And I'm back :)
Next day
Wendy sneaked down the steps.
"Where are you going, my little one."
She froze.
Her grandmother was smiling at her from the rocking chair.
Wendy straightened her back but didn't answer.
The baby coed in the old woman's arms.
Wendy stared at the little one with interest.
Her grandmother beckoned her closer. "Would you like to hold him?"
Wendy nodded and stepped closer, she caressed the little boy's cheek.
"He's a sweet baby, is he not?" The grandmother said and she slowly and carefully passed the baby to the 11-year-old girl. "Support his head." She reminded.
Wendy nodded and looked at the small thing in her arms.
She had held Eva when she was little too, but Eva had been wiggly and cried a lot, while the little boy just looked up at her and made faces.
"Why is he not with mother and father?" She asked her grandmother.
The old woman caressed her cheek. "You have to keep an eye on newborn babies, dear."
"Why?"
The old woman leaned back in the chair. "There is a people who live in the forest called the elven folk, sometimes they come in the night to swap our babies for their own."
Wendy looked curiously down at the baby.
Was that why he didn't cry?
Her grandmother laughed at her expression. "You don't need to worry, my dear. I kept watch all night. No one has even come through the door."
"Then why is he quiet?" She asked.
"Oh, he wasn't quiet all the time … but sometimes babies are just calm."
The door to the kitchen went up revealing Wendy's mother.
"Oh Wendy, you are already up." Her mother smiled.
She stepped toward them, and her smile only got wider, when she saw Wendy holding the baby.
She put a hand on the girl's head. "You are such a good sister."
Wendy smiled down at the little boy.
"What would I ever do without you." Her mother said.
"Here, sit down." The grandmother said and got up from the rocking chair with a bit of difficulty.
"Oh, you don't need to..."
"Nonsense," the old woman said and held the rocking chair still for the new mother. "You need to take care of yourself right now, so you can take care of the baby."
The younger woman sat down reluctantly in the rocking chair.
Wendy looked confused from the baby to her mother. Knowing she was supposed to pass the baby to her mother, but she wasn't quite sure how to do it.
"Come closer," her mother said gently.
Wendy stepped closer, so she was almost standing on her mother's feet. Her mother carefully reached out and took the baby.
She smiled at the baby as she rocked it.
"We should get ready for breakfast. I didn't expect so many guests yesterday, but we still need to serve them breakfast." She said.
"I'll go get the eggs," Wendy said and ran to the door.
Despite it being early in the morning the wind was warm, and she could walk to the henhouse without her shawl.
She stepped inside and collected the eggs as the hens cackled at her for waking them up.
On her way back, she went around the other side to go in the kitchen door.
She looked towards the bows hanging on the side of the house.
She could probably get some free time after the breakfast had been cleaned up.
Her mother opened the door with the baby in one arm, before Wendy could.
"You should be wearing your shawl." She said.
"It's warm out," Wendy said and walked into the kitchen door and placed the basket on the table.
"Use the small pot, will you boil some eggs for us." Her mother requested.
Wendy did as she was asked.
"Do we still have bread?" She asked as she placed the pot on the stone hook.
"Yes, there should be a loaf in the cupboard … the guests should be understanding since I just gave birth." Her mother explained. "Though we should leave the bread for them."
Wendy nodded and stared at the pot, while she counted in her head.
As she got the pot off the hook and put it on the stone floor, the door to her parents' bedroom went up.
Her father stepped out wearing his hunting clothes.
"You are hunting today?" Her mother asked.
"Of course, I have a growing family to feed." He smiled and kissed his wife on her forehead.
She smiled. "But … we could go a few days without meat, we could even buy an animal or the like from one of the farmers."
"The summer might just have started, but we need to start filling up the pantry, so it's ready for winter, and we need the money for horse feed and clothes and shoes for the children." He eyed Wendy, as she scooped the eggs out of the pot and put them on her apron. "And you know how quickly they grow out of their clothes."
His wife giggled.
Then he turned to Wendy. "where are the rest of my children?" He asked.
"Sleeping," Wendy said, as she put the eggs down on a towel. "I will wake them now."
"No," her father stopped her before she was out of the kitchen. "Go get some water and put the kettle on. I will go wake them up."
Wendy nodded and turned around to head towards the well outside.
When Wendy came back in, David and Edward carried some plates out into the hall and her mother was feeding the baby.
Then Eva came into the kitchen, her skirt dangled around her.
Wendy smiled and tied her skirt on right and adjusted her apron, so it sat right.
"Get out and eat your breakfast and get yourselves cleaned up before the guests wake up." Their mother instructed.
The girls nodded, and Wendy poured some of the water into some mugs and took them out to the hall, and sat down with the rest for breakfast.
