The Wizard Of Jarbidge

Chapter 2

Cliff and I headed into town. When I looked around, everything looked very different than when I remembered a month ago.

There were less buildings, the grass was very brown, and I did not see one tree! There were hundreds of trees when I was there!

"What happened to all the trees, Cliff?" I asked my new friend.

Cliff whined in concern, having heard sadness in my voice.

We walked up to a house that I just barely recognized. It was my own house, but it looked so different.

I knocked on the door and waited. A tall young man with curly brown hair opened the door.

"Well, hello there, Stranger. How can I help you?" He asked.

'Stranger?' I thought.

"Uh, yes." I told him. "About a month ago, this was my house and I lived here with my parents."

"A month ago?" He asked, with a confused look on his face. "I've been living in this house for three years."

"Three years?!" I exclaimed.

Cliff whined again, hearing the surprise in my voice.

The young man nodded. "Yes, my boy. Three years. Now... where are your parents?" He asked, looking around to find them.

I looked down at the ground. "They're gone. They... they died going over a cliff three... maybe four years ago..."

The young man gasped and looked at me. "I'm sorry to hear that, son. ... wait, did you say four years ago?" I nodded. "Aye, four years ago, a family drove their horse carriage over a cliff. I remember that story. The old landowner told it to me before I moved in. Said a young boy about eight years old, died with his parents over that cliff. How did you hear about it?"

I shrugged. I didn't want to tell this guy who I was. At least, not just yet. So, yes, I may have lied, but it was necessary for me to not die again, just yet.

"My parents told me about it... be... before they died..." I told him.

He nodded and gestured inside his house. "Well, won't you come in? My wife makes a wonderful home stew for dinner."

I nodded and followed him inside his house.

"Is it ok if Cliff comes inside, too?" I asked him, gesturing to Cliff who was sitting on the doorway.

The man nodded. "Of course, he can. Come on in, boy."

Cliff barked happily and padded inside.

The young man closed the door and pointed to the table. "Go ahead and sit down there, I'll go get Maggie."

"Maggie?" I asked.

"My wife." He replied, before disappearing in the room next door.

I sat down at the table and got comfortable. Cliff layed down by my feet.

A few moments later, the young man came back.

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is John and this is my wife Maggie." He said.

Maggie looked just a little younger than John did. She lightly smacked him on the arm. "John, you didn't introduce yourself, before you let the boy in?" She asked him.

John shrugged. "I forgot."

Maggie shook her head and moved over to the stove to get dinner started. "What's your name, sweetheart?" She asked me.

"Max." I replied.

"Well, Max." She said. "You are more than welcome to sleep in our barn for as long as you would like."

I nodded. "That's very kind of you ma'am. Thank you."

She nodded and hummed while she cooked, just like my mom used to do.

When dinner was ready, I ate that homeade stew like I was starving. Which, I pretty much was.

And then, it was over all too soon. My belly was full and I walked into the barn. My old barn. I walked up to the loft and settled down amung the hay. Boy, when they say "hit the hay", I really did that.

Anyway, Cliff and I fell asleep. When we woke up, we were gagged and I had a brown bag over my head. It was very itchy.

The road was very bumpy, so I knew that we were in a horse carriage. After dying in one of those, horse carriages were not on my happy list.

Cliff whined. "Shhhh, it's ok, boy. We'll be fine." I reassured him. He must have not heard much confidence in my voice, because he whined again.

A rough voice yelled from the front of the horse carriage. "Shut up, back there!"

I sighed and waited to see what fate would bring me this time.

About four hours of driving on the bumpy road, the horse carriage came to a lurching stop. Rough hands grabbed me and Cliff yelped as someone grabbed him, too.

We were dragged into a building and I was thrown onto the ground.

The brown bag came off and I looked around. The two goons who had captured me were tall, scruffy, and looked like they hadn't showered in a month. Which, they probably hadn't. People back then didn't take showers that often. They took cold river baths.

Anyway, goon number one, (let's call him Tom), he cracked a whip and glared at me. Goon number two, (let's call him Jerry), he cracked his knuckles.

"What do you want with me?" I asked. "What kind of idiots kidnap an eight year old?"

Tom cracked his whip. "Oh, we have reason to believe that your not eight years old." He said.

Jerry laughed. "Yeah."

"Ok, fine." I said. "I'm twelve. That still doesn't mean that you can kidnap me."

"And now you just confirmed it!" Tom yelled at me, cracking his whip and hitting my shoulder.

I cried out in pain and gritted my teeth. "And now your abusing me. You know, your really getting up there on my naughty list."

"Such big words for a twelve year old." Jerry said, cracking his knuckles again.

Cliff whined and I looked at these guys in terror. I knew we were definitely not getting out of here alive and I was terrified. I looked down, sadly preparing for the next hit that I was sure to receive.