AAAAND I'm back :D! Unfortunately only with one TLO chappie, buut I have actually written TWO chapters for EOTP :P! I'll throw them out in a jiffy ;P
*** Chapter Twenty : Lottie ***
Lottie was lying down on her side on the cot bed in the Baxters bedroom. Bentley hadn't dared to take the bullet in her side out, and she felt how it gnarled against her innards. And it hurt, it hurt so much! She knew she didn't have much time left, but he wouldn't give up. He was dead-set on her to survive! And his determination only made her sadder, as it was all in vain...
Her wounds hadn't given her a wink of sleep and if she hadn't convinced Bentley that she had suddenly felt much better, he would probably have been up all night too. When he eventually peeked his head into the room, she became aware that it was morning already and was instantly filled with dread. It was a miracle that she had lived through the night, but she knew her clock was ticking faster now. She didn't have much time left.
"Good m-morning, Bentley..." She managed to weakly stutter out and tried to smile, but it came out painful and askew.
He frowned worriedly and carefully closed the door behind him before he sat down on the chair next to the bed. "H-how are you feelin'...?" He asked carefully, as if he was afraid of the answer. She didn't answer him, she just closed her mouth and averted her eyes. "You're gonna be alright, y'hear?" He said and tried to sound as reassuring as he could, even if she could hear that he was close to panicking. "We're gonna leave in a moment, you, me and the kids. We're gonna go to the closest town, get'cha to a doctor and-...!"
He was interrupted when she carefully put her hand over his, and to his horror, she slowly shook her head. "No... No, we won't..."
"L-Lottie?"
"I've had this coming for a long time now, Bentley..." She said lowly and closed her eyes as the painful memories reminded her of her past. "I've done so many horrible things... I'm surprised this didn't come sooner..."
Bentley stared at her in disbelief. "Wh-what're ya sayin'? B-bad things? You?!" He shook his head and grabbed her hand. "You CAN'T do any bad things, Lottie! I know you! You're the kindest, gentlest person I've ever met!"
She shook her head again as a few tears escaped the corners of her eyes. "Y-you don't know me or what I have done..." It was excruciating to speak, but she felt that she had to tell him. She owed it to him. "Wh-when I was born, I was instantly blessed with a gift; the ability to see the auras of other people..."
Bentley blinked in confusion. "A-auras? Wh-what's auras?"
She chuckled weakly. "An aura is the life energy that surrounds all living beings like a shield. By reading the shape, size and color, I can learn almost everything there is to know about that person, his or her feelings, joys and fears..."
"And lies..." Bentley added lowly and she nodded.
"Yes... And lies..." She closed her eyes for a second, but then she looked back up at Bentley and continued: "And when my master found out about my gift, h-he used it to his advantage... To use it against the other slaves... If there was someone who, desperate by hunger, had stolen a piece of bread, or by accident broke something and didn't tell, h-he would use me t-to find the g-guilty one... A-and punish him o-or her..." She felt a lump grow in her chest, and that added to the massive pain she constantly felt made it even harder to talk. "A-and the punishment was always the same: to b-become a v-victim of his... E-experiments..." She shuddered by the thought and couldn't help but to let out a weak sob. "My master was a scientist, a wicked one of that. He would conduct cruel experiments on the poor slaves, save for me and my family... A-and I helped him..."
Bentley felt her little pawlike hand squeeze his, and he carefully squeezed it back. "L-Lottie..." He started to carefully say, but he really didn't know what to say.
"Because of my gift, h-he made me his assistant... A-and the things w-we did to the p-poor slaves..." She gasped suddenly and took another pause when a sharp, sudden jolt of pain flared out from the bullet in her side. "A-all the pain I saw in the others auras, i-it was too much! Every night, I would go to bed with the victims screams in my head. And to the other slaves, I was viewed as a monster...My gift became a curse..." But suddenly, through the haze of pain and the memories, she managed to pull of a weak smile. "So when they found out that their farm were heading to bankruptcy and had to sell me and my sisters, I was so glad... Because I would finally be free from the life of an assistant to the devil... And I swore, that no matter where I ended up, I'd never to harm another living creature in my new life... But last night, I broke that promise... A-and I killed three men..." Her smile disappeared and another tear ran down her cheek and onto the pillow.
