My Fairytale
Greetings and salutations, and welcome to chapter two, this is my latest installment, i HOPE i proofread it successfully, but i'm not sure, and its really really reaaaaally late now and i'm half asleep.. so, i do appologise for any mistakes.. i hope you like it.. oh yeah.. the GW charries are not mine.. though the others are..
Chapter Two.
Quatre sat through his lessons longing for the day to end. He was very much looking foreword to Jed showing him the Boar tracks that afternoon, even if he did have errands to complete before they could set off. His excitement was increased even more when Jed told him that apparently, if they were quiet enough, they might be lucky enough to see a Stag with white spots dinking the lake water in the shallows, and maybe some more of the herd as well!
All in all it looked to be a very exciting afternoon.
The sun crawled across the clear blue sky with tedious slowness that morning, and it grated on Quatres nerves terribly. After what seemed for ever their break finally came and Quatre followed the copper haired Jed Forrester out into the schoolyard again, where they sat together, each eating an apple.
From where he sat on the small wall, Quatre had a very good view of the playground. He could see his usual friends Heero and Duo, chasing each other about the yard as was often the case, now without the presence of Jimmy Black, but strangely, he did not feel at all compelled to go over to them. Instead he preferred the company of Jed. After a short while, his eyes flicked back to his two running friends, and he realised something was missing, he couldn't see Wufei anywhere. When a few minutes filled with nothing but looking for the black haired youth yielded nothing Quatre half made up his mind to go and question Sally as regards his friend's whereabouts, but, it was with no small amount of confusion that he realised he could not see her either. Where were the older students vanishing too?
With a sigh he gave up his search, he was too young to know every things his friends did, thus he spent his break feeling rather put out that his friends seemed to have forgotten him, for he had half expected them to come over to him and at least apologise.
He did have his own little revenge though, he wouldn't show them the boar tracks, and he'd make Jed promise not to as well. Thus it was, with a cheeky smile, Quatre Winters returned to his lessons.
When the day finally ended, Quatre left the School house as quickly as he could, with Jed trailing along behind him, taking animatedly about the boar tracks again, and almost making Quatre think that he really didn't need to see them after all….
Once again the young blonde pulled the list, now slightly rumpled out of his pocket, and cast his eyes over it. The first task, finding the Thatcher had been done, and he would be over at the inn tomorrow to fix his the leaky stable…. The second errand was to ask the chimney sweep over to brush out the tap room chimney, but Quatre had passed that request on via Jimmy, the sweeps lad, so he didn't need to worry about that any more. Third he needed to pick up a fresh corn loaf from the baker, and fourth a cut of beef from the butcher. And last on his list was passing the message on to Wufeis father that his parents wanted to usual order sent through to the Inn as soon as was possible. They were simple tasks, and Quatre wasn't going to complain about doing them.
It only took him about ten minutes to go to the butcher and the baker, the general store took a little longer seeing as Wufeis father rather enjoyed a good conversation, and he ended up agreeing to meet up with Jed at the Forrester's farm house once his errands were run. Jed apparently needed to call in at home before he went anywhere.
Quatre managed to cut his conversation with Mr Chang shorter than it would usually have been, as he really didn't want to meet up with Wufei or any of his other friends, he was still rather vexed with them over his abandonment during his lessons.
Eventually, after dropping in on the seamstress to pick up his mothers skirt, Quatres errands were done, and after dropping in very quickly at home to give his mother the things she had asked for, and to eat a slice of the new loaf with some redcurrant jam, he had set off to the Forrester's, reaching their door just as he heard the now somewhat distant church bells chime three.
Jed tugged the door open excitedly in response to Quatres knocks, and bounded out of the house, followed shortly after by his father, who smiled at Quatre and ruffled his hair.
"Not often we see you ere abouts laddy." Andrew Forrester commented as Quatre blinked up at him.
"No sir…." He replied quietly "I guess not."
Andrew smiled "Too busy with those little ruffian friends of yours aye?"
Quatre nodded slowly, a little bemused.
"Well, it's nice to know you 'ent forgot us laddy" The farmer proclaimed "Now. Jed said you be wantin ta see them ol' boar tracks we saw this morning, I hope you dun mind me goin along wi'ye?"
