from Isabella, why one moment she could be his biggest admirer while the next she could be snitching him out to their Father, Lord Roger. Isabella blinked at him for a while, trying to figure out what her new set of 'motives' was. She decided to let things be - for the time being - and did nothing, save look at him exasperatedly.
Guy drew his legs to him, crossed his arms about his chest and still sat there, thinking that if he continued in this state Isabella would grow tired and leave. No such luck, for she began to wander around plucking more flowers for her bouquet. Guy huffed his disappointment. But his eyes were soon diverted from his frolicking sibling and back to the puddle - if it could legitimately be considered that. It was covering the majority of one horse length in either direction, the result of a droop in the forest floor.
Eventually Guy stood up and Isabella skipped over to his side. Guy rolled his eyes yet again and began to take the long way around the puddle. He eyed the mess of water and muck irritably keeping his distance from it. Isabella took matteres to an extreme and went ten feet out of her way to avoid the marsh. Guy figured that he might as well position his eyes to the heavens permenatly.
"Where are you going?" Isabella said perkily, falling into step next to her brother when they were long past the bog.
"To the stream to washup," Guy didn't bother to look in her direction.
Isabella scurried to keep up with Guy's fast determined pace, "Where is the stream from here?"
"That way," Guy replied spartanly - though in truth he wasn't exactly sure. The young black haired lad strode at a quick rate, the sooner he could get the mud off the better. Alack! Isabella kept dawdling, having given up his rapid steps. This made Guy have to slow down as well, he felt some sort of obligation to watch her while she stalked him. He did have a rather large desire to let her lag behind until he lost her - that would teach her a valuable lesson…
Isabella was completely secure in her feelings that Guy would wait on her, so when she looked up to see that he was gone, her heart sank. Her eyes darted about the forest, frantically looking for her brother. The seven year old was beginning to panic - she was alone in the woods and she didn't know where her brother was, or herself for that matter. "Guy!" she shrieked and spun quickly to view the entire area lest she miss him slink behind a tree to frighten her. No such luck, he was gone and she was alone.
Heart pounding in her chest Isabella called out his name again. No answer. She stood, completely aghast that he would abandon her. Her own brother - no he couldn't have, Guy would never leave her like that. Yet this was proof and the young girl was left behind and her sibling had gone to seek his own fortune. Isabella screamed when she felt something touch her shoulder. She turned in an instant and saw Guy jump backwards in shock.
The young Lord sighed, "Are you going to keep up this time?"
Isabella nodded and sniffed, she also hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve to rid herself of the tears that were clinging there. Guy couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt as he watched her. The twain continued on in search of the stream. That is not what they found… Guy cocked his head and Isabella took a step backwards when they saw the opening - a cave.
Positioned in a rolling hillside a large mouth silently screamed and beckoned those brave enough to enter. Guy stepped forward to take in the cave better. Isabella grabbed his hand and pulled him back, "Where are you going?" There was panic in her voice as she held onto him, her eyes were wide in fright.
Guy shook her off, "I was just going to peek inside."
Isabella shook her head violently. "No Guy," she said, "There could be anything in there! What if it ate you? Then it could come out and eat me!"
Guy exhaled, Isabella - always has to get herself in there somewhere… Guy placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're going to be fine. Look, I'll even talk to you while I'm in there - alright?" If he knew Isabella wouldn't have a coniptionfit he would have laughed and rolled his eyes when she shakily nodded her head. As it was Guy knew that she could tell their Father about this just as easily as she could keep quiet and he didn't want to push her.
Guy Crispin turned and faced the cave, taking a deep breath he began to march into the unknown. Isabella took several steps in his direction, a part of her wanted to call him back to her side and to safety - another portion desired him to go, get himself hurt and then she could proudly state 'I told you so!' Isabella took those same steps backwards.
Quietly and decidedly Guy entered the large mouth of the cave, inside there was a dark, damp, dreary feeling. He could hear the distinct drip of water in the distance - or could that be blood? Guy gulped and took another heart pounding step. He craned his head behind him, "Are you alight Isabella?" His voice echoed around him and he could barely hear Isabella's scant reply.
The eleven year old lad went in to the cave a little further before calling out to his sibling again. She responded in turn, but Guy could hear the fear in her small voice. There's nothing to be afraid of, Guy thought to himself. "There's nothing in here, nothing at all." It took Guy a moment before he realized that he had spoken the last part aloud. But, I'm not frightened! Right?
