Chapter One (arrival)
Living in the country was NOT Beka's idea of a good time. She had nothing against the country, except that she was forced to go. Besides there was not much she expected she could do in Moonacre Valley, it was so isolated. So isolated, in fact, that she had never even heard of it until her parents had died and left her to go live with her uncle. An uncle, who, until very recently, she did not know she had.
Moonacre itself sounded like something from a fairytale. She just was hoping there was something adventure in this god forsaken, fairytale sounding, isolated valley. The one good thing she could think of was that no one from the city would be there. Yes, Beka had lived in the city her whole life, but that did not mean she had to like it. Boys were the only ones who would have something interesting or of importance to say, and that was only rarely. It did not matter anyway since she wasn't allowed to socialize with boys without a chaperone, and so she was left to gossip with girls her own age. Girls, who, were pretty as sunrise, stupid as can be, and squealed at the sight of anything the least bit frightening. Beka herself was not afraid of many things she was expected to be scared of.
One time, a mouse had run through the patio where she and her "friends" were gossiping. Suddenly, every girl was standing on her chair, shrieking. The men came running in to find Leanne fainting while the other girls tried to hold her up from their respective chairs, and me on the ground comforting the scared mouse. That had immediately ended Richard Williams courtship for me. Not that I was all cut.
"Dammit," I muttered, jerked back into reality. Loose stones where everywhere and I would have to be careful if I didn't want to trip over another one, again.
"Now, now, is that proper language for a young lady?" a taunting voice laughed behind me. I whipped around, and guess what? I fell down.
"Stupid dress," I muttered. Standing up, I dusted myself off and and turned to look at my unwelcome companion. "What do you want?" I said in my most un-lady like manor. I was not in a good mood.
"Well I was going to invite you to come with us, but you don't seem in the mood. Unfortunately for you, though, my father expects me to bring you home, so your coming whether you like it or not," a big taunting grin was plastered on his face. Looking at him properly, I saw that he wore a black leather jacket with a multitude of silver buckles. He was wearing black trousers with many pockets. Across his nose was a strip of black fabric. Around his neck was a very odd feathered collar. The ensemble looked rather odd, and was finished with a bowler hat which just happened to be, what else, black. He had soft brown hair, and forget-me-not blue eyes which twinkled at my discomfort.
"I'm sure your father is delightful, but I really must get going," I retorted, not daring to hope he would just let me leave in peace.
"You know, Robin," a voice said from behind me, "I don't think she wants to join us." I turned around to see we had been joined by another boy, around the same age as the boy he just called Robin. He was dressed in somewhat of the same manor as the latter, too, minus the feathers. Looking at them both I decided they must be around 18, two years older than I.
"Now what gave you that idea," I asked drily before turning back around to the bird-boy, "Robin, is it," I couldn't help smirking, "That would explain the feathers," At this point the best thing for me would probably to shut up, but my mouth had a mind of its own, "Go pick on someone else."
"Oh, but that wouldn't be any fun. Besides, we're not leaving until we've got what we want," Facing Robin, who was grinning, I saw that he was flanked by two more boys, all in black. Shit, I was outnumbered. And did anyone here have any sense of color and style, or were they all in mourning. I prepared to make a run for it. By the looks of things, these boys did not intend for me to just walk out of here unscathed. I groaned inwardly, my chances of actually getting away unscathed were slim.
"Come on then, no need to be afraid," Robin said as he made a grab for me. Quick as a flash, I grabbed my hairpin and stuck it in his arm. I jerked my hand back, leaving a rather long and deep scratch on his forearm. He gave out a howl like a dog, and I ran.
I scooped up my bag and dashed past his friends. Reacting too late, they made a grab for me and missed. My eyes stung with the dirt being thrown around by my mad dash as I ran all the way to the gate, my initial destination.
"Open up!" I yelled, pounding on the gate with my fists. I could hear the guys swearing behind me. A second longer and they would have me.
"Pist, over here," a man stuck his bald head out of a small door right next to the gate. I ran over and got through just in time.
"Arrrrr," I turned to see Robin and his friends pounding on the gate. Robin's arm sat cradled on his chest, and I tried not to feel guilty about the blood oozing and dripping down his arm, "I'll get you, Princess," Robin promised from the other side of the gate, "You'll see see me soon."
"I can't wait," and before I started to say something stupid, I ran, catching up with the man responsible for saving me not just five minutes ago. I suppressed a shudder, What the hell was that about? What could they possibly want? I hadn't even met my Uncle, yet there was already a list of questions I was ready to ask.
