The Revolution

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

I woke to the sound of chopping in the kitchen, so I turned my head to see Rachel cutting up fruit.  My rumbling stomach was telling me to get up and help, but I didn't want to wake Aaron up who was sleeping behind me.  Carefully, I removed his hand that was resting on my arm, and rolled silently off the sofa.  I looked up at Aaron - he was lying on his side, his brown hair dishevelled around his face.  The feelings in the pit of my stomach returned, but I pushed them away and went into the kitchen.   Rachel turned around and smiled at me.

"Morning." She chuckled.  "You and Aaron were both fast asleep when we came home." She said, smiling.  "You want to help?" She asked, and I nodded tiredly.  "I'm making a fruit salad."  I smiled, I remember our Cook making fruit salad, but I can't remember exactly what goes in it, so I took some more fruit out of the fridge, along with some lettuce.  I washed and tore the lettuce, before putting it into some bowls.  I then arranged the chopped fruit on top.

"What on earth are you making?" Aaron asked sleepily as he looked at the lettuce and fruit in front of me.

"Fruit salad." I frowned, did I do it wrong?  I thought for a moment, should there be more vegetables in there?  Aaron raised an eyebrow...I obviously had done it wrong.  I sighed.  "Ok, how do I do it then?" I asked.  Aaron put away the lettuce, and chopped up the rest of the fruit, before arranging it in the bowl.  He handed me one of the bowls and a fork.

"Fruit salad." He said smiling.  I looked into the bowl - there was no salad in there, just fruit.  So why's it called a fruit salad?  Rachel smiled at us, then went to the stairs to call the girls down.  When Rachel mentioned the word "breakfast", there was a loud THUD above us, and seconds later, Louisa, Marnie and Belle were racing down the stairs to get to the kitchen.  They must've been hungry.  I smiled at them, and ate my fruit 'salad'.

"How's the food growing going mum?" Aaron asked Rachel, when he'd finished his food.  She smiled.

"Very good actually, we've got a small patch and there's some carrots and potatoes planted." She said happily.  "Either of you have any plans for today?" She asked us.  Aaron shook his head, and I shrugged. 

"I might go around the woods and see if there's any fruit on the trees that we can sell or trade." I said, remembering that there were a few apples on the trees by the lake/pond yesterday. 

"I'll help you."  Aaron offered, and I nodded. 

We put the plates away and got changed, before walking outside.  I showed him the way, following the trail that Zayne and I had left the previous day.  Within a few minutes, we were by the lake (well, it wasn't quite as big as a lake, but it was larger than a pond), and surrounded by trees.  I saw some apples and instantly climbed the trees to get to them.  I sat on a large branch and picked the shiny fruit, before dropping them to Aaron.

"Hey, look!"  Aaron said, just as I dropped an apple, which hit him on the head as he wasn't looking.  I stifled a laugh when he shot me an annoyed look.

"Sorry." I giggled, and climbed down.  Aaron moved to the lake and crouched by the edge. 

"Check it out, there's a fish in there that's like a metre long!" He exclaimed, pointing at a dark shadowy figure swimming just below the surface.

"That's great Aaron, but how do you propose we get to it?" I asked, slightly sarcastically.  Aaron glanced around at the floor, before smiling and picking up a long stick with a sharp end.  He crouched again, and when the fish was close, he attempted to stab it, but it was too fast.  He tried again and again, but he was too far away. 

"Here, give me the stick." I said impatiently, taking the spear.  I crouched by the edge, and held my left hand out.  "I'm going to lean over the lake, now don't let me fall in." I warned.  Aaron took my hand with both of his and nodded.  I slowly leant forwards, and Aaron pulled back gently, so I was stable.  I waited until the fish came back.  It was about 2 metres away from me, and was slowly swimming closer.