Stepsister Two

III

Anna Beth, Tiffany and I stood next to each other in front of a three-story house.

"A woman by the name of Tibby Williams lives here." Tiffany informed us; in a no no-nonsense tone, she had begun to use around us shortly after we arrived. "Papa has her tailor his suits and sometimes other things for him." She pulled on a bell that was connected to a slim cord next to the door and waited for it to be answered.

Anna Beth and I glanced at each other, nervous over our first time in the seemingly busy town. When our father had been alive, we usually stayed home to tend to the animals and crops while our father or mother went into town to sell whatever goods we had to offer. Rarely did we ever go to town.

We both hoped that this Tibby Williams didn't give us the same dirty looks everyone else gave us when they found out who we were. Anna Beth and I might as well not have even been there, for us much as they looked our way!

Two brown-headed children, who greeted us with huge, almost toothless grins, opened the door, Tiffany bent low so she was eye level with them, "Is your Mummy home?" She asked; her voice was the kindest I had ever heard it.

"Mummy be in de back room," The youngest, a little boy of five, said pulling on Tiffany's delicate hand.

The second child, a girl of nine stood next to the door, leaving it half open. She stared at us, her eyes wide and unblinking.

Anna Beth smiled kindly, "Hello, my name is Anna Beth. What's yours?" The girl continued to stare through muddy brown eyes. "That's a pretty dress; did your mummy make it?" The girl nodded, brown curls dancing over small shoulders.

A woman, with the same brown hair as the children walked to the door and looked at us, Anna Beth straightened, offering the woman a smile. "Annabel," She spoke softly to the little girl, "Go on in and find your brother."

Anna Beth's shoulders sagged; the woman was having the same reaction most everyone else had. It didn't bother me much, most people treated me strangely all of the time anyway, but they had always liked Anna Beth. I looked at the woman, almost daring her to say the thoughts that were no doubt crossing her mind.

"So, you be Tiffany's new sisters," She said, her voice grating, as if she hardly ever used it.

Anna Beth nodded miserably, my mouth turned down in an even deeper frown. A week ago, when I heard that people around here thought anyone from the Barren Lands were cannibals, it had been laughable, now it was just plain annoying.

"Every one around here be thinkin' your cannibals, don't they." We both nodded our heads hesitantly.

She began to laugh uproariously, "The people around here don't be havin' enough sense in their heads to put two intelligent thoughts together at the same time!" She wiped tears from her eyes, "Come in girls," She said wrapping a long arm around each of our shoulders. "It's been a long time since I've seen someone from my own native land. You both do wonders for my aching eyes."

Tibby Williams led us into her dim, town house, giving us a history lesson on her life as she maneuvered her way through the narrow hallway, "I met my husband when I was very young, and a handsome fellow he was." She paused in blissful remembrance; she shook her head leading us to the back room where she did all her work.

Anna Beth and I looked at her hungrily; it was awful being away from your own people and Tibby Williams was the closest we would probably get for a very long time.

She laughed, "I remember when people used to think I was a cannibal. I milked it for all it was worth! Finally my husband had to have a talk with me and set all of our dear neighbors straight."

I grinned; finally, someone who knew what Anna Beth and I were going through with the town people! Just knowing someone like Tibby Williams lived in this cold country took a weight off my back I hadn't realized was there.

An hour later, Tiffany, Anna Beth and I left the comfortable home of Tibby Williams to finish running our errands.

That night I lie in my bed, staring up into the darkness of my room. It was surprising how quickly I had accepted it as my own room, I didn't think of the house as belonging to me. That belonged to Robert, but so did this bedroom and the clothes I wore. Yet, the bedroom seemed like it was mine, almost as if it had been made for me.

I rolled over, sniffing, I wiped away a tear; I thought I had gotten over this!

Kicking a pile of light blankets off of me, I rolled off the bed and lit a candle that sat on my nightstand and walked to the large, walk in closet on the other side of the room. I stepped in, setting the candle on the floor.

I pushed a lock of dark hair out of my face and pulled out a tiny wood box from inside a pair of travel worn boots, my head ached suddenly, remembering one of the last times I had worn them.

'Run!' I jumped at the memory of my father's voice, screaming inside my head. The memory was so fresh I could see the image of my father and hear his shout for me to run as clearly as if it was happening right that second.

I gulped, opening the box with shaking fingers; I pulled out a necklace made of cheap silver. The last gift my father had ever given me, it wasn't worth the money my father paid for it, but to me, it was worth more than any expensive trinket.

With a silent sob, I placed it around my neck, tears streaming down my face. I would never forgive myself for my father's death. Never!

"Run," The scream of my father chased after me, "Run!"

And I did, I ran, sobbing so hard that everything before me was a blur of tears. All I knew was that I was moving further and further away from my father's screams and the dark creature that was killing him.

Finally, I stopped unable to lift a hand to even drag myself any further, the tears were gone, as was my strength and my father. But I was still there, barely breathing and wishing that I were dead.

"Papa," I mouthed, unable to get my voice to work, "Papa."

My eyes snapped open; I lifted my head and rubbed a hand over my stiff neck. I looked around my dark surroundings, I had fallen asleep on the closet floor and my candle had burned to nothing but a white puddle of hard wax on the floor.

With a grunt, I stood to my feet, after placing the tiny box back in the boot; I carefully put the boot back in its place.

I stifled a scream as something pulled on the front of my nightgown and the closet door shut, locking me in darkness.

Author's Note: I was going to do this in my bio but quickly decided that it was not going to work.

So, I would like to thank anyone who has taken the time to read the story and I would like to thank Nayia.Lyons for reviewing the first chapter. It really meant a lot to me.

Ghastly