Title: Forever With You
By: Susan Bones
Email: thechocolatefroggy@yahoo.com
Summary and all that other stuff can be found in Chapters One and Two. I'm too lazy to copy and paste it. ;)
Jesse stood outside the Foster home, examining it. He had never seen Winnie's house in the day light, come to think of it. It was a towering, lovely house, but held a somewhat forbidding tone about it. Its white trimming did not seem friendly at all; instead it seemed to warn him not to come any closer. The likes of Jesse Tuck were not welcome.
Jesse ignored this. He had never been one that had to feel welcome to do anything. He approached the house slowly, gazing at the window he knew to be Winnie's, hoping to see her beaming down at him …
But the window remained empty.
Jesse stood at the front door and knocked softly.
**
"But why, Mother? Why would you do such a thing? She is still our daughter, our only daughter!" Mr. Foster begged of his wife.
"She said she was eternal and you cannot be eternal without having something to do with Black magic," Mrs. Foster replied shortly.
"But you said she mentioned a spring," Mr. Foster told her.
Mrs. Foster brushed this fact aside.
"Oh, Father," she said with a wave of her hand, "The girl was speaking nonsense and you know it."
"I do not," Mr. Foster replied firmly, "And I want Winnie found."
Let me pause here to make something clear. Mr. Foster loved Winnie very much and he wanted to give her the world. Yet at the moment all he was sure of was the detail that if Winnie had indeed gone for good, then the Foster property would fall to Mr. Foster's second cousin and I can assure you Mr. Foster would never rest easy in his grave knowing *that. *
"I'll not keep a thing like that in my house," Mrs. Foster answered contemptuously, narrowing her eyes.
"You have no say in the matter and you never have, woman," Mr. Foster snapped. Mrs. Foster jerked as though she had been slapped (and in a way she had, for Jonathan Foster had never said anything of that nature to her, not had he said it with such a hateful manner) and put a hand over her heart.
"Yes, Father," she said softly, dropping her eyes. The servants were gathered outside the parlor doors, as they always did when the master and mistress had a dispute, their eyes wide. They understood something very crucial had just taken place in that room, but they were not to understand.
For you see, Mrs. Foster had always been rather outspoken for a lady. But Mr. Foster quite liked that about her and had never done anything about it.
However, he felt she had gone too far, speaking of his daughter in such a fashion.
And always after that were Mother and Father Foster rather distant with one another. You see, they really had on thing in common, one thing they had always agreed upon and that was Winnie. And when she was gone, they had nothing in common anymore. Or nothing they knew of, at any rate, for they hardly ever spoke of personal things.
But enough on that, for no more would have passed between them on the subject even if the knock on the door had no come.
**
"Now ain't the best time, sir. The master and mistress are havin' a bit of a tiff and –"
"Who's there, Mary?" came a firm voice.
The servant girl –Mary—looked to Jesse imploringly.
"Jesse Tuck," he said, feeling it necessary to stand a little straighter all of a sudden.
"Jesse Tuck!" Mary called in reply to her mistress.
"Oh really?" the voice replied, sounding both grave and amused. There was a pause, during which Mary disappeared and Jesse had a sinking.
Then a tall, lovely woman appeared in the doorway. She had piled her rich, dark curls on top of her head in an elegant (yet strict) bun. Her face was thin and narrow, sharp and indifferent. Her eyes were of the same dark blue as those of her daughter, but they held none of the lively sparkle Winnie's always danced with. Jesse felt that this detail made the woman lovely and Winnie beautiful.
She was clad in a flowing white dress, far from simple and bedecked with lace and flowered patterns.
"So. You're Jesse Tuck," she said, her voice low and with an edge of frostiness.
"Erm … yes, I am," Jesse said, somewhat hesitantly. The tall woman made him feel as though he were an extremely stupid creature, one who would not possibly know why he was on the front porch of the Fosters, of all people.
"Looking for Winnie, I imagine?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You'll not find her here. She's … she's dead." The woman's tone was final.
Jesse suddenly felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
"D-Dead, ma'am?" he managed.
"Yes," the woman informed him flatly, "Caught influenza last fall. Terrible case of it."
She shrugged, as if to say, "What can you do?"
Something about this seemed terribly wrong to Jesse, but he swept the feeling away.