Quatre shook his head "No sir. I don't mind" Across the yard Jed grinned at him and showed him a thumbs up, while swinging back and forth, standing on the gate.
Mr Forrester grinned "Good, Glad ta know Jed has a nice little mite o'a friend like ye, Now…. I think there be a kestrel's nest in one o them ol' oak trees, shall we ave a look a' that too?"
Quatre beamed and nodded, scampering over to join a beckoning Jed by the gate, and the two lads, followed by the farmer scampered away from the farm tracks and off into the ancient tress of the small wood.
"You answered good Quat!" The copper haired lad proclaimed.
Quatre raised an eyebrow at his friend "Oh?"
"Aye!" Jed proclaimed, nodding emphatically "Me ol' man said we could nae go if you wouldn't let him come wi'us! Said that boars were too dangerous a thing fer kids ta be messin with."
The two boys had a wonderful afternoon. They climbed trees with Jed's father, and saw the boar tracks, just as Jed had promised, and were even lucky enough to see a sow vanish into the undergrowth with a troupe of piglets at her heals. When they moved closer to the lake, Quatre was delighted to see a whole herd of dear drinking from the lake.
Once the dear had all vanished back into the trees, Andrew Forrester led the two boys up to the foot of a big oak where he told them to wait, as he himself clambered up into the branches, clambering down a few minutes later with a fine nest of still warm kestrel eggs held in his right hand. He let the boys look at the eggs for a few moments only, before he climbed up to put the nest back, warning them not to let anyone else know they were there.
Quatre understood, birds eggs were a popular collectors item among the town children, he knew that Duo had quite a few, and he'd have to make sure that that particular nest were kept very safe. Standing at the foot of the tree, the three saw the mother kestrel settle herself back on her nest, and Quatre smiled. He's make sure to come back and check on the nest from time to time. The fate of those three little eggs seemed somehow important to him now.
After the novelty of staring up at the now restful mother kestrel had worn off, Quatre and Jed moved off through the tree's a little way, Andrew Forrester not far behind them, and it wasn't long until the three of them were all involved in an energetic game of tag. It was only the five o clock tolling of the church bell from Manor road that ended their fun, and sent Quatre skipping off home with the promise that he would visit again soon still hanging in the air.
As he walked on his own through the woods, he found himself reflecting on how much fun he'd had today, and also on his lack of thought for his friends. Quatre was, as far as many people were concerned and exceptional boy. He was naïve, that was certain, but he also spent a lot more time lost in thought than any of the elder children ever did.
By the time he had reached the edge of the wood and had begun to make his way on down the farm track away from the Forrester's, he had come to the conclusion that he would get on quite well enough with Jed Forrester if his friends did come to the conclusion that he was indeed too young to play with them any more, and, as he passed the General store, he had actually begun to plan out all the things that he would do with his new playmate.
He couldn't wait to tell his parents about all the fun he had had, there was no time for talk when he got in however, as waiting in the main hallway were three fairly important looking guests, and Quatre, for his mother was busy helping Polly ready their rooms, was ordered straight back out into the stables to tend for the visitors horses. A fine Roan Mare and two Piebald Geldings.
The stable block consisted of a long low rectangular building with a store room tacked onto the end and a tool shed. There were eleven stables in the block, two of which were occupied by the Winters own horses, the other nine were reserved for guests in the inn, but, due to the fact none had been expected this early in day the stables had not been prepared, and thus, the horses stood tethered to some iron rings on the far side of the yard, looking rather irritable. It was not usual for people passing the turn off for Lakewood to halt while there were still some hours of daylight remaining, they usually chose to ride on to the slightly larger settlement of Copse Hill mile or so down the road.
It was with some resignation that Quatre finally opened the tool shed door and pulled out tree of the matted looking hay nets out of the along with three wooden buckets and a set of brushes with which he would have to give the horses a through rub down.
Laden with hay nets and feed buckets Quatre made his slow way down to the storeroom at the end of the stable block. It was dark inside, but that didn't really matter, he knew where everything was.
Carefully he measured some oats out into each of the buckets, the amounts had to be exact in case one of the traveller's came to check that he was getting his moneys worth, the inn was not cheap. After the oats had been measured out, he began to fill each of the nets with rich golden hay that his father bought in from a farm near Vinfield, a little way north of Copse Hill. The hay made him sneeze, and he knew its dusty fragrance would cling to him for a few days.
