by Ruby Forrest
The Four Clever Brothers
'Dear youngsters,' said a poor man to his four children, 'I don't have anything to give you; you should go out into the wide world and attempt your good fortune. Start by adapting some specialty or another, and perceive how you can get on.' So the four siblings took their walking sticks in their grasp, and their little packages on their shoulders, and subsequent to saying farewell to their dad, went hard and fast at the entryway together. When they had got on some way they came to four crossways, each prompting an alternate nation. At that point the oldest stated, 'Here we should part; however this day four years we will return to this spot, and meanwhile each must attempt what he can improve the situation himself.' So every sibling went his route; and as the oldest was rushing on a man met him, and asked him where he was going, and what he needed. 'I am will attempt my fortunes on the planet, and should get a kick out of the chance to start by adapting some craftsmanship or exchange,' addressed he. 'At that point,' said the man, 'run with me, and I will train you to wind up the cunningest hoodlum that at any point was.' 'No,' said the other, 'that isn't a genuine calling, and what would one be able to hope to procure by it at last however the hangman's tree?' 'Goodness!' said the man, 'you require not fear the scaffold; for I will just encourage you to take what will be reasonable diversion: I intrude with only what nobody else can get or think anything about, and where nobody can discover you out.' So the young fellow consented to take after his exchange, and he soon showed himself so sharp, that nothing could escape him that he had once set his psyche upon. The second sibling likewise met a man, who, when he discovered what he was setting out upon, asked him what make he intended to take after. 'I don't know yet,' said he. 'At that point accompany me, and be a star-gazer. It is a honorable craftsmanship, in vain can be avoided you, when once you comprehend the stars.' The arrangement satisfied him much, and he soon turned out to be such a skilful stargazer, that when he had served out his chance, and needed to leave his lord, he gave him a glass, and stated, 'With this you can see all that is going in the sky and on earth, and nothing can be escaped you.' The third sibling met a huntsman, who took him with him, and instructed him so well all that had a place with chasing, that he turned out to be exceptionally cunning in the specialty of the forested areas; and when he cleared out his lord he gave him a bow, and stated, 'Whatever you shoot at with this bow you will make sure to hit.' The most youthful sibling in like manner met a man who asked him what he wished to do. 'Would not you like,' said he, 'to be a tailor?' 'Gracious, no!' said the young fellow; 'sitting leg over leg from morning to night, working in reverse and advances with a needle and goose, will never suit me.' 'Goodness!' addressed the man, 'that isn't my kind of fitting; accompany me, and you will learn very another sort of art from that.' Not realizing what better to do, he came into the arrangement, and learnt fitting from the earliest starting point; and when he exited his lord, he gave him a needle, and stated, 'You can sew anything with this, be it as delicate as an egg or as hard as steel; and the joint will be fine to the point that no crease will be seen.' After the space of four years, at the time settled upon, the four siblings met at the four cross-streets; and having respected each other, set off towards their dad's home, where they revealed to him all that had happened to them, and how each had adapted some specialty. At that point, multi day, as they were sitting before the house under a high tree, the father stated, 'I should get a kick out of the chance to attempt what every one of you can do along these lines.' So he gazed upward, and said to the second child, 'At the highest point of this tree there is a chaffinch's home; disclose to me what number of eggs there are in it.' The star-gazer took his glass, turned upward, and stated, 'Five.' 'Now,' said the father to the oldest child, 'take away the eggs without letting the winged creature that is sitting upon them and bring forth them know anything of what you are doing.' So the craftiness cheat moved up the tree, and conveyed away to his dad the five eggs from under the flying creature; and it never observed or felt what he was doing, yet continued sitting on at its simplicity. At that point the father took the eggs, and put one on each side of the table, and the fifth in the center, and said to the huntsman, 'Cut every one of the eggs in two pieces at one shot.' The huntsman took up his bow, and at one shot struck all the five eggs as his dad wished. 'Presently comes your turn,' said he to the youthful tailor; 'sew the eggs and the youthful flying creatures in them together once more, so conveniently that the shot might have done them no damage.' Then the tailor took his needle, and sewed the eggs as he was told; and when he had done, the cheat was sent to take them back to the home, and put them under the feathered creature without its knowing it. At that point she continued sitting, and brought forth them: and in a couple of days they slithered out, and had just a little red streak over their necks, where the tailor had sewn them together. 'Well done, children!' said the old man; 'you have made great utilization of your opportunity, and learnt something worth the knowing; however I am certain I don't know which should have the prize. Goodness, that a period may soon want you to turn your aptitude to some record!' Not long after this there was an awesome clamor in the nation; for the lord's girl had been carted away by a compelling mythical beast, and the ruler grieved over his misfortune day and night, and made it realized that whoever took her back to him ought to have her for a spouse. At that point the four siblings said to each other, 'Here is a shot for us; let us attempt what we can do.' And they consented to see whether they couldn't set the princess free. 