"But they deserved it, Lottie! They killed the innocent Baxters, and they were gonna torture me! And that would probably not be their first time they did somethin' like that either!" He bent down and placed a hand on her cheek. "If it's worth anythin', I'm grateful to you. I couldn't kill that Con b'cause I was too weak, but you could! You saved my life, Lottie!"
"D-don't say that!" She suddenly raised her voice, and winced as another jolt of pain shot through her body. "P-please, d-don't say that..." She stuttered again when the pain had faded slightly. "I was wrong to kill them, and now I'm getting my punishment... But I'm proud of you that you didn't shoot him. You didn't refuse to kill him because you're weak, you did it because you're a good person who knows it's wrong to kill. You did it because you're strong... Stronger than you look..." She smiled faintly and placed her hand on his cheek as well. "I know that, because that was the first thing I read about you, that very first time we met"
Bentley looked at her with a puzzled tilt of his head. "Read? I-in my aura?"
"Yes..." She nodded and managed to keep smiling. "I really like your aura. Though it's a bit askew, and tattered around the edges... And you have streaks of darkness around you... But I think it's because you've been through some really bad things, and it has hurt you... But despite that, it's still glowing pretty bright... A-and your color is beautiful..." She averted her eyes. "I bet if I could see my own aura, I'd be ashamed... O-over how bad person I am..."
"No! You're NOT a bad person, Lottie!" Bentley hurried to object. "It was yer master who was evil, not you! Ya didn't want to hurt anyone, would you?!" She shook her head. "And I actually wanna hurt those catchers for what they did, but couldn't! While you didn't want to, but did anyway to save me! That proves to me that you're one of the best persons out there! I wish I could see what yer aura looks like, so I could tell you that there ain't nothin' bad 'bout it!"
Lottie slowly looked up at him with a sad smile. "You're too kind for your own good, Bentley..."
"Yeah, and I don't give a flyin' shit 'bout it! Look here, ya saved me, Lottie! And I swear I'll help you! I ain't gonna let'cha die, y'hear?"
All this talking had made the pain in her side burn worse by the second, and for a moment she thought she was going to pass out. She felt the bullet wound open up again, and the bandages Bentley had tried to wrap around her got soaked in blood. Her time was up, she could feel it...
"Bentley... There's something I..." She started, but interrupted herself. She was about to tell him what she felt about him, that she loved him. But what would the point be? She had always been able to tell that he'd never feel the same about her, and if she told him that now, he'd only feel worse about himself when she was gone.
"Lottie, if there's ANYTHIN' I can do for you, just say it! Lemme know, okay?"
With the last of her powers, she ran her fingertips along his arm and took a deep breath to have the strength to speak. "M-may I have a glass of water, please?"
He was quiet and hesitated, before he nodded to her and got up. "I'll be right back..." He said and left, but not without giving her a concerned look and a careful pat on her shoulder. "I know you'll be fine, please just hang in there, okay?"
She didn't answer him, so he hesitated before finally leaving to fetch her a glass of water. Just as he was about to walk up the stairs to the ground floor, the door to the childrens room opened with a low creak and Ida poked her head out.
"M-mister Bentley?" She asked and rubbed one of her eyes.
"G'mornin', Ida" Bentley replied lowly with a nod. "Slept well?"
Ida looked down at the floorboards and shook her head. "No... I dreamed about mom and dad..." He averted his eyes and didn't answer, just as Felix appeared behind his sister. He looked tired.
"H-how's Lottie?" He asked in concern. He had been there when Bentley returned with the injured Lottie, and had offered his help but both Bentley and Lottie convinced him that they would be fine, and that it would be better if he went back to sleep.
Bentley hesitated before he nodded. "She'll be fine. She's a bit weak at the moment, but she'll be fine..." He turned around and walked up to the stairs, adding a low "She has to be..." under his breath.
