Hope Valley, Town Meeting
"So Ms Davenport, and Constable Thornton will be taking the kids this evening for a campout in the woods, like we did last year in October."
Abigail says, her heads tilting around the people sitting in front of her.
Abigail then tilts her chin up turning her attention to the creator of this plan, Ms Davenport, whose gray eyes shining as she stands in front of the window, the glow behind her creating a spotlight on Ms Davenport's facial features, her dimpled cheeks, her gray hairs, and her hair tied neatly in a tight bun.
"Yes, we will. I have conversed with Pastor Frank, but seeming he would be busy with the Sunday's prayers, Constable Thornton has agreed to come. Our plan for today and tomorrow is to walk up to the campsite, set up tents, hopefully see the sunset and roast marshmallows and make smores with a campfire."
"What about the actual food?"
A parent asked, as Ms Davenport glanced around the room searching for the face to the voice. Not being able to find it, she just looked around, and talked to entire town
"We are bringing some Packed food which Ms Stanton has kindly cooked for them."
Ms Davenport says, giving a small smile to Abigail.
Parents' heads nodded, feeling satisfied at how this teacher was handling this, and gave a satisfied smile at Ms Davenport.
Somewhere in the woods
The sun was gently lowered down the bushes of trees, the hint of orange barely seen over the thick green leaves hanging on the sides of brown pointy branches connecting to a body whose long twisted roots dug deep into the muddy soil of the ground.
At the bottom of it, laying on the muddy grass were two women with riding pants and long boots that stretched to just under their knees. Coats wrapped around their figures, their blouses pointing out, Julie's hair tied in a ponytail, Elizabeth's hair which flows to her hair neatly clipped together. They lay resting against the tree, their back against the trunk of the trees. Their brown and blue eyes glimmered as the sun hit them from behind the tree. With their gloved hands, they held their sandwiches, wrapped in a layer of plastic, the top uncovered, as they brought it up to their mouths every few seconds taking a bite out of it, the flavor of chicken and cheese allowed their minds and body to be in a relaxed state.
Finishing their sandwiches, Elizabeth and Julie stood up, brushing the brown crumbs of the bread off their coats, falling into the grass in front of the long big tree which provided them backrest as they rested under the glimmering sun. And waited.
As they started to get on their horses, a rustle in their leaves made them drop their reins, and they stood up straight in front of their horses, eyes peeled from the sound of the bushes. Elizabeth walked a few steps in front of her horse, the footsteps crunching the leaves under her shoes.
*Silence* After a few moments, Julie and Elizabeth shared an anxious look before hurriedly jumping on their horses, pulling the reins leading their horses to the pathway it needed.
"Elizabeth…?"
Elizabeth could hear the whimper in her voice, which made her eyes water.
"It will be alright Julie, trust me, if all goes well, we won't even need to use the gun to protect ourselves. We just need to be patient…and be calm when talking to them"
Elizabeth turned her head gently against the wind, eyes on Julie, who's cheeks were flushed, her pink flushed lips gently trembling. Elizabeth turned back to the sights in front of her.
"You have the things they asked for?"
Julie just nodded, unable to speak as the rush of tears took over the back of her throat, disabling her ability to speak out without breaking down.
They rode in silence, the wind fluttering through Elizabeth's wavy short hair, which she recently cut, and through Julie's ginger bunned up hair, the color seeming all the brighter underneath the beaming golden sun, making a spotlight on Julie's hair, while her face juxtaposed the brightness. The paleness of her flesh gleaming underneath the sun.
The hooves thudding against the grass. It's muffled noise which Elizabeth came to find comforting in the 3 years she has been in Hope Valley. Her heart ached, as her brain once more took her back to the comfort of the memories of Hope Valley. No matter how much she tried to scratch it from her brain, it seemed to keep popping up in her brain.
Julie and Elizabeth purposely pulled the reigns of their horses tighter, trying to delay the meeting as much as possible. But they knew they had to meet them. One point or another. It was their fate.
After riding for hours, Julie and Elizabeth finally came to the spot where they were supposed to meet Mr Bernard. Elizabeth felt her heart drop, when she noticed Mr Bernard was already there with two other men in their crisps dark suits and black ties. They were leaning against the hood of their car, and were glaring at them, their eyes dark, and their sharp faces scowling towards them. No words were spoken, but Elizabeth and Julie felt fear creep up their spines and in their hearts, as they rode their horses closer to them.
"Glad you both could finally meet us"
Mr Bernard says, the sharpness and grimness enunciated through his words, as Elizabeth and Julie felt their sharp eyes on them as their horses came to a halt. They got off the horse, as Julie went to her side of the saddle, and carefully took out a thin gray folder, the sides of white paper showing at the edges. Elizabeth saw Julie's hands trembling, so she walked up to her, whispered something which the three couldn't hear, and took the gray thin folder from Julie's hands.
As bravely as she could, her face as straight as possible, she walked to the two men, and placed the folder towards the men, its corners towards them. They immediately snatched it from Elizabeth's hand, scaring her so she twitched on the spot. She slowly walked backwards, hands behind her back, and stood next to Julie.
Mr Bernard, the man with a sharp chin, and stubble at the edge, flipped through the folder with his brittle fingers, his dark eyes glancing at the page up and down.
Moments passed. Julie and Elizabeth exchanged nervous glances at each other, and when they turned back, they realized Mr Bernard was looking at them curiously. They felt their heartbeat racing as Mr Bernard got off from leaning against the hood of his dark blue car and slowly made his way towards them. His face is plain as a paper. Unreadable.
He walked closer to Elizabeth, who felt her heart beating even more. The fresh scent of his vanilla cologne getting closer, as her heart started beating rhythmic beats, thudding louder in her ears as he started getting closer to her. The darkness in his eyes was undiminishing.
Elizabeth started walking backwards absentmindedly. Julie and Elizabeth's fingers clasped tightly around each other. Suddenly Elizabeth felt a palm striked her sharply against her cheek, causing her face to be shifted down and the color of the dark pebbles came right in front of her sights.
Almost the other side of the woods
"Ms D, will we get to sing songs with the campfire?"
Ms D grinned at the question, as she pressed her lips together hiding a laughter, glancing down at the children, some carrying bags almost double their size on their backs.
"Of course we will"
The girls cheered up and down on their spot, their walks continued as hushed silences of conversations occurred. A little up ahead, Jack was walking with the boys ahead of the girls.
They were walking confidently, their voices less hushed than the girls. Their excitement sprinting up through the forest. Robert shyly walked up next to Jack, the golden sun shining on Robert´s curly brown hair.
´Constable?´
Jack looked down at Robert, not as much as he used to, as he had grown in the past year. Now his curly hair reached a few inches below his shoulders.
'Could we please not share any scary stories this time? They gave me nightmares for some time?'
Robert says, whining almost, his body shivering on the spot, dramatically of course. Jack just chuckled, and placed his hand on Robert's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing it, as Robert turned around and walked next to Cody, as they continued their walk through the woods, finding a place for their campsite.