Black as Night (Completed)

Chapter Two

Chapter 2

          It has been nine years since that night. I was only seven when it happened. I am now sixteen. Scott is eighteen. Nick is twenty. Robbie is now twenty-two. We all still live together in the same house. No one has ever even spoken about leaving. We thought we all needed to protect each other. We still do

     At the moment Robbie is working. His job is a woodcutter. Nick is also working. He works at the counter at the bakery. He is learning how to be a baker. Nick hopes to open up his own bakery one day. Scott is learning how to be a blacksmith from Ryan. Ryan and his father are blacksmiths. That is where Scott is right now. If he was to actually become a blacksmith we would do so much better.

      My brothers don't make a lot of money. We are actually quite poor. We are very lucky that Nick works at a bakery because we sometimes get free bread every now and then.

     I'm walking to the well in the middle of our village. Our village's name is Caraway. That is the last name of the person who founded this village. I get to the well and put my bucket in the crystal clear water. I pull it back out and it's full.

    “Julie.” I look behind me. Matthew is standing there.

    “Hey Matt. How are things with you?”

      “My parents are fighting again.” I give him a sympathetic look. Matt’s hair is brown and combed to the side. It falls into his eyes when he moves around. His eyes are brown. His skin is tan. He's only about two or three inches taller than me.

     I stand up with my bucket and start walking home. Matthew walks beside me. I wander into the house and set the bucket on the floor.

      “I was going to wash the floor, but. . .” I say.

      “Do you want to go into the forest, instead? “Matthew asks.

     “Okay, but if I get in trouble with my brothers I'm blaming you.” He smiles. I smile back. We walk out of the house and into the forest. We walk along the river. We climb up on big boulders. We climb trees. We get to a tree and climb halfway up and sit next to each other on a branch.

     Bong...bong...bong. the church bell rings. “Someone has arrived in the village,” Matt says.

     “I wonder who it could be, “ I say. “Let's go find out.”

      We climb down and sprint home. We push through the crowd.  An open topped carriage is parked next to the well. A family is getting out of it. There is a mother and father, a young girl, and a boy that looks a bit older than me.  The mother has a handkerchief in her hand and it looks like she has been crying. She has her other hand on her daughter's head, rubbing it softly. The girl is pushed against her mother and is clutching her own arms from the cold.

     The father has his arm around the mother's shoulders. The teenage boy is standing next to his father. “We have come here in search of a new home. A werewolf has destroyed ours. Along with our home it killed our fourteen year old daughter. Our family has traveled through four different towns in search of a place to stay, each village rejecting us, forcing us to sleep in our carriage. Can we please stay here? If so, where can we stay? “ The father states.

     Everyone is silent. “You may stay here. Someone here will take you in. Who will volunteer? “ The Reeve declares. I know not to raise my hand. We have no room. Jon raises his hand.

     “Your family may stay with us. It's just the son and I.”  It's just Jon and Ryan because their mother was killed by a fever. “You may have to share a room with each other though.”

      “That's okay, “The girl blurts out. The poor girl. She must be freezing. I run back in the house and grab a thick blanket. I bring it to the girl. “Here”

     “Thank you, miss.”

      “Call me Julie.”

     “Thank you Julie.” I go back to Matt.

      “Would you like to come in and unpack right now? “Jon asks.

       “Yes. That would be wonderful, “ The mother answers. They follow Jon into the house.

      “I'll see you later, “I tell Matthew.

      “Got it. See ya'.” I stroll over to Scott and Ryan.

    “Are you finished with your lesson for the day yet? “I ask Scott.

     “Why? Do you need me for something?”

      “No. I was just wondering.”

     “Okay. I have about an hour before we're finished.”

      “Okay. Thank you again Ryan, for teaching him.”

       “No problem “ Ryan states.

     “Scott, got any ideas for dinner tonight?”

      “Not a clue.”

      “All right. I guess I'm on my own then. Bye Ryan. Bye Scott.” I go back to the house. I get out ingredients. I start to make dinner. Once it's finished I start to make some muffins. Two dozen batches. One dozen is for Ryan. The other dozen is for the new family.

     Scott has been home a long time since I finished. He got here when I was only half-way done making dinner. I put the first batch of muffins in a cloth and put it in a basket. I walk over to Jon's house. I knock on the door. He answers. “Yes? “Jon asks.

     “I've brought something for the family.”

     “Come in.” He directs me toward a room down the hall. I stroll down the hallway and knock on the door.

     “Who is it? “Is asked by what sounds like the teenage boy.

     “May I come in? “I ask.

      “Sure I guess.” I open the door. I walk in. There are two beds. It looks like the parents share a bed and the children share another.

      “I wanted to welcome you to the village. I made these for your family. They are blueberry muffins.”

      “That's very nice of you dear. Thank you. “The mother tells. I hand her the basket. “I'm Julie.” “I'm Rose. My husband's name is Robert. My daughter is Lily and Josh is my son.

      “It's very nice to meet you, “I say as I shake each of their hands.

     “I should be going now “I state. I stroll out of the house and back home. I put the other batch of muffins in a cloth and into another basket. I walk over to Ryan's blacksmith shop and walk in. He hears me walk in and turns around.

     “Hello Julie. What can I do for you?”

     “Oh, nothing. I just wanted to bring these over. To thank you for teaching Scott.” I open up the cloth to show him the muffins.

     “It's no trouble on my part. Thank you, for the muffins.”

      “You're very welcome.” I step outside and close the door behind me. Even after all these years I still have a crush on him. Ryan is everything a girl could want. He's tall, smart, and he's always a gentleman. He's funny and handsome. Ryan has dark, dirty blond hair. It's wavy and is at just below the ear length. He is strong and tan. His eye color is a dark crystal blue. It's very unlikely he'd like a girl like me. My hair is a very dark brown and naturally layered. It's at waist length. I have pale skin and green, blue eyes. I'm at average height and weight. I'm always getting dirty and my hair is very unkempt. I always venture into the forest even though I know good girls aren't supposed to act like that. I just can't help it. That's the way I am and I like it that way.