He climbed the stairs to the above floor, shortly followed by the kids. He started heating up some water in a kettle for tea before he returned downstairs with a glass of water for Lottie. She wasn't moving as he entered the room, but that was probably just because she was so weak. At least that's what he told himself.
"I-I've got some water here, Lottie..." He said and slowly walked towards the bed. "I'm makin' tea as well, or well, I'm tryin' to..." He chuckled lowly and slowly came to a stop. She still wasn't moving. "L-Lottie?" She wasn't breathing either.
He dropped the glass of water before bolting towards the bed. The glass hit the hard floor with a loud crash, shattered into thousands of hard pieces and the water splashed everywhere. But he didn't care as he swooped down by the bed and carefully scooped her up in his arms.
"L-Lottie!? Lottie!?" He called out in panic. She wasn't breathing or moving, and he couldn't find a pulse either. "No... No!" He sobbed and hugged her lifeless body tighter. "No! Oh please, no! Lottie, no! N-not you... Not you too!"
Upstairs in the kitchen, Ida and Felix could hear him, and tears welled up in their already red and puffy eyes. "M-miss Lottie..." Felix said lowly, and that was enough for Ida to burst out crying and run over to her big brother, burying her little face in his sleeve.
"I-I wan't m-my mommy back!" She sobbed and hugged his arm tight. "A-and d-daddy! And M-Miss Lottie!"
Felix didn't say anything as he struggled to keep a strong face for his sister sake. He put one of his arms around her shoulder and nodded for the door. "C-c'mon, Ida... Let's go see them... Y'know, to say good morning..." He said, referring to the graves.
Ida looked down at her feet before looking up at him and nodded silently. And as the two kids put on their clothes to go outside, Bentley was still downstairs. Begging desperately for Lottie to come back, but to no use. She was gone. He was sitting on the bed with her in his arms, silently crying with his forehead leaning against hers.
"P-please don't go..." He sobbed and clenched his eyes shut. "Just don't go! I-I can't lose you too! E-everyone I love just...Th-they j-just... Why...?" He looked up just as a gunshot echoed through his mind, THE gunshot. "Why do they all keep dyin'? Wh-why can't I keep anyone?!" He once again pressed Lotties lifeless body against him and shivered. "Why do I keep killin' ev'ryone? Wh-why is it always my fault?" He hung his head and clenched his eyes shut again as the tears burned behind his eyelids. "I-I'm sorry, Lottie... Th-this is all m-my fault! You... A-and the Baxters... They wanted ME, not you, ME! I-I'm so sorry! Ev'rythin' was b'cause of me... MY fault! It's ALL my fault!"
…
The three roadrunners the Catchers had rode were standing lined up outside the Baxters dam house. It had only been a day since Bentley had to bury Lottie next to the Baxters, but he thought it would be the best for him and the kids to leave as quickly as possible, in case there were more people like Con around.
When Bentley had asked the kids if they knew any relatives, they had told him about their aunt Fran who lived somewhere in Fort Sanchez, Arizona. It was a long way there from Mississippi, a VERY long way, but since Fran was their closest living relative, he figured it would be best to take them to her. It would be a LOT better than leaving them alone here at least! And since it had been the Catchers who killed their family, Bentley only saw it fair that they were to take their roadrunners on their journey.
It was hard, even for Bentley, to say goodbye to the dam, and Ida almost began crying again just THINKING about leaving their home behind! But eventually, they left. The kids, who never had rode a roadrunner before in their entire life, was sharing one of the big birds, while the last roadrunner was carrying their provisions and equipments. The one Bentley was riding, was a bit taller than the other two, dark brown with an oversized plume on his head and had one hell of a temper! He wasn't exactly experienced with these birds either, but he got the hang of it eventually, to his roadrunners great annoyance...
Following a map Felix found in his parents room, they set their course for Fort Sanchez, hoping it wouldn't take too many months to get there. And tried to leave the last days' events behind them, even if it would be hard. Very hard...
…
"IMBECILES!" Gabriel Aventine shouted and slammed his fist on the desk, sending papers, pens and a small bottle of ink jumping into the air. His two ex-overseers, Lasher and Wilkes, stood in front of the desk and fumbled nervously with their hands.
