CHAPTER 3: Invitations
"Wake up!! Wake up!!" Kenneth yelled at Philip. Kenneth was 7 and got excited over a lot of things. Philip bounced right up and fell out of the hammock he was in.
"Thanks a lot Kenneth! What's the matter!?" He said turning on his back.
"Amber's coming and we're going to get food!" He yelled and ran to the dog sleeping on the corner.
"I wouldn't wake him if I were you." Philip said and got up slowly.
"We're getting food. We're getting food." He sang to himself around the room.
"She isn't going to come." Philip said and walked down the stairs.
"Yes she is; you have to have faith." Dominic said. He was 8 and believed in miracles and fairytales.
"Believe what you want, I'm sure she won't be back. I'm going to look for some food and such, I'll be back later." He said and ran out the door.
He felt wonderful as the sunrise swam across the blue sky. His hands went through the trees and plants as he passed the sleeping houses. Philip saw some old men calling a buggy to come pick them up to go to work, others walked. The rich men in suits took their cars. He enjoyed himself as he passed houses and pastures.
"Hello sir." Philip said as he passed a tall man.
"Good day." He said, tipping his hat as he got into his car. Philip watched him drive off, the man stopped while Philip was passing.
"Here you go kid; you look like you're in need. Spend wisely." He tossed him a coin bag. It was small, but Philip was happy for the money.
"Thank you Sir! Have a nice day!" Philip said, maybe all the people in France weren't that bad.
Philip smelled food from the house the man lived in. He looked to find a fresh pie sitting on the window sill. He snuck up to the window and grabbed the pie. He ran. He ran all the way back to his run down house and burst in the door.
"What's happened Philip?" Louis' English accent rang through the empty house.
"I passed a man and he gave me some money, and I got some pie too." He put the pie on the table.
"Looks like you followed my directions and put the fish in the ice.
"I always do, Philip, you hands are red!" He said pointing to the burn marks of the tin.
"It was still hot." Philip said frowning, "At least we have food." He added.
"Here." Louis said and gave him some ice. Louis was only 11 but he acted a lot older. Jonathan was 14 and hung around Louis most of the time. Philip had just turned 16 two weeks ago.
"Thanks, oh, that feels good." He said, "Where did the others go?" He added.
"They're out back, playing with the dog." Louis said grabbing his book.
"They need to find a name for him. Why are you reading instead of playing today?" Philip asked heading toward the back door.
"I hurt my foot when we ran out; I'll just work on school stuff." He said and went to the "sunroom." Though the boys had little money and little education, they all knew how to read and would often find books and read them. Timmy was still learning, with Philip's help.
Philip went outside and saw the dog chasing the little boys. They were running and laughing and jumping on each other like barbarians.
"Philip! Get him!" Dominic said and raced toward him with the army. Philip laughed and dashed for the dog. He grabbed the dog and held him in his arms in a motion to throw him over the fence.
"You either release me or the dog goes!" Philip said and raised his eyebrow.
"NO!" Timmy yelled and ran to Philip's leg. He was too little to understand their games.
"Shh! I'd never actually do it, Timmy." He bent down and whispered to him. Timmy smiled and Philip put his finger over his mouth. Timmy followed and chuckled.
"Do you want the dog to go or not!?" Philip said and took a step towards the fence.
"Fine! Put the dog down. We will release you if you agree to a duel of sorts!" Kenneth said, pulling out his wooden sword. Jonathan had carved it for him earlier that year.
"I agree, but what kind of duel?" Philip said, letting the dog go.
"Sword fighting, you win you shall go free." Gage said and took a step toward Philip, who was two heads taller than him.
"What if you win?" He asked. Gage looked at Jonathan, he was the head leader.
"We get to take you captive to meet Madam Amber." Jonathan said and the boys all beamed.
"If she doesn't come?" Philip said.
"We shall decide that if she doesn't." Walter said, joining Gage in the front line.
"Agreed, get me my sword Sir Timothy." He said boldly and smiled at Timmy whose little legs went pounding into the house.
"Prepare to meet your doom Sir Philip." Jonathan said and turned away.
"In your dreams Jonathan, who shall I be fighting?" Philip replied and looked around at the army around him.
"I will." Walter said, he was small and kept to himself, but he was an amazing swords man.
"Are you strong enough for this, Walter?" Philip asked.
"Stronger than you." He replied, taking Kenneth's sword. Timmy had gotten Philip a sword also and they prepared to battle.
