Down By The River

2

𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕕𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕜𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

Zachariah Wright was sitting at the kitchen table, warming his hands on the hot cup of tea his friends had brewed for him. He had gotten into town fairly late the night before, so they had just shown him to his room and let him sleep. Now was time to catch up on everything that had happened in the last 13 years. Zach had heard a lot of things in letters from them already, but it wasn't the same as sitting together and having some tea and breakfast. It was a very calm and slow morning, except for Abigail who was busy getting ready for church and making breakfast.

Joel and Abigail weren't very religious and Zach knew that. But this was a small town and it was easier if at least one of them kept up appearances. So Abigail went to church regularly, just to keep everyone else quiet. They were running a business after all and had to keep a somewhat good reputation. It was damaging enough that they had been friends with him back in the day.

But Joel was staying home most days. He was going whenever there was something important happening, but that was about it. It was enough to keep people somewhat satisfied. Zach had been wondering whether he should go to church as well, just to make an appearance in town, but Joel and Abigail had warned him profusely. It wasn't going to be safe if he as much as showed his face in public. He needed to hide and wait until the right time had come.

Of course he wasn't going to hide away that long. He wanted people to know that he was back. He wanted them to see that he wasn't afraid of them anymore, that they couldn't just keep him down this easily anymore. But he figured that it was probably better if he stayed here for a while and didn't cause a commotion in the church. Plus, he wanted to spend some time with his friend and hear what had happened all these years he had been gone. He wondered whether anyone they had known back then had gotten married, whether everyone was still alive, what everyone was doing.

Zach had spent his entire childhood here and he missed the people he had grown up with. He knew that they probably had no good words left for him, but he still missed them and he still wanted to know what they were up to and what happened to them, no matter if they felt the same way or not. He just hoped that Abigail would be able to tell him lots, before she left for mass, because Joel was hopeless when it came to remembering what was new in the town.

"I told you most of the important things that happened in the letters already, I don't know what else you want me to say... I told you about Genie getting married and moving away, didn't I? And about Pippa running off with that highwayman, yeah?" Abigail asked, as she was tying up her hair in a hurry. She'd most likely be late at this stage, because the inn was a good bit away from the inn.

"You didn't tell me that piece about Pippa. She had a younger sister, didn't she? How old is she now?" Zach wanted to know. Abigail nodded and finished up with her hair, before rummaging through a chest to find a scarf.

"She's 18 now. Lovely young girl. She's good friends with Charlotte Anderson, they're the same age." Abigail told him and started wrapping her scarf around her shoulders. Zach could only think of how striking he had always found her long, black hair. He used to have a crush on her when he was maybe twelve years old. But that was over rather quickly. Joel hadn't liked her at all at that time, but then he had ended up marrying her. They seemed quite happy together and Zach was glad that things had worked out for them. He still really admired Abigail's hair.

"What, little Lottie? Lottie Anderson is already 18?" he asked in disbelief. He should have known, but it seemed surreal. He remembered Charlotte Anderson, she had only been a little girl when everything had happened and he had to leave. He remembered that she was a bright girl, always curious, always asking questions. He wondered whether she was still like that or if it had been beaten out of her yet. The people around here didn't like seeing young girls that were too curious.

"She is. She's very beautiful. I'm surprised her parents haven't married her off yet, but there isn't really anyone around. Either way, she's helping out with the rest of the kids, so maybe they want to keep her around for a little longer. I'm not sure, they don't talk about her much. I get the feeling they don't really like her." Abigail answered with a sigh. Zach nodded. He could have known that. The Anderson's were quite old-fashioned people and Lottie was much too curious for their tastes. Even as a young girl he had seen her mother scolding her relentlessly for asking so many questions.

"How many younger ones do they have at this point?" Zach wanted to know. He glanced at Joel who was yawning and slowly slurping his tea. He usually took a while to wake up in the morning.

"Let me see... there's the twins and then there is little Noah... they're four now. They had another one before the twins but he died. Either way, I'll have to get going. Joel can hopefully tell you a little more, but if he doesn't know, just ask me when I get back." Abigail replied and put on her shoes, before heading downstairs quickly. Zach turned around to Joel who was rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"I don't know how she can get out of bed this early just to go to church. I could never get myself to get dressed this early." he muttered with a big grin on his face. Zach smiled and shook his head.

"I'm surprised you're not going with her, honestly. Letting her suffer all alone." Zach said. Joel laughed.

"I think she'd suffer more if I was with her. I can't keep my mouth shut when I hear some of the bullshit those people say. Especially about you." he told him.

"Are they still talking about me?" Zach wanted to know. He was really curious how serious the situation was and how angry everyone still was. It had been 13 years since he had last been here, after all. It was possible that people had started to forget about what had happened. Unlikely, but entirely possible.

"Oh yeah. Not openly. But they still have an unreasonable hate for you. Believe me, you don't want to go out there and show your face. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they sent a lynch mob after you. These people aren't forgiving. Not one bit." Joel said, sounding very serious all of a sudden.

"Well, I don't need them to be forgiving. There's nothing to forgive." Zach said, his voice turning gloomy. He didn't like the insinuation that he had done anything wrong. Or rather that he actively had done anything wrong that needed forgiveness. Maybe he had made plenty of mistakes, he wasn't going to argue against that, but despite him being guilty he wasn't the only one that was guilty.

"I know, I know. But they don't know that. They don't want to know. They have their villain and it's you and they're not going to change their minds." Joel said.

"I'll make them reconsider that."

"Look, Zach, I don't know what you're planning here and why you're even back and I don't want to know. Just... make sure you take care of yourself, alright? I don't want you to do anything you'll end up regretting. Or something that'll get you into even more trouble than you're already in. And be careful if you have to go out into the town. They won't take kindly to seeing you." Joel told him. Zach nodded. He wished he could tell him about his plan, but he knew that he was just going to make him responsible as well. He didn't want that. As long as he didn't know anything, no one could blame him for anything.

"I'll be careful when I go out, don't worry. You know me." Zach told him.

"That's exactly why I'm telling you to be careful. I know we used to joke around a lot, but this isn't a joke, Zach. I'm dead serious. It'll be dangerous for you to leave this house, even in the middle of the night. Be careful."