Once his task was completed, he stepped out into the now dazzling sunshine, and carefully bolted the door behind him. He hung a bucket and hay net in each of the stables and proceeded to lead the first horse, the Roan, away from the others to an iron loop, where he switched her bridle for a head collar and methodically removed and stored each piece of her tack. Once that had been completed he gave her a through rubbing down and led her into the stable where she would spend the night.
The same task had to be repeated for each of the remaining horses in turn.
Once all three had been safely put away, Quatre realised with some distaste tat he still wasn't finished, over where they had been tied, two large piles of dung showed how much the Two Piebald's had appreciated Quatres help.
Quatre was busily emptying the wooden barrow of dung onto the heap round the back of the Inn when running footsteps caught his attention.
Setting the barrow down properly, and the scoop with it, he walked along the back wall of the Inn, and peered around the corner. His eyes widened briefly and he pulled his head back with a yelp, just as a fairly short person with long hair shot past the wall, right past where Quatres head had been moments before.
Quatres eyes were still somewhat wide as Duo jogged back to him
"There you are Quat!" Duo said, his tone relieved. "Heero Fei and I were beginning to think we'd lost you!"
Quatre, recovering at last, shrugged and wandered back down to the barrow and begun to wheel it back toward the tool shed with Duo at his heels. Silence reigned between the pair as they walked. Quatre could feel Duo sending him questioning glances, wondering, he was sure, about the lack of response his statement had received, but Quatre was still a little too rankled to respond.
Quatre was still silent, even as he was putting the barrow back into the tool shed, but it was clear that Duo was finally finding the situation less than comfortable, as he had begun to fidget and twist his long braid around his hands.
At last Duo seemed to loose his cool.
"What wrong Quat?" he asked pleadingly "Why aren't ya talking to me?"
The blonde glanced at his mournful looking friend, and then over at the gate, which had just banged open, curtsey of Heero and Wufei. He shrugged.
"Bad mood?" Heero ventured, a dark brow slightly raised.
Quatre pulled a face "Something like that."
Duo grinned "Thank the Gods ya haven't lost ya tongue Quat!"
The look Quatre shot him was almost unfriendly, and it bought him a scowl from Heero in return. Duo merely looked surprised, and a little hurt.
"Quatre…. What did we do?" he asked mournfully, and Quatre couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for being as angry with his friends as he was, after all, hadn't he had a really fun day anyway? Even though he knew it was silly he couldn't help the pang he had felt when he had thought they had left him, and now he was taking it out on them.
"You all left me today." He stated firmly, deliberate keeping his voice steady. "At lessons, you all ran off with other people."
Duos eyes automatically widened in understanding "Oh…. I guess we kinda did…. didn't we?"
Quatre nodded, his eyes beginning to burn, despite everything he had been very upset by their actions.
"Well…." Duo started, hesitantly "I needed to tell Jimmy that Father Maxwell needed his chimney done, and well…. Heero was attached to my hair at the time and he kinda came along too….and Fei-"
"I needed to discuss the home study assignment with Sally." Wufei stated firmly, eyeing Duo, who was clearly trying to stop the grin that was spreading itself across his face.
Quatre blinked for a moment "Well…. You could have at least told me. I thought you just didn't want to be seen with me…."
They all exploded, telling him that he was being silly and that he was their friend and that they'd never do that to him. He was also sure he heard Heero call him a donkey headed something or other, but once again he just let that pass.
It was Wufei that finally ended their tirade "What have you been doing all afternoon Quatre, we couldn't find you anywhere."
"Yeah!" Duo put in loudly "Hope you weren't too bored without us, we did some fun things today."
The blonde grinned "I was off with Jed Forrester and his father." He said in an offhand way "Mr Forrester showed us some wild boar tracks, and then we saw a whole herd of white spotted dear. Oh…. And a female Boar and her babies."
He took a furtive glance at his friends' faces, Wufei looked a little surly, and Heero was smirking, this confused him for a second, but then he noticed Duos expression. There was a look of outrage on his friend face, his eyes were wide and his jaw was tight.
"You! You!" Duo spluttered incoherently and Quatre smiled at him.
