This chapter has a major plot twist that goes off book entirely, just as a heads up. xx.
The horse finally stopped at a small house by a lake, and the man threw me to the ground. I finally got a good look at him, at his mop of brown hair and the beginnings of a beard. He had to be in his mid-twenties, and he had made it obvious he was perfectly capable of handling himself.
"Please!" I shouted. "Winnie!"
"You keep your mouth shut." He ordered, kneeling down to address me.
"Where is my cousin!" I yelled at him, standing up. He picked me up the second I tried to defy him, pushing me right back down to the ground.
"Miles!" A woman exclaimed, coming out of the house. "What is the meaning of this? Are you alright dear?"
"I found her and another girl with Jesse in the woods, at the spring." Miles said, tying up his horse and walking towards the lake.
"Oh, Lordy." The woman pulled out a music box, playing it. It calmed me down a bit, but I was still anxious about Winnie. She was so young, and that boy did give me a funny feeling; I hoped she was alright. "Where's the other one?"
"With Jesse, she's coming." Miles said.
"Please, just tell me she's alright!" I begged, pleading with the woman, who seemed to be a lot softer than the man, Miles.
"Miles, go find Angus, I'll watch her."
"Don't be letting her go now, Ma." Miles said before riding off, glancing once more at me.
"Please, do whatever you want with me. Just tell me Winnie's alright."
"Oh god," The woman said, looking like she was about to pass out. "I'm sorry dear, my name is Mae Tuck, and we're not going to hurt you, I swear. We're not kidnappers, I swear, we're just...it's complicated, alright."
"What are you then, criminals or something?"
"Angus will explain," Mae said. "What's your name, dear? And who is Winnie?"
"I'm Willow," I said slowly. "Willow Foster. Winnie is my cousin, she was with the other boy, a ways back."
"She's younger than you," Mae assumed.
"I feel responsible. Please don't let them hurt her."
"No one here means you harm, dear." Mae said, not making eye contact. She glanced at the lake, playing with her music box. "Miles, my eldest, he's just...rough around the edges."
There was a scream in the distance as Jesse emerged from the woods, Winnie being yanked along behind him.
"Winnie!" I yelled, hoping up from my place on the ground and going to embrace her. After a moment, I pulled her behind me, looking at Jesse and Mae.
"What do you want?" Winnie asked, her voice small and scared.
"We mean no harm." Mae exclaimed.
"Angus will know what to do." Jesse said.
"You know, you all keep saying that." I laughed, growing angry and hysterical.
"When can we go home?" Winnie said, tired of her adventure already.
"When Angus gets here." Jesse said.
"Maybe." Mae added, walking into the house. "Well, you might as well join me. Make yourselves at home, maybe help with some dinner, until Miles and Angus return."
I squeezed Winnie's hand, pulling her with me into the house. Jesse followed close behind, staring at Winnie.
Ew, he was actually into her? She was fifteen, just a child!
For the first time in many years, i actually surveyed my cousin. She had grown taller, that was for sure, and her hair was loose now, framing her face wonderfully. Her figure was coming in, and the corset sure did help. Maybe she wasn't a child anymore after all. She still acted like one, though, still clung to me like a chick clung to the hen.
'You're the only person that has ever shown me affection,' she told me one visit, when she was ten and I was twelve. I guess it was true, I had never seen her mother hug her, and couldn't imagine the cold Mrs. Foster showing any physical love towards the child. It wasn't that Winnie wasn't loved, because she very much was, it was just that the people around her didn't know how to show it.
Dinner was chicken and peas, things Mae Tuck had grown herself. She had even sent Winnie and Jesse out to pick the pea pods, taking the moment to talk to me.
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess, Dear, it's just that I never imagined this would really happen." Mae said, placing a hand on my arm, more to comfort herself than me.
"I'm sorry I was so rude. But it's behind us now." I smiled at her. "Your son is taking a liking to Winnie."
"I've noticed." She said, peeking out the door at them, Jesse was instructing her on which pods were ripe and which ones were not. "Miles seems to be extra kind around you as well."
"Mrs. Tuck,"
"Mae, please."
"Mae, I don't mean to be rude but Miles pulled me roughly onto a horse, pushed me on the ground, and practically kidnapped Winnie and me. In my book, that's not how you show affection."
"Traditionally, no." Mae smiled. "But Miles isn't exactly traditional, you see. He's been through a lot-I'll let him tell you that, if he wishes-and he's testing you."
"Testing me for what?"
"To see when you'll break." Mae put a hand on my shoulder again, this time in a motherly way. "So far, you're doing great."
Laughter was carried through the house as Jesse and Winnie reentered the house, their hands filled with pea pods.
"These look so good," I applauded them. Jesse was still looking at Winnie like she was the sun, and she was still oblivious.
At that moment, Angus Tuck came running through the door, Miles following behind him.
His eyes searched the room desperately, then landed on me. I blushed without meaning to, and focused my attention on Angus instead.
The room went quiet, then Winnie spoke up.
"Hello," She said in her little mouse voice.
"A Foster, I'll be damned."
"Angus," Mae said, suddenly nervous again. "This here is Winnie, and Willow."
"Sisters?" Angus asked.
"Cousins," I said quickly, looking him in the eye. I could tell he respected that.
"Well, welcome." Angus said.
"We have to tell them!" Jesse blurted out, causing everyone to look at him.
"And what good would that do us, huh? They'd just tell." Miles said angrily.
Yelling ensued, and I took Winnie's hand again.
"Stop it, all of you!" I said, looking only at Winnie as I spoke. She was frightened-hell, I was frightened.
"We have to tell her," Jesse said, quieter this time. "She drank, Winnie drank. I tried to stop her, but it was too late."