“Sorry.”
“Quite all right,” Daniel answered. “You’re looking better already.”
Looking at the two boys, Olivia sat up a little straighter in her chair and tried to compose herself. She brushed her long dark hair out of her face and hooked it around her ears. She smoothed her wrinkled and dirty pants and blouse. “Now, I don’t want to sound ungrateful or pushy, but would you mind telling me what happened out there? I still don’t know if I’m dreaming or not, but I was wondering if you saw the same thing I did.”
“Well, what exactly did you see?” Aidan asked while taking a seat next to her.
“Not much at first. It was dark, and they left me a little ways back into the forest. I could kind of see them at the edge of the clearing and could hear them grumbling and yelling something, but couldn’t make out the words. Then the…the…” She trailed off, turning from the two boys. She fidgeted and stared into the fireplace though it wasn’t the flames she saw as she looked back at the night’s events.
“Then what?” Daniel asked, sitting down in front of her chair. She shifted and looked up at him. The intensity of her brown eyes startled him before she turned crimson and again dropped her gaze to her lap. Hiding behind her wavy brown hair seemed to give her confidence, and she continued.
“Then the forest came alive. It took them. I could hear their screams. I could see the shadows of the animals that dragged them away. What happened?” Her lip began to tremble again, and she clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. She lifted her head and looked to Daniel, her face full of fear and confusion. Their eyes locked.
It seemed an eternity before Daniel could break eye contact and try to organize his thoughts. His mouth seemed far too dry to form words. Finally he was able to pull himself together enough to reply. “You’ll have to ask Aidan about that. I was inside for most of the fight, asleep in the chair you’re sitting in now. I didn’t see or do much of anything.” Daniel frowned and looked over at his brother. “Why don’t you tell her what you saw?”
Aidan glanced from Daniel to Olivia and back at Daniel. He could see that something was bothering his older brother, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Setting the issue aside for the moment, he looked back to the girl. “It happened exactly like you said. I saw the same things you did. I’ll tell you more later.” He shifted his gaze back to Daniel. “Right now I think we might want to talk about something I thought of while I was getting dressed. I meant to say something earlier, but I forgot about it when you broke her chain.”
“What’s that?” Daniel asked.
“He’ll send more.” Aidan saw both Daniel’s and Olivia’s heads jerk in reaction to his statement. “He won’t let us get away with this. I don’t know how long it will take him to know what we’ve done, but you know he’ll find out. I think it might be a good idea to be gone when they show up.”
“My sister,” Olivia whispered.
“What?” Daniel and Aidan responded in unison.
“My sister. She’s all alone. They’ll go to my house first and find her there alone. We’ve got to go and get her. If they know that something happened to the gathering party, they might hurt her. Please, we’ve got to get to her before they do!” She jumped to her feet, reached out, and grabbed both of the boys’ hands and started pulling. “Please, she’s the only family I have left. One of Argyle’s men escaped. He ran away when the fight started. He’ll go back and tell Argyle. We’ve got to go!”
The boys exchanged a glance. “Of course,” Daniel answered quickly. “But hold on just a moment.” He reached out and took Olivia’s hand in both of his and she stopped tugging. “First we need to get things settled here. Once we leave, there’s no coming back. Why don’t you two go get some sleep, and I’ll start putting things together. Olivia, you can sleep in my room, and when I finish out here I’ll sleep in Aidan’s room with him.”
“But my sister,” Olivia began.
“It’ll take Argyle’s man a while to get back to the castle. We’ve got some time,” Daniel explained, trying to soothe Olivia’s frazzled nerves. “Really, think about how long it took you to get here. It’ll take him about that long to get back.” Seeing the logic in his statement, she sat back down in the chair with relief. “Do you think you can sleep?” Daniel asked. Olivia thought for a moment and gave a small nod of her head as she tried to stifle a yawn. The long march had obviously taken a lot out of her. “Let me grab some stuff from my room, and then you two should go to bed.”
