wow, im updating far too often...i need to slow down...and yes, this is still the same story, just read and you shall understand im probably not going to put any closing comments, only because i think the end of this chapter is very powerful and i dont want to ruin it. one more thing: insult any bit of my story you want, but not the song. insult the song and...and...i dunno, bad things will happen!
"Chris," a little girl whispered, "Chris, are you awake? I'm scared." She had long, dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes that were wide and reflected the lightning that flashed outside the window. She looked about 10 and was hovering beside a bed where a boy lay with his back to her. He rolled over as she whispered and sleepily opened his deep blue eyes. He rumpled his short hair that could just barely be called blonde and blinked a few times. There was an ear-splitting clap of thunder and the girl squealed. Smiling, Chris scooped her onto his lap.
"My silly little Andi, it's only a storm. The lightning and the thunder are only talking. They sure have loud voices, don't they? Don't tell me their yelling is scaring you. You're definately louder than they are when you yellsometimes," he cooed, rocking her back and forth. He was only about 14, but acted older as he held his sister, who was beginning to cry.
"I know, but I've just got a scarey feeling about it," she murmered, hardly understandable as her face was buried in his chest. The storm continued to rumble and Andi continued to wimper.
Mustang thrashed about in her sleep. How many times would she have this haunting dream?
"Alas my love you do me wrong, to cast me out discourtiously," Chris sang. His voice was smooth and beautiful, somehow rising above the sound of the storm to Andi's ears. His singing always seemed to calm her, he could beonly whispering and the song would completely drown out everything else. That's what it did then. The thunder seemed a little quieter, and when it did rumble, it was in time to his singing. The pounding rain was no more thanmusic. She joined him. "For I have loved you well and long, delighting in your company-" They were interupted by a blinding flash of lightning and thunder that shook the ground. Andi curled into a ball on Chris's lap.
"Greensleeves was all my joy," she began, her own small, frightened voice sounding akward without his support. He held a finger to her lips and she fell silent. His back straightened and he lifted his head a little, eyes flitting around the room.
"Something's not right," he whispered, and stood, taking the frightened girl by the hand. He opened the door of the room they shared and scanned the hallway. As Andi looked too, everything seemed to change before her eyes. Everything was bigger, darker, scarier. The hallway she had walked down for ten years was suddenly strange and threatening.
Mustang began to sweat. She knew it was a dream and tried to will herself to wake up. She couldn't. Maybe it would change this time, maybe it would be different.
Pulling Andi behind him, Chris walked swiftly down the hall towards their parents' room. He opened the door and was greeted by a wave of heat. Andi screamed and hid behind him.Fire danced in the room, engulfing the walls, blocking their parents from sight. Even though there was a widening hole in the cieling, the rain wasn't doing anything to put it out.
"Christopher! Get out of the house! Take Cassandra and get out!" their mother's hysteric voice called. They couldn't see her, couldn't see anything through the dancing flames. Chris turned, sweeping Andi into his arms, and ran. He set her down as they entered the kitchen.
"I'm going to see if I can save some stuff we might need. Go get Cowgirl out of the barn." Andi could hardly move, but she willed herself to break away from the sight of her panicked brother. She ran, barefoot, through the slippery grass to the barn. Her feet were cut on branches and stones, but she didn't care. If Chris could be brave, so could she.The bar was right next to the house and ittoo had caught fire. She grabbed the latch on the door of Cowgirl's stall. Immediatly, she pulled back from the seering heat of the metal. The fire had been there long enough to heat the metal latch almost to the point of melting.The walls were flames and the air seemed to waver with the heat. A shrill neigh from the stall reminded her she couldn't give up. Andi reached forward again and, fighting the burning metal, pulled the door open. She gave a shrill whistle and a horse bolted through the door and out of the barn. Andi ran after her and whistled again. The horse came to her and she looped the reins of a bridle over her neck. Even the leather was hot and she knew themetal bit would burn herhorse's mouth if she tried to put it in. In the pouring rain, the horse seemed like she too were engulfed in flames. The red light shone on her red-brown coat and made the white mark on her head glow. She always lookedbeautiful and a bit eerieat night, but now, with colors that accented her oen so well, she wasw nothing short of enchanting. The cold rain mether fire-warmed body and steam escaped, making her appear more like a dream than an actual horse.Andi hugged her close as a part of the roof of the house collapsed. She saw a form stumble out of the front door and fall. She pulled Cowgirl toward it. No more than a few feet from the fire, she persuaded Cowgirl onto her knees and pulled Chris's limp body over her back. Not knowing how else to keep him from falling, she climbed on behind him and urged Cowgirl to her feet and away from the house. The horse's body was warm from the fire, and the warmth stayed as they rode farther from the burning house.
On the top of a small hill, Cowgirl went to her knees again and Andi pulled Chris from her back.
"Chris! Chris, you have to wake up!" She was stuttering through tears. "Where are mother and father? You have to wake up!" She shook his shoulders, watchingthrough tears as the rain washed ash from his face. He coughed and gasped a breath of the fresh air. She didn't even wait for him to sit up all the way before she threw herself at him and hugged him, sobbing freely. He hugged her back, laying his head on top of hers. The rain masked it, but she knew he was crying too. They sat there on the top of the hill until there was nothing left for the fire to burn and the rain put it out.
"Stay here, I'll go look for mother and father." Andi nodded and watched her brother walk toward the remains of their house. She snuggled against Cowgirl and hugged her neck, she had to have something to hold on to. Did she want to know what he would find?
"Your vows you've broken like my heart, oh why do you enrapture me? Now I remain in a world apart, but my heart still is in your captivity. Greensleeves was all my joy, Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, who but my lady Greensleeves. I have been ready at your hand, to grant whatever you might crave, I have both wagered life and land, your love and good will for to have. Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, who but my lady Greensleeves. Ah Greensleeves now farewell, adieu, to god I pray to prosper thee-" She was cut off by the site of Chris running up to her. He didn't say anything, just fell to his knees and pulled her into a hug. He was sobbing openly now. She gripped the back of his pajamas as she leaned on his shoulder, but as she closed her left hand, pain shot up her arm. She held it up and looked over Chris's shoulder. Her whole hand was burnt, the worst of it across her palm where she had grabbed the latch.
"It got them Andi, the fire got them. They never even got out of their room," he managed through his own tears. They sat and cried until the rain let up and the sun shone from behind the clouds. "AhGreensleeves now farewell, adieu, to god I pray to prosper thee, for I remain thy sweetheart true, come once again to meet me." Hisnormally strong, beautiful voice was weak and choked with sorrow. Chris sat back and looked at his sister. She looked up at him and he realized they were all they had. They only had each other. He reached over and picked up a bag he had taken from the house. He pulled from it a small leather horse, his first and only attempt at craftsmanship. He handed it to Andi, its rightful owner, and she hugged it. That's when he noticed her hand. He grabbed it gently by the wrist and examined the burn. all he could do was wrap a rag around it to keep it clean.
"What do we do now?" Andi whispered. Chris pulled a newspaper from the bag.
"We go to where there's work for orphans. We go east, to New York."
Mustang sat bolt upright in her bed, drenched in sweat. By the light of the moon, she looked down at her left hand, where, across the palm, was the scar from the burn of the last night she had had a home.
