Adventures of a Little Sister

Part Three

Little Sister wasn't sure what to think, she didn't have the slightest idea why the soldier wanted men that were a certain age. The two gathered some extra treats for Little Sister and her brothers to take home and walked outside. Grandma held the girl's hand and they walked to the town square. It was a small square, being a small village, but it was where people met for festivals and announcements.

"Little Sister!" She heard Wolf call.

The girl quickly looked around, spotting her brothers walking up to them from behind. She smiled, running over to her brothers. Wolff picked her up and held her as the other boys gathered around.

"Have you boys been met by any guards?" Grandma asked.

"No, but we have heard there is an announcement to be told here in a bit." Vreal explained. "We heard they're collectinng men of a certain age for something."

"You don't think it's for..." Shadow slowly went quiet, not wanting to say it in frot of her sister.

"It very well might be." Grandma answered. "Why else would soldiers be in this part of the kingdom so suddenly?"

The boys nodded, heading for the square now. As they got near, the ycould see the people gathering around. In the center was an elevated floor that was built for any announcement that needed to be heard. There on the floor were a few soldiers, including the one that the little girl had seen earlier. He still looked scary as he stood at the side. The other men didn't seem as scary, but they all wore the same armor the man with the scar did, but the man in the front had something over his armor that made him stan out of the rest. A bright crescent moon on a white piece of cloth hung on his chest, the sign of the kingdom they lived in.

Wolf put his sister on his shoulders so she could see the men better. The one in the middle took a step forward and the crowd quickly went silent. They all waited to see what he would say. He surveyed the people, his hands behind his back, it was like he was waiting for a signal to start, that someone was in the crowd would tell him when.

"People of the Kingdom of Terra." The man boomed. "We have been faced with troubling times. The rival kingdom has attacked the capital and other cities. Because of this, we are forced to war. The king has asked if any man between the ages of sixteen and thirty, and in good health, to join the army to defend our kigdom. You and your family will be rewarded with a supply that you are in desperate need of, so decreed by the king. Any men who go against this are punishable with death, by hanging."

The crowd gasped, softly whispering to each other. Never before has there been such a need for men that they would be killed if they didn't join. The punishment was usually time in dungeons or your home taken away.

"This war must be wrose than we thought..." Ebon muttered.

The brothers nodded their heads, Vreal answering now. "We're all of age too."

"But what about Little Sister?" Shadow asked.

Little sister knew what war was, and she understood the punishments, she just didn't understand why the punishment was that. Her brothers had gotten out of enrollment into the kingdoms army because they had to take care of their little sister. Would it work now though? The boys were of good heath and they were between the ages. The man hadn't said anything about the need of taking care of family.

"I will go ask this." Wolf said, handing Little Sister over to Shadow and walked towards the center where the men were.

Shadow held his sister and watched as Wolf asked the question. They could see the man laughing now, saying something back to him. Then they heard his voice over the crowd.

"We have a little sister that cannot take care of herself and we are her only family! At least let one stay to take care of her!"

The man, who seemed to be the leader, spoke now. "Set her with someone else; give her to a family to take care of her. Either way, you four are to join or be killed. Then she'll have no one." He then raised his voice so all could hear him. "The men that will join are to report here in two days. We will also go door to door once more to make sure no one is hiding from their duty to the king."

Once he had finished, he and the men stepped down from the raised floor and walked away. Everyone else of the village spoke quietly to each other. Some knew they had to go already, but others were wondering already what it meant to be in good heath. The four brothers weren't discussing that at all. they were wondering what to do about their sister. She couldn't be left in the house with only Maimu, even if someone would visit to check up on here. There wasn't anyone who could take her in that the boys trusted. Sure there was Grandma, but she was going to house her family soon and they were to stay for at least a year.

"We'll talk more at home; right now we need to finish getting our supplies." Wolf mentioned to the others.

The boys nodded and they turned away, walking back to their cart. They didn't say anything as Little Sister climbed into the cart. She wasn't even going to ask if she could get her teddy bear this time, the girl knew what she had heard wasn't good and her brothers were now scrambling to think of what they could do.

The two hour trip back was a silent one, no one saying a word. Little Sister held Maimu as she lied down in the cart, surrounded by the supplies they had gotten. Food, clothes, and other things they would need for the month, including supplies for the winter.

"I still don't see the point in taking these with us, we're going to be gone and she won't be living here." Ebon said in a hushed voice so he wouldn't wake his sister who was asleep in the cart now,

She wasn't asleep though. Little Sister had lied down to sleep, but she couldn't close her eyes. So she listened to the conversation, holding Maimu tight with worry. She was slowly starting to understand how serious this was, but she still believed there was some way out of it; tey just had to look in the next two days.

"You never know how long wars are, it might end quickly or they might not like us and send us back home." Vreal replied.

"Vreal, do you not see your physical shape? Do you not see ours? We're farmers and you know farmers are strong." Ebon argued. "We're not going to get out of it because we're wimps, we are far from that."

"Ebon, calm down," Wolf tried to say calmly. "We'll talk more when we get home and Little Sister is asleep for the night."

Little Sister clutched Maimu tightly, muffling the whimper that wished to escape her lips. She was young, but she knew that with the draft, all of her brothers were going to leave. The girl worried about what would happen to her. Would she have to go too? They would never let a little girl go, would they? No, they wouldn't. But she didn't think there was such another case where four brothers watched over their seven year old sister. If she wasn't sent to war as well, then where would she go? She didn't want to think about it now. Her brothers would think of something, she had nothing to worry about.

'I hope everything will be okay.' She whispered in her head as the five of them continued down the road towards their farm house.