The little girl cried out when she hit the wall and she heard a female voice gasp.
"Oh I'm so sorry my sweet child!" Said the feminine voice "Are you alright?" The glowing light came closer and the little girl gasped when the most beautiful woman appeared. Her hair was long and dark. Her face was that of a goddess and the little girl would try to capture it's beauty with a box of crayons many years after. The woman's whole body glowed brightly.
"W-who are you?" whimpered the small child. The woman leaned down and picked her up, resting the girl on her hip.
"I am Juno."
I woke up with a small gasp. It took me a minute to register where I was, but when I did, I relaxed into the warm chest I had my head laid on. Wait. What? I propped myself on my elbows and turned my head slowly, dreading to see the face of my make-shift pillow pet. It was Conner.
His eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling in a slow, peaceful, rhythm. I quickly got off of him and started to saddle the horses. After I was done preparing them for the ride to Boston, I started a fire. A thin layer of snow dusted the clearing where we had set up camp. Oddly enough, the cold didn't bother me this morning. I was occupied with my own thoughts...and the dream.
This was the second time I had one like it and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. On one hand it could be my brain a passing out and on the other, much scarier, hand it could be a memory. The whole dream thing did seem vaguely familiar, but I wasn't certain. A grunt interrupted my little therapy session with myself and brought me back to reality.
"Alice?" Conner grunted. I locked eyes with him and waved. Still wasn't going to talk until he apologized, I'm as stubbon as a mule. I put the fire out with some snow and helped Conner pack up the blankets. He mounted his horse and I followed his example.
"We will make it to Boston in a few hours." He informed me. I just nodded and spurred my horse into a trot, leaving him no choice but to follow.
We made it to Boston within Conner's promised hours, if not in less time. We left the horses in the hands of a local stableboy.
"Where are we supposed to meet your friend?" Conner asked. I shrugged and started to walk through the streets of Boston. I heard Conner growl in frustration and follow.
"You need to talk to me if we're going to make this work!" He told me angrily. I raised an eyebrow and continued walking, Conner in hot pursuit.
"I mean it Alice!" He growled. I ignored him and kept walking. I spotted Timothy sitting at a table and walked over, brushing off Conner's rant. Timothy smiled and stood when he saw me making my way over.
"Alice!" He said "It's good to see you lass. Who is your friend?" He looked over my shoulder at the seething Conner.
"Timothy, this is my friend Conner." I said, my voice was a little croaky from not talking for a while "Conner, this is my good friend Timothy." Timothy held out his hand for Conner to shake, Conner just stared. Timothy retracted his hand awkwardly and cleared his throat.
"You probably are wondering why I sent for you." Timothy said. I smiled.
"I'm more wondering where you got my current postal code." I teased. Timothy grinned.
"I have my ways." He said, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed.
"Alright Mr. Mysterious." I giggled "Why did you send for me?" Timothy took my hands in his, gripping them in excitement.
"I have found something extraordinary." he said "Unfortunately, it is heavily guarded and I am too well known to slip past. I had never seen you or heard of you before we met personally. You were the first logical person to call on." I smirked and flipped my hair over my shoulder.
"I'm honored." I laughed "Let's do it." Timothy shook his head in amusement.
"Alright then."
"Here is the plan." Timothy began "You are to distract the guards while I slip past. Conner, you are in charge of making sure Alice doesn't get herself hurt." I rolled my eyes.
"I can handle this." I spat, a bit insulted "This isn't my first time breaking the law." I thought back to the Tea Party and smirked internally.
"If you thinking of the Tea Party lass, do not forget I was there to kill those Redcoats." Timothy pointed out. I scowled and Conner observed the argument with a slightly amused look.
"Fine." I said, giving in "But I will not need rescuing." I glanced at the building with the tall fence. It was made of brick and the men guarding it were armed with bayonets. I glanced at our surroundings, trying to find something to help me distract the guards. My eyes lit up when I spotted an unattended cart of apples nearby. I walked over to it and grabbed three before walking towards the guards.
"Halt!" said one of the men. I smiled sweetly and tossed an apple in the air. Another followed and soon I was juggling. I smiled and the guards watched, intrigued. One man threw me a coin and I grinned even wider. I caught all of the apples and bowed. the men clapped and I picked up the coin. I then beckoned to one man and he came up next to me. I held out the coin for the rest of the men to see and made it disappear. They frowned and I 'pulled' the coin out of the ear of the man next to me. I saw Timothy slipping past them and I pocketed the coin. I bowed again and waved goodbye when Timothy was safely inside. The men clapped and whistled as I left.
