Message in a Bottle [LGBTQ+] [ONC 2024]

Chapter Four

He hadn't expected a reply to his letter so soon, but when Eli checked the bottle to find Samuel had written back, he welcomed the distraction from the letter Mr Fredricks had handed to him. Eli didn't want to think about his papa's reaction to the letter, not when he knew he wouldn't be allowed to go.

University was all he ever dreamed of, but his parents couldn't afford the cost to send him to the city. The test could be his chance. Eli didn't want to get caught up in something that would never happen. Instead, he tucked the letter into his desk drawer and did his best not to think about it.

Rather than dwell on the test he would never sit. He sat down to read Samuel's letter after completing his chores and homework. It shocked Eli that Samuel would still want to write to him, given that they couldn't have been any more different. Samuel wrote as though he were crafting a novel; each word was chosen to serve a purpose, his writing more elegant and refined than Eli's would ever be.

They couldn't have been more different.

Yet the reservation he felt when he first read the letter lingered. Samuel hadn't written anything that would resolve Eli's nervousness and ended up creating more questions, but it was not wanting to meet in person that set him on edge. He didn't explain why, didn't expand beyond a few lines, and just changed the subject. It didn't make Eli feel any better.

After supper, Eli stood in the small family kitchen drying the dishes his mother washed. All he could think about was Samuel Owens and how easily he had deflected away from the idea of meeting at the pond.

"You've been drying the same plate for almost five minutes, Eli. Is something on your mind?" his mother asked.

Eli shrugged, turning away from her and placing the plate in the cupboard. "Not really."

"Did something else happen at school?"

"No," Eli lied, but his stomach throbbed from where Peter had punched him. He knew how his father would look at him if he knew he'd let himself get beaten up.

"Then what is it? Something is bothering you. Usually, you can talk my ear off about school when you wash up."

"Do you know about anyone with the surname Owens who lives nearby?"

"Owens?" His mother frowned, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Silence covered the room for a few seconds as she thought. "There used to be when I was a girl. I went to school with a Mabel Owens, but they moved away before you were born. Why?"

"I read the name somewhere, that's all."

His mother nodded, though Eli wasn't entirely sure she believed the explanation he offered. Although she cleared her facial expression, there was a small wrinkle in the centre of her forehead, which he always took as a sign that she was still thinking about something. Eli didn't want to risk telling her about Samuel and the letters. He knew she wasn't likely to tell his father, but it was a risk he was unwilling to take.

Eli returned to his small attic room that night and returned to the letter that he had safely stowed away from any prying eyes. He read it again, his eyes drawn to a particular paragraph about Samuel's family having just moved to the area. It appeared simple enough on the surface, but with his mother's words spinning through his head, he realised what Samuel may have meant about him knowing them soon enough.

He wondered if their name had once been known in the village for all the wrong reasons. Gossip spread quickly in a small community like theirs and their return would no doubt do the same thing if they left because of a scandal. It would explain his mother's expression, and Samuel's desire to be so secretive about their letter writings and any potential meetings. Still, the doubts crept in.

"Eli?" his father yelled from downstairs. His voice echoed off the walls. "Come here."

Eli tucked the letter under his pillow and scurried down the small ladder that led from his room. He stepped into the dark living space lit by a few small candles that burned in the warm summer heat. "Yes, Papa?"

"What am I always telling you to do with the sheep pen?"

"Keep the gate closed."

"Keep the gate closed. One simple task that even Constance manages whenever she's up there. So, please explain to me why I have spent most of my evening chasing down the sheep from here to Mr Temples' farm?"

He threw a set of iron keys onto the wooden table in the centre of the room. They hit the table with a loud clatter, causing Eli and his mother to jump at the sound. His mother cast a concerned glance at the small box room Constance was sleeping in.

Eli's heart thumped in his chest in time with the ticking clock on the wall just a few steps away from him. His mouth ran dry, his palms grew sweaty, and the bruises on his stomach ached as though they were fresh. He clenched his shaking hands into fists, trying to keep them hidden from his father, who stared down at him with rage burning in his eyes.

The stupid gate.

"It was an accident," Eli said, swallowing past the bile in his throat. "I thought I latched it properly."

"You're supposed to have a brain in that head of yours. Why don't you use it? You spend too much time fishing, or reading outside when you should be helping me run this farm. We agreed that you could keep going to school if you kept up your chores, but all it's doing is getting in the way."

"But—"

"—I'm giving you one more chance. If you don't get your chores done in time, or they're not done as they should, you're dropping out. Earning a living is more important than filling your head with useless information. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." His father grabbed the keys from his pocket and tucked them into his trouser pocket. "Get out to the barn."

"Ronald—"

"—This is between me and the boy. Get."

Eli's stomach churned. He thought about Mr Fredricks' letter, about the exam and the dream of going to university. It would always just be a dream.

He shuffled slowly from the house, crossing the warm night air to the rickety old barn where the horses were stabled for the night. His heartbeat thumped in his ears and his father's loud footsteps followed close behind him.

~~~

First Published - March 23rd, 2024