A White as Red as Blood (PG 13) (Completed)

Chapter 11: Run

It was finally time to leave this uneventful village. I was glad it wasn’t our final stop, I couldn’t live like this. The people, although not so noisy, were all like walking zombies, indifferent from the world around them. Nobody showed passion for anything and everyone seemed to be inflicted with the gene of bitterness. The atmosphere was dead, non-existent almost.  June had nobody her own age to play with so our days were filled with trying to find a way to entertain her. The only thing that came out of it was that Meadhbh had had a chance to recover a bit from her pregnancy sickness. She vomited less frequently now and that was always good. A bit of her colour was coming back and the bruises and cuts on her face had depleted into nothing but a memory. She had also become more accustomed to the idea of being a mother. Her child would be the best child I will ever meet. They will have a life together, away from my husband and his horrible stench of alcohol and tobacco. The child will never have to meet the vile man.

The sun rarely shone on this village either, the air was deeply dark and depressed all hours of the day, and no bit of candle light could help it. So, as one could imagine, we were delighted to be leaving. We were sticking to Harry’s plan too. I did not know how long it would take us to get to where we were meant to be, but I was looking forward to it. We stocked up on bread and milk from the dreary market and rode Snowflake, the enchantingly gorgeous horse out of the town.

I did not realise that I have not heard from Harry for a few days until I saw a man who looked the image of him when we were leaving. I knew it couldn’t be him though; this man was old and bearded. But there was something in his eyes, something that showed us it was really time to leave. When I saw him, I prompted snowflake to ride faster. I made a promise to myself as we were leaving that there was no going back to this place. This was a place with no future, this place was not somewhere I was ever going to want to be.

“Mary-Ann, when will we be going home?”

 I glanced back at the tiny June sitting behind me, her tired eyes had small grey bags under them and her blue eyes seemed dull. It was almost as if this place had sucked the life out of her. I didn’t like it. A girl her age should be energetic and lively. Not this.

“We are on our way, but we are going to our new home, not our old one”

I felt her slump lazily against my back.

“Why?”

“Because we will be happier this way baby doll”

“Oh, ok. When are we meeting Daddy?”

“Soon, I hope, soon”

She drifted off to sleep against me and Meadhbh was silent behind her again. It was just me, riding us out of thee town. Riding us into our future.

I didn’t notice the candles cming towards us until they were right up near us. We had only been gone a few hours, we couldn’t possibly be there already.

“Run”

“Ruuun”

“Ruuuuuuun Mary- Ann”

I heard Harry’s voice but I couldn’t see him. I squinted into the darkness, where the lights were coming from.  I saw them then. The men, dressed in the Royal Army suits, and riding Daddy’s black horses. I turned our horse, running off the road and into the cover of the trees.  I was panting and puffing, hoping we’d get away unseen. I felt life behind me, and Meadhbh shouted.

“What’s happening!”

“Daddy’s men have found us, keep quite”

The horse kept running, dashing and avoiding the trees. We kept up the speed for a few miles, until I was certain nobody was following us. We stayed where we were, our breaths heavy and the horse standing panting. None of us budged for at least an hour. The sun was rising when we decided to keep moving, this time, through the tree’s so nobody could find us. I didn’t know where we were, but I knew that neither did anyone else. We had come too close to be caught now. My mind drifted back to Harry, thankful he was still looking over me. Thankful I still had him by my side.