And I am back. I had a little trouble figuring out the story's direction.
The next day.
"Can you help me get this home?"
Wendy stared at Miss Elizabeth and then at the pile of books.
"Sadly, I cannot help you, Beth," Mina said from behind the tall pile of cloth in her arms.
"It is all right," Miss Elizabeth smiled at Wendy. "Wendy can probably help me, and we can discuss the next few lessons."
Wendy looked around nervously, but everyone was busy with chores and carrying their own thing back to the village.
"Yes, I suppose…" She finally said and smiled in defeat.
Miss Elizabeth smiled and handed her a stack of books.
"This place is so nice and idyllic." Miss Elizabeth mused as they went down the hill toward the village. "Though I miss the city."
Wendy eyed her. "What is it like there?"
Wendy had never gone passed the surrounding villages, so she was a little curious.
Her teacher smiled brightly at her. "There is always so much life. There is a market where everyone buys and sells all sorts of things. There are beautiful boutiques and tea salons… "
"What is a bootik?" Wendy cut in.
Instead of Miss Elizabeth's usual frown, when Wendy interrupted her, she excitedly continued.
"They are clothing shops that have these beautifully embroidered dresses and jewelry. I really with going to drink tea in my favorite salon with my friends…"
"Were you rich?" Wendy asked. Going to a tea party was only something she had heard the richer guests at the inn talk about. Those guests were also very disappointed with the tea at the inn.
Miss Elizabeth giggled.
It almost caused Wendy to trip.
She had to admit that Elizabeth was very beautiful when she smiled.
"Not by most standards, but I can see why it might seem that way out in this place." She said as she looked toward the village. "My father was a scholar, so I received a better education than most, and many of my friends were from the upper class as my father taught many of their brothers. I even had a benefactor."
She added the last part as they entered the village.
"Benefactor?" Wendy said the word slowly. It sounded weird.
"A person within higher society, who … mentors you." Miss Elizabeth explained with a smile.
Wendy furrowed her brows. "So, you are my benefactor?"
Miss Elizabeth nodded with a smile.
They went toward Jacob's tiny cottage.
The woman beside Wendy sighed, as she pushed open the door. "As much as I love Jacob. I still cannot get used to this tiny dust-covered space."
Wendy followed her and sat down the books on the table.
She fidgeted for a moment and looked down at the books. The top one had a drawing of a girl in a pretty dress.
"I should be going home…" She said and looked at the door.
"Stay for a moment," Miss Elizabeth said and stepped toward the fireplace. "I will make some tea."
Wendy sat on a chair dutifully.
As the water boiled the woman sat down with Wendy.
"Would you like to come to the city with me?" She asked as she started organizing the books.
Wendy tilted her head. She did have the thought, but she did not know how to answer.
"I am going to visit my parents this summer with Jacob." She said and looked up. "I would like to take you with us, to show my father what my teaching can do."
"So, I need to show him I can read and count?" Wendy asked. She could do that, and it would be fun to see the city.
"Well," Miss Elizabeth mumbled as she opened one of the books. "We would need to practice etiquette, posture, and manners … I cannot show up with anyone uncultured."
Wendy was taken aback. "I cannot do that I have to hunt and…"
Elizabeth slammed the book shut, before Wendy could finish her sentence, and sighed. "Wendy, do you not think it is silly to continue that?"
Wendy felt bad and bit into her lip. "Why?"
The woman stopped for a moment like she was weighing her words carefully. "Say, if you meet a nice boy … from a family … that you like. What would he say to you being out in the forest alone?" She stood up from the table and stepped towards Wendy. "Some of the others in the village say that you even wander through the forest alone … it is just not proper for a girl your age. No man will marry you if you keep this up…"
Wendy looked over at the water boiling over the fire. She did not want tea anymore.
She stood up.
"Why do you keep bringing up marriage?" She asked, knowing she might get yelled at. "I thought you were supposed to teach me letters and counting."
"Marriage is the only way you will ever leave this village." Miss Elizabeth smiled, but there was an edge to her voice. "And manners and such are important in that goal."
"I do not need them. I will just not get married. My…"
There was a snap and Wendy felt her cheek confused. It stung.
The woman in front of her still held up a flat hand. She was angry.
"You are very immature and disrespectful, young lady!" She said sternly. "That I have to discipline you because your parents did not speak to that!"
Wendy stood silently and stared while holding her cheek.
