Tales of Folkvare: Edwin

Chapter 2: Forts and Cheese

"It's time to wake up Edwin. The pigs need fed." I awaken suddenly to the soft words of my mother. My vision is blurred, my face hurts. I go to touch my face, but my hands are bound. I quickly sit up and panic fills my chest.

The walls surrounding me are made of stick and dirt. The ground beneath me is cold wet grass and, is that blood? I must've said that out loud because a blanket raises just a few feet from me. It's a boy, older than me but still a child. He quickly rushes over to me and takes his sleeve to my face. I wince at the pain but he's not hurting me, he's cleaning me.

"I am so sorry I hurt you," he says in a bit of a scratchy voice, seemingly trying to stay quiet but shaken. "I think I broke your nose. I don't think it's serious though, just a little, bent." He let's out a short chuckle. "My name is Thomas. I thought you might've been with that hooded guy so I took my chance. But you're not a dwarf, you're just a kid like me."

"My, my parents. They're..." He cuts me off, almost as if to protect me from having to say the words out loud myself. "Dead, just like mine. I don't know why or who did it but I swear to Maatu that I will find out who it was and kill them myself."

Maatu, the god of death. He's serious about this. I never heard that name spoken about except during rituals by the priest. "My name is Edwin, I'm six. How old are you?" He looks me in the eyes, "Only six huh?" He giggles, "Only half my age. Now I feel even more bad for hitting you."

What he says seems genuine. I wonder how long I've been here. The sun's rays are shining through holes in the walls.

"This is a fort my older brother and I built a few years ago together before he was sent out to Silver Lake for training in the king's forces."

"Your brother is a soldier of the king," I ask with true excitement but wince at the pain as I jump onto my feet. "That means he can help us find who-"

"He's dead," he cuts me off before I can try to make any type of hopeful plan. A grasp at any straw fate may offer me.

"I'm, I'm sorry I didn't know." How would I know? It seems like he may be accustomed to death. Maybe it's because he's twelve he's able to act so strong right now.

He peaks outside of his makeshift fort. The cool autumn wind blows onto my face and reminds me how close we are to winter. I should be outside cutting wood with my dad, preparing for the harsh blizzards that come each year.

"What do you think we should do next," I ask him as I pick off the leftover blood under my nose.

"My dad has a small boat at our dock. I used to take it out past the shore to fish with him. I can't get it out on the water by myself though. I'd need help rowing. Do you think you have the strength to help me with that?"

"Of course I can! I might be young but I'm a farmer's son. I can take care of myself." I almost believed it myself. I am far too weak to walk to the shore from here, let alone row a boat.

"Do you have any food or waterskins at your home that we could take with us?" As he asks me that question all I can think about is my parents bodies, butchered, scattered around the floor.

"You don't have to go inside. I can do it for you, Edwin." He brushes off my shoulders and knocks me on the chin. It was lightly but my face still hurts from him punching me.

"Sorry, I'll stop hitting you."

We both laugh as we head out of his fort and make our way to my family's farm.

It's not a long journey to my home. Just an hour if that. Makes me wonder though, Thomas must be strong. I don't think he dragged me all the way to his fort. He must've carried me all the way there. He heads inside as I sit on the porch. I can't go inside, I don't want to. Sitting on the porch is even too close for me but Thomas wants me close so he can keep an eye on me.

Suddenly I hear him yelling in excitement from inside, "Cheese? Dried meats? Jars of milk? Edwin you guys were loaded!"

Loaded, I think to myself, hardly. What he found was our stock put away for the winter. It was a rough year for us on the farm. We couldn't harvest enough grain to feed the chickens. The pigs were practically eating eachother. The cows kept having stillbirths. To be honest, this was going to be the worst winter we've ever had to try and survive.

As I look down to my feet in shame I see spots of blood. Panic almost sets in but then Thomas comes out with one of my blankets filled with food.

"Edwin, I wish our families would have known each other," he says as he smiles from ear to ear. "I would have given you as much fish as you wanted just for a wheel of this cheese."

"I would've given you a wheel of cheese just to learn how to build forts like yours," I say as I let out a few chuckles.

I didn't have any siblings. A lone child on a farm didn't give me much time on my own. The time alone I did have was spent just running through the woods. Climbing trees, trying to jump limb to limb. Falling more times than making the jump, I must've worried my mother a lot. I should've been safer for her. A tear begins to build up in both of my eyes. Thomas must have noticed because he gave me a little nudge.

"My place isn't too far from yours. We should be able to make it by the end of the day. We don't have to go into my house though if you don't want to," he says as he stops in his place. "Honestly, I don't think I could go inside there either."

I know he's in pain too but he wants to appear strong for me. He must have learned that from his older brother.

"If you want Thomas, we can make our own fort to sleep in tonight." I hardly meant it but he cuts deep with his next words. "We don't have the time for playing around Edwin. We have to leave here and find help."

I guess we'll just sleep in the boat tonight.