Two months had passed since they sent Crazy-Con and his two men to find and eliminate Bentley, but so far they hadn't heard anything. Not until today, that is; earlier that day Lasher and Wilkes had overheard a couple of men talking in the saloon and they had said that Crazy-Con the infamous Catcher had been found along with his men; murdered. Lasher and Wilkes had hesitated before they returned to the Aventine Farm to bring the news for their old boss. They knew he wouldn't handle it especially well...
"How damn hard can it be to find the goddamn hyena, cut his throat and then return here with his head, WITHOUT gettin' yourself killed the first thing ya do?!" He angrily began to pace back and forth along the desk, while Lasher and Wilkes exchanged nervous glances. "How could anyone FAIL in killin' BENTLEY!? HOW?! That bloody mutt ain't got the brains god gave a bag of potatoes!"
"Maybe..." Wilkes began so say. Mr Aventine got to a direct halt and glared daggers at the weasel, who gulped before he continued: "M-maybe we underestimated him, sir?"
Mr Aventine responded with a low snarl. "Underestimated him, Wilkes?" He tilted his head mockingly to the side. "Underestimated? HE AIN'T NOTHIN' MORE THAN A SIMPLE HYENA, Wilkes!"
Wilkes flinched and was about to open his mouth when they all heard a low rumble coming closer from the road. It sounded like a whole herd of roadrunners were going to pass through!
"What now!?" Mr Aventine growled and walked over to window, and moved the curtain just as a cavalry of soldiers passed on the road, and when he saw the dark blue color on their uniforms, the old plantation owners heart skipped a beat. "Yankees!" He hissed and quickly closed the curtains again. Lately, he had heard about yankees riding around to various plantations all around the south and together with the old slaves burned them down to the ground. And in some cases; even hanged the owners.
With a last look through his window, he saw the last roadrunner take a left turn into the slaves living quarters, along with everyone else. He and his wife had to escape somehow, and fast! But as he was working up a plan for him and Grace to get out unnoticed, Lasher had noticed something familiar with the one who rode in front of the cavalry: the Captain. So he walked up to the window next to Mr Aventine and slightly pulled the curtains aside and managed to spot the Captain as he dismounted his roadrunner. Or she...
"Uh, Mr Aventine? I think you'd wanna see this..."
…
Ellie was sitting down on a newly built bench by Granny Amas Cottage, keeping an eye on Bastian. She and Bastian had spent most part of their day washing everyones clothes, even the Aventines, but was now taking a well earned break. Ellie leaned backwards and enjoyed the suns rays while at the same time keeping an eye on her son. He knew it was forbidden to climb up on the well, but one could never be sure with kids in Bastians age: they seemed to do everything they weren't supposed to JUST because it wasn't allowed!
Bastian was a peculiar kid, Ellie had to admit; he didn't want to play with the few other children on the farm, he preferred to play on his own with little figures and critters made from cones and sticks that he and Bentley once had made. And every day, Bastian would ask either his mother or father about his uncle Bentley: 'When does uncle Bentley come home?', ' Will uncle Bentley come home again?'. But to his disappointment, they always answered the same thing: 'We don't know, honey'. But that disappointment they could live with, it would be worse if they told him the truth that probably neither Bentley nor Lottie ever would be back. They had left with only one thing in mind: to get home. Even Finn had been talking non-stop about going back to Africa for weeks! But Ellie herself didn't really care: she had her two boys and that was home to her! Even if she would miss everyone so much if they left, hell she already missed Bentley and Lottie so much she thought of going after them!
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the rumblings of many roadrunners feet as they approached. Curious, Ellie got up from the bench and looked around for Bastian. Her son had heard the roadrunners too, and was sitting on the ground with a quadrupedal cone-animal in his hands and worriedly looked around.
"Bastian, come here" Ellie said softly and motioned for him to take her hand. He slowly got up and clung to his mothers skirt like a leech. A scared leech.
