Chapter Three


John and I had been meeting up every day to go explore the new world for a couple weeks now, and I'd been having the time of my life. I was lucky, too, because none of my family, or anybody else in the small town, had noticed our disappearances, or, if they did, had never said anything. I thanked God for that, for my mother not finding out.

I was just on my way to meet John when my little brother came running up to me. "Taaaaaylor! Taylor, wait for me!"

Grinning, I turned and scooped him up in my arms when he came within distance before quickly setting him back down before I dropped him on his face. "What are you doing, you little terror?"

"I wanna come with you!" he exclaimed, bouncing up and down almost too fast for my eyes to keep track of his figure.

"Come with me? Come with me where?"

"To the woods! I wanna see an Indian, and climb a tree, and—"

"Whoa there, buddy! What are you talking about?" I asked, my stomach sinking.

He grabbed my wrist, trying to use all his might to pull me towards the trees. "Will and I watch you go all the time, and I wanna go with you! But he said I couldn't, but that doesn't mean you say I can't, so can I?"

"Josef…that's not a good idea—"

"But you do it!"

"No, that's not what I meant," I said, sticking my tongue out at the pout on his face. "I meant I don't think it's a good idea to go against what Will said. You know he's all but in charge now."

"He's not my father, so I don't have to listen!"

"Please don't talk like that, Jo," I whispered as our father's face crossed my mind.

He immediately sobered up at my tone. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I just want to do what you do."

"I know buddy." I put my arm around his shoulders, leading him back towards our temporary home. I figured John would understand if we didn't meet up just this once. After all, in my opinion, family always came first. And I certainly didn't want Josef running around in those woods when I wasn't sure just how safe it was. "How'd you manage to escape from Will?"

"He's working today," Josef said with a puff of frustration, "and Alice and mum are always talking to the other ladies in town, and they're booooring."

I had to laugh at that. It was true that there weren't very many women in this town, just like there weren't very many children Jo's age, if any at all. That being said, you'd think that if you had the guts to make that trip over to this land you'd at least have an interesting personality. This, however, wasn't the case with these ladies. The only reason that what few of them were here was because their husbands weren't ever going back to England, and they really hadn't had a choice but to come along as well.

"Your wife will be chatty like that, Jo."

"Eewie! No! Girls are gross!" he said with a disgusted look on his face, shuddering at the thought.

I feigned a hurt expression, trying to hide my smile by placing a hand over my mouth. "Even me?" It was funny, watching the little gears in his mind backtrack.

"Taylor, you aren't a girl." His voice was so factual, tinged with a how-could-you-have-never-noticed-this tone that had me unsure of whether or not I should've been insulted or flattered.

"I hate to break it to you, bud, but I am, in fact, a girl." I grinned at the disbelieving look on his face. "But thank you for the compliment."

"Does that mean you're going to get married?"

Laughing, I squeezed his hand, shaking my head at him. "One day, Josef, I will get married. But then so will you."

"But you're going to marry the Captain, aren't you?" It took a second for what he said to register in my mind, but when it did, I pulled him to a stop, making him face me.

"W-why would you say such a thing?" I sputtered, disbelief thick in not only my voice, but also my mind.

"Well isn't that why you spend so much time with him?"

"No, buddy. That's not why at all."

"Will and Alice say so, though!" he argued.

"They what?"

"Alice says that's why you two have been spending so much time together. Will says—"

"Does mum know, Jo? Does she know I've been out, with the Captain?"

He furrowed his little brows. "No. Will says not to tell her, that you need to."

"Oh thank God," I muttered, looking up at the clear blue sky. "Where's Alice at now?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. But she never leaves town like you, so she's easy to find." And she was really easy to find. As always, she was attached at the hip with two other ladies she'd met whom she had immediately took a liking to. I wasn't sure what she found so great about them (I myself found them to be a little dull), but the company kept her happy so I didn't bother questioning her judgement.

"Excuse me," I interrupted their conversation, which probably wasn't a very ladylike thing to do. "Alice, can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Alice grimaced, casting her two companions an apologetic smile on my behalf. But she got up from her seat and followed Jo and I nonetheless. "What do you want Taylor? And why couldn't it wait until later tonight?" She sniffed, glancing over my shoulder as if she were looking for something or someone. "Where's Captain Smith? Shouldn't you be with him by now?"

"That is exactly what I want to talk to you about!" I exclaimed. "What are you thinking, filling Jo's head with nonsense like that?" Jo grinned at Alice, as if he was pleased with himself for getting me to all but yell at her.

"What nonsense?" she demanded, placing a delicate hand on her hip. "You know I don't believe in nonsense."

"Apparently you do!"

"What on earth are you talking about Taylor? I really don't have time for this."

"Yes because you were so busy back gossiping with the other women."

"As a matter of fact I was. So get on with it or I'm leaving."

"There is nothing going on between John and myself!"

"Bit friendly though, isn't it, if you both are on a first name basis?"

I stuttered, not knowing what to say to that. "You have no idea what you're talking about Alice. So please stop pretending like you do. If you're so eager for something romantic to happen, go find it for yourself and leave me out of it."

Surprising me, she grinned. "That's exactly what I was doing before you interrupted me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back and finish getting some advice on men before I go on my date tonight. Which—" She held up a hand to interrupt me. "—if you hadn't been so busy with John all the time you would've known about. If you want, there's room for one more and you can learn all about Captain Smith and men in general if you want to come join us."

I blinked. "Why didn't you tell me you had a date? With who?"

Jo groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Girl stuff! This is boring. I'm gonna go find Will so I don't have to hear about this icky stuff anymore." He gave me a disappointed look before he ran off in what I assumed was Will's general direction.

Laughing at his retreating back, I turned to face Alice again. "So? Are you going to tell me about who I'm sure is a handsome suitor for my lovely sister?"

Smiling, she linked her arm with mine and turned me towards her two friends, who were watching us and chatting amongst themselves. "Come with me, baby sister. You have a lot to learn."


A/N: I'll try my best to get another chapter up within a couple of days. Hopefully it'll start picking up soon for you guys!

Thanks for reading! Leave a review for me?

Nike :)