Accused

Chapter One

     A cold November gust chilled me through to the bone. I groped around for a blanket to pull up over me but found only  hay. Lydia and I had been in this barn for three days now; it was the longest we've ever stayed in one place since our parents' deaths. Well, I can't feed us by sitting here, I thought.

     Sighing, I pushed my makeshift, hay-covered blanket aside, adding another layer of warmth for Lydia. I know she's already ten, but she is small for her age. I gazed down at my sister, overrun with memories. I brushed a stray, pure white hair behind her ear. Her vivid, blue eyes shot open instantly. They were a color I had never seen before on anyone other than her. Her blue gaze stared questioningly at me for a second, then seemed to catch something in the distance, and her gaze transfixed on something only she could see. She's been like this ever since Mom and Dad died: she won't respond to anything, and she barely ever eats anymore. She's getting so thin...I'm scared she'll float away any second, and I'll loose the one reason I have left to live.

     I started out of the barn. We'd need a new place soon: the agents will be after us. Agents...Just thinking of the word made me sick. They've ruined our lives, killed Mom and Dad, and keep us on the run. None of the nearby villagers would take us in; surely, they'd only turn us in for what we've been accused of. I'd tried to buy a chicken once, from a farmer, but he'd almost taken my head off. The only person who's ever tried to help me or Lydia was an old woman called Helena. She was nice, but we had to leave after two days in fear we would bring trouble to her. We weren't in such a far off place when I saw smoke wafting up through the sky. A few days later I overheard some merchants in Surrom talking about an old lady who's house had mysteriously burned down, but I knew better. The Agents punished her for helping us.

     A rooster's crow knocked me out of my thoughts. I decided it would be one egg for breakfast again. I walked into the hen house, being sure not to take from the same hen I did yesterday; the farmers will surely notice the decrease of eggs. I picked up an Americana with shiny black feathers and collected one blue-green egg. I walked over to Lydia and knelt beside her.

     "You always loved these eggs, remember?" I said, holding the egg in front of her blue sight. "You loved the color. You always were a better cook than me...Can you cook again? Just once? For me?"

     Her gaze was unmoved. I sighed and stood up. I glanced out the door to the barn and saw a farmer slowly walking down the hill towards us. I ducked, hoping he hadn't seen me.

     "Lydia. We're leaving. Now."

     She didn't move. I scooped her up and slung her over my shoulder. I ran to the back of the barn, where I had noticed a foxhole a few days back that leads from the barn to the outside. I set Lydia down in the hole and slowly slid her through. I then knelt down and began to crawl through. Just then, the barn door opened. I lay perfectly still. The farmer saw the egg sitting on the ground, and I held my breath as he knelt down and scooped it up to examine it. After a few seconds, he looked around. Oh, gods, please don't let him see me...Oh, please! Sadly, I wasn't the lucky type. He saw me and dropped the egg, and for a few moments, he just stared at me and I just stared at him. Then I came to my senses and quickly half scrambled, half army crawled through the hole. My getting away brought the farmer out of his daze.

     He began screaming," I see her! Here! In my barn! It's the witch! Agents! Come quickly! Witch! Witch!"

    I stumbled to my feet on the outside of the barn, picked up Lydia, and took off into the woods. The farmer was still screeching when I went out of earshot.