They edged closer together as the real battle was forming inside their heads. When you don't have much, your imagination becomes bigger than reality. The grass became cement and their old clothes became warrior shields. Their swords gleamed in the sunlight like metal, though they were only wood. Walter took the first swing; Philip jumped back missing it by an inch.
"Good shot Sir Walter." Philip said wringing his around and clinging it to Walter's sword. The sounds were drowned out by the yelling of the children.
"King Philip! King Philip! His right side! Come on!!" Half shouted, "Walter, King Walter!! Go GO!! Knock him out!!" The others yelled. The swords kept falling one on each other. In their minds, Walter had knocked Philip's shield off and Walter's side was red with blood. Philip's arm was red too. Of course in reality, they were just wooden. Walter took a risk and ran around Philip, confusing him, and hit him in the back. Philip fell and Walter knocked his sword out of his hands at the same time.
Walter had won.
"Lucky win." Philip said and got up, "You've been practicing haven't you?" He asked.
"With Jonathan, he's a great help." Walter said and the boys cheered. Philip laughed and picked Timmy up.
"We'll get them next time won't we." He said.
"Yes we will!" Timmy said eagerly, putting his hands triumphantly above his head.
"Come with us, servant Philip." Kenneth said and went through the gate onto the street.
"I'm a servant now?" He said and knocked on the door of the house to get Louis.
"What?" He said when he answered the door.
"We're going to see this amazing Amber." Philip said rolling his eyes.
"You lost didn't you." He said.
"I let him win." Philip claimed.
"Walter was plying you wasn't he." Louis said.
"How do you tell all of this?"
"It's just predictable." They kept walking.
"Your cousins are staying at their summer house. Do you want to come with us to see them?" Maria said to Amorette when she was getting food for the boys. Her cousin's were Lora, Zachary, and their daughter Gwen. Gwen was Amorette's best friend. She had jet black hair that went down to her breast line and it curled out from her oval shaped face. She was a good girl and would often oppose what Amber wanted to do…but opposites attract.
"Sure! I also want to stop at the market today; I heard they had the most amazing fabrics." She lied. It was her excuse to get the boys some food. She grabbed some bread and leftover trout from the pantry and wrapped it in a napkin. She also grabbed a small piece of chocolate for each of the boys. She stuffed it all in her bag and got her knife again, even holding it now made her feel as if Edwin was with her.
She didn't have her "poor" clothes on, so she grabbed her dirty cloak and turned it inside out so her mother wouldn't fuss. It could cover her silk outfit.
"We're leaving without you Amber!" Her mother called from downstairs.
"I'm coming, Mother!" She yelled and dashed down the main stairs.
She made it just in time; she got in the back seat of the family car. Hopefully she could sneak off when her parents were in the marketplace.
"The marketplace first, Joseph." Maria told him.
"Are you sure, we might cause a riot. Not even to mention Amorette being out there." The King said.
"We'll be fine, sweetheart. The guards are there."
"Whatever you say." He said shrugging. He knew he was right, but he wouldn't argue with Maria.
When they got to the marketplace Amber jumped out of the car, pulling her dirty cloak on as well. Her hair was done up but she'd have to deal with that later.
"I'm going to look around, Mother." She said before running into the crowd that was beginning to form around her parent's arrival.
"Hello, we'd thought we'd visit. How are you?" Maria started asking people.
Amber kept running until she was clear of the people. She took her hair down and kept walking. She walked passed a house with two men sitting outside. One of them said something, too far away to hear, and pointed to Amorette. She walked faster when she passed them, trying to look confident and fierce.
"Well I don't think I've seen you around here before, especially as done up as that. I'm Ralph." The younger looking one said picking up his cup of what looked like alcohol and bowing wobbly.
"I suggest you go lie down before you go on getting yourself hurt." Amber replied and kept walking, fast now.
"You think you're smart, well, how would you like to be the play thing of two very noble and smart men."
"I'd enjoy it, but I don't see any noble or smart men here." She said and backed away when he got too close to her.
"We don't mean any harm Madam." The younger one said and kissed her hand, pulling her close to him in the process.
"Get away." She said and pulled away. The older one grabbed her arm and ran his fingers through her hair. They were caked with mud and water…which could also be alcohol.
"Unhand me Sir." She said, pushing him with even harder force.
"I'm sure your parents would pay a lot of money to have you back." They said; Amber was filled with fear. She wouldn't let them take her though. She tried to run, but their nails just dug deeper into her skin.