"I see. I'm sorry for disturbing you, ma'am."
"Of course," she said, looking as though she was trying to smile warmly and failing miserably, "I suggest you get out of town promptly. No one's too fond of a Tuck around here."
With that, she closed the door quickly. Jesse stood, frozen, staring at the decorative carvings in the door.
Winnie was dead?
He found this impossible to accept. Because that would mean she would have forgotten. It would mean she had not gone to the spring.
He turned swiftly and walked away from the touch-me-not cottage, suddenly angry with Winnie.
"She should have gone straight to the spring once that flu popped up, it would have protected her. Didn't she see that?"
He kicked a rock lying beside the road. She'd been stupid not to run straight to the spring.
He passed through the yard, his head down, the brown curls Winnie loved so much dangling in front of his eyes. Miles had come down to Treegap with him and Jesse supposed he might as well find his brother.
He thought briefly of the villagers. He had come to the Foster home to warn Winnie about them, but she had died, so it really didn't matter. It seemed he should be seeing something, a clue to whatever was going on here that was right in front of his face …
He sighed wearily and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Miles had probably gone into the wood (to visit the old home, perhaps) and Jesse supposed the wood was as good a place as any to start looking for him.
**
Winnie ran blindly, not paying any sort of attention to where she was going, really. She entered the wood and she at first thought it was a mistake on her part, for as she ran thorns clawed at her, branches slapped her, and rocks cut into her bare feet. She was vaguely aware of the reality that her dress was in tatters and stained with splashes of mud. Once, she tripped and fell into a shallow puddle. There she sat for a moment, looking around with wide eyes. Her hair was matted to her neck and back, slippery with sweat. Tears strayed down her cheeks in occasional intervals, but Winnie paid them no attention.
And all at once she froze. The distant sound of a bubbling spring reached her ears. She was back on her feet in a moment, dashing towards the spring and looking (as one might suggest) like one who has suddenly found their way home.
She at last came to the spring and knelt beside it, trying to ease her breathing. She dipped her hands into the cool water, splashing it onto her face and neck. Then she laid her head against the rim of the spring and closed her eyes.
**
She woke with a start sometime later and at first she was not clear as to why she had wakened.
Then she looked straight ahead and simultaneously drew in a sharp, startled breath and broke into a grin.
The sun had left them for the day, it had gone to watch over people elsewhere. But there was still light, for Miles Tuck hardly went anywhere without a lantern.
"Miles!" Winnie cried and then she had flung both her arms around him and she hugged him tightly.
"Winnie Foster!" he laughed, pulling back to examine her, "Jesse told you we'd be back for you."
Winnie nodded, suddenly afraid to let Miles get a good look at her.
"And you're seventeen now, that will please Jesse, I'm sure," Miles continued.
"Yes," Winnie agreed meekly. Miles paused in his excited babbling and squinted at her.
"Are you all right, Winnie?" he asked her gently. She began to now, but two fat tears rolled down her cheeks, betraying her emotions.
"I say, Winnie, what's wrong?" Miles inquired, suddenly looking alarmed. He held up the lantern to get a better look at her.
There was a very pregnant pause.
"Why, you don't look a day older than when we last saw you!" Miles said.
To this, Winnie burst out, "I drank the water, Miles! My grandmother was dying and I was watching her and I could not bear to think that that would be me one day, so I drank the water. I do not wish to die, Miles!"
Miles pursed his lips and looked hard at her. And then he did a curious thing; he smiled at her.
"Don't be upset, Winnie," he said reassuringly, "I'm not mad at you."
"Just disappointed," Winnie muttered sullenly.
To this, Miles made no reply. Both were rather quiet for a while. Miles sat down on the ground, setting his lantern next to him. Winnie sat across from him.
"Well," Miles said at length, "At least you can come with us now."
"I sure can," mumbled Winnie, her face shuddering (rather like a window if you were to slam a door hard enough) and within moments she found herself telling Miles the whole awful story.
He was a very good audience, if he was nothing else. He nodded in all the right places, frowning disapprovingly in others. When she drew to the portion which consisted of the fight with her mother, his eyes sparkled and he clenched his hands tightly.
"Why the hearty little buggers!" he roared when she had finished, "Winnie Foster, a witch!"