Isabella stood stiffly in the same spot that Guy left her. At only seven, she felt alone and abandoned by her brother yet again. She was frightened - even if Guy was not! There were several strange noises, most likely made by birds and bugs but to Isabella's ears they provoked terror and unknowing. She stood, her little arms and legs slightly quaking - it was then that she heard the snap…
Guy called out trying to hear past his own echo, "Isabella, how is everything?" He really wished that she wasn't so much of a baby, then he could explore without having to check on her every few moments. But though he strained, he didn't hear a reply. There was no sound and a cold chill hit his heart. She's just fooling, Guy told himself, but his mouth was drier than sun baked mud. He turned around and started making his way back to the cavern entrance. "Isabella!" Guy Crispin called again, his voice rose to an unsavory pitch from his worry. Still no answer. Guy was in such turmoil that he didn't even sense a creature sneak up behind him…
With an ungodly animalistic cry, something latched onto the boy's shoulder and pulled him to the stone ground. Guy let loose a scream of terror as he tumbled down, kicking and fighting all the way. Suddenly he was pinned to the floor and no amount of thrashing was enabling him to escape. Thoughts flooded his mind - the first ones were about him, he needed to get away, get help, run and not look back, he needed to - he needed to find his sister.
As quickly as it had begun, Guy felt the weight lift off of him and he was roughly yanked back onto his feet. The young lad blinked to focus his eyes to see the enemy that had attacked him and there stood his older cousin - Irving. The older youth flashed Guy a saccharine smile and laughed heartily, "What? Think I was the bogyman?"
Guy was grateful for the darkness, it was cover - hiding the blush that was creeping up his cheeks. Guy jerked his arm away from his cousin's grip and moved the rest of the way into the sunshine. Irving followed, a smile still plastered on his face. The fourteen year old leered down at his younger cousin, "You should have heard yourself. Squalling like a newborn."
Guy gritted his teeth, grinding them against each other kept his mouth occupied and shut. Irving laughed again accusing Guy of having nothing to say in his defense. The black haired eleven year old ground his tarnished boot heels into the dirt. He was so angry all he wanted to do was tackle Irving and give him a trouncing. Alas! Guy was well aware that there was almost a three year difference and Irving would no doubt be the winner.
Not quite recovered from his panic and definitely not his anger, Isabella popped out of nowhere and startled Guy again. "Were you in on this with him?" Guy barked, pointing at Irving heatedly. Isabella shook her head sadly, in fact Irving had 'advised' her not to give Guy a word of warning. This little known fact had not been presented to the injured party and Guy still stood seething at his sister.
Now, Isabella had a good set of wits on her and knew that Guy wasn't about to listen to reason. Yet instead of backing off and letting her brother have his space Isabella decided that if he was going to be mad at her why not give him a real reason. "You had better check to make sure you didn't wet yourself, Guy."
The look on Guy's face was enough to make a seasoned executioner hang himself. "Petite miserable!" he hollered at her, so furious that his lips were pulled back into a large snarl. Guy lunged forward to grab a hold of her arm, intent on giving her a good shake. Isabella was so startled by his violent outburst that she skittered away before she even knew he was coming after her.
Almost as soon as he had started, Guy stopped himself with a control that would have been far and beyond most adults. He clenched and unclenched his fists, knowing that Irving was committing this glorious event to memory. "Merde Isabella!" Guy swore and turned his back to her.
The youngest member of this little escapade stood completely shocked, whether it was on account of Guy cursing (something their Mother, Ghislaine, had forbade them to do) or because she had been quite sure for a moment that he was going to murder her in cold blood. She wanted to rush over to her brother - let everything be alright between them but she was afraid. Though Isabella knew that she was the cause of his eruption she was not about to openly admit that fact by publicly apologizing.
The event was broken up by the main instigator, Irving. As he walked past Guy he roughly took hold of his little cousin's arm and began to drag Guy along behind.
"Get off me," Guy said pulling his arm backwards, his face contorted into a snarl.
Irving did as commanded but with an accompanying over zealous exasperated sigh - as if all this was Guy's fault, "Come on. I must get you home before you cause anymore problems." The youth then decided to tack his cousin's name at the end - insinuating yet again that he was the one at fault.
On an impulse, Guy turned around and began to walk in the direction of the cave, "I'm not going."
Irving stopped and twisted to face his cousin, "Oh really? And just what do you plan on doing?" He cocked his head to the side and looked at Guy mockingly.
"I'm going back to explore the cave," Guy stated matter-a-factly, crossing his arms in a stance of defiance.
Isabella's mouth dropped ajar. He couldn't really be thinking of doing something so addled! Could he? Her hands found their way behind her back to fidget with her black curls.
"Pfft," the sound the older youth made was one of disgust causing Guy to glare. "You'd get lost," Irving said wafting a hand over his shoulder and beginning to walk away again.
"I would not!" Guy said defiantly, standing his ground instead of following his cousin.
"You, Guy? Ha! You couldn't find your way out of an open ended sack!"
Curtly and without another word, Guy walked to the cave's mouth. His younger sister on the other hand stood, eyes wide and uncertain. She didn't want to go with Irving that was for sure, but going with Guy - at least at this time might be as detrimental. Her decision was made when Irving growled at her to follow him. "I'm staying with Guy," Isabella squeaked and, as ladylike as possible, ran after her brother.
