We keep walking through the night till we come to a place where the mountain slope levels out and the forest turns to farmland. Farmhouses dot the fields here and fences crisscross the area. Somewhere off in the distance I hear the roar of whitewater. As fast as we’ve been traveling, I decide we can make it through the farmlands and to William’s home in one night’s travel, so we camp in the forest as daylight comes. We don’t light a fire and I make sure we are far enough back into the trees that we shouldn’t be visible to anyone on the road or anyone who comes to work in the fields.

Jane sleeps in the shade with her pack for a pillow. I try, but sleep doesn’t come to me. Lying about Thomas weighs heavily on my mind. It is odd and concerning that the Reverend took him from the Smiths, especially since he seemed utterly uninterested in having Thomas in his home on the day of Father’s funeral. Still, the Reverend can’t have any real malicious intentions toward him. Thomas has done nothing that would warrant the Reverend’s displeasure the way we have. We earned his displeasure early by being girls, a sin which Thomas, by nature, cannot commit.

That, however, is not the reason I lied. I told Jane that Thomas was still with the Smiths because if she knew he wasn’t, she would never have agreed to keep going to William’s home. If she knew Thomas was with the Reverend, she would have refused to go on without him. I would either have had to force her or help her retrieve him from the Reverend. Either situation would be likely to result in our being found. I will have to tell her eventually, but I plan to do so when we are far from here. I can handle her fury as long as I know she’s safely out of harm’s way.

“They’ll need you eventually Mary, you’ll have to be ready for that”. I remember a conversation with Father. We’d been in the forest in winter a few years ago, before mother passed, setting snares for the rabbits when I asked him why he never took Jane and Thomas with us. “Too many people will spook dinner away,” he’d laughed when he said this, but quickly became very grim and serious. “You’re all very special children, Mary, but Jane and Thomas are special in different ways than you. There are things they need to know that only your Mother can teach them and there are things you need to know that I can teach you”.

I remember asking him what sort of things I needed to know. I wanted to make sure I knew so I could learn every one of them. “You have to learn to not be afraid, Mary. That’s the most important thing, you can’t be afraid. I want you to learn this.” He’d gestured toward the snare as he bent down to set it in the snow. “I want you to learn to trap and hunt and read…but you need to learn to not be afraid. Because one day Jane and Thomas both will be afraid. They’ll have to be, and you need to be strong for them. You have to be brave so that you can guide them and you can lead them when you need to.” He stood up and looked into my eyes with an intensity I don’t recall him having either before or since then. “They’ll need you eventually Mary, you’ll have to be ready for that.” He smiled. “And you will be…I’m certain of it. You’ll be there for both of them”.

I wish very much that Father was here. I’d give anything right now to talk to him one more time. I want him to tell me what to do…maybe then I wouldn’t be so afraid. Instead, I am terrified. I don’t know that William will help us. I don’t know that Thomas will be okay in the Reverend’s home, and I certainly don’t know how to be powerful right now. It seems like I’ve failed at everything Father expected of me. With Jane asleep, there is nobody to see me cry. I cry until I fall asleep with my head on my pack. As my eyes close, Father’s voice echoes through my memory and into my dreams. “You’ll be there for both of them…”

By the time I wake, the forest is consumed by twilight. The sun must be setting already. Jane is up before me. She has a loaf of bread we packed divided into halves and is busily munching on her piece. When she sees me awake, she throws my piece at me.

“Wake up sleepy, it’s breakfast time”. She’s smiling and seems happier than she has since we fled from Father’s funeral. I try to catch the flying loaf, but it slips through my hands and swats me on the nose.

“You seem happy…also this is dinner, not breakfast.” I reply before taking a bite out of my bread.

As well.

“I am happy! I woke up first, which means I’m more responsible and I get to be bossy. Also, breakfast is the first meal of the day and since we’re living like owls, now this is the first meal of our day.” She’s being smart. She must have gotten that from Mother…Father was definitely never like that. Not true, he was always telling dumb jokes. I correct myself.

“Well, you don’t know where we’re going, which means you can’t be in charge and I have to be the bossy one.” I smile back at her and she exaggerates an eye roll.

“Fine, but I’m still more responsible.”

“Fine,” I snark back and take a bite of my bread.

When the sun has fully set, we set out carefully across the fields, picking our way through the corn and crops parallel to the road. I’ve stopped being as careful about our trail since we made it this far. We’re not the only ones who walk in these fields. The farmers who work with them are in them during the day, so our trail should be lost in all their footprints. Not that anyone is likely to be following us, anyway.

Per Father’s description of William’s home, we should see his home near an oxbow that was cutoff from the rest of the river. He said it was around ten miles downstream from where the village road enters the valley.I’m not sure what his home looks like other than this…for that matter, I have no actual idea of what William looks like. I hope William will recognize us. We may have to ask for directions as we get closer, but by then we should be far enough away that nobody will recognize us.

As we trek through the night, we see the fields and lights from scattered farmhouses slip away into the darkness behind us. We walk in silence except for the occasional warning of holes in our path or tripping hazards. We don’t stop for breaks or to rest. We both sense that we are close to our destination…one way or another, our running will be over soon.

Gradually, the sound of water crashing over rocks reaches my ears. I remember this sound; it comes to me from somewhere deep in my memory. I remember the sound of crashing water lulling me to sleep as I slept on soft pillows, overlapping gently with Father’s voice. Maybe I dreamed it up? Or maybe the memory has come back to me in my dreams before? Either way, I know we are close. A mile more And suddenly the farmland falls away behind us into the night. In front of us, the canyon walls disappear and the horizon stretches away, flat and unbroken till it meets the stars. In the distance, a single light shines in the darkness. We stand for a long while until the sky in the east takes on a pale light. A bird sings somewhere far in front of us. I don’t recognize the call.