Daniel disappeared into his bedroom. Olivia could hear him moving about. Her gaze fell on Aidan. “Can you tell me more about what happened tonight?”
Aidan shifted in his seat. “It’s hard to explain, and I don’t usually tell people about my gift. I guess we’re going to be friends though, so I should probably tell you about it.” He paused. “We’re friends now, right?” Olivia nodded and Aidan’s eyes narrowed. His forehead creased as he concentrated trying to find the words to most accurately describe his abilities. “First, I can…change an animal’s behavior.”
“What?” Olivia asked, confused by his statement.
Aidan chewed his lip and tried again. “Daniel says I can control their actions, but it’s not really like that. I can get them to do what I want, but it’s not control really. I don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do. I can sort of get inside their minds and show them what I need them to do and why. I don’t like to think that I control them. It’s just a special bond I can make with them, and it makes them open to helping me.”
“That’s incredible!” Olivia said. She still looked a bit skeptical, and Aidan could see she would require a bit more to convince her of the truth of his claim. She noticed Daniel had finished in his room and now stood in the doorway watching them, his right hand against his cheek, his fingers massaging his earlobe. She didn’t acknowledge him as she still wanted to hear more. “Is that what happened tonight? You convinced the animals to protect you?”
“Well…sort of.” Aidan stared into the fireplace.
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked. She reached out her hand and placed it gently on Aidan’s arm.
“I did it to protect Daniel.” Aidan looked up at Olivia. His eyes started to glisten as the old wounds were pulled open once again. “I couldn’t let them take him. They took our parents, but we were too young back then to do anything to help them.” His head fell forward and Olivia saw a single tear fall into his lap.
She saw Daniel’s movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. Their eyes locked. Olivia shook her head slightly and he stopped, obeying her silent request. After a moment Aidan lifted his head. A new emotion now dominated his features: defiance.
“But not this time. This time I knew they were coming. This time I knew what they wanted. This time I knew what I could do. I couldn’t watch them take the last of my family. When Daniel fell asleep, I snuck out. I didn’t travel very far. I didn’t know when they’d arrive, so I went and found every friend I could. Most of them were already here. I’ve been bringing animals closer all week. I brought in every animal I could make contact with and asked them to guard the house.” A smile gently curled his lip. “It must have been scary for you.” He glanced down at his hands twisting in his lap.
“It was,” Olivia agreed quickly. “I didn’t see everything, but from what I heard, and the few things I saw…” She trailed off.
Aidan nodded, still looking at his hands. “There’s something else.”
“Okay.” Olivia turned in her chair and took both of Aidan’s hands in hers, her eyes wide as she leaned closer. “Go ahead.”
Daniel quickly stepped forward. “I think that’s enough for tonight. It’s time to get some sleep. Olivia, I’ll get you a bucket of water to wash off with. If you want to put your clothes outside the bedroom door, I’ll wash them tonight before I go to sleep and hang them near the fire to dry.” Olivia’s eyes burned into his back, frustrated and puzzled by his interruption, as he continue
d across the room to the kitchen. Aidan merely nodded and rose.
“I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything, we’re right in there,” he said, pointing to his bedroom. “Good night.” Aidan gave her hands a squeeze and left for bed. Olivia gave Daniel a confused look before picking up her water glass and retiring to Daniel’s bedroom to ready herself for the night.
