During these decades, Matthew spent time with the people he found at the center of his tugging, having never found the nation the people orriginally came from. He happily enjoyed their company, quickly learning the strange language they spoke. French is what one friendly villager told him it was called. Despite the strange sense of familiarity he had somehow found in these settlers, Matthew found himself constantly turning around to ask Alfred his opinion and feeling guilty and sad when he remembered he had scared him off.
Alfred on the other hand had just discovered settlers of his own. While he had been hunting with the rabbits, they somehow didn't shy away from him when he needed to do so, when he saw a man with pale skin and funny clothes pass through the trees near him. Alfred froze before hiding behind the tree, the bunnies scurrying as well. Thinking it was a ghost, Alfred closed his eyes and shuddered, counting under his breath so that he could wait a little before trying to see if the ghost had gone.
The footsteps had gone and he decided it was safe to open his eyes, jumping when he realized the ghost was now standing in front of him, smiling. Alfred yelped before hiding on the other side of the tree. "Hey little guy. Don't be scared! Did you get separated from the village? You know they have the curfew for a reason. How about we get you back home? How does that sound? I'm going back to the settlement right now," said the ghost.
Alfred blinked when he realized the ghost was in fact a man. "You're like me! How are you like me!? What language are you speaking?" he asked excitedly. The man frowned before looking him over. "Are those animal skins?! You speak like one of those natives...Child, what happened to your parents? We've lost quite a few people. Were you with any of them?" he asked. Alfred frowned, somehow able to understand the man but unable to replay in the language.
The man smiled and got down on a knee. "Don't worry, I won't bite. You look hungry too. Were you out here hunting? I have some meat at home and my wife made some bread. When was the last time you had a bath? Come on little one, we'll look after you," he said, holding out a hand. Alfred smiled before taking it and following the man. A few of the bunnies followed them, the man smirking a little. "What have you been feeding them to get them to follow you like that?" he asked teasingly, not expecting an answer. Alfred dug into his bag and held out a few leafs of lettuce, making the man chuckle.
"You're a smart lad then, eh? I suppose you had your parents long enough to learn how to understand English but not long enough to speak it. Do you have a name kid?" asked the man. Alfred frowned, not sure how to tell the man his name before blinking in realiziation. Alfred looked around at the trees and spotted an eagle's nest, opting to use Aiyanna's name for him since 'Alfred' would be to hard to pantemime.
The man frowned, not sure how to take the miming. "Eagle….I'm sorry lad but Eagle's not a name. Let's get you home, shall we? I'm sure you're going to be feeling the cold here soon and you're probably hungry. How does stew sound? It's not much but it's what we've been able to use for the past few days before we can try to gather everyone and organize another hunting party," he said.
Alfred stopped and shook his head before pointing at the man expectantly. The man blinked, looking confused before realization donned on him. "You don't want to leave with strangers?" he asked. Alfred nodded determinedly, not moving from his spot. The man chuckled. "My name is Adam. Adam Johnson. There, now I'm not a stranger anymore. Let's get you some clean clothes, a nice bath, and some food. I'm sure Sarah, my wife, would be happy to see you," said Adam.
Alfred grinned brightly before nodding. "That would be great!" he said before realizing the man didn't understand him. It was strange. The man didn't speak any language he had heard before but he could undersand him. Maybe it was because the man was one of his people. The man took his hand and led him back to the small cabin he had built, other cabins nearby as well. Alfred's eyes widened as he looked at them.
"How do you move them? Do you stay here during the winter too? Don't you know that's dangerous?" Alfred asked the man. The man just chuckled at Alfred's curious babbling. "Don't worry boy-o. We'll teach you how to speak the language and answer all your questions as best as we can. Do you have any relatives here? Perhaps there's some that might be willing to take you in," said the man. Alfred shook his head slowly.
The man frowned before blinking. "You must be James and Martha's boy...They lost a boy in the woods before they got sick...Oh you poor thing. I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry to tell you this lad but your parents...they aren't here anymore," he said. Alfred looked at the man with confusion before the confusion turned into curiosity. Didn't the man feel that Alfred was different from him? Aiyanna's people seemed to instinctively know who she was. Maybe it was because she was older?
Alfred followed the man into the house, blinking at the strange things that were everywhere. There was a metal thing with fire in the corner, some strange looking chairs, weird stones carved into things like pots and pans, and a wooden floor. He couldn't stop himself from turning around to look at everything. The man laughed as he watched the boy's antics. "Adam, who's this? I don't recognize him," said a woman.
