Iron, Coal, And Diamonds

Chapter 2

Shouts outside my door wake me from my dreams. I quickly throw a blanket over my shoulders and run to answer the door.

"Annabeth, why are you out here it's the middle of the night?"

" I was taking a walk by the gate and saw a figure laying in the snow, so I got closer. There's a little boy outside the gate." Annabeth is out of breathe as I answer the door.

"Has anyone else but you seen him?" I whisper. She shakes her head and we dash to the lower gate near the outskirts of town. There is a little boy laying in the snow. His skin is pale and blotchy.

"He doesn't look bitten and he's unconscious. I want to take him home but I can't." I look at the boy laying barely breathing in the snow.

"I'll take him home." Annabeth's eyes widen at my response.

"Do you know how much trouble you'll get into? Maryanne a 20 year old gets a penalty of being kicked out of the village and denied citizenship into The Nobel Three for harboring an outsider."

"Annabeth I know the penalty if I am caught. But I am not willing to leave a child to die, I will not be like my parents." Annabeth nods her head and checks to see if anyone is looking. I hop over the fence and pick up the little boy. He is light in my arms and I scale back over the fence the boy in one arm.

"Quick get him to your house. I will make sure no one sees you guys." Annabeth smiles at me and I run home holding the boy against my body in a feeble attempt to keep him warm.

I lay the boy in my bed and get a fire started in the stone hearth. The boy tosses and turns in the bed, talking in his sleep. I wonder what he is dreaming about. I slip in beside him and hold him. He stops talking and stops tossing and turning. I stroke his light blonde hair and sing him a lullaby from when I was a child.

"The crickets chirp in moonlight. The birdies sing a song in springtime. No more crying in the night time for Mommy's here to hold you..." I feel the tears trickling down my cheeks. I get off the bed and walk to the bathroom to wipe away my tears. That song always makes me cry when I sing it.

"H-hello." A barely audible raspy voice calls out. I run back to my room to see the boy sitting up in bed.

"Are you alright?" I ask and the boy hides under the covers, "What is your name?" The boy doesn't answer and I hear that he is fast asleep again. I walk back to the stone hearth and douse the fire. I slip back into the bed next to the boy and fall asleep.