Daniel spent the next few hours preparing and packing for the journey ahead. Although the road before them had not been entirely laid out, he felt they were in for a long trip and tried to plan accordingly. Food, water, and clothing were divided up into three separate piles. Not sure how much Olivia would be able to carry over long distances, Daniel was forced to guess. He decided to overestimate, since they could always rid themselves of supplies if she grew too tired. He gave her a pack that was roughly the same size he’d put together for Aidan, as she was just slightly taller than his younger brother. He then washed and hung Olivia’s clothes as he’d promised. Last on Daniel’s list was weaponry. He decided to take the bow and arrows his father had left behind. He’d always had an affinity for archery and thought the weapon would be useful if not in the event of being ambushed, at least for hunting. Realistically, there was only one other true weapon in the cabin. Although it had been a long time since the rifle had been fired, it once belonged to Daniel and Aidan’s grandfather, and the boys had meticulously cleaned it once a month. Daniel decided to bring it along and see how Olivia handled a gun. Aidan had his own one-of-a-kind weapon. After going through the supplies and packs a second time, Daniel was satisfied and sat down heavily in front of the dying fire. Pulling his jacket on to keep warm, he tugged at the cuffs, which seemed to get shorter every day. His mind drifted back to the missed fight earlier in the evening before his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
Chapter 5
Preparations
Daniel awoke early the next morning and laid Olivia’s clean clothes near the bedroom door before heading to the kitchen. They would need the nourishment for the long trek that awaited them. The smell of bacon and coffee soon filled the small home as Daniel began cooking up a very large breakfast.
Aidan stumbled from his room rubbing his eyes wearily and pulling on a long-sleeved shirt. Sitting down at the table, Aidan mumbled a barely audible thank you when Daniel set a cup of hot coffee in front of him. After taking a few sips, he got up and joined his brother in the kitchen. Aidan set his cup on the counter and hopped up next to it. He shifted around and cleared his throat.
“Where are we going to go?” Aidan asked.
“To Olivia’s house, to get her sister,” Daniel answered, looking at him as though he’d lost his mind.
“I mean after. After we go get her, where will we go? We can’t stay there, but we can’t come back here either. Where can we go that we’ll be safe from Argyle and his men?”
Daniel stopped his cooking and turned to look at his brother. He ran his hand over his hair, which was short enough to stick up. He played with it, rubbing it back and forth for a moment as he pondered the question. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far in my planning. All I know is that we need to go get her sister before Argyle sends someone to look for his gathering party. When his men don’t come back, the next group to go out isn’t going to show any mercy to anyone they come across. My guess is the first house that was visited by the last group was Olivia’s house. We were the second. I think the next group will follow the same path. We can decide where to go after we get her sister out of harm’s way.”
Turning back to the stove, Daniel was mixing the eggs when he heard the bedroom door open. Both boys glanced over to see Olivia’s arm emerge from the bedroom and pull her clothes inside. Moments later, she meandered out stretching and yawning widely. She flushed deeply when she realized both Daniel and Aidan were watching her, and dropped her eyes to the floor as she shuffled across the room. Daniel smiled to himself and poured her a cup of coffee as well, setting it in front of her as she sat down at the table.
“Who’s ready to eat?” Daniel inquired. Aidan pulled out three plates, and Daniel piled them high with food. Olivia’s eyes bulged at the amount of breakfast placed in front of her.
Daniel noticed the look on her face. “Just eat as much as you can,” he commented. “It’s going to be a difficult trip, and you’ll need the energy. Plus, I don’t know when any of us are going to get another home-cooked meal.” Olivia glanced up at him at the last comment, but decided against addressing it. She picked up her fork and began eating. Daniel and Aidan both pulled up their shirt sleeves and then engaged in what could only be described as a feeding frenzy as they shoveled food from their plates to their mouths. After finishing his meal, Daniel walked to the sink, washed his dishes, and put them back in the cupboard.
“Why bother?” Aidan asked, pushing his now empty plate away from him and leaning back in his chair, one hand rubbing his full stomach. He tucked a lock of long blond hair back behind his ear before grabbing his coffee and taking a sip. “It’s not like it’s going to matter. We’ll never be coming back.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Daniel snapped back. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get to come back. If we do though, I don’t want my rotting food sitting in the sink.” Aidan looked back down at his plate to avoid Daniel’s glare. “I need to grab something before we go.”
