Down By The River

23

𝔹𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕟

Charlotte was clasping her hands around the cup of tea that Abigail had made for her. She felt really guilty for barging into their house in the middle of the night like this, but she was also close to dying, so she felt like she had an excuse. Still, Abigail was fussing about her so much and she was so worried the entire time that it made Charlotte feel bad about showing up. If she had come home like this, all she would have gotten was a beating, so Abigail making such an effort for her felt kind of embarrassing, as if she was being a bother or something like that.

Of course Charlotte knew that Abigail was just trying to be nice and all. And she was probably trying to make sure that she didn't die (at least not in her house), but for some reason it still felt wrong. Not that Charlotte wasn't enjoying getting pampered like this. It was nice to be wrapped up in a bunch of blankets with some hot tea and a small bite to eat, sitting in front of the fire. Everything seemed so surreal. It was hard to believe that Charlotte had almost died tonight. It seemed so far away and right now she was just tired. She wished she could just fall asleep right here and right now. But she knew that Zach and Abigail were talking about her.

This was about what she would do, now that she had almost been killed. Charlotte didn't want to miss this discussion. She wanted to know what the plan was, because she sure as hell didn't have anything even remotely like a plan. She just knew that there was no way she could ever come back home again. And there was no way she could stay in this town, because Ephraim was still alive and he knew that she knew his secret and if he found out that she wasn't dead... well, Charlotte could only imagine that he would make sure that she would be dead sooner rather than later. The problem was that Charlotte didn't really have anywhere to go. She was on her own - she had no extended family somewhere else, she had no one.

Abigail insisted that she could stay with her and Joel until they figured something out, but Zach was sure that Charlotte would have to leave town as soon as possible. Tonight, ideally. After he had taken care of something. Charlotte was pretty sure that she knew what that something was, but she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about Zach being able to do anything like this, even though she wouldn't blame him for it. She just pretended that she had no idea what he was talking about. Not that it worked very well for her.

"Zach, where is she going to go? You're going to do your thing - which I still don't think is a good idea and you know it - and then what? Where will she go? Travel through the country on her own? She's just 18, Zach! She's barely ever left this town." Abigail argued. Zach looked grim.

"She doesn't have no one." he muttered. Charlotte felt like she wasn't even in the room, but just some far off observer of all of this taking place. People talking about her future, without her having a say. She might as well not have been there. It was making her angry that things were like this.

"Who does she have out there? You?" Abigail wanted to know. Charlotte could hear Zach take a deep breath.

"Yes. If she wants to stay with me, that is." he replied. Charlotte didn't need to turn around to know that Abigail was rolling her eyes at that. She was well aware that Abigail was not a fan of the idea of her living with Zach. She just wasn't sure why that was - maybe because they weren't married, or because it would be a difficult life... but Charlotte didn't mind any of that. Or at least she thought that she didn't mind. Of course she wasn't going to find out until she tried it.

"Zach. No. You can't do that to her. She's a young woman. You can't drag her around to live like an outlaw. Always hiding, always running away, never having any sort of security. It's not fair."

"I know it's not fair, Abigail. I know. Do you think that I would have wanted this for her, if there had been a choice? Of course not. It's not fair, but not many things in life are. She can either stay in hiding all by herself, or she can come with me. I can take care of her. We'll figure it all out, somehow." Zach snapped at her. Abigail sighed. Charlotte shuffled on the floor, so she could turn around and watch them talking. She wondered when they'd ask her opinion, because she had already made up her mind. This whole discussion was pretty much useless.

"Zach, I don't know... what if she's unhappy with you? What if she falls in love with someone else? You barely know each other. It just... it seems like you're dooming her to this kind of life when she barely even knows who she is." Abigail answered quietly. Charlotte hadn't even thought of that. Maybe because she would have been doomed to marry whoever her parents would have chosen for her anyway. She didn't think she ever had much of a choice in life.

"Look, if there is ever someone else or if things aren't working out... I want her to have a good life. That's all I want. But she won't be able to have a good life hiding here. She won't be able to have a good life running away on her own. I don't think she'll have a good life running off with me, but it's better than the other options." Zach explained. Charlotte cleared her throat, trying to get them to pay some attention to her. After all, they were talking about her life right now.

"Don't you think this should all be up to me? Since... you know... this is kind of my life?" she said. The words 'my life' felt strange on her tongue - like she never really thought about the concept that her life could be her own. It was a bewildering thought, but also a strangely comforting one.

"Of course... of course, yes. You should have the last say in this. What do you want?" Abigail asked her. Charlotte sighed. She had no idea what she wanted. There were a lot of things she wanted, but she had never really dwelt on any of those. She never thought that she had the luxury to have dreams.

"What do I want...? Honestly, I'd like to have a nice little house by a lake, somewhere deep in the woods with someone I love and that loves me, where we have a good life together, maybe a child or two and where I don't have to worry about anything." she answered. Abigail was about to say something, but Charlotte motioned for her to pause. "But I know that I can't have any of that. At least not right now. Maybe at some point, but we'll see. Right now, I want to be with Zach. I want to leave this town. And I want to see Ephraim Fletcher dead. Not in that particular order, but you get the point."

There was a strange silence in the room after she had said it. It seemed like neither of them knew how to respond to this. Charlotte didn't even think that she had said anything too shocking, but maybe it was the part about wanting Ephraim dead. It seemed a little crass, but if Charlotte thought about ever having to see his face again, she wanted to throw up. She wanted him dead.

"Well, I can take care of that last one, I guess." Zach said quietly. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him.

"You? If anything, it'll be both of us. I'm not letting you head off on your own while I wait back here. I'm coming with you." she told him. Zach was shaking his head vehemently and Abigail had stepped back, probably deciding to let them figure it out among themselves. This was out of her control anyway.

"No. You just almost died. You need to rest, especially if you're planning to come with me. It'll be a rough trip and you need as much rest as you can get." Zach told her. Charlotte scoffed and slowly peeled herself out of the blankets that had been wrapped around her, before standing up. She wasn't feeling too good, that was clear, but she was determined to show Zach that she was fine.

"You know you won't be able to change my mind. I'm coming."