The most beautiful sight was right in front of the trio, and each thought they were dreaming. They hadn't found decent shelter since the horse stalls, and right in front of them, was an old windmill. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Old cobblestone made up the walls, ivy grew up the stones, making it seem alive. The fan still rotated, giving off small creaks every eighth rotation. On every side, it was fenced in, tall enough fences of horses to remain within captivity. And, to make it seem even better, there were apple trees planted around the windmill.
"Alright, I'm going to go check it out, you two, climb a tree and wait for me to tell you its safe." Sophia grasped her gun carefully, the shotgun was strapped to her waist, her eyes steel. "Go!" Ren dragged Sophia with him to the nearest tree. As if they were monkeys, they easily climbed up a few branches, now completely out of sight.
They watched silently while Bella approached the gate. It was locked, a chain wrapped around the doors so it couldn't be opened, but that didn't stop the teenager. She got a running head start, and easily side jumped over the wood. The fence would have come up to just below her shoulders, but made it look easily.
Sophia admired the clear strength Bella had, she seemed so cool. In her ear, Royal cooed softly, and kept hitting Ren in the face with its wing if Ren came close enough.
"I'm gonna just say Royal is a guy. I mean, come on. He's a jerk." Ren laughed as he said it, teasing the owl as he kept just out of reach.
"Oh leave him alone Ren." Grinning, she took a moment to look away from where Bella had disappeared, to smile innocently at her friend. "You're just jealous."
"Sophie's got a boyfriend! Sophie's got a boyfriend!" Ren called out, laughing as if it was the best thing he's heard in years, and said girl's cheeks flushed red.
"No I don't!" Horror in her voice, she looked to Royal, who cocked its head at Sophia, and cooed more. "Awwww no I don't!" The blonde girl punched Ren lightly, still brighter than a stop sign.
"Come on you two." Bella was suddenly below them, hiding her amusement poorly. "It's safe, and warm." Excited about the thought, the subject of boyfriends quickly dropped, as the children slowly climbed down the tree. (Which by the way, they were pretty awful at, much easier to climb up than down. Especially with an owl clinging to your jacket.) The eldest patiently waited, checking the surroundings for anything that might have been amiss.
It was difficult for the children to hop the fence, but perhaps that was best for them in the long run, it would discourage others as well. So, Bella gave her brother and Sophia a boost before jumping over it herself.
True to her word, the windmill was safe. Once they were over the fence, a warm feeling washed over the group. Within the fence, nine apple trees were just far enough from the fans that it didn't touch. Unripe apples hung on the branches, and an oak door provided a little more precaution as you made your way to the stone structure.
Perhaps a little taller than three stories high, (fans included) it was pretty. A few openings in the stone proved to be glassless windows, on both stories. Bella led the group into the windmill.
Being only ten, Sophia didn't really know what windmills were used for, but clearly it had something to do with farming. Abandoned bags of corn meal were spilling out against the wall, there was a contraption that as the fans moved, stone bricks were being separated, then crushed together.
The entire windmill was built around the contraption, a huge column, wider than a tree supported the building, and it slowly turned. And around that? A spiral staircase. It led up to another platform, that was begging for the kids to explore.
"I'm going to remove this corn, to the forest. You guys can go set up upstairs." They shot off, whisper yelling as they tried to race. It was pretty useless, as the staircase was narrow, making it so the moment Ren made it to the stairs, he had won.
Pushing the trap door upwards, the top floor of the windmill was much more spacious than the lower floor. There were a few boxes pushed up against the walls, and there was a dos's bed near one of the windows.
Royal quickly was placed in the bed, and the kids decided on playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who had to go dig worms up for the owl.
**Sophia**
By the time that all parties were fed, as well as organized and comfortable on the second floor, dusk had fallen. Sophia and Ren were cuddled together, reading a book together by the light of a candle.
"See. This was a time called Ancient Egypt. And all the rulers weren't always grown ups." Ren explained, pointing to the different pictures, and Sophia nodded in awe. The large crates had been pushed atop the trapdoor, and they felt quite a bit safer than before.
While the kids read, Bella sighed to herself, cleaning out the pistol. She was worried about the kids. They were so young, and already, they were having to pretend to be a lot older, hell, so was she.
As much as she hated to admit it, she needed Sophia and Ren to train up quickly on weapons, or really anything. If something bad happened, like they were separated, or even worse… she had to prepare them to be able to fend for themselves. Sister instincts were kicking in, as she watched from across the room. Sophia was leaning into Ren's shoulder, eyes wide as she let Ren read and explain what he knew. Ren was her brother, and now, Sophia was part of their family. She would do anything to protect them, anything.
Wearily, she looked out the window that faced west, far off, the glow of a campfire could be seen.
AN: I mentioned this earlier, but incase you al forgot, Sophia is still the age she was in the show when she was lost, 10. Ren is 11, and Bella is 18. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! You all are amazing. -Z