Cinder Emma
A/N~ I know I haven't updated this one in a while, but it is DEFINATLY not on hiatus. How could I get rid of Emma, Jeremiah, and Camilla? Lots of new characters coming up, so have fun!
Chapter Four Jeremiah's Story
Jeremiah Winslet was, to be very blunt, a spoiled brat. His life was surrounded in riches and respect, and he took all of his privilege for granted.
This being said, it was one of the many reasons he was more than a little put off when the red-headed stranger waltzed into the supervisor's office and demanded that a worker be hired again, never mind the fact that she had purely justified herself.
And his father was all riled up about him running off again. Jeremiah had received the "You have privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility" speech, as well as having three of Earl's supervisor's babysitting him for three weeks.
Which was why he was relaxing in the shade of Lake Rochelle with his best friend, Connor Thomason, son of Timothy Thomason, the miner guru of the next county over.
"Connor?"
"Yeah, Jerry?"
"Nothin'." Jeremiah grinned as Connor pitched a dirt clod at him. Jeremiah returned the favor, and a dirt clod war broke out between the two friends.
~**~
Emma raced down to her house, practically screaming with joy. She burst into the kitchen door, and found Camilla preparing supper with Hanna and Jake running around her feet.
"Camilla! Camilla, oh, Camilla, Elijah-"Emma was cut off by three people attempting to hug her to death. It was pure, joyous chaos as the Fletcher's danced around Emma. Camilla was hollering something about how great Miz Emma was, and Isaac and Hanna were chanting something around the lines of how their daddy got his job back.
The laughter grew louder and louder, and Emma was extremely grateful that the lock at the store hadn't worked.
~**~
Emma was often sent into the woods outside of town to find all sorts of wild fruits. This afternoon, the fruit Bernadette wanted was blueberries.
Emma had set off to the south side of town toward Lake Rochelle. From experience, she knew that the picking would be best there. By lunch, she had picked three basketfuls of berries, the sun was high and the temperature was over ninety degrees. The lake was looking cooler by the minute, and Emma was only a hot-natured, Southern girl who loved swimming as much as anybody. After a ten minute internal debate, she took off for the shore.
~**~
Within five minutes of the Dirt Clod War's beginning, both Jeremiah and Connor were covered in dirt. The most obvious way to clean off? Lake Rochelle.
The two boys raced into the water, splashing and raising Cain. Connor tackled Jeremiah, and started the second Winslet-Thomason war in the last hour.
~**~
Emma was floating on the water, peaceful as she had ever been. She heard some noise from the other end of the lake, but she passed it off as some kids playing in the water. Who wouldn't want to in this heat? She closed her eyes against the burning sun.
~**~
Connor swam away from Jeremiah, who was busy collecting rocks from the bottom of the lake for his collection. Connor swam out to the center, then dove under as far as he could. At last, he came up for air. However, when he came up, his hand felt something suspiciously like an ankle.
~**~
Emma's calm moment was broken when a hand grabbed her ankle. She shrieked, and went under the water, kicking and screaming all the way. Her foot his something, but she couldn't be sure. Then Emma saw a blonde head slowly sinking in the water. She was under the water before you could say Bob's your Uncle.
~**~
Connor drew up above the surface for around point two seconds before he felt something hit his head. Then everything went black.
~**~
Jeremiah came up from the bottom of the lake with a handful of rocks. "Hey, Connor, look what I found!" He said to his best friend. Looking around, Jeremiah saw that Connor was missing.
All of a sudden, he heard a screech from the other side of the lake. Looking toward the general direction of the sound, he saw a red-headed figure come up with Connor. As fast as his body would let him, Jeremiah swam over to his friend.
~**~
Come on, come on! Emma felt around for the blond-headed boy's body. Be here, damn it, be here! At last, she felt something suspiciously like a toe. She grabbed it, and swam for every ounce she was worth.
Just as she ran out of breath, her head surfaced. As hectic as it was below the surface, above was like trying to control a pack of wild lions that hadn't eaten in two days that were inside a butcher's Market.
She was very disoriented, and things were swimming in and out of focus. A darker haired boy was swimming toward her… The darker haired took the lighter haired… she was swimming to shore… she was on shore…
Then, Emma passed out.
~**~
"Hello… can you here me? Hello…"
Emma's blue eyes flickered open to find a dark-haired boy standing over her. Panicking, she tried to sit up. However, when pain hit her forehead like no body's business, a wave of scenes came at her: Berry picking, lake, blonde, water, dark. She laid her head back down with a thud.
The dark-headed boy laughed. "You defiantly are one lucky kid, Connor. You almost drown, then get saved by a good-looking girl! You have all the fun!"
This was more than enough to wake Emma up, and with all the temper her red-hair suggested. "Excuse me? I have a name! And if you're some sexist pig, then I don't-"
"Easy there, trigger," said the blond. "Jeremiah's just playin', he ain't meaning no harm to no one. Plus, his mamma's the biggest feminist to walk the planet."
A moment of realization dawned on Jeremiah and Emma. Jeremiah realized that the wet, angry red-head was the Isabelle from the supervisor's office, and Emma realized that Jeremiah was who he was, and that she had given him a false name.
"Isabelle Henderson!" Jeremiah shouted.
Connor's jaw dropped. "You're the girl that showed Jeremiah up?!? It's an honor to meet you!"
Emma grinned as Jeremiah attempted to swat his friend. "I'm not as mean as I acted then, I swear!"
Jeremiah snorted. "Right. And I'm Bernadette Dawson."
Emma froze up for a second at the mention of her mean as dickens stepmother, but quickly put on a grin. The grin slowly turned into a smirk as an idea came to mind.
"Oh, no, mother, I'm too good to see work like everyone else in this town, oh no, mother!" said Emma putting on a fake and squeaky imitation of Bernadette. "I'll just pretend I have headaches, like anyone will believe me except you!"
Jeremiah and Connor were laughing fit to kill. Emma continued the playacting until she heard a voice that froze her up faster than azaleas in a late frost.
"Emma! Emma?" Wren was standing near the lake, holding Emma's berry basket as she called.
"I… I have to go!" She stood up, and ran toward the woods.
"Wait, Isabelle!" Jeremiah called after her. "That was perfect! Wait, come back!"
But Emma had disappeared into the trees, leaving (for the second time), an angry and confused Jeremiah.
A/N~ *Ducks stones* Yes, I know, over a month is WAY to long to not update, but this chapter was longer, so maybe, somewhere in your heart, you can find a place to forgive me.
The Next Chapter: Emma (or Isabelle) spends an day with Jeremiah, the invitations to the Barn Raising are sent out, and much, much more!!
