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A/n: FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER. I only found time to upload this now due to stupid school. Thank you all for the unconditional support, I love all of you. Thanks for the reviews, faves and follows. Hope you like this chapter. Things are going to get crazy, I promise you :D Please pray that my parents won't take the computer away from me. No one knows I'm doing a fanfiction story, so if the computer's gone there'll be no more chapters, which will be the end of me. But I hope for the best.
Enjoy!
Chapter 18
As the days passed, I slowly had other things to occupy my mind with other than Jack. Peggotty busied me with chores like mending the old silk armchair cushion covers and bedspreads or dusting out wardrobes and fireplaces. Daddy said the servants wouldn't arrive until the next week. I was shocked to hear that we would have them as we never employed any before. The cloth factory must've been a huge success if we could afford servants.
When Dad heard about what happened to me from Peggotty, he was astounded and kept checking my arms and legs for bruises, this job already done by Peggotty a few times the next morning I woke up. At first he was very alarmed when he heard the man could do magic, but then seemed to calm down. He also declared that he would like to award "this Jack boy" as he called him and that he would have the local authorities capture the men at once. Indeed he had set out to the sheriff's hours after he said this and came back looking positively delighted with himself.
'Tell me where this boy lives after we get the criminals rounded up and burned at the stake,' he told me that afternoon as he sat with some business papers in his hand. I almost poked myself with my needle. 'Burned?' I asked. He nodded. 'Burned to the death. Can't have no such dangerous things as magic here, can we?' He muttered something to himself and went back to the reports on his lap. I sat there looking at my stitches on the half finished embroidery of the pillowcase. Sticking the needle back in, I carried it with me up to my bedroom. I set it down on my side table and took Jack's scarf. Pressing it to my cheek I took a seat on the wide windowsill, looking out at the falling snow, and beyond at the large square and hundreds of smoking house chimneys. Daddy wouldn't let me out of the house until he made sure the men were dead, and Peggotty supported him on that. I was restless, and no amount of work or chores could keep my mind from wondering where Jack was and what he was doing. And whether he was thinking of me.
On Saturday, Dad came to tell me the criminals were caught and were to be burnt that afternoon. 'Do you want to come, sugar? You could tell your tale and introduce your hero. I bet he'll be famous,' he said, his moustache bristling. My stomach felt sick, and I was sure Jack would never be present at such an event. 'No thanks, dad. I'd rather not.' I feinted a sick smile and tried to look as pale as possible. He eyed me for a moment and shrugged. 'Of course, perhaps you wouldn't prefer that. Peggotty will be going with some friends of hers, and I mine. Oh look at the time,' he checked his pocket watch. 'Better be off. I'll keep the doors locked. Take care of yourself now.' He hurried out the hall and next moment I heard the large door slam.
I sighed in relief and sprinted upstairs to my room. Drawing my curtains so I couldn't see the square, I sat down on my bed and tried to carry on with my embroidery. I couldn't make any progress as I kept thinking back to the square, where hundreds of people would be gathered to see the burning of wizards they feared so much. I shivered and yelped as the needle poked my finger another time. I left my work on the bed so my bloody finger wouldn't stain it. As I stood up to go wash it, something tapped on my window.
I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. What was that? Could it be a bird, or even worse, the ghost of the dead man? I shook my head. It couldn't be 3pm yet, and that was when they started the burning. Another louder tap came. Cautiously I stepped towards the windows and flung the curtains open. Looking ahead, I saw nothing except the bright sun and snow on peoples' houses. Then something small came flying at the window and made the tapping noise.
