Wheel Finally Turning

"The first week in August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning." ~Tuck Everlasting

Chapter 1

For some, time passes slowly an hour can seem like an eternity. For others, there is never enough. For the Tucks, it does not exist.

"Jesse! Winnie! Time to come in, children, dinner is on the table!" Mae Tuck called from the front door of the shack, smiling at her son and his new found friend, Winefred Foster. Winnie came from a well-to-do family who lived on the outskirts of the forest, and had gotten lost in the woods about a week ago, and ended up meeting Jesse. Once they had begun to trust each other, they could not be separated.

Jesse had spent all afternoon showing Winnie around the forest, and now they were racing each other back to the cabin. About halfway to home base, Jessie tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face, causing Winnie to burst into laughter as she continued running. She flew up the steps and touched the door, giggling still as Jessie stumbled after her.

"Ha! Beat you now!" She teased as he wrapped his arms around her, grinning from ear to ear.

"I would have caught you had I not fallen," he chuckled.

"Do the boys always have to win in games?" Winnie asked, her eyes sparking mischeviously.

Mae Tuck smiled as she ushered them inside, wiping her flour-covered hands onto her old apron. "Have either of you seen Miles?" She asked with concern, wondering what on Earth could have happened to her eldest son. He had been around earlier that afternoon, but disappeared suddenly without explination. Jesse shook his head as he took his seat at the table beside Winnie, and started to serve himself.

"No, Ma. I haven't. Why, is he missing again?"

Mae nodded with a sigh. "Yes he is. I hate it when he does that to me. You would think he would have enough decency to let us know of his whereabouts."

Jesse shrugged, raising his eyebrow at Winnie, who had begun nibbling on her sausages. "He likes to have time to himself, Ma." Jesse pointed out. "Maybe he lost track of time."

Mae nodded, sighing softly. One thing Winnie did not yet know was that the Tuck family had a secret, a secret that they feared would certainly ruin the world of humanity. Exactly one-hundred years ago the Tucks had come across a small spring at the base of a tree in the middle of the woods, and each of them had taken sips of the water, thinking nothing of it. Then as time passed, the Tucks began to think that something had not been quite right about the spring. Things began to happen, and they soon realized that the water had the power to give everlasting life, for neither of them could get hurt or die.

The head of the house, Angus Tuck, came into the kitchen, rubbing his gruff face with his hands. "No sign of Miles, Mae. I've looked everywhere, called his name at least a hundred times."

"Well I am beginning to worry, Angus, What will we do if he does not come back in the next few hours?"

"I don't know. But let us sit, eat, and wait. He is a responsible young man, and I am sure he has a reasonable explination for why he has been gone for so long." Angus took a seat at the table, and smiled at Winnie, who had nearly cleared her plate and was helping herself to seconds. "Good to see that you are developing an appetite at last," he chuckled, startling her. "No, no, help yourself. There is plenty."

Winnie grinned and nodded respectfully as she piled more food onto her plate. "I am so hungry tonight," she told Jesse, who was still working on his first helping.

"From all that running about I suppose," Mae chuckled. "What did Jesse show you today, dear?"

"The Eifle tower," Winnie spoke, forgetting to swallow first by mistake, and covered her mouth, blushing furiously. Jessie burst into laughter at the sight of a prim Victorian-style child talking with her mouth still full. Winnie forced her food down and apologized for her behavior before repeating herself. "He took me to see the Eifle Tower."

"Ah, wonderful. A beautiful sight when you get to the top, isn't it?" asked Angus, grinning again.

"Yes in deed, though my legs are screaming from having climbed all of those rocks." She giggled, receiving a sympathetic smile from Jesse, who was sipping from his water glass.

Suddenly the door to the cabin swung open with a loud BANG, causing everyone to jump and whirl around. Miles stood in the doorway, his face very pale. "Miles!" Mae gasped. "Where in the name of heaven have you been all this time?"

"Miles?" Angus repeated when the eldest son did not reply. "Are you all right, son?"

Without warning, Miles suddenly collapsed to the floor with a THUD. Mae screamed and leapt out of her seat, rushing over to him. "What happened?" Jesse cried in horror.

"Oh Angus, he's burning up!" Mae gasped, after touching her son's face.

"But...but he can't...." Jesse stuttered.

"What's going on?" Winnie asked, frightened now.

"Stay where you are," Angus shouted harshly as Jesse began to stand up, and he knelt down beside his eldest, gently shaking Miles' shoulders.

"Is he ill?" asked Winnie, her mouth hanging open in shock. She had been very frightened of Miles since he had forced her onto his horse and brought her to the cabin for the first time, and had been rather bitter towards her since. It was odd seeing Miles lying so still and helpess, not responding to his father's voice.

"That is not supposed to happen!" Jesse yelled.

"It's natural for people to fall ill, Jesse," Winnie said softly.

"Not for us," Jesse scowled, watching his mother out of the corner of his eye as she hurried to fetch water from the pump outside.

"What? How could it not be natural for you?" Winnie cried. "You are human also!" She turned to Angus, who was still trying to shake Miles awake.

"Yes and no," Jesse replied.

"What are you talking about?" Winnie asked, starting to get annoyed now.

"Shall I tell her the truth, Pa?" Jesse asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable that he had let their secret slip.

"Tell me what?" Winnie wanted to know, grabbing Jesse's arm. "Tell me WHAT, Jesse Tuck?"

"Remember that stream you saw me drinking from when we first met?" Jesse asked, after his father nodded, allowing Jesse to continue.

"Yes. What about it? The one where you would not let me drink from?"

"Exactly. The water was not exactly poisoned...it...it has the power to give everlasting life."