Daniel closed the cupboard doors, walked quickly to his bedroom, and shut the door behind him. He had wanted to retrieve one more item before leaving on their journey and had been unable to last night while Olivia was sleeping. From the shelf over his bed, he took down a game. His father had given it to him when he’d turned eight, and they had spent countless hours playing it together. Although he had played it with Aidan on occasion, it had primarily been something special Daniel shared with his father. He slid off the wooden lid, revealing the small bowls within, each filled with polished stones. Daniel picked one up and gently caressed it between two fingers. Dropping the stone back in the box and closing it, Daniel quickly wiped his eyes and left the room. After tucking it securely into his pack, Daniel looked back to the others. “Are you two ready to go?”
Both stood up from their chairs and followed Daniel’s lead in washing their dishes and returning them to their appropriate places. Olivia followed Aidan back across the room to where the packs lay on the floor.
“Which one is mine?” Olivia asked, stepping up beside Aidan, her gaze moving back and forth between the two packs.
“Whichever,” Daniel replied. “They both weigh about the same. We can move stuff around between the three of us once we get going and get a feel for what we’re carrying. This is for you too,” Daniel added, lifting the rifle he’d taken out the night before. Her eyes opened wide and she looked to Aidan for his reaction. “He’s got his own protection,” Daniel said, stepping forward and extending the weapon toward her. “My bow and quiver are by the door. We’re all going to need something to defend ourselves out there. There are bullets and cartridges in each of the packs.” Seeing the confused expression on Aidan’s face, Daniel explained, “I didn’t want to put them all in one pack in case it gets wet. As she uses up her supply, we can replenish it from our packs. We need to be careful. Also,” Daniel remarked, looking back to Olivia, “you’ve got two bags in your pack. One is black and has regular bullets in it. The other is gray, and that one contains silver bullets, in case we run into werewolves. I also packed some of my mom’s silverware. We can melt it down later and try to make some arrowheads. It’ll be better if both of us are equipped to fight them off if we need to.”
Olivia picked up the pack in front of her and hoisted it onto her back, shifting it to distribute the weight evenly on her shoulders. Taking the rifle from Daniel and bouncing a bit to settle the straps on her shoulders, she moved quickly to the door and outside. Aidan knelt down and picked up the other bag.
“Oh, I need to grab something real quick.” Aidan announced before disappearing into the back bedroom. He ca
me out a short while later and shoved something into a pouch he had tied to his belt. “Got it,” he said. “Oh, and my sewing kit!” He disappeared into his room again and emerged, shoving the small kit into his pack. “I’ve got to keep myself looking proper,” he laughed and walked out the front door to join Olivia.
Daniel scanned the room, partially to check for anything they may need to take with them, but mostly to take it all in one last time. He’d told Aidan he wasn’t sure if they’d ever return to this home. Even if they did, he had a strong feeling it would never be quite the same.
Outside the house, Daniel stopped Olivia. “Can you shoot that?” Daniel asked pointing to the rifle she carried, “or do you need some pointers?”
“Is it loaded?” Olivia asked. Daniel nodded. Olivia lifted the rifle to her shoulder and aimed toward the path she’d taken to the house the night before. “See that yellow flower just to the left of the trail?”
Daniel’s eyes scanned the forest floor where she was indicating. At last he spotted the small petals through the tall grass. Just as he started to say he’d located it, the blast from the rifle drowned him out. The flower exploded.
“Yes, I can shoot this.” Olivia slung the rifle over her shoulder and proceeded across the clearing toward the path.
“Wow,” Aidan murmured with a grin and set off behind her.
Daniel’s chin dropped to his chest. Unable to find any words, he followed.
Chapter 6
The Journey Begins
Crossing the clearing in front of the house, Daniel and Aidan walked on either side of Olivia as she approached the path through the woods. Olivia would be leading the way, at least for this leg of the journey, as she was the only one who knew the way back to her house. Eager to get back to her sister, Olivia moved swiftly into the trees, the boys staying close. Daniel scanned the forest looking for any signs of danger. Aidan, on the other hand, was completely at ease. Daniel glanced over at him, slightly annoyed by his nonchalant behavior.
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