'I will soon discover where she is, be that as it may,' said the star-gazer, as he looked through his glass; and he soon shouted out, 'I see her far off, sitting upon a stone in the ocean, and I can see the mythical beast close by, guarding her.' Then he went to the lord, and requested a ship for himself and his siblings; and they cruised together finished the ocean, till they went to the opportune place. There they found the princess sitting, as the star-gazer had stated, on the stone; and the monster was lying snoozing, with his head upon her lap. 'I set out not shoot at him,' said the huntsman, 'for I should murder the excellent young woman likewise.' 'At that point I will attempt my ability,' said the hoodlum, and went and stole her far from under the winged serpent, so unobtrusively and delicately that the mammoth did not know it, but rather continued wheezing. At that point away they rushed with her brimming with delight in their pontoon towards the ship; however soon came the mythical serpent thundering behind them through the air; for he got up and missed the princess. However, when he got over the vessel, and needed to jump upon them and cart away the princess, the huntsman took up his bow and shot him straight through the heart so he tumbled down dead. They were as yet not sheltered; for he was such an incredible brute, to the point that in his fall he overset the pontoon, and they needed to swim in the vast ocean upon a couple of boards. So the tailor took his needle, and with a couple of expansive lines put a portion of the boards together; and he sat downward on these, and cruised about and got together all bits of the watercraft; and afterward attached them together so rapidly that the vessel was soon prepared, and they at that point achieved the ship and returned home safe. When they had conveyed home the princess to her dad, there was incredible cheering; and he said to the four siblings, 'One of you might wed her, however you should settle among yourselves which it is to be.' Then there emerged a squabble amongst them; and the star-gazer stated, 'In the event that I had not discovered the princess out, all your ability would have been of no utilization; consequently she should be mine.' 'Your seeing her would have been of no utilization,' said the criminal, 'on the off chance that I had not removed her from the winged serpent; along these lines she should be mine.' 'No, she is mine,' said the huntsman; 'for on the off chance that I had not executed the monster, he would, all things considered, have torn you and the princess into pieces.' 'And on the off chance that I had not sewn the pontoon together once more,' said the tailor, 'you would all have been suffocated, in this manner she is mine.' Then the lord put in a word, and stated, 'Every one of y
ou is correct; and as all can't have the young woman, the most ideal route is for neither of you to have her: for actually, there is some individual she enjoys significantly better. In any case, to compensate for your misfortune, I will give every one of you, as a reward for his aptitude, a large portion of a kingdom.' So the siblings concurred that this arrangement would be vastly improved than either quarreling or wedding a woman who had no psyche to have them. Furthermore, the lord at that point provided for every a large portion of a kingdom, as he had said; and they lived joyfully whatever is left of their days, and took great care of their dad; and some person cared more for the young woman, than to let either the winged serpent or one of the skilled workers have her once more.
About an hour into this, Hanna- Gale decided that night was drawing too close to leave anything else to chance. She stood, stretched and wandered down stairs and slipped on her shoes. She wanted to cook dinner, but that was probably out of the question seeing as there was nothing in the pantry. So, instead, Hanna- Gale decided to slip out to the little corner store she had seen on her walk that morning, and grab something nice.
She did just that, strolling down the peaceful streets and enjoying the quiet and the lights starting to flicker on around her. She grabbed something simple and warm from the store, making sure to grab enough for two. She told herself that it was a smart thing to do, in case she got extra hungry later on, but she knew that that was a lie.
She barely even felt hungry now. In fact, nerves were dancing around her stomach and making her feel a little bit sick. She sighed, but the smile on her face was hard to ignore. When she returned home, she happily set out the food to keep it all warm and set the table, just in case. Then she wandered up to the bathroom to get ready.
She definitely needed another bath and she relished slipping into the warm water. It seemed to soothe her tension in the most blissful of ways and she was content to sit and soak for a while, letting the water relax her tense muscles. She washed away the grime of the day and washed her hair too, for good measure.
Stepping out of the bath, she dried herself with the softest towel she had, before rubbing lotion into her skin, spraying on some scented perfume and wrapping herself up in a robe. She styled and dried her hair, making sure it was glossy and wavy, and pulled on a lovely dress with pretty, matching underwear.
She was feeling good about herself, and once she had put on some simple, but attractive makeup, Hanna- Gale was feeling so much better about herself and about life. She smiled, the relaxing afternoon doing wonders for her stress. She grabbed the book she had been reading, slipped into a pretty pair of heels and made her way down stairs. She dimmed the lighting and lit a few candles, making things as lovely as she could. Then she sat down on the couch and waited, flipping through the pages of her book, happy to wait.
She told herself that if he didn’t show up within an hour, she would start dinner and just have a peaceful night in, no harm no foul. She could still feel the tingles of pleasure from this morning and she blushed at the memory of his hands on her skin. It was a lovely memory, one that made her feel like she was floating.