"Then we went and climbed some of the oak trees." Quatre added, his voice light and airy "So no Duo, I really wasn't all that bored."
Heero actually had to laugh at the scandalised look on Duos face, as the small blonde turned his own gloating words against him.
It took Duo a few minutes to calm down, Heeros laughter didn't really help, but when he finally did he slung an arm round Quatres shoulders and grinned lopsidedly at him "I guess we all forget that you can look after yourself huh Quat?" he asked quietly, and Quatre knew that this was Duos way of apologising this time.
"Its okay Duo, I'm sorry I was so sulky. Can I make it up to you?" Aqua eyes cast their way across each of his friend in turn.
Heero shook his head, he didn't seem fazed at all by what had happened, merely amused, Duo was too busy scowling at Heero again to even register the Question, but Wufei, to Quatres surprise nodded.
"Yes you Can Winter." He stated sulkily. "You can show me those Tracks. I always wanted to see a Boar."
The look on Wufeis normally adult face and the childish sulk to his voice made Quatre laugh, and, no matter how he tried, it was a good five minutes before he could quiet himself, by which time Wufei had sulked off himself.
There were no lessons the next day, and Quatre, with his little group of friends restored, was able to lead the way perfectly to the spot where Mr Forrester had shown him and Jed the tracks the day before. All the argument of the day before, childish as they were had been forgotten, and the group or friends were happily playing a game of chase round the General store, when the sound of tinkling bells and a trilling flute caught their attention.
Running round to the west side of the store, they all stopped to peer up the street that led up to the Capital Road. There, wearing motley of different colours was a man that everyone in the village was sure to recognise.
Bracken Hawthorn was a travelling minstrel that made a point of visiting Lakewood each and every time he passed. His stories were well known ones, nothing really special, but in one way or another he had endeared himself to almost everyone in the town, and his arrival always brought smiles to the faces of the children in particular.
His lurid green trousers clashed horribly with the bright purple and white shirt and overcoat the man wore, but this didn't really seem to faze him at all. A large floppy black hat bedecked with vibrant feathers was perched on top of his head, hiding most of the short curly blonde hair that never seemed to want to lie flat.
Seconds after they had recognised Bracken, all four of the children had gone hurtling up the street to meet him, and he laughed delightedly in greeting, pausing but briefly to slap his flopping hat onto Quatres head and receive a shy smile in return.
It wasn't very long before the entirety of Lakewood had been alerted to the minstrel's arrival. His first port of call had been the tap room of the inn, but it hadn't been long before the pitiful calls of the children had drawn him back out into the square, where, after little persuasion, they managed to coax him into telling them a story.
"All righty then." Bracken murmured as he took a set on the polished wooden steps of the general, it's a story you want is it?"
All about him the children nodded excitedly.
"Okay then, let's see…. What haven't I told you before?" His crinkled eyes scanned the crowd of children about him.
Hilde and Dorothy were seated neatly on his direct right, and Quatre was curled on the floor to his right, the floppy hat still o his head. Lucrezia and Fiona were settled a short was away, pretending not to listen, and Sally was settled with them, only it was quite evident she was listening to every word the minstrel said.
Duo was lounging inelegantly to Quatres left, one leg hooked over the other, and Wufei was sat primly beside him, knocking Duo's swinging foot out of the way every time it moved too near to him. Jed and the two younger Parke children were settled on some boxes directly in front of Bracken, and Heero was settled behind Quatre, toying with the feathers in the travellers' hat.
The Minstrels eyes surveyed the small group, resting on each of them in turn, when the two bright blue eyes rested on Quatre a small smile played across the mans lips, and Quatre couldn't help but smile in return.
Seconds later the minstrels' attention was elsewhere again, and Quatre found himself wondering whether the smile had been there at all.
"Now." The minstrel proclaimed, smiling widely "I know the very story to tell you my little friends."
They all looked rather happy at this proclamation, and all eyes, even those of Lucrezia and Fiona fixed on Bracken.
Bracken settled back comfortably on the steps, looking sombre "This is not a happy tale." He intoned quietly "But it is one which you should all hear." Looking a little less happy now, the children all nodded, they were used to Brackens history lessons as well….
"The Head of our happy little land of Serintia is a very prosperous man." Bracken began seriously "Is a very lucky man. His people are small in number, yet big in spirit, and they all work very hard and love each other. Families rarely break up, and all the towns are over run with lovely little children!"