"No bread?" Edward asked.
"There's not a lot of it," Wendy said.
Edward huffed but just ate his egg.
After they and their father had eaten their eggs, they left their plates and mugs in the kitchen, before heading to the bathhouse.
When they were finally inside again, the first guest was ready for breakfast.
Edward went to the stables to ready the horses, and David went out to get water from the well and prepare the bathhouse.
It was lucky, there had been so many eggs that morning. The guests had collectively eaten all the eggs and the last of the bread and drank all the tea Wendy had made.
Wendy huffed in relief, as the last guest left for the bathhouse.
"They should all be ready to leave soon." Their mother remarked.
"Yes," their father agreed. "I should head out now before the sun gets any higher."
"Come back safely." His wife called after him, as he headed out the door towards the stable.
Wendy started doing the dishes. Mostly so she would have had the best view of watching her father riding into the forest.
After a while, her father pulled a horse around the outside of the kitchen and pulled his bow and quiver off the wall, and saddled up.
Wendy watched with almost glowing eyes, as he kicked the horse into a gallop towards the forest.
Temper was the fastest of the family's three horses.
Wendy had always liked him, but her father had never allowed her to ride it, because of the horse's … bad temper.
Wendy smiled at a memory.
Two years ago her father had brought home Temper from the market. The horse was young and fit but had had a bad temper from the start. Wendy had just been 9 years old and was looking after Edward and David when their father had pulled the horse into the stable.
He had asked Wendy to get water and feed for the horse.
As she fetched water from the well, her two little brothers tottled after her. But when she gave the horse water, it pushed at her and made her stumble. Edgar and David had laughed at her. Embarrassed she had looked at the horse and said: "Temper! Temper!" Like she did, when her brothers didn't behave.
Her father had seen it and thought that was a great name for a bad-tempered horse. The oddest thing was though the horse seemed to like it too and responded to it, like the old dog at the butcher did to its name.
It responded to Wendy the best at first. It would buck and kick at her father but just push at Wendy with its head. Eventually, it calm down a little and Wendy's father was able to ride it. Later it accepted Edward bringing it feed and water.
But it still lived up to its name and needed very little provocation to kick and huff at anyone.
Wendy felt a hand and looked up at her mother.
The woman smiled gently at her, while she slowly rocked the baby in her other arm.
"Let's hope he brings back some good meat today, perhaps even some tender buck meat."
"Not with my teeth," the grandmother said, as she came into the kitchen. "I can barely eat anything, that isn't a stew."
"Don't worry, I'm sure your son will find lots of meat, we all can eat." Wendy's mother said.
"Indeed," the old woman smiled. "His father taught him well."
Just then little Arthur began to cry.
His mother shushed him.
"Probably time for his feeding," she said.
Wendy smiled as her arrow flew towards the mark and stabbed it right in the middle.
"Why are you doing that?" David asked.
He was lying on the grass a few feet away.
Wendy lowered the bow. "I like it."
"You should play with me instead." The 6-year-old said.
Wendy thought about it for a moment, but it was interrupted by the thundering sound of hoofs coming from the other side of the inn.
David sat up. "Is that father?" He asked.
"I don't think so. He went in that direction." Wendy said and pointed towards the forest.
They both got up and walked toward the kitchen.
Wendy looked up at the sky.
Their mother had allowed them to go play after lunch, but the sun was beginning to lower now.
Wendy hung the bow on the wall and stepped into the kitchen.
In the hall, their mother was talking to a person.
She called for Wendy.
Wendy stepped out into the hall.
"Please help the sir up to his room, the one on the far right." Her mother said.
Wendy quickly showed the guest to his room and almost jumped down the stairs.
It made her uneasy. Guests usually came later in the day, when their father had come home from hunting.
The mother was standing in the kitchen when Wendy came in.
"Could you get started on some stew?" She asked.
"We don't have any meat." She responded.
Her mother sighed. "We'll have to do without today. I'll talk with your father when he came home."
Wendy nodded and sent David out for water and started chopping vegetables.
By the time the stew was cooking in the fireplace, there was still no sign of their father.
Wendy dried her hands in her apron and stoked the fire in the hall.
"It's getting dark outside." She said.
"I know, dear." Her mother said and tickled the baby. "But he'll be back before we serve dinner."
Their grandmother came into the hall.
"Perhaps we should go to the village." She said. "I can't remember the last time Edgar was this late."
The hall got quiet for a moment.
Then the steps creaked.
The guest appeared at the foot of the stairs. "When will dinner be served?" He asked.
Dinner was quiet.
The lone guest sat with them, instead of their father and thanked them for the food and drink. But except for that, and the baby's occasional cry, it was quiet.
