Chapter Five

23 6 3
                                    

Good morning, guys!!  Presenting chapter five!  Things are about to get interesting so don't forget to check for updates!  Also, if you could vote or  have a comment I would love to hear it!  Enjoy!


I sat rigidly on the rock, glaring at the village. I had been ranting to Mam for nearly an hour about the injustice in the village and the fact that they didn't believe I'd seen the tracks. I'd never given them a reason not to believe what I said, but they just couldn't bring themselves to take any advice from me.

"They hate me because of what happened!" I snapped. "I wish it had been me. They loved you more anyway." My words turned from a growl to a gurgle as I tried to swallow the lump. I kicked a clod of frozen dirt of the rock and watched it tumbled down the cliffside. I felt just as helpless as though I were tumbling down the steep side of the village opinion only to shatter at the bottom. Still, I could only think of one thing that would possibly help. If I killed the wolf, then I'd be the hero. They couldn't ignore or snub me then. But I was too afraid. Those glistening black eyes haunted my sleep and waking hours. I hadn't been free of them in nearly nine years. I kicked another clod off even more savagely. I was tired of that too. I was tired of hiding and being afraid. There was nothing I could do to change what happened then, but I could change what happened now. I felt a brief swelling of excitement in my chest before instant deflation. The black eyes seemed to glare at me from the darkest corners of my mind and I shrank back down.

I slid off the boulder and tripped over a pretty little holly wreath; another gift from Mam. I picked it up and put it in my bag, but it offered very little comfort in the shadow of my own self defeat. I trudged down the mountain and slipped back into the village unnoticed. Da and Marta were off walking together somewhere and I gratefully closed myself into the empty cottage. I kicked off my boots and cloak and stoked up the kitchen fire before curling up on the floor in front of it. I'd tossed my satchel up into the loft so Da wouldn't bother me about Mam's gifts when he returned, but I doubted he'd be home for supper. Marta liked to cook for him and I was a hindrance so they often went to her cottage. I wondered when they would set the marriage date. I hoped they wouldn't wait till spring marriage when there would be a great celebration for all the new couples of the village who had become betrothed over the winter. It would just be another jab at me since it was my year to be betrothed and married. Prospects were doubtful at best.

I knew I was doing it to myself by wallowing in my misry, but the darker my thoughts grew, the lower I sank into dejection. I wished more and more fervently that Mam had never jumped in front of that wolf. I went back and forth from unquenchable rage and vengeful thoughts to helpless anguish before I noticed something on the floor near the ladder of the loft. My mind pounced on it, grateful for any distraction. It was a bit of paper or leaf, tattered on the edges and scrawled on with charcoal. It took me several minutes to decipher what it said.

'I believe you'.

I wracked my mind to determine exactly where I'd found it just in case it was close enough to Da's bedroom to be from him, but it wasn't. I rushed around checking each of the windows and I found one unlocked, but no hint that anyone had used it to get in and leave the note. There would have been muddy tracks. I held the scrap as though it were a precious gem. I wasn't totally alone then. Just this slight validation from another human being seemed to change everything. I felt a little foolish letting it have as much influence as I was, but it felt so good. I was only sorry it wasn't Da. I wouldn't have cared if the whole village despised me if I just had him.

I sat back down near the fire and carefully placed the note on the floor in front of me. As I looked at it, plans formed in my head without my even trying to think of them. Da wouldn't be home this evening so I would have plenty of time to gather what I needed. He wouldn't check up in my loft for me or even bother to say goodnight so I wouldn't even have to be here when he got home. I could leave as soon as it was dark. I would take some food and my bow. I knew my way through the forest better than anyone else in the village even though that wasn't saying much. Still, didn't I have a better chance than anyone else? I'd actually been in the forest before. One shot was all it would take to change my world. One shot and I'd drag the wolf back and the hatred and misery would end. How could they doubt me after that? How could they think I would not be a good shepherd after that? And someone else already knew. I would find them as soon as I got back and thank them. They would never really know what they'd done for me, scrawling a bit of coal dust on a leaf, but I would thank them.

Red SpellWhere stories live. Discover now