Here he beamed, and every child in the square felt that the storyteller was referring to him or her alone.
"His castle is not as huge as some, but nor is it tiny and falling apart. His treasure vault is full and his fields all bear crops. As I said before, he is a very lucky man. His family is vast. Many many many daughters his wife had borne him, but yet, despite all he had, the king was once very unhappy. For, he had, no son. Now, this is where my tale may differ to many others. Some say, and they may be true, that the king was out riding one day, when a small tussock of grass caught his eye, and beneath it he found a small boy child, who he took home with him, and made his son. He named him and brought him up as he wished him to be, but the tale I will tell you is not that, so we will look no further into it shall we?"
He grinned, and the children grinned back and shook their heads.
"Now. My tale is thus. The Queen became, for the thirtieth time, with child, and the whole kingdom, or as far as the news reached, held its breath for a son, and a son she did indeed bear. But the cost was great. For she went away to join the angels in the heavens." The Minstrels voice was sombre now, and his sad eyes once more took in each face.
"But do not feel so glum!" The minstrel cried out, springing to his feet, taking every one of them by surprise and seizing the hands of both Quatre and Dorothy as he leapt from the steps, dragging them up with him. "For the king was not! He thanked the stars and the Gods for his son, and a merry feast there was that night!"
On that note the brightly dressed Minstrel burst into song, a fast moving verse about the seasons, twirling Quatre and Dorothy around with him in a merry dance, and it wasn't long before all the other children, young and old joined in with him.
Despite the children's pleas, the minstrel would tell them no more that day, for he apparently had to be away to Port Roudaberg, but the children did managed to extract a promise of his return from the vagabond, and they all ran to the edge of town to see him off.
At a loss for anything to do now that what they had hoped would be the days entertainment was over, the children began to drift apart, until, that was, Duo crowed a challenge, and, while holding up a freshly baked muffin that he had evidently stolen from the bakery, proclaimed that the first one to the highest branch of the Gnarly oak would win it. With a laugh and a shout, the other children in tow, he shot off toward the lake.
The Gnarly oak was a favourite tree to almost every child in Lakewood. It had been blown half over by a great storm some seven years before, which Quatre did not remember due to his age. The tree, rather than dying as was almost been expected had continues to grow, and now had a strange curve to it that made it almost perfect for climbing. It grew very near the edge of the lake.
Quatre, indifferent to the prize Duo offered, partially because he knew Duo would win anyway, hung back and walked more slowly toward the tree with Dorothy who had also decided not to join the rumpus for reasons of her own.
When the pair finally reached the Gnarly oak, neither reacted with surprise to see Duo sitting and smugly eating his muffing a fair way up the tree. Around the base of the tree lounged Heero, Hilde, Jed, Sue-Ann Parke and Jennifer Robberts. Wufei was standing to one side next to the doctors' daughter Sally.
The children, aside from when they were called home in ones and twos for their lunch, spent the remainder of the morning, and the early afternoon playing happily in and among the trees around the lake. Quatre had wandered a little way from the others towards a patch of wild berry bushes, Dorothy tailing him closely, when he felt a bizarre tingling in the back of his neck, which gave him the strangest idea that he was being watched, and not by the blonde girl who had followed him here.
Quatre glanced behind him, Dorothy he saw had become entranced by a patch of wild flowers, and wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention, for some reason he was greatly relieved by this. Without comment he turned his eyes back to the bushes he had been examining, and nearly fell backwards in surprise. A pair of very green eyes were observing him from amongst the leaves. As his stared, his own aqua eyes very wide, the rest of an oval shaped face appeared in the gap between the leave. It was a friendly looking face, Quatre decided, with skin markedly darker than his own. A small smile graced the stranger's lips, and slowly a hand rose to rest a finger against them, Quatre smiled happily and returned the gesture.
"LOOK! LOOK EVERY ONE!" the shout came from behind him, and alarmed Quatre spun on the spot to see Dorothy pointing a hand directly at the spot where the boy was hiding "JED, DUO, HILDE! ALL OF YOU! THERE'S A BOY IN THE BUSH!"