She and a couple of others joined as they saw a cavalry of about 20 yankees ride into their living quarters and come to a halt almost everyone at once. The one in front, the Captain judging by his different uniform, had his head bent down so the brim of his hat concealed his face, but they could see the mountain lions red hair sticking out from underneath it. Ellie frowned when she noticed it; there was something oddly familiar about that hair...
The Captain seemed to be scanning the crowd of old slaves before dismounting his roadrunner. And now when Ellie saw the Captain moving about, she noticed that he moved very swiftly and gracefully in comparison with his men, who also dismounted as if on a given cue. His movements reminded her more of a womans.
"It's been a while, guys..." The Captain finally spoke, and his voice was without a doubt a womans, even if it sounded a bit hoarse. Ellie stiffened in shock, and she could tell she wasn't the only one to recognize that voice.
"Th-that can't be...?" She didn't notice when Toby had moved to stand beside his wife, so when he spoke, she instantly jumped to the side. Ellie looked from him to the Captain, not sure what to believe.
"What's the matter with y'all?" The Captain said again, and slowly took her hat off her head, letting the long, red hair fall over her shoulders. The sea green eyes watched the crowd gasp in unison, and a couple of them instinctively averted their eyes to not look at her, and the scar on her left eye gave her a grim look on her face, despite the amused smirk. "Y'all look like you've seen a ghost!"
"M-M-Miss A-Aventine!" Toby stuttered and looked ready to freak out any second.
"Cornelia!" Ellie exclaimed once she snapped out of the shock, and without thinking she rushed towards the redhead mountain lion, seemingly back from the dead, and threw her arms around her in a hug.
Cornelia stiffened by the sudden hug, and Ellie remembered something in the back of her head that Corny never really had been much for hugs. And when she heard the soldiers draw their rifles, she tried to let go of the Captain, but found herself unable to move, since Corny also had thrown her arms around Ellie and returned the hug. The slightly shorter mountain lion was silently hugging the hyena while her soldiers, who also seemed to be surprised by their Captains action, quietly stood with their bayonets ready, prepared to rush to their Captains aid if necessary.
Cornelia was the first one to pull away from the hug and took a few steps back, and tried to hide that she wiped a few tears away from her eyes by swatting after an invisible mosquito with her gloved hands. "I've missed y'all, especially you hyenas!" She laughed after a while and grinned even wider when Toby and Bastian sided up with their spouse and mother. "And I heard that you two got married! Congratulations!"
Toby mumbled a shy 'thanks' and kept looking with a frightened look in his eyes at the armed soldiers, while Ellie blinked in confusion before remembering the letter Bentley wrote and sent to her. That meant she got the letter after all! Great!
"B-but..." Ellie still said with a look of disbelief on her face. "We heard... W-we heard the school burned, a-an' ya died!" Cornelia hurried to avert her eyes when the school was brought up. "Wh-when we heard, we were devastated! All of us! Especially Bentley!" But when Bentleys name was mentioned, she looked back up at the hyena.
"Where's he?" She hurried to ask. "I-I'm here to see him, where's good ol' Buster?! And Lucy? And Finn?! And that old voodoo-lady?!"
"Granny Ama... G-Granny died a couple of years ago... But Lucy an' Finn are here! They said that would be gone all day to the town to buy more fabric for the curtains Lucy are sewin' for their home. And Bentley...! H-he..." Ellie averted her eyes, and for a moment locked eyecontact with her son, who was trying to hide behind his fathers legs while his parents talked to the scary strangers. "H-he ain't here anymore... He left shortly after we received the news..." Ellie replied lowly and looked back up at Cornelia. "I'm sorry, Cornelia. I wish I knew where he was headin' so I could tell ya, but all he said was that he was gonna get home to the jungles again... That was all we heard from either him or Lottie..."
"Lottie?" Cornelia frowned slightly and cocked her head to the side, slightly suspicious. "Who's Lottie?"
"A-a friend wh-who f-followed him" Toby said with a shaky voice. "Sh-she might have had a th-thing f-or him though... Oh, s-sorry..." Cornelia let out a low growl and looked down at the ground. Ellie rolled her eyes at Toby before putting a hand on Cornelias shoulder, making the mountain lion look back up at her.
