Greatest Change

Chapter One

          "Boo!" a voice yelled, revealing himself from underneath a large brown blanket. Ah yes, we get to Charlie, the prankster of the entire family. The ten year old boy could do more damage to a town than a fire burning on oil. His crazy black hair was a mess, and his smile of accomplishment shined brightly as Clara had jumped ten feet in fright.

          "Why you little bootless bum-bailey," Clara stomped her foot in annoyance and thought of hitting the worthless brat with the side of her book. But what would be accomplished in that? Only fake tears, angry parents, and possible confiscation of all her books which would not be worth her petty slap.

          "Oh come on Clara O’Hara," her younger brother joked, "it was just a small scare. You need to stop being such a wussy girl."

          "Can't you see I am reading here?" she fumed as she pointed at the small, blue, leather-bound book.

          "That was exactly why I scared you after you closed your book," he smiled and suddenly the wagon stopped. Clara and her brother had shifted at the momentum and then looked outside the wagon. The sky seemed to be setting, the magnificent blue was taking its rest as the smaller colors took its place only for a few minutes before the darkness could take over. She admired those bright pink and luscious orange colors because they were rare throughout a day. It was mostly blue, or black. Rarely would it have its few moments to shine its more vibrant colors. It was those rare things in life that Clara had enjoyed, like small adventures in an unknown forest, or even stealing a book for a day to read and then have to return later.

          "Must be dinner!" Charlie quickly jumped out of the wagon, knocking his stolid sister out of the way. That kid always thought about food, even though he was as skinny as a twig. After breakfast, he'd ask what was for lunch, and after lunch he'd ask what was for dinner. After dinner, he'd ask for dessert, however now on this journey they have no dessert, which was fine because it stopped Charlie's complaining about that. Until sleep was to arrive, he'd just complain about going to bed.

          "Excuse me ma'am but may I escort ya outside?" a hand was sticking out, and Clara left her invisible brain to see Brad there, his hair slicked back and his slight muscles under his button up shirt were the only thing really appealing.

          "Where's my father?" Clara asked as she took his hand and he helped her out of the wagon, careful to watch out for mud, since last time it splattered all over Clara's new dress.

          "He went with the hunting party this time with my father, he should be back soon with dinner. I haven't seen you since breakfast darling, what have ya been doing all day?" he asked me as he led me towards the center of our party gathering. Every night the wagons were arranged in a circle, so that everyone around the small fire could be together. There were twenty wagons in total with them, meaning there was an estimate of eighty people in their journey. However, they were traveling with a much larger group, but separated into intervals. Around eight miles east, were another twenty wagons, and around eight miles west, were another group. In conclusion, they weren't alone, but yet to Clara it felt like that.

          "I was just reading," Clara replied as she held her book tightly in the other hand not holding Brad's.

          "Really Clara," Brad tried to explain, "Ya won't find much in those books. You need to grab a horse and ride in front of the wagons with me. There... out there, out here is the world! You say ya can view different worlds and people through books, and have exciting adventures, but you should look up and around to see all of that is in front of ya. How can ya say the world is in your books when ya just do not look up to view it?"