A/N: Sorry that I didn't update in a long time but my whole vacation is filled with camps, work and travelling. This is probably not one of my best chapters but I wanted to put it on here before I fly to Scotland for six days. I should also warn you that I won't update until September because of the same reasons.
"So what's your genius plan, O'Connor?" Just walk into the village take the first object we find and head back would be a nice plan cause I can't wait to get it over with already. Only the thought of spending a whole after noon with this irritating guy makes me want to cringe. Any other peculiar – except Emma maybe- would make this event exciting and enjoyable but Enoch just ruins the mood. He always does with his creepy aura and zombie dolls and thick accent. The thick accent is actually a difficult something, it makes everything he says creepier but also more intriguing at the same time so I don't know if I have to classify it as a bad trait. However Enoch as a total picture is still terrifying and really uncomfortable to hang out with.
"It really is genius. First of all we need a big carriage." I raise my eyebrow. "How do you define big?" I realize there's some sarcastic undertone in my voice even though it's a serious question. "Big like place for two people and a chicken or big like place for two people and a cow?"
Enoch seems to ignore the unintentional sarcasm and just answers straight forward. "At least a fat cow."
"What are you planning to steal that you need a carriage for a fat cow?"
"I'm the genius, you're the sidekick, let me do the thinking." I feel heat rising to my face when the anger boils up inside my chest. My head is probably a deep red when he continues. "But if you want to know however, you have to get me a carriage first." Though it's the perfect moment for an exaggerated eye roll, I take satisfaction with an annoyed glare. He ignores my obvious body language too and starts walking off to what seems like an old fashioned little farm. Well, it's probably not old fashioned in this time but then again, I have problems switching time periods.
A straw roof – I bet that isn't even modern in this time – is the first thing I can clearly distinguish when I try to keep up with Enoch. When we get closer I scan the building that isn't more than some stones hold together with dry clay. I can't find any sign of human life in sight. Let's say that I guessed it would be a little more crowded on a farm although the whole village seems an abandoned resort.
Enoch paces to a smaller building at the side of the lifeless house what must be the barn. When he opens the door I can hear animal sounds, especially a lot of sheep. Enoch makes his way through the piles of hay that are scattered around the place. It's a mess in the barn. Work equipment, hay and an amount of sheep shit is all spread out on the floor so I decide to stay outside, where it doesn't smell like sheep butt.
"I could use a little help!" I hear a muffled voice coming from the back of the barn. I sight and despite the disgust I feel for the excreta I will find inside, I enter the old nasty building. I put my feet down on the only little parts of the floor that aren't covered in dirt. It takes some time but I get to Enoch anyway so he can't complain.
"Can you make the horse ready to pull the carriage?"
"I don't know, I'm just a sidekick." I shrug my shoulders.
"Can you do anything without complaining actually?" I send him a death glare before I pick up the riding gear that's thrown on the floor in front of the box and get to work. I ignore Enoch's satisfied grin while I'm readying the snow white horse. He keeps looking at me like that until I'm done. Then he shows me the carriage he was aiming for the whole time. I gaze at the thing that can transport at least two fat cows.
"What the heck are you planning to steal?!" That grin appears on his face again. "You'll see." I can't hold back a worried expression in his direction. "It'll surely make us the victors." Without further explanation he paces of, leaving me with a horse by my side and a carriage way too big for anything I can imagine.
Twenty minutes later I'm sitting against the carriage, tapping my foot against the solid ground, bored out of my mind. The carriage is parked just out of sight of a little shop downhill. I didn't get a good look at it before Enoch shoved me behind the bushes. He said it was necessary that he went to the shop alone, I don't know why, I don't care why. The only thing that I care about now is that he comes back fast because sitting here, doing nothing, makes me feel utterly useless. Until now I haven't done more than readying and riding the horse because that's something Enoch can't. He's lucky my friend dragged me to some horse riding classes, otherwise I would never ever touch an animal that's bigger than me. I'm not really fond of animals I have to admit.
The horse neighs at me, almost breaking his neck while trying to look at me.
"I don't know what he's doing either, Snowflake." Yeah, I named the horse Snowflake, not very original but the other option was Icy. Snowflake turns his head back and starts eating from the bushes. Must be nice being a horse I think when I see Enoch running up the path.
"We have to go!" He yells from a distance. It's then that I see the angry vendor chasing him. "You got busted?! You're such an idiot!" I jump up in a rush and pull Snowflakes head away from the bushes. In a few seconds I'm sitting on his back. In the corner of my eye I see Enoch running towards the carriage with wheels and planks in his arms. I want to ask him what they're for but press my heels in Snowflakes flank instead. The horse neighs once before he begins to trot.
