Shadow watched Sandy and her father interact for a bit, obviously arguing, as the older man kept glancing in the royal youth's direction. By the time the older squirrel jumped off his steed and sent her away on it, so he could finish her chore. Shadow decided it was time for him to turn around and make his way back inside his home.
"Sire!" Shadow finally made out as the old squirrel ran up behind him.
Shadows demeanor went a bit limp before he regained his wits and turned around to wait for his past friend's father to catch up to him, and say whatever he felt needed to be said. "Mr. Cheeks." Shadow spoke obviously annoyed, while recalling Sandy's full name, despite not recalling any of her families.
"Forgive me, my prince!" Dean Cheeks begged as he struggled for breath while falling to his knees in a bow. "I need ta ask yer forgiveness fer muh daughter. I know ya two were pals in yer youth, ta a point, but I know full well she had no right ta approach ya now. So please take pity on her, as it seems I didn't raise her right!" The older male squirrel clasped his hands together as if trying to pray while bowing his head down as he continued to gasp for breath. "Please! If any punishment needs dealt out let it be ta me, as I'm da head of our family!"
"Sir..." Shadow spoke with more than a bit of relief. "There is no need for you to apologize for your daughters' actions towards me. As I was more than thrilled to see Sandra again." Shadow now turned his back on the middle-aged worker squirrel as he walked back to his royal home. "I'm looking forward to getting to know her far better than I did in our youth." He shot back now getting a scowl from Sandra's father.
"Over muh dead body." Dean stated under his breath knowing full well what the prince was getting at.
Sandy continued helping her mother finish up dinner, as her father had found her earlier slacking off, and punished her with doing only woman's work for the rest of the day. All five of her brother's had taken their seats at the table while the two lone females of the family rushed to finish one of their many chores for the family. For once Sandy felt guilt about occasionally pushing this mostly off on her mother as they both struggled to get bring the food in a timely fashion to the males in their family.
"I hope yer enjoying yer work now Sandy." Dean, her father belted out, seemingly already halfway into a bottle. "Cause dis is dah only type of work yer gonna know from here on out in muh house!" He spat as he pulled back his chair and then sat on it as his wife ran up to give him another large mug of ale.
"Why?!" Sandy now demanded getting a sympathetic touch on her shoulder from her mother, while all her brothers kept looking down at the table below them as they always did when their father was drunk. "Don't I need ta-"
"Shut up!" Dean yelled before taking a large drink from the mug his wife set next to him. "I saw how sweet ya were on da prince now dat he's a full-grown man. But he ain't da man ya need ta worry about pleasing!" Her father drank some more as her bothers continued to look down at the table, but with more worry as her mother pulled her back into their moodiest kitchen.
"Sugar cube..." Her mother started seemingly unnerved by her husband's comments. "Never ferget how much I love ya, but right now..." Donna stopped her speech as her husband threw his mug on the ground once again showing he needed another. "Run." Donna breathed under her breath in a panic as she turned to get her husband another drink.
Sandy found her way out of the house, without her father seemingly to notice, but not without her twin. Randy caught up with her in no time at all. He only called her name out once they were far enough away, they wouldn't be heard. "Sandy please!" He cried out.
She finally stopped her dash, as she knew if she kept going, she'd leave him behind with no trouble. "Ma told me ta run, so I did. Please don't tell pa." She let out between gasps for air.
"Why?" Randy asked but his face showed for the most part he understood.
"I'm in trouble, and he's sick with his drink." Sandy panted while taking a seat as her brother followed suit next to her.
"No way he'd hurt ya Sandy." Randy spoke up with regret after seeing her face twist in terror.
"Den why did ma tell me ta run?" She questioned now starting to feel tears running down his face. "He ain't right drunk, Randy." She spoke in defense of her action, and of her mother's fear.
"I'd kill him." Randy spoke with force as he pulled his sister into a hug. "I know he ain't right, but I never thought he'd beat on ya." Randy now pushed his face into his sister's shoulder as he relived their life of abuse due to their father's drinking, and the fear of what he ran from... that he didn't want to admit could happen to her too.
Sandy didn't have the stomach to tell her brother that she doubted her mother's spike in terror came from the idea of their father just using her as a punching bag, like he did to him. Still, she couldn't be completely sure what was going through either of her parents' mind at the time. Well, other than the anger seeping from her fathers intoxicated state after seeing her slacking off and talking to Shadow.
"What now?" Randy asked while looking towards the sunset beyond the forest off in the distance. "If we head back now pa might end up beating us both ta a pulp, but if we don't..." Randy now looked down at his lap where he was holding his twin sister's hand tightly as he thought about their mother, and far younger brothers, taking their place on their father's disciplinary list. A long sigh left Randy as he released his grip on his sister and stood before kissing her on the top of her head before turning to head back to their small house. "I'll go alone." Randy announced as he continued to walk towards their family dwelling while trying to quell his fears down into the pit of his gut.
"Wait! Randy!" Sandra ran up to her brother as he slowed his pace. "We should do dis tagether! It's muh fault fer talk up Shadow instead of doing muh work."
"No." Randy sternly spoke as he finally stopped and placed his hands on her shoulders, as he gave her a pleading look. "He's too swore at ya right now. I don't wanna risk it. I won't." Randy turned and picked up his pace heading towards their home of the last ten years. "Find somewhere safe ta sleep fer da night, and den head home once ma is there all alone."
"Randy..." Sandy spoke softly as her twin continued back to the house without her. "Thank ya." She now whispered while turning to head to her favorite hiding place that only one other person knew about... However, he hadn't stepped foot there in so long that she wasn't sure if he'd actually physically been there with her before or if it was all just a dream.