Red haired girl

Chapter 2

"Yes?" the tutor asked. Will hesitated. What if he was making a fool out of himself? Then he shrugged. He already had made a fool out of himself.

"I don't really know what to do," Will said hesitantly. One of the other boys started to laugh. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh, though. It was the same boy who spoke to Will yesterday. The tutor smiled slightly.

"You," he said to Will, who felt his ears turning red, "are the only one to pass the first test: honesty." The big boy immediately fell silent. He looked at the tutor, astonishment written all over his face and his eyes big of indignation, as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Will felt relieved. He hadn't made a fool out of himself!

"Today you are going to study," the tutor continued. "You are going to study the pattern of the woods." The big boy laughed scornfully.

"Really? The pattern of the woods?! What the hell is that?" The tutor gave him a piercing glance.

"What is your name?" he asked calmly. The big boy straightened.

"My name is Bryan Nicolson,” he replied in a challenging voice. Will closed his eyes for a moment. Bryan Nicolson, of course. His father, sir Nicolas, was, together with Will’s father, the hero of the war. They had made it possible for the king’s army to win the war. It was obvious that Bryan had let his father’s achievements get to his head.

“Well, Bryan Nicolson, the pattern of the woods is very important,” the tutor said in a low voice, his brow low over his eyes. “Could anyone here tell me what the pattern of the wood means?” Will closed his eyes again. He remembered his father talking about it, but he forgot what the night had said. He reopened his eyes to see one of the other boys raise his hand.

“What’s your name?” the tutor asked.

“It’s Noah,” the boy said uncertainly. The tutor gestured to Noah that he could continue.

“I think the pattern of the wood has something to do with the animals and the plants living in it?” Noah said in a questioning voice. The tutor raised his eyebrows.

“Are you asking or telling me that?” Noah looked to one of the other boys for support, but the boy quickly looked away.

            Now Noah had mentioned the animals and plants, Will remembered what his father had said. It had been raining outside and Will had been bored. His father had taken him with him to the woods, while Will had been constantly complaining about his clothes getting wet. His father had ignored that and had started to talk. He had told Will all about a couple of bushes with red berries in them. He told Will which one were edible and which were poisonous. His father had told Will that the wildlife in the woods could save your life, if you knew what you must and mustn’t take.

            Noah was still wondering whether he was sure about his answer or not, when the tutor looked at Will.

“You, what is your name?” he asked him, squinting ever so slightly, as though he knew something the rest of them didn’t, which, Will supposed, was the case.

“My name is Will Stevenson,” Will said, happy to actually be certain about an answer for once.

“Now, Will Stevenson, could you help Noah out?” the tutor asked, once again crossing his arms behind his back.

“Well, the pattern of the woods contains all life, living in the woods,” Will started hesitantly. “It is important, because when you can’t reach you party, and you have no food, you could take some things out of the woods to survive.” The tutor nodded.

“That’s right. And do you know why you have to study the pattern of the woods?” he questioned.

“Because not everything will help you,” Will said. “There are many more poisonous things than safe ones.” The tutor smiled slightly.

“Poisonous indeed,” he said. “Does anyone have questions so far?” He looked at the six boys in front of him. “No? Good. You are going to the woods in pairs. Each pair gets an exercise; each pair gets a different one, of course. You will do as the exercise says and when you are finished, you can come back here. And not a second earlier. Understood?” Several of the boys nodded, including Will. The tutor sighed. “Let’s do that again. Understood?!” This time, every boy answered with a clear “Yes, sir!”

“That’s better,” the tutor said. “Now I’m going to make pairs. Oh, and by the way, you can call me Owen."

            For a moment, Owen just looked at the boys. "Okay, you and you," he said, pointing at two of the boys. "You and you," Now he pointed to Noah and another boy. "And you and you." He pointed to Will and Bryan. Will closed his eyes for a moment. Great. "Now, I want one of each pair to come here to get the exercise," Owen continued. Bryan stepped forward and took the paper that Owen handed him. When he turned his back to Owen, Bryan smiled viciously at Will. The look seemed to say: welcome to hell.