Winnie said nothing, plucking at a leaf on the ground.
"Don't you worry, you'll come with us and you won't have to have to worry about those parents of yours. We'll be your family," Miles added heatedly.
Winnie looked up at him. He was right, she knew, she could go with the Tucks and they would be a cheery lot. She quite liked the idea.
Then Miles' eyes shifted to something behind her.
"There you are! Look who I've found!" he grinned, waving.
Winnie, wholly puzzled at this, turned around to find a very perplexed Jesse Tuck standing between two trees.
Thanks to:
O'Fruit Punch – Well, now you know what Winnie did. ;)
Valencia Loring – Don't we all love Jesse? Lol. But thanks a lot. I feel really special. And moved. And touched. And … right. If I ever write a book, I'll look for you in those sign up lines, ok?
Veritas4eternity (as in Draco Veritas?) – Ah, the too lazy to sign in thing. We've all been there. Lol. And thanks! I'm glad you've liked it so far!
SugarCube55 – Don't worry. I'll write more. School's bein' a bugger, but I'm getting through it. Billions of tests every day. Ugh. Anyways, you're welcome for thanking you and thanks for saying thanks!
HeavenlyRose – It's all right. The number of reviews I've written while half asleep … *sighs* So, anyway, I'm so glad you like the story!! And yes, good thoughts are coming. I could make this thing go on forever … but I won't. :)
Lauren – You know, you're the first person I've ever known to be patiently waiting for an installment, whether it be for one of my stories, or someone else's. lol. And you're welcome, by the way. I feel loved.
Julie Jewelrannah – No, she didn't find the Tucks. They found her. Lol. Thanks, though. I'm happy you're liking the story so far!!
A/N: Poor Jesse. Does anyone feel bad for him besides me? First Winnie's dead and now he finds her talking to Miles … what will he do? Will Winnie go with the Tucks? Like she's going to say no. :) And whatever happened to those town's people at the Lady Day? All questions shall be answered in the final installment, which has not been named yet, because I'm a loser. And I'm just fine with that. Lol. Just between you and me, I sort of forgot about those Lady Day-er's. Stayed tuned for the fourth and final chapter!
By: Susan Bones
Email: thechocolatefroggy@yahoo.com
Summary and all that other stuff can be found in Chapters One and Two. I'm too lazy to copy and paste it. ;)
Jesse stood outside the Foster home, examining it. He had never seen Winnie's house in the day light, come to think of it. It was a towering, lovely house, but held a somewhat forbidding tone about it. Its white trimming did not seem friendly at all; instead it seemed to warn him not to come any closer. The likes of Jesse Tuck were not welcome.
Jesse ignored this. He had never been one that had to feel welcome to do anything. He approached the house slowly, gazing at the window he knew to be Winnie's, hoping to see her beaming down at him …
But the window remained empty.
Jesse stood at the front door and knocked softly.
**
"But why, Mother? Why would you do such a thing? She is still our daughter, our only daughter!" Mr. Foster begged of his wife.
"She said she was eternal and you cannot be eternal without having something to do with Black magic," Mrs. Foster replied shortly.
"But you said she mentioned a spring," Mr. Foster told her.
Mrs. Foster brushed this fact aside.
"Oh, Father," she said with a wave of her hand, "The girl was speaking nonsense and you know it."
"I do not," Mr. Foster replied firmly, "And I want Winnie found."
Let me pause here to make something clear. Mr. Foster loved Winnie very much and he wanted to give her the world. Yet at the moment all he was sure of was the detail that if Winnie had indeed gone for good, then the Foster property would fall to Mr. Foster's second cousin and I can assure you Mr. Foster would never rest easy in his grave knowing *that. *
"I'll not keep a thing like that in my house," Mrs. Foster answered contemptuously, narrowing her eyes.
"You have no say in the matter and you never have, woman," Mr. Foster snapped. Mrs. Foster jerked as though she had been slapped (and in a way she had, for Jonathan Foster had never said anything of that nature to her, not had he said it with such a hateful manner) and put a hand over her heart.
"Yes, Father," she said softly, dropping her eyes. The servants were gathered outside the parlor doors, as they always did when the master and mistress had a dispute, their eyes wide. They understood something very crucial had just taken place in that room, but they were not to understand.