I jumped. Looking down, I saw a grinning figure standing outside the gate, one hand holding a few pebbles. Jack! I unlocked the windows and flung them open. A small breeze flew in and I breathed it in, smiling at him. He looked like that night had never happened, all happy and calm. He was carrying a small rucksack. 'Hey,' he called. I grinned, surprised and trying to remember how to speak. His appearance was the last thing I expected. 'Why're you here?' I combed my messy hair hastily with my fingers, suddenly conscious of how untidy I must be. 'Can you unlock this thing? I want to take you somewhere.' He pointed behind his shoulder. I shook my head. 'Dad locked everything. But I think I can get down from here.' I looked out my window. There was ivy growing up the wall that Dad didn't want cut down because he said it looked nice. I called back to Jack. 'Wait here.' I pulled back the curtains and hurried to change into a prettier dress. Slipping on my fur boots and jacket, I ran a comb through my hair and tied it back in a ponytail. Then I saw Jack's scarf lying on the bed. Taking it up, I tied it around my neck and went to open the windows. I wanted to keep the scarf, but he would probably ask for it back anyway.
Jack was staring at me as I sat on the windowsill and took the nearest ivy vein. It felt strong when I pulled it and I lowered myself off the sill. Slowly I inched down the wall, like the rock climbers I had seen in drawings of science-fiction books. Finally I reached the ground. Walking towards the gate, I tentatively put my foot on one of the wooden bars on it and climbed up. I could sense Jack's eyes on my face as I advanced higher. A little chip of wood scraped my wounded finger and I bit my lip in pain. I reached the topmost bar and sat there, wondering what to do. Jack came closer until he was right under me. 'Jump. I'll catch you.' He held out his arms. I took a deep breath and let myself fall. One moment I was flying, then I landed in Jack's arms. I looked into those eyes that made me want to blush and run away. He smiled and lowered me to the ground before starting to chuckle.
'What?' I said, wanting to smooth down my dress and noticing Jack still had his arms around my waist. He noticed it too. Quickly pulling away, he coughed and crossed his arms. 'I didn't think I could get you out at all, since I was sure you'd be locked in.' He shook his head, still staring at me. I patted the creases in my skirt and looked back at him. 'Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I'm not up for a little game. I'm not like other girls, you know.' I didn't know why I was getting the impression that Jack thought me a baby. He raised his eyebrows. 'Yeah, I know that. Of course.' He looked behind my shoulder down the road and towards the square. The sounds of the faraway crowd could be heard, carried by the wind. I didn't want to be here when they started the burning. Sounds of agony were the last things I needed now.
'I have your scarf.' I handed it back to him. He looked at it for a while before taking it. 'Thank you.' He slid his sack off and stuffed the clothe into it. Catching sight of my red finger, he took it in his hand and examined it. 'Sewing problem?' he asked. I nodded. 'How do you know?' I said. 'Common among women. My mom's experienced with this,' he smirked. It was bleeding from the scrape just now. This was so embarrassing. 'There's a stream down from here. I'll take you to it.'
He smoothed his hair down gently, but it sprang back up again. He looked at me. 'Since you're out now, I can take you somewhere. Follow me.' He motioned to me with his hand and started up the road, opposite the way out to the city. I followed him, wondering what was in that rucksack of his. 'What have you been doing this whole time?' I asked him, walking faster to match his pace. His gait was springy and light, like he could fly up into the air anytime. 'Oh, nothing really. Just doing what I do everyday. Herding the sheep, mending fences, cutting firewood…that kind of stuff.'
I imagined him running along with the woolly herd, shouting commands with maybe a large German shepherd by his side, his brown hair catching the faint winter sunlight. I smiled. 'What's so funny?' he said, frowning at me. 'Nothing.' I covered up by undoing invisible knots in my ponytail. Jack twirled his staff in his hand. 'How long has that been around?' I pointed to it. 'Since forever, I guess.' Jack threw the staff up into the air and caught it in a swift movement. 'Had it since I could walk, which was pretty early. This has saved me from many a wild animal.' He caught the surprised look on my face. 'Don't worry. You're safe with me around,' he grinned.