"I'm sorry we can't help ya to find him..." Suddenly, Ellie felt her throat tighten up and bit down on her lip to get it to stop shaking. "I-I think ya should know though: e-ev'ryone in the house blamed Bentley for what happened to ya... They said it was his fault, an' he b'lieved it... I think that might have been why he left to soon, b-b'cause this place would only make him feel more an' more guilty..."
Cornelias neutral look on her face changed; her eyes thinned into slits and she slightly bared her fangs in a snarl. "They did what?" She growled lowly, the tip of her tail whipped angrily and the soldiers exchanged nervous glances. They knew all too well what could happen when their Captain got mad...
Ellie nodded slightly. But before anyone else got to open their mouths, a stifled scream was heard from the road, and everyone turned around and found the rest of the Aventine family by the road. Grace was staring wide-eyed at her daughter with her hands clamped over her mouth, shaking like a leaf.
"C-CORNELIA!" Grace was the first one to break out of the shock-like trance her and the men had been in, and she instantly picked her dress up to happily run towards her daughter. Her long missed daughter.
"STOP HER!" Cornelia instantly barked out a command for the soldiers, who followed them without even blinking. Ten of the twenty soldiers formed a wall between Grace and her daughter, and the surprised mother was forced to stop to not get skewered on the razor sharp bayonets on the soldiers rifles.
"C-Cornelia...?" Grace sobbed and stared at her daughter. She was shortly joined by her husband and his brother.
"What's the meanin' of this, Cornelia Aventine?!" Gabriel growled lowly, slightly angered that his daughter wouldn't let them get close.
"You were right, Cap'n Fortune..." A big, burly gray wolf among the soldiers said with a smirk. "I'd hate yer family too within less than a minute!"
Ellies eyes widened at Cornelia. "F-Fortune?"
"Yeah, you owe me fifty bucks, Jenkins!" Cornelia ignored the hyena and glared at the people who once were her family, her eyes almost glowing with pure hatred. "Call me that one more time, Gabriel Aventine, and I'll have Corporal Jenkins cut your tongue out and throw it to the fishes!" She hissed, and had in the blink of an eye almost completely changed her posture to a more serious and formal stance; her hands held behind her straightened back, her head held high and feet apart; like a leader speaking. "My name isn't Aventine anymore, it's Fortune. And it's CAPTAIN Fortune for you three!" Her voice was seeping with authority as she spoke to the shocked Aventines, and Ellie could hardly recognize her as the once so snobby Aventine brat anymore. "I'm here to have a word with my friends, nothing more, nothing less, and to offer them a job. If you find yourself unable to evacuate from the area withing thirty seconds, I'll have my men to escort you back to your residence, capische?"
"You're running us away from our own property, Captain?" The last word, Gabriel Aventine spat out as if it gave him a bad taste in his mouth. Which it probably did too.
"You bet your ass I do, Mr Aventine..." Cornelias eyes darkened as she walked towards her old parents and stopped right in front of her father, having an angry staredown with him. "I know all about this farm and it's owners habits of escaping the taxes, and that you for years have been made yourself guilty of crimes such as illegal slave import and forgery, and I only have to snap my fingers to get my boys to hang you right here on the spot! But, I won't do that, even if y'all deserve it! Especially since I just heard you blamed Bentley for... Well, my death!"
Grace looked at Gabriel, almost as if he was begging him to do something. But what could he do? There was a US Marshal standing there, what else could he do but to obey the orders given to him by his own daughter? Instead he just silently stared at his daughter with a grim look on his face.
"Your thirty seconds are up, Mr Aventine" Cornelia said when their time was up, and watched silently as ten of her men broke free from the wall and began to push the family in front of them to force them back to the residence. Ignoring the mixed looks she got from both the slaves and her old family, she turned to Ellie. "Ellie, what does you and your family earn by working here?"
Ellie flinched. "What we earn...? Oh! Umm..." She scratched the back of her head. "W-we don't really know, y'know... We don't know how to count, but I think it's at least a couple of dollars a day!"