I found Conner leaning on a wall in an alleyway.
"How did you learn that?" Conner asked upon my approach. I gazed at him briefly before frowning. He seemed to forget I wasn't talking to him. I took a bite of the apple and thought about the story silently to myself, the story of my juggling knowledge. My mother...she taught me at a very young age. My mother was a great person, lively and taught me how the joy of life and it's potential. I was only four and I was crying because a boy at school told me that I was dumb as rocks. She had found me and didn't ask. I loved that about my mom, it didn't matter what was wrong, she knew just how to solve it.
"See these pebbles?" she asked, picking out three. I nodded. She smiled, her wavy brown hair falling gracefully over her shoulders and swaying in the breeze. She was wearing a white sundress and had sunflower patterned flats on. She tossed one rock into the air, followed by another and soon she was juggling. She kept going until I laughed and smiled. She then stopped and curtsied.
"Good to see my girl smiling again." she said with a grin "Now let me show you how."
That was months before she disappeared. My eyes burned slightly at the memory and I turned away from Conner, focusing on the building I just helped Timothy infiltrate. The guards were in better spirits after my tricks. We waited for what seemed like forever until I broke.
"I learned from my mother." I said at last. I couldn't see Conner's face, or Conner at all for that matter, but I heard him shuffling behind me.
"She...she taught me when I was little." I continued "It wasn't long after that she...that they...my parents..." My throat constricted and I stared forward, trying not to break down.
"I'm sorry." I said instead "I'm sorry for getting angry and being such a brat, to you and Achilles. I'm also sorry for blocking you out and being so rude. I was just so frustrated because I'm in this stupid situation, but it isn't your fault and I just want to apologize. I'm at fault because I'm a terrible person and I don't deserve the kindness you have showed me." I crossed my arms and lowered my gaze to the cobblestone street beneath my feet.
"Alice!" yelled a familiar voice. I looked up to see Timothy running towards us, a roll of parchment in hand and about ten guards behind him.
"Wow, c's beaucoup de gardes en colère. Wow, that's a lot of angry guards." I observed. Timothy kept running.
"What are you doing standing there?!" he yelled at us "Run!" My eyes widened and I turned to run. Conner soon followed and Timothy brought up the rear.
"Left!" Timothy yelled. I turned left sharply and lost my footing. Stupid street was slick with snow and ice! I yelped as I slid into a wall.
"Ow..." I groaned, rubbing my head. I froze when I felt a liquid seep between my fingers. I looked at my hand, blood dripped from it onto the street.
"Alice!" both Conner and Timothy yelled in unison. I smiled, a bit dazed. Timothy knelt next to me.
"She has a gash in her head." Timothy told Conner quickly "Can you keep the guards occupied until I can get her to safety?" Conner rounded on him.
"You mean so you can escape with the paper you stole?" he asked, spite lining his tone. Timothy looked up sharply.
"I take offense!" he spat "I mean to get her to a safe house nearby!" Black spots started dancing in my vision.
"Guys..." I mumbled "The guards..." Conner glanced at me, then returned to his argument.
"I do not trust you." he told Timothy "Especially with her. You have given me no reason to."
"Just do it!" Timothy said "The guards will be here soon!"
"No." he said, turning his gaze to Timothy "You handle the guards, she has done enough for your cause. I will take her to safety." I felt him pick me up and heard Timothy protest. The black spots started to consume my vision and I gripped onto Conner urgently.
"Don't let me go." I begged. I felt him shift his hold on me so it was more secure.
"I won't." he promised. The ride got bumpy as he started running with me in his arms. I closed my eyes and loosened my grip on the Native. My thoughts slowed and I blacked out.
A/N- YAS! I finished the chapter! I honestly thought it would never happen... Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows and favorites and stuff! Please continue to do what you're doing because I love the support and it helps me write so much faster if I know people will read it! Bu the way, I just got the new Magnus Chase book! You know, the one written by Rick Riordan. It is the best and I recommended it if you liked his other books! So that is why I didn't update before now. Well, that and some really good fanfictions I am reading currently.
I'm a nerd.
Replies to Reviews!
Konnoronhkwa- I'm so glad you like the story! Don't worry, Alice will find out soon enough, but maybe not the way you think... Mwhahaha!
BlackAndWhiteLoverForever- Right? I had to consult the wiki and a bunch of other fanfictions for the spelling.
Sydney- Thank you for the heads-up on the spelling! I'm pretty sure I spelled it right, but I shall check! Thank you again for the helping hand.
Thank you all again! Remember to favorite, follow, and review!
Bye! -Savespot