That night Clara dreamed of witches, warlocks, and a strange man who kept whispering in her ear,"come to me, come to me my child, come to me, come, come. Clara screamed,"where are you? How can I find you?" then before he answered her he whisper in her ear one more time,"come to me." then just disappeared. then the dream changed... Clara was standing next to a small river, blood river, and the strange man was there to, only across the river, and again he was beckoning her to come to him, and Clara waded into the water and paddled towards him as hard as she could but she did not seem to be moving and she look forward at the man and he had a wicked smile on his face and raised his hand and brought it down swiftly and yelled,"descendit."Clara was then ripped down under the torrent by an invisible hand as her lungs screamed for air Clara could hear the man laughing, Clara had heard that laugh before but where she could not remember. clara's eyes flew open and she sat straight up in bed, she was wet, but not just wet she was soaked. like she had just taken a nap in the middle of a lake which scared her even more than she already was. Clara head was spinning. she needed some air she decided,that's when she fully notice that light was streaming in the room through her circular window to her left, and she noticed a bag and note on the floor saying,
"Here is an early sixteenth birthday present, I talked your mother into letting you go to the river, but you have promise you have to be back by your birthday, or you are in big trouble, I packed you some supplies in here. When you wake up come down stairs, eat some breakfast. Then me and you will pack the wagon."
Clara's heart swelled with love, then as soon as it was there it was gone and in its place was guilt. Clara remembered the terrible things she had said to her mother, the night before, Clara dredged down the stairs, and looked for her parents. Neither of them were in the house, but Clara's breakfast was on the table, Clara ate very slowly so that she could prevent the inevitable, she would have to apologize to Jennifer for her outburst. Clara hated being wrong, but all teenagers did.
Within twenty minutes Clara had finished her breakfast, and was ready to leave for the quest. She took a breath slowly and, pushed the front door open, and walked to the barn. Clara quickly found her father, loading the wagon up with the only food left from the harvest, and other supplies.
Clara walked over to her father and said," Dad, I can hunt I don't need this food keep it here for you and mother, I also know how to gather so I will have plenty of food."
"I know but your mother insists," replied Robert,"I will go put this food in the house, then we can finish packing your supplies." With that Robert turns on his heels and walked to the house with the bundle of food in hand.
Clara busied herself with checking what supplies her father had already placed in the wagon, trying to forget what she had said last night to her mother, and being grateful that Robert had not brought it up. Even though Clara could practically see it re-lived in her fathers eyes.
Robert returned with a box of matches, and an empty canteen for water. Robert taught Clara at age six how to purify water by boiling it and letting it cool. Clara figured that she would be able to make it to the river, by morning the next day, that would leave her four days to fish then the fifth day in the late afternoon Clara would have to leave in order to make it back home before her birthday. her birthday would be the day the next day after she got back.
When, Clara was completely packed and ready to go she asked Robert,"Where is mother I what to apologize for what I said last night and say good-bye considering I won't see her for almost a week practically."
Mom, went to the market to sign me up for the mines, I won't be here for your birthday, so I will say it now," Robert replies,"happy birthday!" Then he kisses Clara on the forehead, and says," be very careful and don't get in to trouble."
With that they said their goodbyes and Clara hopped on the horse, and yelled,"yeh" to the horse named kipper. kipper started to gallop towards the path, that would lead Clara to the forest that the best spot to fish in the blood river ran through.