She hoped he came, like he suggested he might. She hoped that she got to see him more often. Lost in her daydreams and the pages of her book, Hanna- Gale almost didn’t hear the knock on the door.
When she did, she jumped to her feet. Warmth tingled through her, making her smile as she walked to the door. She hadn’t been sure that he would show up, but the thought that he had was making her feel a bit giddy with excitement. She didn’t hesitate in undoing the lock on the door and opening it, a greeting on her lips.
The greeting and excitement fell to the floor as she stared up at the man in the doorway. There was no way that this was Casey, and the thought sent panic shooting through her. She didn’t know this man and a part of her realized quickly that she didn’t want to. She stepped back and slammed the door shut, without a care for how damn rude she was being. She tried to grab the lock, but the handle was already turning and the door was pushed open. Hanna- Gale stepped back and tried to remember just where she had put her phone.
He stepped into the room and Hanna- Gale knew immediately that he was part of the snow leopard’s gang. Like with Casey, Hanna- Gale found herself wondering how any human could look this flawless, so big and intimidating.
He was just as big as Casey, easily, but his hair was tied back in a low ponytail and his eyes flashed as green as the forest. His features were narrower and he walked with a perfect confidence. There was no hint of the bravado that she had seen in Casey. He just was and he knew that no one would cross him.
“Are you Hanna- Gale?” He sounded almost bored and he smiled, quiet and low when she didn’t answer, “I’m Dan. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Hanna- Gale couldn’t find her voice, and when she finally did, it came out shaky, “You are trespassing.”
“I am? So sorry, but as I recall, you opened the door and invited me in.” He walked over to the couch and sat down easily, “Now, you could call the police, or we could have a civil conversation over coffee.”
He looked at her with eyes that seemed to pierce her soul, “You do have coffee, do you not?”
Hanna- Gale felt anger and indignation burn her soul and make her feel sick. She felt rooted to the spot and was sure that she was going to say something insane in a moment, so she turned on her heels and stormed into the kitchen. She’d make the damn coffee if it gave her enough time to think straight. Maybe it would even give Casey time to show up. She could only hope.
When she returned from the kitchen, a tray of coffee in hand, Hanna- Gale was feeling slightly calmer. She had dealt with this before, after all. She could do it again. He was different than Casey, and his quiet exterior made her more nervous than Casey had, but she’d be fine. She’d be professional and charming and let him know that she wasn’t anyone that should be messed with.
Hanna- Gale set down the tray, cream and sugar set out if he wanted any, and sank down into the couch opposite him, the tray on the table between them.
“Dan, you said?” She looked at him calmly, “What can I help you with?”
Dan looked almost surprised at her calm. She didn’t doubt that he had been expecting her to panic. At best, she had been rattled when he pushed his way into her home. This was probably new to him and Hanna- Gale relished the thought.
“It’s about your property.” He looked at her as he picked up his coffee. He drank it black, no sugar. Hanna- Gale added sugar and cream to her own coffee and took a slow sip, her eyes never leaving him.
She didn’t say a word and he continued easily, “Casey has been speaking to you about this, but I am unsure if he has impressed the severity of the situation.”
He wore leathers, hair pulled back low, but he spoke like a lawyer and it made Hanna- Gale uneasy in a way that she didn’t quite understand. She had a feeling that Dan would not let this go very easily. She fought the urge to glance at the door and check for Casey. She was still hoping he would arrive and soon.
“Oh, he told me all about it.” Hanna- Gale looked at Dan carefully, “But I do not intend on giving up my house, just because it is on your turf. You have no legal right.”
Dan shrugged, “No, we most certainly do not.” He smiled slowly, “But how much do you think legalities matter in a town like this one?” He leaned back, completely at ease, “You could phone the police if you wanted to, but they won’t touch me.”
Hanna- Gale straightened up, “Then I will go higher than this town, won’t I?”
Dan’s eyes flashed, “You do that and you’ll be getting into a lot of trouble.”
Hanna- Gale shrugged, “You push this and the police you have in your pocket will be sacked by the higher ups.”
Anger seemed to bubble beneath the surface, but Dan smiled, “You have no idea who you’re messing with. You would be much better off to just get out now, before you get hurt.”
“Is that a threa
t?” Hanna- Gale smiled, a sweet tone to her voice.
“I do not make threats. I make promises.” Dan was leaning in closer and the tension between them crackled through the air, dark and dangerous. It made Hanna- Gale shudder, but she refused to give an inch, no matter how much Dan intimidated her.
She couldn’t let him see that. A knock at the door made Hanna- Gale jump and they both pulled quickly away from each other, Dan leaning back into the couch and sipping his coffee, Hanna- Gale standing and setting her cup down.
Her heart was thudding and she hoped against hope that it was Casey. She didn’t think she could handle a second guy who was on Dan’s side. Worry swirled in her stomach. In fact, she could not be sure that Casey would side with her anyway and the thought frightened her. She needed someone in her corner in this fight and Casey seemed like a pretty good guy to have on her side.