When Enoch jumps in the carriage I prod Snowflake to a steady gallop. I decide we're going fast enough like this without tiring Snowflake too much. I dare to look back to find a furious vendor who clearly can't keep up. I send him an evil smirk. All I get back is fading shouting, I guess if it were the 21th century he would call the cops and note down our license plate. Am I glad it's 1940. Now I'm looking over my shoulder anyway I take a look at what Enoch is forcing. He fiddles with the wheels, even though I doubt he knows much about mechanics.
"Hey, don't break them." He lifts his head to stare back at me. "They can stand way more force. Otherwise they can't transport our treasure."
"And what may our treasure be?" I try to sound innocent, I don't know if I nailed it actually.
"Head for the church." The church? I face towards the road for a brief moment and can see the church tower slightly at the right. I lead Snowflake in the direction of the outstanding building before I get back to Enoch.
"We're going to steal an altar? Or do you want a big statue of Jesus?" He shakes his head at both options. "Well, if you were planning to take the organ away you have chosen a too small carriage." I'm wrong again.
"We're going for the bell." My reflexes are already making me pull the rein. The only thing stopping me from letting Snowflake halt is the excited feeling in my chest. I don't really like the fact that the feelings in my chest are most of the time contradicting with what my mind says.
"Are you out of your mind?! We never get that thing down!"
"I've got a plan."
"You're plans our reckless!"
"Are you too much of a baby to help?" I become silence. He always says these things that make me want to participate in his ridiculous plan. First with the horse, now with the bell. I know that it's stupid to continue but I prod Snowflake to go faster anyway.
"That's what I thought." I barely hear Enoch mutter under his breath.
The church is the smallest church I've ever seen. When we get in there's only a little child head of space between my head and the ceiling. Enoch even touches it with his curly hair. That's exactly how low the ceiling is. We climb stairs at the left of the main room with all the chairs and the altar and stuff. We're not even halfway the first turn when he stops. I have the urge to ask him what he think he's doing but shut my mouth when I see him placing a plank over the stairs. He does this every turn, all three turns. Yeah, the tower isn't really high either. Even though it might be only a two men high tower it's still pretty remarkable between all the old little houses in the village. I guess the clock helps to draw attention. But enough about the tower.
We're standing in front of the bell and it is clear that Enoch didn't think this through, a metal chain is keeping the bell up, the clapper is hanging loosely and ready to cling by the slightest of movement and the thing is wider than the stairs. I open my mouth to complain but he seems to really don't care about anything I say today. "Just give me your jacket." Yeah, Horace gave me a jacket out of nowhere right before we started. I was wondering why I needed it because it's actually a beautiful day. Now I see why the kiddo did it. I hand my jacket over and Enoch reaches under the bell to bind it around the clapper.
"Pretty smart to be honest." I mutter, just not loud enough that Enoch's ego can't hear it. He stands up again and dusts of his own shirt in a very old fashioned way. Wait, I forgot about the time period again. Next he places the wheels underneath the lining of the bell, the circle where the bell would touch the ground if it came down. When I see him putting them there I can't help but notice that the splits in the block of wood above the wheels is straight. Not round like the lining, but they're wider so I guess it should work. Then he suddenly rolls them more to one side of the circle.
"It's out of balance that way." I try to argue him. He seems to have thought out everything tough.
"The stairs are too small so one side of the bell has to hang over." There is Enoch again with his tremendous logic, why am I such an idiot that doesn't think of this stuff? I have the urge to slap myself but instead I do something that's actually helpful. I move over to the other side of the tower where the chains are attached to the wall. I carefully loosen them and use my own weight to balance the bell out when I detach the chains. Little by little I let the bell go down.
"Just a bit more."
"I know Enoch, I have eyes too." It's not snappy or rude, just a squeal because the chains are dragging my arms upwards and I can't get more out of my mouth between my gritted teeth. Yeah, I'm not really strong, it's true. I let the chains go when I see them slipping into the gapes in the wood. They fit to my surprise.
"Let's go now." I go around the bell to where Enoch stands. "Before anyone notices that their goddamn bell is gone." We pull it towards the stairs that are made rideable for the wheels -something I didn't think about of course- and begin descending the staircase. The bell passes the top of the stairs and begins to ride on his own. We both put our shoulders into the metal to catch some of the weight otherwise the bell would speed off. I feel the pounds weighing on my torso but I think Enoch is taking most of it on his own. My feet are shuffling down to search for safe spots to place them so that I don't fall. One shuffle down, found a stable spot, another shuffle down, a second stable spot and it works for two staircases but when we're on the top of the last one Enoch slips.
