A/N: Sorry my first chapters are so short, they will be getting longer. I just wanted to leave you with some suspense or cliffs! Thank you for reading! Please Review!
"Valerie! All of the girls are braiding out by the apple trees. You should come." The kind redheaded girl, Roxanne, invited. Valerie nodded. Peter was working today, anyway, and she needed something to distract her. The girls were sitting in the grass under the shade of the apple trees, most in pairs some in groups of three. They were all braiding each other's hair, in intricate designs to prepare for the wedding celebration of Prudence's uncle and her new aunt. The celebration would have plenty of music, dancing, hard drinks and food. The entire village was busy with preparations, happy to have something to celebrate. There hadn't been a wedding in a long while and everyone was talking about the sweet traditional ceremony that took place that morning.
A few girls eyed her as she walked into the shade with Roxanne, she ignored it, she always did. "Oh please let me braid yours!" Roxanne grinned, moving behind Valerie as she sat, legs crossed at the ankle. She aided the girl in taking out the braids she had in. Roxanne combed through her hair with her fingers until she was satisfied with the results. Beginning at the left side of her head, she expertly began to braid Valerie's hair tightly. She winced, tears brought to her eyes from the tolerable yet sharp pain of having her hair pulled. She blinked and wiped the tears away, noticing then that someone was watching her. The apple trees grew kitty corner from the blacksmith's and Henry stood at its entrance, watching her carefully. She looked down at her lap bashfully. When she looked again he had disappeared back into the shop. "He likes you, Valerie." Roxanne said, making the blonde cough awkwardly.
"Who?" She asked.
"Henry. He always looks at you." Valerie jerked, then grimaced at the pain it caused.
"Hmm. I feel like people are always looking at me." Valerie admitted.
"Sure, but Henry is gorgeous." Roxanne squealed girlishly.
Peter is gorgeous. She thought, switching places with the redhead when she secured the first clip. Valerie began braiding her hair in complex twists and impressive knots. She was still thinking about what Roxanne said.
"Henry isn't my kind of guy."
"Oh? What is your kind of guy?" The nosey girl inquired. "A woodsman perhaps?" Valerie smiled blissfully at his mention, thankful that her face couldn't be seen. It was no secret in Daggerhorn that Peter and Valerie had something more than friendship between them. "Where is your sister?" Roxanne asked. As if on cue, Lucie was seen walking by the blacksmith's shop toward the gathering beneath the apple trees. The pretty yet extremely plain girl joined her friends in braiding, waving to Valerie before she sat. Lucie was starting to talk to her less and less, and it troubled her.
"Lucie doesn't talk to me like she used to." Valerie admitted, sadly. Suddenly she felt awful, nauseous and feverish. "Can Prudence finish your braids, Rox? I'm not feeling well." Roxanne nodded, holding the braid at the back of her head.
"Feel better. Hope to see you tonight!" Roxanne waved, Valerie smiled politely, and began walking home.
She began to feel worse, sweat coating her forehead. She rounded a corner, slamming into a tall brunette. He dropped a metal rod that clanged loudly against the cobblestone. She gasped, almost stumbling backwards. She braced herself against the dirty brick wall of the backside of the blacksmith's, feeling faint.
"Valerie! Valerie? Are you alright?" She looked up to see Henry's handsome, concerned face. Just then the feeling passed and she was blushing in embarrassment.
"I'm fine, sorry." She apologized, feeling terrible about bumping into him.
"Don't worry about that. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, she nodded, trying to take deep breaths.
"Yes. Sorry about your… rod?" She said, laughing awkwardly. He laughed too, picking it up off the ground.
"No harm done, its not usually hard like this." He cleared his throat, feeling foolish for saying it that way. "I mean, we heat them and form them into things." They laughed.
"Alright well, I'm going to get going, sorry again." He nodded, watching her walk away hastily.
"It's alright!" He shouted after her. "Bye!" He felt like a boy, fumbling and nervous.
She was still laughing when she heard a commotion just ahead of her. Twenty feet away she saw a crowd of people, Peter at their center. He was out cold, strewn across a long board, looking pale and terribly ill. She ran towards him, held back by lumbermen when she was getting close to reaching him. "Stay back." They ordered.
"What happened!" She demanded, seeing a woodsman she recognized. "Hans!" The men let her go once Peter was out of sight. "Hans, what happened?" The short muscular bearded man shrugged.
"He dropped. He was all sweaty and then he fainted." The man told her, walking away to join the other men.
