Disclaimer: I don't own. You know the drill.


I awoke under the same tree, beside the same dirt road, in the same clothes that I fell asleep in. They were dirty and covered in mud and dead leaves from the trees. I looked around. There were trees surrounding me-a forest, one of the many forests in England.

Heaven, I thought. They all said they would wait for me in Heaven. That's the last thing both Mother and Father said just moments before they died. Father may not be in Heaven. His death was on his own account. He wanted to die. He killed himself in the least suspicious way. There was enough trouble with suspicion.

I know Mother and Adelaide are in Heaven. Mother wouldn't be proud of me, though. I know that. I stole James's old clothes. I ran away. I abandoned our home. She isn't proud of me. But I ran away for my life. I know what they do to people they believe are witches and heretics-they are drowned in the ponds and streams of England. But, I continued to think. What's so good about Heaven if you can't be with the ones you love that haven't died yet? But you're with God, and it's better than Hell.

I've been daydreaming enough. I need to travel. Luna was awake. She had eaten, that I know. She stood on the other side of the dirt road, grazing. It was a patch of grass in between the dirt road and the forest. Her saddle was kept on, I knew I forgot something. I stood up, brushed the dead leaves off my skirt, though it was still dirty, and walked over to find her.

"Let's go explore this road. It will lead us somewhere, Luna." I stroked her neck once her head was up, pulled an apple out of my bag and gave it to her. She ate the apple, including the core and stared at me. I took her by the reigns and walked her to the center of the road and mounted her there. We started at a trot, so we could enjoy the forest-and whatever lies at the end of the road.

We traveled until we reached a wooden wall guarded by men dressed in black and gold- the Sheriff's men. A guard walked towards me.

"What are you doing here? The village of Clun is under quarantine." He said.

"Quarantine-what for?" I asked. If there was nothing, the Sheriff is doing something.

"Pestilence," Good- an answer.

"Pestilence-how long has it been?" If it had been more than a few weeks, something was wrong.

"About a month, maybe more,"

"A month?" Something was wrong. The Sheriff did something-something terrible. "The pestilence is gone by now. There's quarantine, no one can leave. There's no trade, no money. They'll starve!"

"Well, sacrifices must be made for Nottinghamshire's sake."

"But people! This is barbaric! You're letting them die! Surely you'll have a heart and do something! You can't just sit here and watch!" Anger spread across my face. It was evident. If there is one thing that I'm terrible at, it's hiding my anger. A blind man could tell that I'm angry. A deaf man could tell that I'm angry.

"Well, if you feel that strongly about it, missy, you can go speak to the Sheriff," I made myself seem less angry. I lifted my head, and stared down towards him, giving myself a more noble appearance.

His face became solemn and he stepped back. I remembered my mismatched eyes, and closed them quickly.


I know this is one of my shortest chapters. They looked longer on Microsoft Word, I'll try to make them longer. Read and Review please!