It's like all my reflexes are suddenly level 200 cause it seems like I can see everything happening at once. Enoch sliding down the side of the bell when his foot doesn't find grip, the bell tilting down over the edge but not falling yet and Enoch's hand landing just under the bottom of the metal death weight. The other reason I think my reflexes are suddenly supernatural is that I'm able to duck and pull his hand away before it gets crushed. Later I see the thing tilting too far and falling but my super reflexes are already gone at that moment.
Two seconds later it collapses with the ground. The sounds pierces through my ears. I can't hear anything else for a solemn minute where I'm trying to zone the clang out. I'm pretty sure the whole village heard the noise. I open my eyes when my ears don't feel like they're just molested by a hammer anymore. I didn't even notice I closed them. I see Enoch laying in the same position as before the bell fell. His hand is still intertwined with mine after I saved it. It feels warm and a little bit sweaty.
"You okay?" I ask carelessly. He looks over at me and takes his hand back roughly.
"Great." He pulls himself up and dusts of his clothes for the second time. "It's all just great."
He seems to blame himself for the incident. He may have caused it, but it could've happen to anyone. He storms of to the bell. I finally get up after I realize I'm still not standing. I go upstairs again to get the planks. I better leave him alone I guess, don't want to be nearby him anyway. I get the planks to the carriage but force myself to look over my shoulder to Enoch before I exit the church. He's fiddling with a crushed wheel and trying to place the others under the bell again. I scan the scene subconsciously. It happens and I can't stop myself from doing it. I turn my eyes away and walk out the door to the carriage. I have to stop scanning people unwillingly.
I lay the planks in the front of the carriage safely before I return to help Enoch. When I want to go in I suddenly see two men approaching. They're around the same height and one wears a messy grey beard while the other has a shaved chin. That's all I can notice in one glance before I hide behind the door. Just our luck that the whole village heard the noise of the bell. I hurry over to Enoch whose starting to role the bell to the door.
"We have a problem." He looks at me with a raised eyebrow. He doesn't have to tell me to continue, his face says enough. "There are two men coming." I wait for him to come up with a marvellous plan like he always does.
"Uhm, we should probably just run." No marvellous plan this time.
"No." I say directly. I haven't stolen a carriage, a horse and almost a bell to return with nothing.
"You have a better plan?"
"Just let me handle this." I don't know what's gotten into me cause this plan is ridiculous and I'm pretty sure I can't pull it off. I take a breath and scan the space behind the bell as fast as I can. Then I try to project it in front of the bell so it's hidden. It's a flat illusion so if you walk around it you would still see the bell. It's more like putting a screen in front of it than actually making it invisible.
"So let me guess, I have to do the talking cause you have to concentrate?"
"That's right." Before he can complain the men enter the church. I optimize the illusion mentally while Enoch does the talking.
"Did that sound come from here?" the beard man confronts us. Enoch looks at me and answers the man after he sees my blank face.
"Yeah, we rang the bell."
"Why? Is there something wrong?" the other man with sharp cheekbones picks in.
"It was an accident." Enoch crabs his head what makes him look more innocent than I thought he could ever look. The dark and broody is hidden under this ashamed act.
"Just don't do it again, boy." The beardy old man pats him on the shoulder before he walks off. The other one winks at Enoch in a way everyone knows as good-luck-with-the-lady. I want to cringe at the wink but repress the urge. Both leave the building and I let the illusion vanish with relief. Enoch did a good job pretending to be a total dork. Without exchanging a word we pull the bell outside together after we checked the men were out of sight. I lift the bell onto the carriage using the planks as lever. It takes some effort to get them on but I manage to do it after all. Enoch is practically watching me and handing only the slightest help. He seems to be in his own world.
He sits in the carriage while I ride Snowflake and that's how it's done. He doesn't say anything and I'm totally okay with it. I have the time to enjoy riding on a horse after all this time and seeing the landscape while he's silent. The silent is broken not long after though when we pass the two men. They begin yelling at us for stealing the bell and I put my tongue out like a little child in responds. However the two men aren't the only people we meet on our way home. Around the centrum of the village we bump into the carriage of Horace.
"That's a magnificent price miss Archer. It's a regret that it won't win." I raise an eyebrow. "Because ours is going to steal the first place." Horace grins mysterious like he did so many times today.
"I don't see nothing in your carriage, Horace." What could be better than our bell? He's just being the vague kid he always is.
"Emma is getting it. Don't worry about it, you'll see it back at the house."
"See you later than." I say suspiciously before I set Snowflake back to trot. Horace is literally going to kill me with his mysteries.