The woman sighed agitated. "I did not think I had to teach basic respect. But then here goes…"
She did not realize the door creaking open or Jacob stepping inside the cottage, while she yelled at the girl.
"No more backtalk! You will do what I tell you to! And never ever hunt again!"
There was another slap.
It took them both a moment to realize that Jacob had slapped Elizabeth.
The woman stared at her husband in silence.
"You slapped me!" She said.
Jacob just looked at her.
"That is not right. You should never lay your hands on a woman!"
"Like you did to Wendy?" Jacob asked calmly.
The woman looked at the girl, who still held her cheek, and stared. "That is different. I was educating her!"
"And I am educating you now," Jacob said calmly again. "Never do this again."
"You cannot do that. It is not right!" She continued to scream.
"What you did was not right either." Jacob turned to Wendy for a moment, before turning back to his wife. "This little girl has helped her family through things that would have broken others, and she does not deserve this."
Miss Elizabeth had continued to argue, so Jacob had just taken Wendy by the hand and lead her back to the inn, and left her with her mother, after apologizing.
When her mother had asked her about her red cheek, Wendy had started crying and sobbed as she told her mother what had happened.
In the middle of it, her father came in and sat with them. He opened his arms and Wendy hugged him.
Her father had always been a big man, but over the winter it was like he had shrunk a bit.
"Should we do something?" Her father asked her mother.
Her mother shook her head with a smile. "I know what to do with Elizabeth." She gently touched Wendy's cheek – the redness was fading. "You do not need to worry about that."
The father smiled and whispered something to himself.
"We should get ready for tonight. The weather is nice, but we still need food."
Eva giggled and twirled around in her new dress as they went down the hill.
"Be careful…" Wendy called after her sister. She was pulling a big basket of food.
David and Edward were carefully carrying the meat on a big plate.
Arthur toddled after Eva as quickly as he could.
Eva giggled at her as she danced her way down the hill and caught him as he was about to fall.
They met the other villagers at the edge of the small town, where they had set up tables and lanterns.
"Oh, as always it looks so delicious." The blacksmith's wife smiled, as they put the food on the table.
"We brought food too, mother." Her son Alan said and pulled at her skirt.
"They are not food." Eva sternly instructed the smaller children, as their mother put the big basket holding the twins on the table.
"My, my … are they not adorable…" Mina cued at the babies.
Some of the other young women gathered around them.
Wendy looked around a little confused, as Edward and David went to talk with the other boys, Eva took Arthur by the hand as the younger children went to play and her parents, and grandmother sat with the other adults.
She looked at the group of girls standing together at one end of the long table.
She knew them, they often came to the inn with their parents to eat. Though because she spent most of her time in the forest, she did not know much about them.
One of the girls looked in her direction and waved. "Wendy!"
Wendy smiled relieved and went towards them.
"You rarely come to play anymore…" The daughter of farmer Firnim, Lily said.
Before Wendy could say anything, Sarah turned to her with beaming eyes. "You ride through the forest every day, do you not?"
Wendy nodded with a smile.
"Is it as beautiful out there as the fairytales say?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Wendy nodded again. "When the light comes through the trees, it looks truly magical."
A sigh of admiration went through the group of girls.
"I wish I could ride through the forest too…" The baker's daughter Maya sighed with a distant look in her eyes. "To ride through the forest and come upon a handsome man, who turns out to be a prince!"
The other girls sighed in unison.
Wendy smiled knowing about the beautiful creatures that lived in the forest.
"Have you met anyone in the forest?" Lily asked as she saw the smile.
Wendy shrugged still smiling.
They then caught the group of boys looking over at them and giggled.
"So, what have you seen in the forest?" Maya asked, clearly not willing to let it go.
Wendy smiled again and the older unmarried woman looked over at them with interest.
"What indeed?" Alice the doctor's daughter asked.
"One should not meet men alone…" Mathilda, the oldest of the carpenter's daughters said in a low voice.
Wendy stared for a moment. "Have you been taking lessons?"
Mathilda stared back. "Yes, Miss Elizabeth has been given me lessons. Mother said it would help me in the future."
Sarah's older sister sighed and took a sip of her mug. "I wish I could have taken lessons when I was your age and gone to the city … just once."
The older girls sighed in agreement.
"You wanted to go to the city?" Wendy asked, thinking that Miss Elizabeth could take her instead of Wendy.
