A Heart's Journey: A Collection Of Short Tales

Friends And Rivals

Gwen had just walked through town with her mother one last time, as they went over their to-do list. They had just finished running their errands, and were pulling away in their cart, when they had passed the Carsons' property. Adelaide Carson was out on the terrace, spotting them and waving them to come over.

"Good afternoon Eliza, Gwendolyn. I do hope you can join us for tea?" she greeted them warmly, as they pulled their horse and cart to a stop.

Eliza smiled and nodded, "that would be lovely, Adelaide. I believe we will."

Gwen tethered the horse and quickly followed her mother through the gates. The Carsons' young son, William, was playing around with another boy, while an older one sat nearby with a book in hand. She had never seen either of them before, and she became curious.

Once the tea was served, Adelaide called cheerfully to them, "tea time boys! Go wash up please!"

Eliza's eyes moved to the direction they were coming from, "boys? Are these the nephews you mentioned before, Adelaide?"

Adelaide nodded as she watched the oldest of them take a damp cloth to little William's dirty face, "yes, such sweet and charming boys they are," she suddenly lowered her voice, "they'll be staying with us for quite some time, I'm afraid their parents are terribly ill."

They finished washing up and approached the set table, when the oldest one froze, his eyes made contact with Gwen's.

Adelaide introduced them happily, "these are my nephews, Sean, he's fourteen, so around your age, Gwendolyn, and this is Eric, he's 10. Boys, this is Mrs. Whittaker, and her daughter Gwendolyn."

She smiled warmly at the two boys, "pleased to meet you two, I hope you enjoy your time here."

Sean blushed slightly and bowed, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Whittaker, Miss Gwendolyn."

He nudged Eric to do the same, which he did, after sticking his tongue out at Sean. Gwen giggled, only to receive a reprimanding look from her mother. Sean's serious face broke into a timid smile at the sound of her laughter. As they sat down for tea, Adelaide sat him next to Gwen, hoping to get him to socialize more.

After a small stretch of awkward silence, Gwen tried conversing with him, "do you enjoy reading, Sean? I noticed you reading a book before."

"I suppose I enjoy reading some books. Uh, do you enjoy reading?" he pushed himself to respond.

"I do, very much. My father always brings home interesting and unique books from his travels" she beamed with excitement.

Adelaide and Eliza watched the two become fast friends as they discussed all sorts of books. They exchanged pleased smiles at how Gwen was able to get Sean to open up.

A while later, Sean walked Gwen home, while Eliza stayed back for a bit longer. Gwen wanted to show Sean her father's collection of books. They ran into Derrick on the path to the house. He had been working in the orchard and was carrying a heavy basket, full of apples. As soon as he saw them approaching, he placed it into a hand cart.

Gwen greeted him excitedly as soon as she spotted him, "Derrick! You should come with us to Papa's library!"

He was about to question her when he saw the other boy appear at her side, "who's this?"

"This is Sean, he's Mrs. Carson's nephew. He's really nice, and very smart. We seem to have quite a few interests in common. Sean, this is my best friend, Derrick Anthony. He helps take care of our property when Papa is traveling abroad."

"Pleased to meet you, Derrick" he extended his hand courteously.

Derrick eyed him critically, then awkwardly shook his hand, "nice to meet you too."

"He's only a year older than you, Derrick, isn't that something? He has a younger brother, too. We could all play together, with William and Corin" Gwen smiled brightly, unaware of the tension between the two.

"Sure thing" Derrick muttered quietly.

He followed them inside, repeatedly glancing in Sean's direction, wondering if he had planned this just to get closer to Gwen. It left him feeling annoyed and anxious, much to his confusion. The more he watched them interact with each other, the more annoyed he became.

As the time passed, somehow, Derrick and Sean had become friends. It puzzled him, but seeing how nice Sean truly was, and witnessing for himself how useful his intellect was in solving problems, he had grown to like him.

It was even more obvious though, that Sean was very fond of Gwen. He was always trying to impress her. Before long, it had become a regular part of their play to compete with each other.

Derrick had worked hard to keep up with Sean and Gwen in their knowledge of things. One day, he and Sean had gotten into a contest of who could solve the most equations. Gwen sighed in exasperation as she listened to the two of them. To quiet their silly competition, she joined in and beat them both.

On another occasion, they were climbing trees to see who could climb highest. Gwen rolled her eyes and effortlessly beat them again. The two boys hung their heads in shame at their defeat.

Gwen just shook her head with a devious smile, "perhaps if you two would focus more on having fun rather than trying to outdo each other, I wouldn't be so driven to beat you at everything."

They both blushed as she made them agree to a truce. They shook hands and promised to enjoy their time together, at least around Gwen. For years, in silence, they continued to be rivals.

Eventually, Sean left town, to pursue the path of a knight. Sometimes they'd receive news about his latest quest. Gwen received letters from him, usually addressed to the both of them, and in his own subtle way, seemed to rub his success in Derrick's face.

"He sounds so arrogant" Derrick said bluntly, as he cleaned an apple and handed it to her.

She smiled with a hint a mischief, "it sounds like someone is jealous."

"Me? Jealous of him? Don't make me laugh" he averted his gaze from hers and took a bite of his own apple.

Gwen giggled and put the letter in her apron pocket, "your quick dismissal of my accusation tells me otherwise."

"What?! If I had paused before I answered, you'd say that would've told you otherwise. I suppose you'd never believe me, no matter how carefully I try to answer" his annoyed expression seemed to change to a pouting one.

"You are right, of course, but just admit you're jealous, then we wouldn't be arguing about this" Gwen teased him, then suddenly turned serious, "I'll admit I'm jealous. I've always wanted to travel and go on adventures."

He looked back at her, his tight lips breaking into a sweet smile, "well, why don't we have an adventure? Just the two of us."

His suggestion caught her by surprise, but she smiled back, "I'd love that. You always know what to say to cheer me up, Derrick. Thank you." Gwen stood up from the stoop she was sitting on and went inside.

Derrick smiled to himself as he waited for her to return, "take that Sean Carson, you can't brag about that."

When she came back, she caught his cocky smile, "and what are you so pleased about?"

Derrick's cheeks became slightly red as he tried to cover it up, "oh, just excited to be planning things with my best friend, just like the good old times."

"Right. Hand me that basket, would you please?" she decided to let it go, and together, they walked into town to run errands for her mother.

She began to accept that Sean and Derrick might never grow out of their petty rivalry, completely clueless as to why it even started in the first place, or why it even continued to be an issue. She pushed it to the back of her mind, wanting to enjoy the rest of what was left of a lovely day, with her best and dearest friend.