Chapter 21

The four walked in the front door and Elijah stopped at the tall clock standing there. He adjusted the weights to keep the mechanism going. Kol watched him while the sisters moved toward the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I kneed you. Does it still hurt?"

"Barely now. Do not apologize. I likely would have done the same thing."

"He was really turned on."

"I know. I could feel what he was feeling." Elijah did not go into further explanation. He was not sure what Kol expected him to say. He was embarrassed by what had happened and he didn't want to discuss it. "Let it go, Kol. With luck, Robert is gone."

"I hope so. I'll go help Freya hang that sconce she wants put up." He headed for the kitchen where he had laid the hammer and nails on the table. Freya had found the item she wanted and was trying a couple of candles to see which fitted better. Rebekah was making some comments about them, leaning over so that their heads were almost touching.

Kol stood watching for a long moment, wondering if they were talking about him. It was certainly possible after the cellar incident. While staring at them, he noted the color of their hair. Like their mother, they were both blondes, although Freya's hair was a shade darker than Rebekah's. Klaus' was even darker, a light brown, as had been Finn's. Even their father Mikael had been sort of blond. In fact, only Elijah and Kol were not blonds. Was it possible that Mikael was not their natural father?

No, that's ridiculous! Why am I even thinking this? he wondered. Who cares what color anyone's hair is? Aloud, he asked, "Need some help putting that on the wall?"

"Sure. Grab the hammer," Freya said, although she felt fully capable of doing it herself.

Kol picked up both the hammer and the couple of nails they had brought from the cellar. He had known Freya for a year at the most, but he was feeling more and more comfortable with her. He fully accepted that he had two sisters, one he had known all her life, and one he had not known even existed.

"What are we going to do about the men outside?" Rebekah asked as she walked with them to the front hall.

"We cannot stop 'outsiders' from coming," Elijah said, still standing by the clock, but thinking about the cellar incident. "Let us ignore them this time. No conversations to attract their attention." He looked at Kol.

"Yeah. Yeah," Kol muttered, disappointed. Talking to the townsfolk had been interesting and fun.

The wall sconce was put on the wall beside the stairs at a point where the candle would not only shine down to the front hall, but also cast some light to the upstairs hall. The small amount of light was better than the darkness at night as far as Freya was concerned. However, they had a limited number of candles that should not be wasted. In fact, everything they had was limited.

When Kol walked down to the pasture, the animals came to him at the fence. He gave the horse one of the slices of apple he had in his pocket. The horse gently took it from his palm and crunched it. The cow leaned forward for a share. Kol took another slice and broke it in half and offered it to the cow. She took it. The calf, of course, wanted a share. In no time, Kol was out of apple slices.

"We can't get more hay or grain for you guys," he said to the three animals. "I don't know what will happen when we run out. I don't want you to starve." The idea of that worried him. There was feed and hay enough to last a while, but not much longer. The pasture was not big enough to support three grazers for long. Outside the barrier was a large field of tall grass, part of which had been harvested earlier in the year. There were two haystacks out there. Those people and animals trapped inside the barrier could not get to it.

Elijah came strolling down to where Kol stood. The old brother ran his hand along the horse's neck. To Kol he said, "I do not know what to say about that unfortunate incident."

"You already apologized, Elijah. I know you couldn't stop him." He was a bit surprised that his brother mentioned the incident again.

"Once he was really stimulated – his desires, my body – I am not sure I wanted to stop." Elijah was embarrassed to admit this and he could not look his brother in the eye.

"Oh?"

The older brother just nodded and scratched the horse behind one ear. The animal seemed to like it.

"Okay," Kol said. "So, we might have had a little incest going on after all. I would like to assume that if you feel a strong desire again, you ask me first."

"I do not plan on any of that happening again."

"We may be here a long time. Who knows what might happen?"

"If we were not all siblings, who would you choose?"

The question surprised Kol. With raised brows, he stared at his brother. After a long moment of silence, he said, "I think Rebekah. We've been close since we were little kids. But not that close, you understand."

Elijah looked out east of the pasture where more people wandered around, gaping and commenting. "I suppose that leaves Freya, who is almost a stranger to us. Of course, nothing would happen unless there was agreement. I do not want sexual assault happening as almost happened a while ago. We are a family and must trust each other."

"Yeah. I agree. So, let's hope Robert is gone."

"He said there might be another ghost here, did he not?"

"He said someone is buried under the woodshed," Kol agreed, nodding. "Damn, big brother! You don't think he is dangerous too, do you?"