For you see, Mrs. Foster had always been rather outspoken for a lady. But Mr. Foster quite liked that about her and had never done anything about it.
However, he felt she had gone too far, speaking of his daughter in such a fashion.
And always after that were Mother and Father Foster rather distant with one another. You see, they really had on thing in common, one thing they had always agreed upon and that was Winnie. And when she was gone, they had nothing in common anymore. Or nothing they knew of, at any rate, for they hardly ever spoke of personal things.
But enough on that, for no more would have passed between them on the subject even if the knock on the door had no come.
**
"Now ain't the best time, sir. The master and mistress are havin' a bit of a tiff and –"
"Who's there, Mary?" came a firm voice.
The servant girl –Mary—looked to Jesse imploringly.
"Jesse Tuck," he said, feeling it necessary to stand a little straighter all of a sudden.
"Jesse Tuck!" Mary called in reply to her mistress.
"Oh really?" the voice replied, sounding both grave and amused. There was a pause, during which Mary disappeared and Jesse had a sinking.
Then a tall, lovely woman appeared in the doorway. She had piled her rich, dark curls on top of her head in an elegant (yet strict) bun. Her face was thin and narrow, sharp and indifferent. Her eyes were of the same dark blue as those of her daughter, but they held none of the lively sparkle Winnie's always danced with. Jesse felt that this detail made the woman lovely and Winnie beautiful.
She was clad in a flowing white dress, far from simple and bedecked with lace and flowered patterns.
"So. You're Jesse Tuck," she said, her voice low and with an edge of frostiness.
"Erm … yes, I am," Jesse said, somewhat hesitantly. The tall woman made him feel as though he were an extremely stupid creature, one who would not possibly know why he was on the front porch of the Fosters, of all people.
"Looking for Winnie, I imagine?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You'll not find her here. She's … she's dead." The woman's tone was final.
Jesse suddenly felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
"D-Dead, ma'am?" he managed.
"Yes," the woman informed him flatly, "Caught influenza last fall. Terrible case of it."
She shrugged, as if to say, "What can you do?"
Something about this seemed terribly wrong to Jesse, but he swept the feeling away.
"I see. I'm sorry for disturbing you, ma'am."
"Of course," she said, looking as though she was trying to smile warmly and failing miserably, "I suggest you get out of town promptly. No one's too fond of a Tuck around here."
With that, she closed the door quickly. Jesse stood, frozen, staring at the decorative carvings in the door.
Winnie was dead?
He found this impossible to accept. Because that would mean she would have forgotten. It would mean she had not gone to the spring.
He turned swiftly and walked away from the touch-me-not cottage, suddenly angry with Winnie.
"She should have gone straight to the spring once that flu popped up, it would have protected her. Didn't she see that?"
He kicked a rock lying beside the road. She'd been stupid not to run straight to the spring.
He passed through the yard, his head down, the brown curls Winnie loved so much dangling in front of his eyes. Miles had come down to Treegap with him and Jesse supposed he might as well find his brother.
He thought briefly of the villagers. He had come to the Foster home to warn Winnie about them, but she had died, so it really didn't matter. It seemed he should be seeing something, a clue to whatever was going on here that was right in front of his face …
He sighed wearily and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Miles had probably gone into the wood (to visit the old home, perhaps) and Jesse supposed the wood was as good a place as any to start looking for him.
**
Winnie ran blindly, not paying any sort of attention to where she was going, really. She entered the wood and she at first thought it was a mistake on her part, for as she ran thorns clawed at her, branches slapped her, and rocks cut into her bare feet. She was vaguely aware of the reality that her dress was in tatters and stained with splashes of mud. Once, she tripped and fell into a shallow puddle. There she sat for a moment, looking around with wide eyes. Her hair was matted to her neck and back, slippery with sweat. Tears strayed down her cheeks in occasional intervals, but Winnie paid them no attention.
And all at once she froze. The distant sound of a bubbling spring reached her ears. She was back on her feet in a moment, dashing towards the spring and looking (as one might suggest) like one who has suddenly found their way home.
She at last came to the spring and knelt beside it, trying to ease her breathing. She dipped her hands into the cool water, splashing it onto her face and neck. Then she laid her head against the rim of the spring and closed her eyes.