I giggled. This wasn't me at all, I thought. Since when had I started giggling? As we walked, Jack told me more about his life. About his sister, Pippa, who would bring home little injured animals of all sorts and insist he helped her nurse them back to health, about how much he loved school lessons, especially reading lessons. 'It's the time when you can escape into somewhere that's not here,' he mused. 'Why would you want to do that?' I asked. I felt childish and stupid once the words slipped out. Jack had a fleeting look of pain on his face. 'Because reality can be a real pain.' He stabbed at some slush with the end of his staff as we rounded a corner. Instantly the row of houses stopped and the road curved away towards the direction of town. Jack stepped off the road and led me onto dry cracked grounds. December's cold was at its worst, and I pulled my coat around me tighter although there was no piercing wind.
After a few more steps, I heard the sound of rushing water and looked to my right. A little stream was running along, clear liquid splashing along merrily. We bent down and Jack took my finger. He bathed it in water until the blood came off and dried my finger with the hem of his shirt. It didn't bleed anymore. 'Thank you,' I said. He glanced at me before continuing on our way.
The way we were taking was slanting higher steadily. I looked behind me and could see rooftops sinking away below me. The sky loomed nearer as Jack and I trudged up what was a hill, way higher than the one where I first met Jack. A smooth breeze ruffled my hair. I looked up at Jack. Weak sunlight glinted off his brown hair, making it shine the colour of hazel. One hand was slipped into the pocket of his tattered pants, while the other was holding his staff. He climbed effortlessly, his footing sure and steady like he had every patch of this hill memorised. He was wearing that brown poncho of his again. I started to wonder whether he really didn't have any other clothes he could wear, if he was really that…poor. Jack turned around to check on me, and I was caught staring by his gaze. 'Just a little farther,' he grinned.
I was panting and actually sweating by the time we reached the top. Jack put down his rucksack at the foot of a huge tree looming before me. My mouth dropped open as my eyes grazed up the grizzled, wrinkled trunk up to the bare naked branches reaching in all directions. 'Its way prettier during springtime, but this is the place farthest from the square.' Jack looked down at the ground, kicking a stone at his feet. I could imagine it in my mind, beautiful green leaves and colourful flowers blooming overhead amongst the branches, sunlight streaming through the tight spaces between them. The ground would be covered with lush soft grass. But the whole place looked lonely and forlorn now in winter, a quiet kind of beautiful. 'Its beautiful now.' I smiled at Jack. He smiled back. 'This is my secret place, actually. I found it when I was exploring this part. No one ever comes here.' He pointed to the rucksack, which looked bulged and full when I saw it on the ground. 'I brought some food for us. Thought it would be a good time for a picnic. I finished my chores, and my sister and mother should be okay.' He nodded subconsciously, and I got the impression of a boy telling himself everything was fine since he had his work done.
'Do they know you're here, Jack?' I asked him, suppressing a grin. He pursed his lips and after a pause, 'No, they don't. They're home cause they don't want to see what's going on in the square. And I told them I was just going out to enjoy the quiet countryside.' I laughed. 'But you live in the countryside itself.' He mussed his hair, looking up at the sky. 'Well, I wanted to stretch my legs. And I wanted to know how you were doing.' Jack took off his poncho and sat down on the ground. He laid the poncho on the ground beside him and patted it. 'Come on. I forgot to bring the picnic cloth, but whatever.' I looked at the furry surface of the poncho and couldn't believe he wanted me to sit on his clothing. But I could sense him staring at me, so I walked over and, tentatively, sat down and smoothed my dress out.
Jack took the sack and opened it, starting to take out food. There were corn bread, apples, cheese, cider, and a meat I didn't recognize. 'Venison, or deer,' Jack explained when he saw me studying it. 'Shot it myself,' he added proudly. 'You shoot animals?' I asked him, picking up the plate and examining the meat. 'Of course. You catch your own food in my case. It's a skill.' He took an apple and bit into it noisily, handing another to me. I took the shiny red fruit and took a small bite, feeling the flavour and juice burst in my mouth. 'You could've told me we were on a picnic. I would have brought some eggs and pie.' Peggotty had just baked two minced meat pies yesterday, and they were still sitting somewhere in the pantry.