"I certainly hope not." Elijah left the fence and Kol followed. They stopped by the chicken coop long enough to see that one of the hens had six baby chicks following her around and making little cheeping noises. Tiny as they were, they scratched at the ground and pecked at things to see if they were edible. "Life goes on," the older brother said.

They went to the small apple trees and picked several of the fruit. The men were watched by the two women who had taken seats on the chairs on the porch.

"What was Kol like as a child?" Freya asked.

"Fun. When I was little, I adored him. He's only two years older than me, so we played together all the time. He loved to make me laugh – or anybody laugh – and he would play tricks on me. He didn't have a mean streak back then, although he sometimes bullied his little sister."

"Niklaus told me Kol suffered a serious head injury, and afterwards he developed that cruelty he's known for," Freya said.

"That's true. We all thought he was going to die, but he recovered. But changed somehow." After a pause, Rebekah asked, "What do you think will happen when we run out of supplies? We vampires can go on, but you can't."

"I don't know. I wish I knew the extent of my witch's power here in this place. I fear it's not much. We just better hope the situation in New Orleans is settled before too long."

"Every time I think of Nik's suffering, I want to cry. I want to go back and help him." Just speaking of her other brother brought a tear to her eye.

"There's nothing we can do but wait," the older sister said, shaking her head slightly.

"What are we having for lunch?"

"More of the same, I guess. Other than the eggs and milk, there's just the fruit and vegetables. Which reminds me, one of us needs to churn more butter."

"And make another loaf of bread. Damn that Robert! He really messed with our family and our few resources."

"Let's just be glad he was here for such a short time. I mean, haunting Kol and using Elijah's body."

"I'm sure that was very embarrassing for Elijah. He's so proper most of the time," the younger sister said. She watched as the two brother came toward the porch carrying apples.

The rest of the day progressed without further incidents. Townsfolk came and tried to talk to those inside the barrier, but the four did not speak to them. Chores had to be done and the four applied their energies to them. Elijah found time to do some reading in the parlor, taking advantage of the good light and not having to use a candle.

Freya recalled that Mrs. Anderson had had a simple oil lamp. She searched and found it. The only oil she had to put in it was melted butter. Rebekah fashioned a wick and soon they smiled at the flame the lamp produced. It smoked and didn't smell good, but it would provide some light if the candles were used up.

At the supper table the four siblings discussed the possibility of Freya trying another spell. Although she thought she had had success when she had called Robert in the attic, the truth was that Robert may have come and "kidnapped" Elijah without any input from her.

"Just light a candle," Kol suggested. "If you can't light the damned candle, then you've got no powers here."

"You're right, of course," the older sister agreed. She reached out and took hold of the two-candle candelabra that rested in the middle of the table. She pulled it toward her and blew out the lights. Only the hearth and one kitchen candle gave any light to the large room. With the other three watching her, Freya concentrated, her brow furrowed, her eyes closed. She really wanted the flames to return, and suddenly they did!

"Look at that! You still got it!" Rebekah said with a grin.

"To some as yet unknown extent," Elijah pointed out.

"Pessimist," the younger sister said with a snort.

"Alright. Now we need to discuss what spell will give us food and firewood for as long as we are here."

"Now that is a huge order," Freya said. "It may be way beyond what I can do here."

"Each success you have in providing something is helpful," Elijah said to encourage her. He and the others discussed this for some time.

Finally Freya said she was ready to try another small thing. She got up from the table and went to one of the kitchen shelves. There she grasped the nearly empty bottle of whiskey Robert had located. There was perhaps one dram of fluid left. With the bottle on the table, Freya again concentrated, her lips moving silently.

Kol watched her with anticipation. He had resisted swallowing that last bit of alcoholic beverage and now he was glad, especially if his sister managed to produce more. When some minutes had passed, his hope turned to frustration.

"It's working," Rebekah whispered, her eyes on the glass bottle.

Kol wanted to yell with enthusiasm, but he kept quiet, letting his other sister slowly fill the bottle. When Freya stopped and opened her eyes, she smiled.

"That was not easy," she said. "Someone taste it and see if it really is whiskey and is drinkable."

Kol immediately reached for the bottle and poured a dram into his empty coffee cup. He carefully sipped it, just in case it was awful, or even caustic. Holding some in his mouth he waited. It seemed to be real whiskey, so he swallowed it.

A/N Can Freya actually create food and drink for the group? Will the whiskey sit well in Kol's stomach? Thank you to you all who are reading this story and to those who are following and reading some of my other stories as well.