It was only when Wendy and Eva had been sent to wash up, that their grandmother had instructed Edward to take a lamp and a horse and ride into the village for help.
"Wendy," Eva whimpered beside her. "I'm scared."
Wendy dropped a plate into the water of their sink and hugged her.
Before long, most of the villagers were at the inn.
The men, including their lone guest, lit torches and went out to search for their father, while the women sat with them and their mother to try and calm them.
They made tea for them and convinced the children to wash up for bed.
Eva and David hugged Wendy tightly, while they walked from the hall to the bathhouse, even Edward held her hand tightly.
Wendy looked to the sky. Their father had hunted by himself since he was 14 years old.
Something was really wrong.
She helped Eva wash her face and brush her teeth before she brushed her own teeth.
When they went into the house again, she kept her shawl on. Nobody noticed. They were too concerned with her mother and the baby.
Wendy stepped around them and into the kitchen. She struck a match and lit a lamp, slipped out of the kitchen door, and headed towards the forest.
As she came to the edge of the forest, she stopped. She could hear the villagers in the forest, calling her father's name and see the torches dancing in the darkness around her.
"Wendy..." someone breathed behind her.
She whipped around and nearly fell backward when she saw David standing behind her.
"What are you doing here?" She whispered.
"I..." he looked down. "I saw the light from your lamp, and … wanted to see if it was father."
Wendy looked at her little brother's disappointed face. Contemplating whether she should walk him back to the house, or...
She took a firm grip on David's hand, turned, and slowly led him deeper into the forest.
"Where are we going?" David asked.
"To find father." She said and held the lamp high to see the path ahead.
Both children trod carefully through the forest.
They could still hear the villagers and see their torches dance around the dark forest, but they grew fainter, the further in they ventured. And the sounds of the men of the village were replaced with odd whispers.
David gripped Wendy's hand tighter.
Neither of the children could understand the sounds, but the constant giggles and whispers all around scared them.
"Wendy..." David started, wanting to turn back.
Suddenly Wendy stopped and silently lifted the lamp.
"Wendy!..." David said and gripped at her shirt, scared of what had possessed his sister.
"Shh." Wendy shushed him. "Listen..."
David stared frightened into the darkness and strained his ears to listen.
It was almost like even the whispers quieted down to listen.
There was a faint sound of a horse neighing.
They both recognized it.
"Temper!" They said in unison, and Wendy started running in the direction of the sound. David barely kept pace behind her.
As they ran the sound grew louder, and they could hear hooves hitting against the ground.
Wendy stopped as the sound grew even louder and Temper appeared in the dark and came right at them.
She pushed David aside and nearly fell herself, but luckily managed to catch herself and avoid the wild horse.
Temper bucked and kicked like it was trying to step on the children.
Wendy was confused and scared, and took a step back in fear, but then remembered the lamp she still gripped tightly in her hand.
When Temper bucked again, Wendy stepped forward and managed to get hold of the reins.
The horse neighed and kicked, but Wendy held the reins tightly and lifted the lamp so both she and Temper could see clearly.
"Temper," she whispered gently. "It's me. It's Wendy."
Temper continued to kick and buck, but Wendy's tight grip on the reins and soothing words calmed him down eventually.
Wendy petted the horse's head and stroked its neck when it finally calmed down.
"Are you alright?" She asked David.
"Yes," the little boy said and got up from the bush he had fallen into.
"What do we do now?" David asked.
Wendy looked up at Temper. He probably wasn't safe to ride on.
She reached out her hand, which she was still holding the lamp with to David. "We let Temper guide us to father."
David gripped her fingers tightly. "But … he is angry."
"Not anymore," she tried to reassure him. "And if we follow his trail, it will lead us to father."
David eyed the horse, but followed Wendy, as they walked deeper into the forest.
The trail lead them deeper into the forest, and no matter where Wendy shone the light of her lamp, she didn't recognize anything.
Their mother had never let them venture further than the edge of the forest when they went to pick berries and the like.
Suddenly Wendy's eyes caught a glimpse of something on the ground that shined on the light.
She stopped and shone the light on the trial.
It was an odd spot on the ground. She couldn't see what it was, but it shined in the light of the lamp.
As if in a trance Wendy let go of both Temper's reins and David's hand and wandered into the darkness with the lamp held high.
David gripped at the horse's reins for comfort and called after his sister in fear.
Wendy didn't hear him but instead followed the trail of shining spots on the ground.
The spots became bigger, and suddenly there was a sound.
Wendy froze.
David still called behind her, but the sound was lower and breathless.
She stepped over a branch on the trail and froze once more.
A person was lying on the ground in front of her. As she lifted her lamp, she could see it was her father, and he wasn't moving.
Well, that was chapter 2 ... have any thoughts?