After a few moments of thunderous stampeding, all the others had arrived on the scene, and Quatre was pushed almost roughly to one side. Duo, being the brashest of the all had stridden to the front, Heero not far behind him.
"What do you think he is?"
"Who do you think he wants?" whispers of this kind had broken out all between the twittering children, along with suggestions that he was a gypsy lad, a shape shifter, and even the ludicrous suggestion that he might be a merman.
Duo grinned. "Come out now! We've found you!" He pronounced to the bushes."
After what could have been a moment's doubtful hesitation, the green eyed boy rose from the bushes. The group gasped and everyone tensed, as if expecting an attack.
The bright green eyes fell on each member of the group one by one, their expression unchanging, until they fell on Quatre, then, they smiled, though the face did not.
Returning the smile Quatre glanced about him, but no one else seemed to have noticed the minute change in expression that had been the boys smile.
What's your name?" Duo demanded, pacing up and down.
The boy glanced at him briefly, and then returned his eyes to Quatre, who felt himself flush slightly, unsure as to why he was subject to that penetrating green gaze. He felt like he was in trouble.
"Oy! I said what's your name?" Duo repeated angrily. But again, he received no response.
"Maybe he doesn't understand you Duo." Sue-Ann Simmons suggested her dark eyes nervous and she twiddled a lock of her dark hair.
Duo looked taken aback for a few seconds, and then his grin widened "That can only mean one thing! He's a Pixie child here to steal us all away to the fairy kingdom so that they can replace us all with CHANGELINGS!"
The whole group made noises of outrage, and all seemed to agree with Duo, Well, with Heero standing by him it wasn't likely that anyone would agree. Even Wufei seemed taken by the idea. As one they began to converge on the green eyed boy, who, for a moment looked slightly alarmed.
Quatre stood rooted to the spot, his eyes on the newcomer. He saw the look of worry cross his face and knew in that instant that Duo was wrong; this boy was no pixie child. The little folk…. And this boy wasn't exactly little…. Didn't have the ability to feel fear.
Without thinking he scampered out from between Duo and Heero, stopping just in front of the boy, his arms held wide. "Stop." He said quietly, his pale face very serious.
It didn't take long for the group to stop, there weren't that many of them after all, and they all surveyed Quatre with curious expressions.
Quatre felt his cheeks redden under their gaze "I- Uhmm.. That is. I found him first." He mumbled.
They all blinked at him
"And." He continued quietly "I don't think he is a pixie child. I think he's a lost little boy. Just like Heero used to be."
At that the whole group looked slightly surprised, and Heeros eyes widened.
"So I want to give him a chance, just like some of you must have done with Heero." Quatres voice was bolder now "He can come home with me."
Duo looked visibly deflated at Quatres astute comment about his friend and nodded "All right then." He tired to sound important, but the brashness had gone from his voice "If we're all still here in the morning then he is no pixie child. Agreed?"
"Agreed." The group intoned, and, losing interest now that the green eyed boy might not be of the fairy folk, they drifted back to the trees. Duo and Heero bounding along at the head of the group, Wufei trailing along with Sally once again.
Quatre on the other hand, remained exactly where he was, looking at the boy with the green eyes. He smiled again, relieved that he'd managed to quieten things, and held out a hand to the boy "Come here. Please."
The boy nodded and stepped out of the bush, settling his hand in Quatres.
"What's your name?" The blonde asked softly, repeating Duos question.
The boy remained quiet, causing Quatre to sigh.
"Never mind." He murmured "Come with me, I'll take you to met mother and papa, I'm sure they wont mind you staying until you can tell use who you are and where you are from." He gave the hand in his a gentle tug and started off walking back towards the farm track that would take him back down to the town square.
A short while later, Quatre once more turned his eyes up to the boy whose hand he still held. "Boy?" He asked quietly, causing the green eyes to fix on his blue ones again. "You aren't a pixie child…. Are you?"
The grin he got in response to his question left Quatre feeling unsure as to whether he should be relived or not. But he supposed it didn't really matter, as one way or another now he was taking the strange, silent green eyed boy home with him.
OKay, that was the ramblings of chapter two.. that i wrote oh so long ago, FINALLY posted.. i am a bad bad auther.. not doing anythign in so long... bad author.. authoress even.. oh well, its early.. Hope you enjoyed it!