Guy heard Isabella call out to him from the entrance of the cave. Having just went in he was rather annoyed that she should be bothering him - not to mention he had yet to forgive her shenanigans. "What?" Guy yelled. The question strove to repeat itself as many times as possible before finally fading into oblivion. He heard her reply that she was going to wait for him outside. The lad shrugged and continued deeper into the chasm. There were several small crevasses that Guy might have been able to squeeze through, but the main cave continued farther and the youth decided to continue there.
Ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet - Guy's shoulder's sagged when he saw the end of the cavern. He blinked in the darkness trying to see better, his eyes, having become semi-accustomed to the black, didn't strain as much now. It was then that Guy saw something that made his blood run cold - the ceiling moved. That's right, the ceiling was alive and wiggling.
Guy Crispin gulped his heart back into his chest and began to backup. Unfortunately during this endeavor the black haired boy knocked into the cave wall, creating a loud crashing sound. In an instant the ceiling was rushing towards him in the form of bats. The entire colony had been disturbed and Guy was obstructing their way out.
The boy reeled, heart and mind racing - all the horrible superstitious stories and tales about bats flooded his mind. Several of the creature smacked into the bewildered lad and he screamed in alarm, dropping to the floor to get out of their way. His face! Guy suddenly remembered that he had to cover his face! In one fluid movement, Guy had pulled his cloak over his head and curled up into a tight ball - praying fervently that the bats would mistake him for being already dead and let him be.
The bats swarmed around his huddled body, chirping, squeaking, and making several other disturbing sounds. It didn't take long for the hoard to flutter out of the cave, enraged at being so grossly disturbed. Once the final flapping of wings had subsided, Guy tentatively lifted the corner of his cape - taking a quick glance around to survey the damage. Seeing that he was unscathed and uneaten Guy tore through the cave as fast as his legs could carry him. He tried to skid to a halt as a shadow covered the entrance but it was too late… Isabella, having heard his screams got up the nerve to poke her head into the cave - only to have the brother in question collide with her, leaving the two of them in a tattered frightened heap on the stone floor. Breathing hard and ragged Guy stood up and pulled his sibling to her feet as well.
"I thought you were killed!" Isabella scolded, brushing the dirt off her dress. "I came looking for you and this is what I get?"
Guy, still angry at her previous doings, spat harshly, "Well it's not like I asked for your help, did I?"
Instead of shriveling back and sobbing her apologies Isabella gave a little hop and cried, "That's it!" To add to Guy's growing consternation she looked cheekily at him, "Well - do you want my help or not?"
"Help with what?" Guy couldn't grasp what in the King's name she was talking about.
"You'll see," Isabella smiled, her eyes twinkling - nigh on dancing, "You'll see."
In a brief time, the plan was in motion and the little black haired girl was plunging through the forest at a dead run. Isabella spotted her quarry and wiped the devious smirk off her face before racing towards him. "Irving!" she screamed. "Irving! Come quick! Guy's in trouble!" She grabbed her cousin's hand and before he could say a word was pulling him on behind her. "He started to scream, and - and I don't know what happened to him. Please you have to help!"
The twain arrived at the cave's mouth, and Irving was rather unsure if he wanted to venture inside - Guy in danger or not… "Go on," Isabella urged.
Putting on a false show of bravado the older youth stepped into the darkness. He glanced around, looking for any signs of his misplaced cousin. Irving jumped when something gave out a low moan, "Guy? Is that you?" There was no answer. "You had better get out here right now, or I'll tell your Father and then you'll be sorry!" Another moan echoed around the cavern, but no Guy. The hair on the back of Irving's neck stood on end - but surely that was from the damp chill. Any form of daring masculinity Irving possessed was dashed when something latched onto his ankle. Kicking mightily and screaming as much Irving loosed his foot and bolted - fear gripping his chest.
Young Guy Crispin leapt up from where he had been crouched and ran after Irving, Isabella joining in on the chase. The brother and sister team lost sight of their panicked cousin until they heard Irving holler again. Guy and Isabella slid to a stop, they crept over to a bush and peeped out from behind it: there was Irving laying face down in the giant muddy puddle that Guy so narrowly escaped from himself. He floundered, having been turned into a 'muck monster.' Irving cursed so long and loud that even a castle guard would be shamed.` Guy chewed on his lip to keep from laughing out loud, while Isabella covered her mouth with her hands, snorting a little in exuberance.
The pair walked away in order to be out of earshot. Guy gave a smile, "Nice job Isabella."
"Thank you, Guy," Isabella said giving a tilting bow of her head. "But I couldn't have done it without you. You do very well following orders." Guy furrowed his brow, he wasn't so sure that was a good thing… Isabella continued, pretending that she hadn't just mildly insulted her brother, "I know that Mother says ,'Two wrongs don't make a right' - but I say, 'When you get bit, you have to bite.'"
A/N - Well, thanks for reading! I do hope that you will review (they really do make my day). I pray that the characters were (for lack of better words) in character… Poor little Guy - I really need to be nicer to him and stop placing him in awful situations…