Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Alanna, Jon. And the rest of the characters. They all belong to Tamora Peirce.
I escaped! At last I did! For the past few days I have been locked in that miserable cellar. What had happened? Could it have been a mistake? There were shouts in the distance. I ran faster. The grass was long and pricked my legs. I felt the strong winds pulling me back. No! I must not go back! The master would only punish me! I heard the sapphire necklace jingling as I ran. Mother gave the necklace to me. I mustn't lose it. She gave it to me before I was sold. Since then, it had some sentimental value.
I turned to see how my pursuers were progressing. They were close, and angry. They shouted for me to stop. Fools! Like I would listen to them! The mud formed little puddles in front of me. I skimmed over them and continued running. The sun beat down at me, stinging my eyes. Suddenly, I felt a jolt of pain in my head. I ran into a tree. How stupid! Everything went black . . .
~*~
When I woke up, I was in this misty place, in the middle of a conversation. I couldn't see clearly, everything was blurred and out of focus. There were two people; a male and a female, standing far away, not noticing me. The former was clearly angry and frustrated. The latter was crying and weak. "You can't do that!"
"Yes I can! And you can't do anything!"
"She is my daughter! And you can't sell her!"
"We need to eat too!"
"No!"
"Listen Jolene, we need money! If we let that girl stay with us, it'll do her no good either! She needs food, shelter and we need money to survive!"
"Is there another way?"
"If there was I would have tried!"
Jolene started weeping. I pitied her. Who would bear to part with their closest kin? I sat down, listening to this pitiful couple.
"Leah! Come here!"
"Yes Father,"
A young girl no older than eight came to sight. She had dark-brown hair and reddish brown eyes - just like me. I remembered this scene.
"Pack up, you are going to somewhere else!"
"Where, Father?"
"Good girls don't ask too many questions"
"Leah be good listen to your father. . ."
Suddenly, everything went black. I tried to scream but I could not. I felt ants crawling all over me. Was this death? I hope not . . .
~*~
I opened my eyes. I was lying by a tree, with my head bandaged and a stinging headache. It was dark and there were voices nearby. Am I caught by those nasty people again? I listened quietly to the voices.
"Alanna? You sleeping?"
"No, I can't sleep with the excitement"
"Me Neither. I'll check on thee girl"
Who is this Alanna? Why am I here? I heard footsteps getting closer. He saw me awake and let out a cry.
"Mithros! She's awake!"
"You sure?"
"Get some food! She must be starving!"
Alanna didn't look like someone bad, the man didn't either. I felt more comforted and less fearful that I would be pushed back into the misery I had been. Feeling more confident, I decided to speak to them.
"What happened?"
Alanna turned around and answered. "We found you by that tree over there. Your forehead was bleeding and you were unconscious. So we brought you here. We have decided to leave you here if you didn't wake soon."
"Now, who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Leah. My father sold me to a rich man to be his slave three years ago. I attempted to escape lots of times but I was always caught. This morning, I was sent to get the groceries and I escaped along with the grocery money. I got found out and chased. I ran and now I'm here."
"Do you have any plans or anything?"
"Well, no. I just ran out without anything but the money. Where are you going to?"
Alanna didn't answer me. She just stared at the ground and frowned. Coram turned up with some soup.
"Me and ol' Alanna `re plannin' to get 'er to the castle to be 'nighted!"
"You? But you are a girl!"
"I know that. But I'm not going to give up that easily. I changed places with my brother, Thom."
"Can I join you? I mean, I can't go anywhere else, can I?"
"I would love to have more company! Will you, Coram?"
"Am takin' my ol' life too far! Of `ourse!"
That was the start of my adventures with Alanna.
~*~
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Alanna, Jon. And the rest of the characters. They all belong to Tamora Peirce.
I escaped! At last I did! For the past few days I have been locked in that miserable cellar. What had happened? Could it have been a mistake? There were shouts in the distance. I ran faster. The grass was long and pricked my legs. I felt the strong winds pulling me back. No! I must not go back! The master would only punish me! I heard the sapphire necklace jingling as I ran. Mother gave the necklace to me. I mustn't lose it. She gave it to me before I was sold. Since then, it had some sentimental value.
I turned to see how my pursuers were progressing. They were close, and angry. They shouted for me to stop. Fools! Like I would listen to them! The mud formed little puddles in front of me. I skimmed over them and continued running. The sun beat down at me, stinging my eyes. Suddenly, I felt a jolt of pain in my head. I ran into a tree. How stupid! Everything went black . . .
~*~
When I woke up, I was in this misty place, in the middle of a conversation. I couldn't see clearly, everything was blurred and out of focus. There were two people; a male and a female, standing far away, not noticing me. The former was clearly angry and frustrated. The latter was crying and weak. "You can't do that!"
"Yes I can! And you can't do anything!"
"She is my daughter! And you can't sell her!"
"We need to eat too!"
"No!"
"Listen Jolene, we need money! If we let that girl stay with us, it'll do her no good either! She needs food, shelter and we need money to survive!"
"Is there another way?"
"If there was I would have tried!"
Jolene started weeping. I pitied her. Who would bear to part with their closest kin? I sat down, listening to this pitiful couple.
"Leah! Come here!"
"Yes Father,"
A young girl no older than eight came to sight. She had dark-brown hair and reddish brown eyes - just like me. I remembered this scene.
"Pack up, you are going to somewhere else!"
"Where, Father?"
"Good girls don't ask too many questions"
"Leah be good listen to your father. . ."
Suddenly, everything went black. I tried to scream but I could not. I felt ants crawling all over me. Was this death? I hope not . . .
~*~
I opened my eyes. I was lying by a tree, with my head bandaged and a stinging headache. It was dark and there were voices nearby. Am I caught by those nasty people again? I listened quietly to the voices.
"Alanna? You sleeping?"
"No, I can't sleep with the excitement"
"Me Neither. I'll check on thee girl"
Who is this Alanna? Why am I here? I heard footsteps getting closer. He saw me awake and let out a cry.
"Mithros! She's awake!"
"You sure?"
"Get some food! She must be starving!"
Alanna didn't look like someone bad, the man didn't either. I felt more comforted and less fearful that I would be pushed back into the misery I had been. Feeling more confident, I decided to speak to them.
"What happened?"
Alanna turned around and answered. "We found you by that tree over there. Your forehead was bleeding and you were unconscious. So we brought you here. We have decided to leave you here if you didn't wake soon."
"Now, who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Leah. My father sold me to a rich man to be his slave three years ago. I attempted to escape lots of times but I was always caught. This morning, I was sent to get the groceries and I escaped along with the grocery money. I got found out and chased. I ran and now I'm here."
"Do you have any plans or anything?"
"Well, no. I just ran out without anything but the money. Where are you going to?"
Alanna didn't answer me. She just stared at the ground and frowned. Coram turned up with some soup.
"Me and ol' Alanna `re plannin' to get 'er to the castle to be 'nighted!"
"You? But you are a girl!"
"I know that. But I'm not going to give up that easily. I changed places with my brother, Thom."
"Can I join you? I mean, I can't go anywhere else, can I?"
"I would love to have more company! Will you, Coram?"
"Am takin' my ol' life too far! Of `ourse!"
That was the start of my adventures with Alanna.
~*~
