The Dragon Hunter- and the Lost Soul -

Chapter 2

Amanda sighed, lifting her shovel high into the air, ready to move another lot of snow. It was the start of their second week in their new home, and it had already managed to snow quite heavily.

"We've been de-shoveling this dumb-as driveway forever," Robbie complained, dumping himself onto the snow-covered lawn.

"45 minutes is not forever," Amanda said coldly, stretching out her aching back.

"You look more exhausted than me," he remarked, pulling a face of despair.

"Well at least I'm not complaining as much as you," Amanda muttered under her breath, redirecting her attention back to her work.

Robbie huffed. He couldn't believe he was stuck outside doing this chore. Surely this wasn't something every person in the area had to do each winter. Surely their parents just had no idea what they were doing.

"It's not fair," he objected. "How come we have to do all the work on the driveway?"

Amanda slowly turned around to look at him, her gaze threatening to beat him if he didn't shut up.

"Perhaps," she started slowly, as calmly as she possibly could, "Mum and Dad are working on unpacking the rest of the boxes the truck dropped off last week so we can actually have our things available, and perhaps that might be why they can't help us, and perhaps we should just get on with what we've been asked to do instead of complaining like spoiled brats!" Her voice grew louder as she continued, complete frustration taking over.

"Look Robbie," she said warningly. "I swear if you don't shut up and start working properly, I'm gonna punch you so hard. And believe me, oh believe me when I say you have no idea how much self-control I've had to endure to not have already done it!"

She glared at him, turning back again, satisfied he understood.

He seemed a little gob-smacked by her outburst, but then he realised it was probably because she was still mad from him waking her up at 4 in the morning.

They were huddled in their jackets, trying to block out the cold. Although it had stopped snowing, for now, the temperature felt like it was way below zero... which were not ideal conditions to be working in.

After 2 hours of shoveling the snow from the driveway, Robbie and Amanda stumbled inside, exhausted from the back-breaking work.

There was a wave of heat as they walked toward the kitchen. Their mother was cooking something which possessed a pleasant aroma.

Amanda and Robbie placed their shovels and boots at the front door as they proceeded into the living area.

"Where's Dad?" Amanda asked, taking off her jacket, and dumping it on the couch.

"In the garage. He's just unpacking the last few boxes. Shouldn't be too long", she responded. Then she changed the topic. "Was the driveway hard?"

Robbie groaned. "Talk about it," he muttered. "My back is killing me!"

Amanda glared at him. "It was fine," she said coldly, still dead staring at her brother as he walked up the smooth white stairs, that led to the bedrooms.

The house was incredibly modern. The kitchen, for instance, was enormous, lined with perfect, shining black cupboards. There was also a nicely finished island bench, with a black marble top, whilst overhead were hanging lights of a unique shape and design. There was a huge walk-in pantry as well. The fridge was twice the size of their old one, with an installed ice blender on the door... not that anyone would be using the ice blender at least until summer, but it was still remarkable how huge everything was.