Winnie gasped. "You're joking. You're telling me that if I drank from that spring, I would be able to live forever?"

Jesse nodded. "Yes, Winnie, you would be able to live forever. Please....you are the only person who knows about this. I am begging you not to tell anyone when you go back home."

Winnie nodded. "I won't, Jesse. I promise."
Jessie smiled at her. "Thank you."

Mae rushed back into the kitchen carrying a wooden bucket filled with water that was sloshing a bit over the sides, and approached Miles. "Grab towels, Jesse!" She screamed, and Jesse took off, coming back with a few white bath towels, and handed them to his father. Mae immediately dumped the bucket of obviously cold water onto Miles, who let out a yell and shot up, coughing and gasping.

"Oh thank goodness," Mae sobbed, tossing the bucket aside and embracing her son in a tight hug, ignoring the fact that he was soaking wet. "What happened, love?"

Miles accepted the towels and wiped the water from his face, blinking a bit. He noticed that everyone was staring at him and scowled, struggling to get to his feet, nearly stumbling again, but Mae caught him. "I'm fine," he whispered, steadying himself as he felt another wave of dizziness wash over him.

"You most certainly are not, Miles, you have a horrible fever!" Mae cried in disbelief, and as if on cue, Miles started coughing harshly, feeling very embarrassed by his weakness.

"Let us get you into bed right away and then you can tell us what happened, all right son?" Angus suggested, feeling terrible. Miles glanced over at Winnie and Jesse and gave them each a weak smile before allowing his mother and father to help him up the stairs. When they had disappeared, Jesse let out a long sigh.

"Wonder what happened to him," Winnie spoke, her brow crinkling with concern. Jesse shrugged.

"I have no idea. The last time Miles was sick was when he was a teenager and I was only a toddler."

Winnie gasped. "Wow. So he has a pretty good immune system then." She tapped her fingers against the table.

"Jesse!"

Jesse jumped up from the table at the sound of his mother's voice, and kissed Winnie quickly on the cheek. "Stay here. I'll be right back." He turned and rushed up to the bedroom he shared with his older brother, and found his father helping Miles into bed.

"Yes Ma?" Jesse asked, frowning as Angus pulled the covers up to his eldest son's neck.

"Jesse, there was a case of Scarlet Fever at the inn your brother went to this afternoon," Mae sobbed.

"Scarlet Fever!" Jesse choked. "But Miles can't get sick, can he?"

"Unless there is something we do not know about the spring," Angus told Jesse quietly. "Perhaps there is a gliche in the water."

"What did you want me to do?" Jesse asked.

"I want you to get a bowl of cool water and some rags. We must try to bring his temperature down." Mae explained.

"All right. I'll be right back then." Jesse hurried out of the room, leaving Angus and Mae alone. He hurried downstairs, where Winnie was waiting for him, and nearly ran headfirst into her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did he tell you?"

"There is a Scarlet fever outbreak in town," Jesse told her quickly.

"Scarlet fever! Oh Jesse..."

"I have to get some water and rags for compresses," He explained. "I'll explain in further detail later what's going on."

"Okay." Winnie sat back down and watched as he ran around the kitchen, fetching what he needed. Jesse rushed back up the stairs and back into Miles' room where he saw his brother sleeping and his parents sitting on either side of the bed watching in silence.

"Would you like me to fetch the doctor?" Jesse whispered, startling Mae who turned her head towards him and accepted the bowl and the rags, and set both things on the nightstand. Jesse had heard Scarlet fever was a deadly disease if not treated straight away. "Are you sure he has it, Ma? Does he have the rash?"

Mae quickly began unbuttoning Miles' shirt and pulled it open, revealing his bare chest. Jesse felt his heart sink, for sure enough, three- fourths of his older brother's bare skin was red. Even parts of Miles' arms were covered with the rash, which he was certain would cause some serious discomfort in a few hours. Mae immediately let out a sob and rested her head against her eldest son's chest.

"Jesse, you know we can't risk going into town for the doctor. We do not want people to find out we're here." Angus said quietly.

"They won't know who I am, Pa. We can't very well send Winnie or they'll hunt us down, but I can go. Miles needs a doctor, or he's going to die. Scarlet fever's bad....I've heard about it."

Mae lifted her head. "Let the boy go, Angus. I don't care if we're found out, 's long as my boy will be all right."

Angus sighed. "All right. Jesse, go then, and be quick about it."

"Yes Pa, I'm goin'." Jesse took off downstairs again, and stopped when he saw Winnie patiently waiting for him at the table. She had never looked more beautiful than she did now, her long auburn hair hanging loose past her shoulders, her bright blue eyes shining. He could not resist what he did next...he quickly sat down in his original seat at the table beside her and pulled her into his arms, resting his cheek on her shoulder.

"I am here, Jesse." Winnie whispered.

"I wish you could come with me to town, but it would be too risky if anyone saw you," Jesse told her. "I have to get the doctor."

Winnie smiled. "I understand, Jesse. You know, a few days ago I would have given anything to go home again, but now I would pay anything to stay here." She giggled. "Strange how feelings change so quickly, huh?"

Jesse grinned back. "I am glad you are enjoying yourself, and I apologize for this dilemma."

"Jesse, your brother could not help getting sick. It just...it just happens."

"Yeah. Well, I am really sorry but I have to run off again. Do you need anything before I go?"

Winnie shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I'll just go into my room and listen to that music box your Mum put in there."

Jesse kissed her quickly again before waving and bolting out the door. Winnie sighed, staning up and flipping her hair behind her. She found it hard to believe, but she was beginning to loose track of time. Had she been there a couple of days? A week? A month? She did not even care. For the first time, Winnie Foster felt free.