"Ouch." She said and grabbed for her knife.
"My father could have you beheaded." She yelled and turned around, lashing her knife out.
"Or I could just kill you right now, take your pick." She added. She heard yelling and barking behind her, and a familiar voice yelling, "Unhand her! Get away!" He yelled.
She turned to find Jonathan running with a dog, which was barking hysterically, and yelling at the men.
They looked at each other and decided it wasn't worth it. They ran into their house like scared little girls.
"Jonathan!" Amorette yelled and put her knife away, running towards him.
"What were they doing to you?" He asked with wide eyes.
"Hurting me." She said and looked at the almost bleeding nail marks on her arms.
"Amber, are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine now!" She said and hugged him, "Where are the rest of the boys?" She added.
"They're behind; I thought I had heard you yell something so I ran ahead."
"Thank you so much Jonathan. I have to go really quickly, I'm sorry. Here is your food." She handed him the napkin.
"Here is a treat for all of you." She handed him the chocolate, his eyes lit like the sun.
"How could I ever thank you, Amber?" He asked.
"You don't have to, but there is a ball I'd heard about at the King's palace. It's open to the public, wouldn't you like to go?" She asked him.
"If only I had the clothes." He said and smiled. Amber spotted the boys coming out of the alleyway.
"Amber!" Gage yelled and ran towards her. She hugged each boy one by one.
"Philip was wrong, Jonathan. She did come!" Walter said and hugged Amber one more time.
"Where is little Timmy?" She asked looking into the alley.
"He fell so they were behind us a little." Kenneth said.
"Oh, tell him I'm sorry. I have to go right now, but it was nice seeing you again." She said and turned to leave.
"You can't go! You need to wait for Timmy and Philip!" Louis grabbed her arm.
"Philip? Who is Philip?" She asked, realizing she had only packed seven chocolates, Philip was eight.
"He's the oldest; he takes care of all of us." Gage said.
"As much as I'd like to stay I can't. I'm sorry. The ball is Monday; I hope you can somehow come. There will be tons of food." She said and ran before any of them could grab her. She heard Timmy's voice behind her calling her name, she wanted to keep her cover though, and ran faster.
"I'm thinking she came?" Philip said when Timmy was yelling after Amber.
"Why did she leave?" Timmy asked with a sad look in his eyes.
"She said she had to go really fast, she gave us food though." Jonathan said showing the handful of food.
"She looked familiar, and so beautiful." Philip said; rolling over the glimpse he caught of her again.
"Beautiful?" Walter asked.
"Yes, she was very beautiful. More beautiful than any other girl I've seen actually." Philip said.
"I'm sure those other men thought so too." Jonathan said, moving his head to the side towards the house of the attackers.
"What are you talking about, Jonathan?" Louis asked.
"You know when I ran ahead?"
"Yes."
"It was because I'd heard her yell something. The men were trying to take her away, they were hurting her. She was almost bleeding because of them, but when I showed up she was holding a knife to their bodies and she looked like she had it covered." He explained.
"That's horrible." Timmy said.
"She hugged me after that for chasing them away with the dog." Jonathan said smiling.
"She left her bag." Dominic said and held the beautifully designed handbag.
"It looks very expensive." Philip said, "Do you even know where she came from?" He asked.
"No, but she is really nice. She hugged me too." Dominic said.
"She invited us to a ball too." Kenneth said dancing around.
"A ball?" Timmy asked.
"It's a big party with fancy rich people and they all dance around in dresses and really good food is served." Jonathan said.
"She invited us to a ball?" Philip said, Jonathan noticed his expression.
"She said it was open to the public, which is why she was going." He explained.
"You could actually meet her this time!" Louis exclaimed.
"We couldn't do that, Louis. We don't have the clothes or the class." Philip said.
"Then I'll find her by Monday and ask her to bring you clothes." Louis said.
"Why only me?" Philip asked.
"You haven't met her yet, and we'd get bored at a party like that anyway. Right guys?" Jonathan said. The boys eagerly shook their heads.
"How to I know it's her?" Philip asked.
"You'll know; she'll be the most beautiful person there. You saw some of her today didn't you?" Gage said.
"That's true." Philip said; adjusting to the fact he might be able to pass as something more than a street rat for once in his life.
"I'll go and find her; she is probably at the marketplace." Louis said. He ran in the place of Amber and let his feet fly across the pavement.