Adam turned around. "You won't belive this...but I found James and Martha's boy wandering around in the woods, dressed like one of the natives. Looks like the natives took him in when their group was attacked," said Adam. Alfred didn't pay any mind to their conversation, playing with the strange needles and fur he had found in a basket next to the strange chair with bows stuck to the bottom of the legs. He poked the chair and started giggling when he found that it moved back and forth.
"Are you sure it's the Jones's boy? He looks like he's gone completely savage," said Sarah quietly so the boy wouldn't hear her, watching as Alfred started playing with the rocking chair. "I'm absolutely sure. He recognized their names and said he didn't have any other relatives. He knows English and there's no other colonies. James and Martha were the only ones who had lost a boy about his appreance and age. It makes sense. From what I gathered, the boy got lost and the natives had taken him in as their own though he seems to have gotten separated from them or came looking for our coloney again," said Adam excitedly.
"But...James and Martha came alone. Most of the other families have already died. Adam, maybe he's better off with the savages. He seems healthy enough," said Sarah, looking the strange boy over. Alfred had now managed to climb into the rocking chair, giggling as he started rocking himself back and forth. "He was wandering around the forest on his own. The nearest tribe is far from here. Sarah, if we don't take care of him, who will?" asked Adam softly.
"Adam, I can't. You know I can't. Not after we lost Georgie. I-I don't want to go through that pain again. I don't want to have another dead son," said Sarah in a trembling voice. Adam frowned before taking her hands. "Something's different about this boy. I know he'll survive this. He was able to survive being on his own for all these years. He'll survive with us and maybe even teach us more about this new land than we knew before. Who knows, maybe he'll be able to save Roanaoke," said Adam softly.
Sarah looked at the boy and sighed, smiling slightly at the joy in his face as he played on the chair. "Okay...We'll take him in. You're right. None of the other settlers would dare take him in, not with the winter starting to come in hard. I can't let him go back into the wild if the winter is going to be as bad as the rumors say. Besides...he should be reconnected with his people. We're gonna need all hands on deck if we want to save the coloney," she said quietly. Adam smiled. "You don't know how happy that makes me," he said.
Sarah turned to the boy and smiled. "Hello there lad. My name is Sarah. I'm Adam's wife. What's your name?" she asked. Alfred made a face as if he wasn't sure how to tell them. "Last time I asked him that him he pointed at an eagle," said Adam. Alfred blinked before nodding excitedly. "Hmm...Perhaps that is the native's name for him," said Sarah. Alfred nodded even more, happy that they were getting what he was trying to say. "So what's your real name my dear?" asked Sarah.
Alfred frowned, once again at a loss what to do. "Hmmm. He understands us...Do you know how to write?" asked Adam. Alfred shook his head, not sure what 'writing' was. "Well...I suppose I'll have to start tutoring him soon," he said, grumbling. "Is it okay if we give you a name until we can figure out what your original name is? I'm sure someone remembers what James and Martha named their boy," said Sarah, glancing at Adam in the last sentence.
"Hmm...Can we call you Franklin? Does that sound like a good name?" Adam asked the boy. Alfred thought about it and nodded. Sarah smiled. "Well Franklin, how about I draw you a bath while Adam heats up what's left of the stew? I'm sure it's been a long time since you've been in a bath," she said gently. Alfred nodded eagerly, curious as to what a bath was. Usually he and Mattie would just bathe in a river but he felt that that wasn't what she meant.
"That's a good lad. Follow me over to the kitchen. Sarah, I think he would be able to fit in some of Georgie's old clothes," said Adam. Sarah nodded and went to an old trunk, pulling out a white nightgown before drawing Alfred a bath. Alfred happily ate his stew, doing his best to answer Adam's questions with a nod or a shake of the head. Sarah smiled as she watched the boy eat before helping him strip and get into the bath.
Alfred happily played in the warm water as Adam looked over Alfred's items. "He has some sort of strange meat with him, some berries, a knife, a blanket, a piece of leather, what in the would would he need that for, and an old rattle. And when I say old, I mean it has to be a few decades old. He must have found it in the woods along with some of these other little toys," said Adam, smiling a bit at the little scraps of fabric, pebbles, and dried up flowers the boy seemed to have collected on his travels.
"He must have a camp or something where the rest of his things are. I'd suggest we go and look for it but I'm afriad that might mean we run into the savages again and get ourselves killed for nothing. Does he have any other clothes in his bag?" asked Sarah as she looked over the well worn outfit she managed to pry off of the small child. "One other outfit but it is nearly identical to the one he was wearing earlier. The only difference is that there's fur sewed onto it somehow," said Adam.
