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Chapter 8

I froze and I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise and my heart beat faster. My face was probably bright red at this point.

"Please don't tell Emily," I begged him but made sure to stay quiet so my sister wouldn't hear us.

James gave a soft laugh, "If I was going to tell her, I would've told her in the woods. Plus, I don't want to see her when she is really mad."

I laughed too, "Oh you have no idea."

James smiled and craned his neck to look at the stairs.

"I don't blame you, trust me. I have a younger and older brother back home. I can see your perspective in the fact that Ii would ask my brother, older by five years, to teach me some of  the stuff he was learning. But I can also see from Emily's point of view, my younger brother, younger by four years, would bug me all the time to teach him some of the things I learned. Siblings can be annoying," James's eyes had become a little heavier or more sorrowful as he talked about his family, but could you blame him?

Going into war, you know there is a chance you won't come back and you will never see your family again. But if your alive, and you know you could get to them, but you cant and you are isolated. The feeling ,must be hard to deal with. Not just for James but for his family too. I knew my parents had died, but if I hadn't known for sure they had died, I would go crazy trying to find the truth.

I noticed myself becoming more mature each year, and something felt good about it, providing for my family, once we died, there would be no one else to care for this old cabin, no one else to scrounge the woods for berries and have fun swimming and fishing under the summer sky. When you get older, you think more about your future, about death, about what will happen to you after your last breath leaves your body. It can be a little nerve racking. Like the heavy silence that had overtaken the room. I can understand the pain some people go through, but don't let that dictate your life, remember the happy moments, and also focus on your future.

I met James's eyes and smiled, "Thank you again, for back in the woods."

James smiled back, "Back on the battle field, you have your friend's back, only following the code."

If I had interrupted what James had said correctly, we were friends. And I felt happy, out here, there was you and your family, no other people to have a connection with, it was calming.

The door swung open and Sarah an in with her collection bag filled to the rim.

"Emily! Sophie! Come down!" She called upstairs.

Emily came running down the stairs while Sophie slowly walked down the stairs. At least she was getting better, we couldn't afford for her to be sick that long. 

"You wont believe what I found!" Sarah said with excitement and sat down on the floor. 

'What?" Emily asked with anticipation.

"Well, I was digging up some chervil and burdock root when I found something," Sarah explained.

She opened the bag and many small potatoes rolled out. I didn't even know they grew here!

Emily crouched down and picked one up in her hand. I picked one up as well and felt it's rough surface. My thumb brushed off some of the small pieces of dirt and I placed it back with the others.

"Nice find Sarah!" I said as I stood up.

"That's not all I found," Sarah smiled and put her other back up bag in her lap.

I strained my ears to listen because I thought I heard an animal noise coming from the bag.

The bag was pretty big so there was no telling what could be inside. Sarah unhatched the little hook that held the bag closed and a small black and white head popped out.

"The mother died, but all four pups were still alive," Sarah explained and smiled as she pulled out the other three pups.

"Good thing you found them, pups these young wouldn't survive," James said as he gently pet one of the pups."

"I wonder how they got here," I wondered as I picked one up and placed it on my lap.

The cute little puppy nestled in and started to drift to sleep and I couldn't help smiling.

"We should go check where Sarah found them just in case she missed any clues why they were here or if there were any other dogs," Emily suggested and James nodded.

"I'll come with you," He offered.

Sarah stood up and laid out a blanket to put the pups on.  I gently lifted the sleeping husky puppy from my life and next to his siblings. His fur was so soft, he whined for a second then settled in.

I stood up, "I am coming to, and you cant say no."

Emily glared at me and shook her head, "Your sisters need you here."

I felt a little bit of anger bubble up in my throat, "Why!? It's not hunting. Plus, I have better solving skills then you do sand you know this. I'm your best bet."

I saw James place his hand on Emily's shoulder. Emily flinched and turned to look at him.

"I think you should let him come. The kid needs to learn at some point," James said and I looked at him with thankful eyes.

Please say yes Emily! Let me prove myself!

Emily sighed, rolled her eyes, and nodded, "Very well, come along then."

Yes! I grabbed my coat and walked to the door with my sister and James.

"Thanks James," I whispered in his ear when Emily had gone upstairs for a second.

"No problem," He replied, "Just don't let us down."

"Oh you won't have to worry," I smiled and Emily ran down the stairs signaling it was time to leave and solve this mystery.

I was so happy to finally help my sister, she would always bring Sophie because Sophie was older than me. When your younger, being the youngest sibling means you get more sympathy and people do more stuff for you. But, once you get older and your older brother or sister won't let you do anything and you are getting restless, it gets annoying. Trust me.