The Princess Switch

At the Marks' House

                                                                                   Chapter #7: At the Marks' House

                                                                                   Chapter #7

I woke up with a jolt.  I was in a different room now than I was last time I woke up.  A girl of about seven with long, straight dark hair and piercing green eyes was staring down at me with a look of curiosity on her face.  “Who are you?” she asked when she saw that I was awake.  “No one.  Who are you?”  I replied, equally as curious as to where I was.  “I highly doubt that you are no one, but I am Jerusha Marks.  Daddy was right.  You do look like an older Eliza.”  

When I saw the sad look on her face I asked, “who was Eliza?”  She answered, “Oh, she is my sister.  Or I guess she was.  She ran away when she was almost four.”  Once she said this, I felt  a pang of sympathy for her.  It was almost as if I had experienced the same thing, as if there was a missing memory, something that I should remember, but I could not think of what it was.  

Then I noticed my side.  It was wrapped with a bandage(a very bloody bandage, but still, better than nothing at all), and it looked like the bleeding had lessened.  When Jerusha noticed me staring down at my side she said, “My mommy wrapped your side up while you were sleeping.”  She said, answering my question before I even asked it.  “But she only did it because Daddy shot you..... You know, he feels awfully sorry for what he did.  He did not try to.  He is really nice to most people, I guess he just doesn’t like you very much.”

“Wait, it was him that shot me?!”  

“Well, he was not trying to!  He was trying to shoot into the air to scare you, and he wasn’t trying to hurt you.  Trust me, he wouldn’t do something like that!”  She explained, putting her hands on her hips in defiance while sounding so incredibly confident that I almost believed her for a moment instead of  knowing her for the liar that her father must have raised her to be.

“Then why did he kidnap me if he didn’t want to hurt me?”  I retaliated quietly.  Now she looked stumped.  Nope, that was just for a moment.  Little Miss Know-It-All had once again come up with an answer.  “Oh, I forgot.  Mom said that I was not supposed to tell you.  Oops.  Well, you should probably rest now.  If you need anything, just call.”  With that, she left the room, closing the door tight behind me before clicking a key into the lock and turning it. 

Now, once more, I was emerged in complete darkness.  I decided that I should take her advice and go to bed.  At least now I had a bed under me instead  of the cold, hard ground.  

I don’t know how long I slept.  It might have been an hour; it might have been a day.  But when I did wake up, I saw that it was either very early in the morning or very late at night.  I stood up, thinking nobody was awake when someone near me moved.  I walked a little quicker, moving towards the window, which was large enough to climb out of.  But then I came across a body sleeping right in front of the window and the door.  It must be no other than the infamous Mr. Johnson, the villain that shot me.  He must be guarding me to try to make sure I did not try to escape.  Ha, he must think that I am truly a crazy person to think that I would try to escape.  I wouldn’t get far at all. 

After groping around in the darkness, I found a candle stub still slightly burning and tried to revive it.  Finally, after several failed attempts, I succeeded in breathing life into the small candle.  I looked around the room.  It was a modest room, nothing near as spectacular as my apartments in the castle, but still sufficient for housing.  The walls were brick, with one large window which brought  the light of the moon in from outside.  The floors were cold underneath my feet, so I guessed that they were either mud or tile.  The room was very sparsely furnished, with just a table, chairs, and the bed that I had been sleeping in.  Definitely not  a noble’s house, but fine enough for a merchant of peasant.  Ah, well, I had done my exploration, so I wanted to go further through the house.  

So I walked towards the door, and right as my hand landed on the knob, I heard a sleepy voice saying, “where are you going, Princess?”  Then I turned around and saw a small girl rubbing her eyes sleepily.  “My name is Grace Marks.  Are you really a princess?”  she asked, not quite sure whether or not what she had been told was true.  When I nodded, her sleepy eyes widened as big as saucers.  Then a questioning look came on to her face.  “Where are you going?” she asked once again.  “To go......... Get a glass of water!”  That was sadly my best excuse.  “May I go with you?” she asked me, giving a hopeful look my way.  

“I have never seen a princess, so you are new to me.  I want to know how princesses act and what they are like.”  She said, pleading with her eyes.  Unable to think up an excuse, I told her that it was fine if she came along.  We climbed down the flight of stairs, and she started babbling away.  I learned that we were in a two-story city house, and the kitchen was in the back of the first story.  Once we got down to the kitchen, Grace started a tour.  A very long and boring tour.  

When the tour was over (finally), I actually did need a drink.  “Can you show me where you keep the glasses?  I am really  thirsty.”  “Sure!” she looked overjoyed to be able to help me, the princess.  After she had kindly gotten me some water, she looked tired.  “Grace?  Do you want to go to bed now?  You look very tired,” I said, trying to use a soft, gentle, soothing voice.  “Will you tuck me in?”  she asked, climbing into my arm.  

As I was tucking her in, she looked up at me.  “You are my favorite princess.  You are even better than Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty combined!”  And with that, she closed her eyes, and she was soon fast asleep.  

Once I was absolutely sure that she was asleep, I walked quietly back to the door and went exploring around the house.  I found that I was in the middle of the capitol of Pathians.  Then I remembered that Jean was here in Pathia.  He would rescue me from these kidnappers, I knew he would.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Hey ya'all, I just wanted to thank you guys again as I am now over 1000 reads!  I uploaded my story only a week ago today!  That is pretty impressive if you ask me!  Once again, vomment please.  I really want your opinion on my writing. Love,  loviedovy12