"Well, you should go and talk to Margaret. She and Martha were practically tied to the hip. Maybe she knows more about the boy than we do. Just be careful not to catch John's cold. I don't think that man has much time left in this world, bless his soul," said Sarah. Adam nodded, putting on his coat and boots once more. "I'll be back in an hour at the most. Hopefully the wind doesn't pickup. Maybe I'll even run across a squirrel we can use in the next stew," he said.
Sarah bit her lip and nodded. The squirrel was barely enough meat for the last stew she made for the both of them and they were desparate enough that they were boiling the squirrel with dandelion roots for lack of vegetables. They had tried to make a garden plot when they first built the house but the rain flooded and killed most of their crop. Now they were living off the few vegetation and animals they can find in addition to the very miniscule amounts of supplies they had left over from their boat ride over to the Newland.
Alfred seemed to pick up on her worried expression before giving her his own beaming smile. "I'm a good hunter. Maybe I can help. I know where a good nest of chipmunks are!" he said in his tongue. Sarah smiled a bit at him, not sure what he was saying but certain it was as sweet as his face. "Don't worry dear. We'll make it through the winter. We made it through the ride here. It's just hard to hunt when the natives attack us when we get too far from our settlement. Adam, see if Jacob can call a town meeting," said Sarah.
Adam raised a hand to show that he heard her before leaving the house, leaving her alone with Alfred. Sarah ran a hand through Alfred's hair, smirking at a little tuft of hair that didn't seem to want to go down but did after some coaxing. "I hope you can get adjusted to being part of civilized life again. I'm sure it's going to be a big difference from being on your own. We'll help you out as best as we can. And there's no obligation to call us Mother or Father. We know you're probably still recovering from losing your real parents and that there's nothing we can do to replace him," said Sarah happily.
Alfred looked up before gently kissing her cheek in a sloppy four year old manner. Sarah found herself blushing and hugging him happily. "Let's get you dried up and in some clean clothes. Here's a towel. Wrap it around yourself minding the water. Don't want to get you wet as well," she said, helping him get out of the tub. Alfred giggled and dried himself, not noticing how threadbare the towel was.
Sarah smiled. "I believe Martha and James had another son with them. Do you remember having a brother? They kept to themselves and it was a couple years back. Does that sound about right?" she asked. Alfred froze before suddenly blinking back tears. "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" she asked, pausing in drying his hair with the towel. Alfred shook his head, chin wobbling.
"Was it about your brother dear? I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you cry," she said softly, gently rubbing circles into his head as she dried. Alfred slowly nodded, indicating it was about his brother. Sarah was quiet for a few seconds, doing her best to comfort the boy, before, "D-Did you lose him as well? The same way you lost your Mother and Father?" asked Sarah, watching the boy closely.
Alfred nodded some more, fat tears trailing down his chubby cheeks as he started taking in big quivering breaths. Sarah picked up the boy and held him close, rocking him gently. "Shh, shh. It's alright. It's alright. You're alright. I won't let anyone hurt you. I know how you feel my boy. I lost someone very important to me around the time you lost your family...It hurt a lot but I know it's going to be alright. We'll see them again, I promise you that. They're there waiting for us, protecting us. I'm sure your brother and parents would be proud to see you get so far. You found the settlement all on your own," she said softly, sitting down in the rocking chair.
Alfred let himself cry as woman rocked him back and forth. Once he seemed all tuckered out, Sarah smiled. "Now let's get you into a nightgown. I hope you don't mind having Georgie's bed. Now, would you be okay entertaing yourself for a few minutes while I go make it up? I won't take long. In fact, Adam should be here any minute. Then you can go to bed. You look like you're tired," she said nicely. Alfred only understood some of what she was saying but nodded anyways, too sleepy to really question anything.
A few minutes later, gentle arms picked him up and placed him on top of a strange bag filled with what seemed to be straw. Alfred started to wiggle out of it, more used to sleeping on a mat on the floor, before Sarah started running a hand through his hair. "I know it's different but I'm sure you'll find the bed to be a lot softer than the ground," she said before covering him with a blanket. Alfred found his eyes drooping once the blankt started softly warming him up. "Good night my dear," said Sarah before letting him sleep.
Sorry for the delay! Hope you guys like how the story is going so well. Also hope you don't expect it to stay fluffy for too long. Remember, Roanoke's the 'Lost Colony.' Reviews appreciated!