Jack waved his hand. 'No worries. I wanted to share this with you. It all comes from my farm.' His apple was nothing but a small core now. He spit out the seeds and threw the core away. I pursed my lips, but the core would decompose into soil anyway. 'Your farm?' I raised my eyebrow. Jack's face tensed up in a weird way, like he just swallowed a lemon whole. 'Well, its not mine, not technically anyway. My dad ran it, but then he…' he trailed off, and I could see his jaw tighten. I bit into my apple again so I had something to do. I was scared to look at him. As a matter of fact I had never heard him say anything about his dad since I met him. Jack looked like he was about to cry, then he exhaled heavily. 'Two years ago, my dad, he went on a sailing expedition. Said he wanted to see how India was like, and his friend happened to be an important conductor of the whole thing, so he was able to get on it.' Jack took a slice of bread, slapped a piece of venison onto it and handed it to me. 'Try it, I can have the apple.' I didn't really have an appetite for the fruit, and I wanted to know how deer tasted like, so we exchanged the food. Jack took a bite of apple and crunched, his eyes staring out towards the huge river, which looked distant from here, like out of a fairytale.
'Mother was shocked. She knew my father had always been adventurous and a little reckless, but this was beyond the limit. She tried to persuade him not to go, but he shook it off, saying he would go and come back to us as fast as possible. He went on about the opportunities he would miss. I knew he loved his family, but I couldn't help thinking he was a little selfish, leaving us like that. Anyway, he ignored our pleas and packed up. My parents quarrelled that last night, they had never done that before. I was so scared.'
'On the morning he was to leave, we walked with him to the port. I swear he was about to change his mind, I could see it in his eyes. But then he kissed us and told me to take care of mother and Pippa while he was gone, that he would bring souvenirs for us when he came back. I was going to protest, to tell him he couldn't just leave us here. But I didn't, and the captain of the ship came to hurry him on it.' Jack had finished the apple by now, and he threw the core down the hill with a bit too much force. 'So…what happened?' I asked tentatively, afraid of stepping on a landmine. 'That's the last I saw of him.' Jack said with a final air. He looked at my half-eaten sandwich. 'So, you like the deer? My mom cooked it.' I nodded as I crammed the rest of it into my mouth. The texture took some getting used to, but the flavour was delicious. 'I'm sorry.' He sighed. 'That was a bit rushed from me.'
Looking at the currently depressed Jack, I wanted to say I was sorry. But that didn't feel right. Maybe he'd heard it from other people so many times he was tired of it. So I moved a bit closer to him and sipped some apple cider. 'Tell me about yourself.' I jumped a little at his voice, almost choking. Glancing up, I saw that his face was smiling again. 'Uh, what do you want to know about?' I asked. 'I'm not that interesting, you know.'
Jack smirked. I got annoyed, just a little. 'Tell me why you came here.' He leaned back against the tree trunk and looked at me expectantly, waiting. I looked into the cider bottle, at the liquid swishing around inside it. Then my mouth opened and words started pouring out. I told him about my mom, my dad, his business that made us move around a lot, about Peggotty, about how I was an only child. I tried to choose what I said carefully, but somehow I found myself telling Jack more than I would have told any other stranger. This was weird, but I didn't feel weird around him at all. When I finished talking, we shared the block of goat's cheese he brought. It melted on my tongue first thing, smooth and creamy. I closed my eyes as I tasted it. 'I'm guessing you love this the most?' he grinned. I smiled shyly. 'It is really good, better than the cheese Peggotty buys.' Jack tied the cloth around the remaining bit of cheese and gave it to me. I gasped. 'You need this, Jack. Peggotty can buy cheese for me.'