**
She woke with a start sometime later and at first she was not clear as to why she had wakened.
Then she looked straight ahead and simultaneously drew in a sharp, startled breath and broke into a grin.
The sun had left them for the day, it had gone to watch over people elsewhere. But there was still light, for Miles Tuck hardly went anywhere without a lantern.
"Miles!" Winnie cried and then she had flung both her arms around him and she hugged him tightly.
"Winnie Foster!" he laughed, pulling back to examine her, "Jesse told you we'd be back for you."
Winnie nodded, suddenly afraid to let Miles get a good look at her.
"And you're seventeen now, that will please Jesse, I'm sure," Miles continued.
"Yes," Winnie agreed meekly. Miles paused in his excited babbling and squinted at her.
"Are you all right, Winnie?" he asked her gently. She began to now, but two fat tears rolled down her cheeks, betraying her emotions.
"I say, Winnie, what's wrong?" Miles inquired, suddenly looking alarmed. He held up the lantern to get a better look at her.
There was a very pregnant pause.
"Why, you don't look a day older than when we last saw you!" Miles said.
To this, Winnie burst out, "I drank the water, Miles! My grandmother was dying and I was watching her and I could not bear to think that that would be me one day, so I drank the water. I do not wish to die, Miles!"
Miles pursed his lips and looked hard at her. And then he did a curious thing; he smiled at her.
"Don't be upset, Winnie," he said reassuringly, "I'm not mad at you."
"Just disappointed," Winnie muttered sullenly.
To this, Miles made no reply. Both were rather quiet for a while. Miles sat down on the ground, setting his lantern next to him. Winnie sat across from him.
"Well," Miles said at length, "At least you can come with us now."
"I sure can," mumbled Winnie, her face shuddering (rather like a window if you were to slam a door hard enough) and within moments she found herself telling Miles the whole awful story.
He was a very good audience, if he was nothing else. He nodded in all the right places, frowning disapprovingly in others. When she drew to the portion which consisted of the fight with her mother, his eyes sparkled and he clenched his hands tightly.
"Why the hearty little buggers!" he roared when she had finished, "Winnie Foster, a witch!"
Winnie said nothing, plucking at a leaf on the ground.
"Don't you worry, you'll come with us and you won't have to have to worry about those parents of yours. We'll be your family," Miles added heatedly.
Winnie looked up at him. He was right, she knew, she could go with the Tucks and they would be a cheery lot. She quite liked the idea.
Then Miles' eyes shifted to something behind her.
"There you are! Look who I've found!" he grinned, waving.
Winnie, wholly puzzled at this, turned around to find a very perplexed Jesse Tuck standing between two trees.
Thanks to:
O'Fruit Punch – Well, now you know what Winnie did. ;)
Valencia Loring – Don't we all love Jesse? Lol. But thanks a lot. I feel really special. And moved. And touched. And … right. If I ever write a book, I'll look for you in those sign up lines, ok?
Veritas4eternity (as in Draco Veritas?) – Ah, the too lazy to sign in thing. We've all been there. Lol. And thanks! I'm glad you've liked it so far!
SugarCube55 – Don't worry. I'll write more. School's bein' a bugger, but I'm getting through it. Billions of tests every day. Ugh. Anyways, you're welcome for thanking you and thanks for saying thanks!
HeavenlyRose – It's all right. The number of reviews I've written while half asleep … *sighs* So, anyway, I'm so glad you like the story!! And yes, good thoughts are coming. I could make this thing go on forever … but I won't. :)
Lauren – You know, you're the first person I've ever known to be patiently waiting for an installment, whether it be for one of my stories, or someone else's. lol. And you're welcome, by the way. I feel loved.
Julie Jewelrannah – No, she didn't find the Tucks. They found her. Lol. Thanks, though. I'm happy you're liking the story so far!!
A/N: Poor Jesse. Does anyone feel bad for him besides me? First Winnie's dead and now he finds her talking to Miles … what will he do? Will Winnie go with the Tucks? Like she's going to say no. :) And whatever happened to those town's people at the Lady Day? All questions shall be answered in the final installment, which has not been named yet, because I'm a loser. And I'm just fine with that. Lol. Just between you and me, I sort of forgot about those Lady Day-er's. Stayed tuned for the fourth and final chapter!