To our right, we finally see the river. It flows slowly here, winding like a snake across the flat ground. Jane stares at it in wonder for some time. I realize now she has never seen the river before, never even left the village for that matter.

“Let’s go Jane,” I whisper in her ear, “we’re almost there.”

We keep following the river. I see now that the light in the distance has come from a two-story house. When we get closer, I see it sits next to a curved lake, formed when a curve in the river grew too large and was cutoff from the river’s flow. An oxbow lake. This must be William’s house.

We travel the last distance and as we approach; I find a hole amidst some boulders a hundred feet or so from the house. I have Jane slip down between them. I want her to hide here while I go to the house. She protests but shortly relents. I’ll come back for her when I have made sure that everything is safe.

The house is large and I see now that there is a stable attached to the south side of it where we couldn’t see it before. Two large brown horses are inside and eye me curiously as I approach. I raise my hand and knock on the door. Shortly it swings half open to reveal a large man, dark-skinned with a long mane of black hair, peeking through..

“Who are you?” He looks at me through narrow eyes.

I take a step back in surprise before I can begin speaking “I’m sorry I know it’s early…I’m looking for someone and I was hoping…”

“Who…are…you?” He interrupts me and stresses each word. His voice raises somewhat…I remember when Father’s voice rose like that it was because he was angry. His eyes flash with a blue fire. For a moment, I think of Jane and the way her eyes flashed in the cave.

“My name is Mary and I’m looking for a man named William!” I blurt out before I can think. The man’s head jerks back and his mouth opens, though no noise comes out. Suddenly the door flies completely open, and the man bounds out, speaking so rapidly I struggle to comprehend him.

“Mary! Oh my God! What are you doing here? Where’s David?” He stops and takes a deep breath before continuing. “I’m sorry…I’m William. My word I haven’t seen you since you were a child. I recognize you now.” He looks me in the eye and looks suddenly concerned. “Where’s David?”

I try to speak but I can’t. My mouth moves noiselessly and tears well uncontrollably in my eyes. “He…Father is…he didn’t,” I finally stammered.

“My God…I’m…I’m so sorry Mary…your brother and sister…are they with you?”

I nod slowly. “Jane…” I choke out before gesturing toward the boulders where I left her. He nods before bounding off toward Jane’s hiding spot. I hear voices…Jane’s turning from panic to relief and William’s soothing her. Before long, he returns with Jane at his side.

“Let’s get you inside,” He says and hurries us both through into his home. Compared to the homes in the village, William’s home is massive. It is two stories with beautiful wooden floors and soft furniture. Light streams in through the windows and the sun pleasantly warms the home. We pass through a sitting room with soft green chairs and a long couch before reaching a spacious and well-lit kitchen. He pulls us up chairs around a long, dark wooden table and hangs a kettle over a fire that is crackling in the hearth. Shortly he removes it and pours into mugs with tea which he hands to me and Jane, keeping one for himself before sitting.

“So David is…gone?” Jane and I nod and William looks down at the table. “I’m sorry kids…tell me what has happened…you look like you’ve traveled from hell to get here.” I look down at myself, then over at Jane. Caked in mud and dirt with leaves and twigs stuck to our clothes; scraped and bruised from crawling through the fields, we must look like we’ve been to hell and back.

I try to talk, but the words catch in my throat. There’s just too much. Fortunately, Jane takes over. She tells him the story from the day we fled Father’s funeral, to the arrival at the cave, to our nighttime journey through the valley. William doesn’t say much. He pushes his fingers together in front of himself as I speak and mostly nods or asks the occasional question for clarification. When Jane tells him about the spellbook in the cave, his eyes narrow but he says very nothing. When she tells him that Thomas is with the Smiths, he glances sidelong at me before returning his attention to Jane. When she finishes, he is silent and stares at us both.

“Well, this is all…very troubling,” he says at last. He speaks slowly and carefully. “For the moment, however, you should both rest. We can divine what to do about Thomas and the Reverend when you’ve washed and slept. Jane, I’m going to go fill the tub for you to bathe and then I’ll make you something to eat…Mary you can clean up after Jane.”

He stands and leaves, returning some time later to take Jane away to her bath. When he returns, he sits back down at the table with me. “It is very…odd…that the Reverend would allow Thomas to be taken in by the Smiths. They were never in his inner circle, not people he trusted, unless that has changed since last I visited your father.” He stares me in the eyes and I drop my head, unable to hold his gaze. “Something tells me that Thomas is not really with the Smiths, is he?”

I nod, still unable to hold William’s gaze. “I see,” he says slowly. “Well…perhaps you made the right choice, taking only Jane. Whatever the case, you did the right thing by coming here.” He stands and walks around the table to put his hands on my shoulders. “You did well, Mary…now go clean up and we’ll get you fed.”

Jane returns, and William leads me through the home to a small room with a large washtub. He leaves me and I wash. The water is surprisingly warm. I scrub everywhere I can with soap I find on a small table by the tub. When I get out, I feel cleaner than I have in weeks and the water is a murky brown. William knocks to inform that he has brought clean clothes, which he leaves outside the door. When I am dressed, I leave and find my way back to the kitchen.

William and Jane are there, and William has eggs and bacon sizzling in a pan over the fire. He pulls it out when I have sat down and divides it onto plates for us. It is warm and I eat too fast. When we finish, he shows us to a room upstairs with a gigantic bed. Jane and I lay down and I am suddenly aware of how heavy my eyes are. I am asleep before I know it. I sleep the whole day, waking briefly before. Sunset. When I wake, I can hear William outside through an open window in the room. He is singing in a language I have never heard. The beautiful but alien melody washes over me and mixes with the faint roar of the river, sending me immediately back to sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7