'Just take it, (f/n).' He stuffed it into my palms. 'I have more at home.' I stared down at the little bundle in my hands. I took it up and inhaled the smell from it. 'Thank you Jack.' He was looking at me, like he was trying to figure something out. I glanced away and tried hard not to blush, especially under the gaze of someone as handsome as Jack Frost. I felt really shy, for the first time ever. I just wanted to disappear and watch Jack from afar. I couldn't take him staring at me like this.
He seemed to sense this. 'I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something.' He bit his lips and looked towards the square. 'Its not done yet.' 'You can tell?' I asked him. 'Yeah. We have a little more time.' He turned back to me. 'So, what's your favourite colour?' I laughed at the abrupt change of topic. '(f/c).' He nodded. 'So, are you going to go to school?' he looked at me hopefully. 'I don't know. I have to ask my dad. I'd like to learn some new things. It's been a while.' I thought about how school would be like here. 'Are there girls in your school?' I asked. Jack crossed his legs and closed his eyes. 'Yeah there are. There's only one public school here. There's like almost a thousand students there.' He frowned. 'There's a private school for the Privileged, that's like two blocks away from the public one. Your father may want to send you there.'
'I'll ask him, then.' I promised. Jack smiled. We did a lot of smiling, I noticed. 'Come to mine. I'll show you around.' A light breeze came up and ruffled our hair. 'I have to take you back now.' Jack started tidying things up. I helped him, then stood up and took his poncho I had been using. I dusted it off and handed it to him. 'Thanks,' I said. He took it and put it back on. 'Oh, Jack. I just remembered something.' I took up the bundle of cheese. 'Daddy said that he wanted to see you once this whole thing's over.' I motioned to the square. Jack's face darkened, his thick eyebrows frowning over his eyes. 'I didn't tell him to, he wanted it himself.' I added quickly. Jack sighed and swung the sack over his shoulder before picking up his staff. 'I'll be expecting him then.' Without another word, he came over and took my hand in his before starting down the hill.
I was stunned into silence the whole way back to my house. Jack had held my hand before, but that was when I was scared stiff at the prospect of walking through the tiny path inhabited by dangerous men. Now I could fully register the warmth of his hand, the skin rough from years of hard farm work, the lines deep and pronounced. His hand was large, mine felt like a doll's in his. I looked at the setting sun and breathed in deeply, hoping Daddy and Peggotty weren't home yet. I walked along beside Jack, suddenly feeling content with the world. I was full from all the food I ate, and it wasn't until we reached home when I realized I didn't know how to get back inside. Jack looked at me as we stared at it, his thumb lightly brushing the back of my hand, making the skin tingle.
'That's going to be hard,' he commented. We looked at each other and started laughing. Like crazy laughing. I laughed at how silly I was and at the fact Jack was literally struggling to stay upright, he was clutching his stomach as he guffawed. After a long time we managed to stop, with a few giggles now and then. 'Come on, I'll give you a lift up.' He stood back and bowed, and I curtsied for him. 'This is so ungentlemanly, (f/n). I am so sorry.' I grinned and waved my hand. 'It's no big deal. Thank you for today.' Tying the cheese bundle onto my small belt, I stepped gently onto the plane his hands made and he lifted me up until I reached the gate top. I climbed down on the other side and ran to the ivy vein. I climbed up as quickly as I could and stepped into my window. Turning around, I waved to Jack just as the neighbours came walking back along the side road. He grinned and ran off, his brown hair waving in the sunlight.
I untied the cheese and put it the drawer of my desk. Changing into fresh clothes, I sat down on my bed and picked up my book just as I heard the front door gate open and Daddy's booming voice talking to Peggotty. I wasn't going to tell them what I did, I thought. Sighing happily, I turned to my bookmarked page and stared at the words. I was supposed to be reading how Gulliver landed on Little Man's Island, but my mind was far away, thinking about someone else.