"Miss?" James asked.
"Yes, dear boy?"
"Isn't John supposed to live in town with Rose? He said he'd never make the woods his and she said it too. Isn't he supposed to be a man of his word?"
"Men who claim they are trustworthy are never men of their word, child. Remember that."
"But he didn't break his promise to come home."
"Even Rose wanted an adventure. What called you to these woods?"
"Momma said to come in for dinner, but I was tired of coming in. So I ran to the woods and I kept on going. I felt like a real adventurer. Like Robin Hood shooting dead the bad guys. I didn't have a gun or any bow, really. But I pretended to and I was a hero to all the world."
"That's what called to John and Rose too. Adventure. Freedom. They'd made their promises a long time ago. A longer time ago than the number of years it's been since you were born. The call of the forest was greater than any pact."
"I wouldn't break my pacts, even if it had been a long time."
"We say we won't until we're faced with the choice. John and Rose said they'd never break a promise either."
"Well, I won't."
"You're young yet. You still have a chance to keep your commitments."
"I'll keep them."
"Good."
YOU ARE READING
The Lady of Waterleaf and Wire
General FictionJohnathan Cooper's family has fallen on hard times. At sixteen, Johnathan ventures into the forest outside of his hometown of Cadwell to provide for his parents and younger sister. Disaster soon strikes the inexperienced sixteen-year-old in the wood...
