Flying To New Heights

Chapter Two

Adelaide opened her groggy eyes. Had she fallen asleep? The fire was reduced to embers, which glowed like stars in the night sky. Adelaide silently stood up and slowly opened her bedroom door. She peered out and down the hall at the grandfather clock. Two o' clock, Adelaide thought dismally. She glanced at her mother's door. She could faintly hear her mother snoring. Was this a good time to sneak downstairs to get food? The house was a bit drafty, but Adelaide didn't pay attention to that. She wrapped her hand-me-down cloak around her shoulders. Orchid had given it to her when she had turned fourteen. It was a dark blue, and hid her well in the night. Adelaide tiptoed down the stairs, trying to remember in the dark house which ones creaked and which ones didn't. Shadows seemed to leap out at her from the corners, but she knew better. Monsters weren't real. But most people said most monsters were real; and they were the dragons. Adelaide didn't agree. She never had. That's like saying every dress is a formal dress.
    Adelaide crept into her kitchen, her stomach rumbling violently. With a smile, she walked into the pantry. Food resided on the shelves. Barrels stood in the corner of the large pantry, holding meat that was being preserved with salt. She really wanted to cook a pieces of meat, but she didn't want to wake her mother. So she settled with eating jam out of a jar with a spoon. She loved to do this, even though jam had a lot of sugar and everyone said it made you fat, but Adelaide didn't care. She ate it anyway, right out of the jar. Adelaide smiled and got out a spoon and dipped it into the jar of strawberry jam. She popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes and grinning. Her stomach stopped rumbling, and Adelaide sat down at the table. She ate a second spoonful of jam. Her thoughts slowly drifted to a boy at her school. He had long, black hair, and the most wonderful brown eyes. She closed her eyes and pictured the boy's face. She was in love, even though she knew for a fact that the boy didn't love her back. But she was fine with that. You couldn't always get what you wanted. Adelaide froze. She heard footsteps on the stairs. It must be her mother! Adelaide rushed to the foyer and ducked under her mother's favorite chair.
"Hello?" Her mother said. Her mother sounded so small and insignificant in the dark, where Adelaide couldn't see her. Almost small enough that Adelaide wasn't scared of her. Adelaide held her breath. Then her mother turned on her heel and walked upstairs. Adelaide let out the huge breath she had been holding. About a minute later, Adelaide crawled out from under the chair. She took a few more bites of jam and screwed the lid back on. After putting it in the pantry, she ran upstairs. Quietly, of course.
As Adelaide laid down in bed, she remembered something. The King's Festival starts tomorrow! She thought. The King's Festival was a festival where one the first day the royal family would stroll down the street, leading a marching band. On the second day, children played games set up by vendors and carnies. On the third day, the whole town gathered for a feast. It was all to celebrate the king's birthday. And that meant Adelaide didn't have to go to school. For three whole days! Of course, the kids got Sunday's off so they could go to church, but otherwise they had to go to school. She smiled and settled in and closed her eyes. Rustle. Rustle. What was that? Adelaide sat up straight in bed. Scribble. Rustle rustle scribble. Adelaide looked around. There was nothing and no one. Where was that noise coming from? She ran to her window only to see a dark figure jumping from a ledge on her house down to the ground. She gasped. Was someone spying on her? She raced downstairs, eager to catch whoever had been at her window.
Adelaide threw open her front door. Her cloak billowed behind her. She ran as fast as she could, her bare feet slapping the pavement. Her elbows pumped hard. The figure darted into alleys or side streets and sometimes lost Adelaide, but she always found the figure again. Finally, Adelaide decided to trick the figure. She ended up running into the figure, who fell to the ground. Adelaide grabbed the figure's arm as it tried to run away.
"Who are you?" Adelaide demanded. "And why were you following me?" The figure reached up with the arm that wasn't restrained by Adelaide and took off a mask. It was a woman. She had tan skin and a thin face, along with long, dark hair and brown eyes.
"My name is Mercy. I work for the Parliament of Peace," she said. "And I'm not allowed to tell why I was spying on you." Adelaide narrowed her eyes.
"Tell me," Adelaide said.
"No," Mercy said. "So, please let me go."
"Do you spy on all the teenagers in this town?" Adelaide asked, her voice showing her anger.
"No," Mercy said softly. "Just you." And with that, she was gone. Mercy ran off into the night, leaving Adelaide all by herself on a street she had never been on before.
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