"Of course," Mina said and smoothed Wendy's hair. "We have always wanted to go to see the beautiful dress, see the lively streets…"
"And meet the handsome gentlemen." Sofia ended Mina's sentence with a knowing smile.
"Do you think it is easier to find a prince in the city?" Maria, Mathilda's younger sister asked with big eyes.
Sofia giggled and nearly spit out her wine. "Well, I think you need to go to the capital." She smiled in between the coughs.
"The capital?" Lily asked confused.
"Yes, the place where the royal family lives along with most of the nobility." Miss Elizabeth appeared behind Mathilda suddenly with a gentle smile.
"Oh, Beth…" Mina seemed confused. "Why are you not sitting with Jacob?"
"I was…" The woman looked at Wendy with angry eyes and a cheek that was still a little red. "But the men were talking, you know."
She then did an odd shrug and sat down in between Mathilda and Maria.
"I hear you have been teaching the girls." The baker's oldest daughter said.
"Yes, I was hoping to bring some class to our little village." Miss Elizabeth smiled kindly.
The doctor's daughter laughed. "Out here class would be that we get our own mill."
The conversation continued but Wendy was a tad bored.
Elizabeth talked about the city, of dances and etiquettes and while it was fascinating, Wendy did not like the angry eyes that sometimes caught hers.
As the music started playing the conversation continued until one of the farmworkers tapped Mina on the shoulder.
She smiled up at him and the girls' chatter stopped.
"A dance, my love." He smiled and held out a hand for her.
"Of course," she said and took his hand.
The others were quiet as the farmworker lead Mina out amongst the lanterns and danced. Other couples joined them.
"I guess … we do not need to go to the city to find our prince charming." Sarah's sister said and looked longingly after them.
"Perhaps we should invite some of the other villages next time," Sofia said with her mug to her lips. "It would be more fun."
One of the other unmarried young women laughed. "I am sure I know why you want that."
Sofia blushed and tried to hide her face behind her mug.
Suddenly Wendy felt a pull on her arm.
It was Eva.
"Dance with me." She excitedly demanded.
A few of the other younger children were standing behind Eva.
"Yes, dance…" Lily said and looked over at the boys their age, that seemed to try and hide under the tables. "I am a bit bored anyways…"
The other girls got up and joined Wendy on the grass.
The musician smiled knowingly at Wendy and changed the music to something faster.
They danced around in a chain, that bent and interlocked a few times, as more and more people added to the chain.
When the chain had become one big knot, they all let go and laughter filled the air.
"Something slower, please fiddler." A young man yelled to the musician.
The man nodded and the music became just a bit slower than before.
Eva found Wendy and Wendy spun her around as the two girls giggled to themselves.
The was getting dark, but the music continued to play, and people continued to dance.
After a fast dance, Wendy was dizzy from all the spinning, and the musician stopped for a drink.
"Mina has been dancing a lot with that guy," Lily said and pointed toward the couple standing a bit away from everyone.
The farmworker had his arms around her, and they were laughing about something.
"Yes, I wonder if we will hear church bells ringing soon," Sofia said with a knowing smile and leaned over the table.
"Is it done that quickly?" Sarah asked and almost turned blue in the face.
Her older sister laughed. "No, Charles has been staring longingly after Mina for some time now, so the bells should start ringing soon."
The music started playing again and Wendy got up to join the dance.
After dancing with David for a while someone tapped Wendy on the shoulder.
She turned around and saw Alfred.
Wendy took a confused step back.
Alfred was one of the workers that worked for Lily's father. He was supposed to be a cousin or something from a few villages away.
"Want to dance?" He asked innocently and held out his hand.
Wendy looked around, but she could not get eye contact with either her parents or her grandmother.
The other girls were giggling at the scene and Wendy ended up taking his hand and following him.
Alfred was a few summers older than her and quite a bit taller than her.
The other girls thought that he was handsome and many of them would blush and giggle every time he looked in their direction.
Wendy could see that he was very handsome, but she did not like the way he always smiled at her.
Alfred put an arm around her and smiled widely at her and they quickly spun around.
Wendy laughed. It was really fun to dance as the adults did. She clung onto the boy, as it felt like her feet were going to lift off the ground.
As the music stopped Alfred leaned into her, but Wendy's father called for her, and she quickly went left with a nod and a smile toward Alfred.
So, tell me what you think :)