Cornelia slowly shook her head and sighed. "Just as I thought..." She mumbled before looking back up at Ellie with a friendly grin. "What would you say if I offered you and your family a steady work a much higher salary, PLUS the possibility to learn how to read and count?" She looked down at the cub, who still were shyly hiding behind his father. "And mini-Toby over there could go to a real school"
Ellie knew her mouth was wide ajar, but she couldn't help but to gawk in shock at the offer. "R-really? W-what is it that you're-...?"
"Well, I'm thinking of an early retirement" The Captain answered with a shrug before Ellie could finish her sentence. "I've purchased a small tavern somewhere in a town in the middle of California, and I'm going to need bartenders, waitresses, you name it! And well, whaddya say; wanna leave this dump and help me out?" She cocked a questioning eyebrow at both Ellie and Toby, who still couldn't believe their ears. "Think Finn and Lucy would wanna come too?"
"I'll tell them as soon as they get back!" Toby answered without skipping a beat.
Cornelia chuckled. "I'm guessing you're all saying yes, then?"
Ellie and Toby nodded mutely in unison. "At least Toby, Bastian an' I will! Umm, may I just ask one more thing?" She asked carefully, and Cornelia nodded.
"Shoot!"
"Well, umm... H-how come you're a Captain? I-I mean, what really happened to ya when we all thought ya...?"
Cornelia grimaced at the question. "I'd rather not talk about it... But if you're asking me nicely one day, I just might tell you the whole story!" She smiled smugly and put her hat back on her head. "Well, we'll leave tomorrow! Now, you don't happen to know how to make that carrot-and-potato-soup Granny made all the time?! I'm starving! We all are, aren't we, boys?!" She turned to the soldiers behind her, and they all responded with a simultaneous and roaring: "Yes, ma'am!"
Ellie smiled and exchanged a glance with Toby. He looked nervous, yet happy, while her biggest concern was if she could find a cauldron big enough to make enough soup for more than twenty men!
Meanwhile in the residence, Grace was almost hyperventilating while her husband paced back and forth. Their daughter had turned out to still be alive, but to what use? She had changed her name, become an officer is the US Army, and was now a possible threat, considering all the secrets she knew about this plantation! She hadn't even allowed them to get close to her, but instantly ordered her men to form a wall between her and them! She had clearly tried her best to make everything as obvious as possible: she hated them, and she didn't want anything to do with them anymore!
"Oh, Cornelia..." Grace sobbed and tried to calm down. "My little Cornelia!"
"She ain't little no more, Grace!" Matt spat out at his brothers wife. "Didn't ya hear her?! She's a Captain now! Captain Fortune!"
Usually, Gabriel would never allow his brother to speak like that to Grace, no matter how angry he was, but right now he didn't care. If his daughter wanted a war with him, he would make sure that he'd give her something to fight with.
"Matt, is there any way to contact the other survivors of Mrs Cohens School?" Gabriel asked his brother, who looked at him, now confused, and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, it shouldn't be impossible... Why?"
"Didn't you see the scars?" Gabriel pointed to his own neck. "The ones on her neck, tail and wrists?" The other two Aventines slowly shook their heads. Go figures, but she had actually managed to conceal them very well with gloves and that long coat with high neck. "They looked like old burns. And I think I might have a clue on how that fire started, but I need to talk with someone who was on that school as the same time as her..."
"You're NOT gonna accuse our daughter of arson, are you?!" Grace exclaimed, but only got a nod from her husband.
"That's EXACTLY what I'm gonna do, Grace! She said so herself: she's not an Aventine anymore. And nobody messes with an Aventine and gets away with it!"
Matt crossed his arms and muttered to himself: "Except for a pair of mangy hyenas..."
Soo, I didn't really intend for that last part with the Aventine Farm, but I felt that this chapter would end up way too short if I didn't add something more, and I figured that y'all might be curious what happened on the farm after Bentley and Lottie left, soo I decided to give y'all a little short wrap-up of the Aventine Farm as well ;P
And yes; Corny lives! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!
