Approach With Caution

The Eyepatch

There once were a brother and sister, called Hugh and Heather, and they loved each other very much. They lived with their mother and stepfather in a small house. After their father had died a few years ago their mother married again, but it was never the same. Their stepfather was strict and cruel to the children, making them do arduous work and punishing them on the slightest of things.

One day Hugh found his sister crying to herself.

"I'm scared Hugh,' said Heather, "He does bad things."

"We will run away. I've decided," her brother told her. "Pack your things tonight and we shall leave early in the morning."

At the crack of dawn the two siblings left the small house and ventured far away. They did odd jobs, working as farm hands and domestic servants before setting off again from town to town.

After a long time travelling the brother and sister came upon a tavern where they were desperate to settle down for the evening. At first it looked as if no one was inside, but as soon as Hugh had knocked on the door, the once darkened windows began to glow a warm light.

The door was unlatched and before them stood a young man. He had long red hair with an eye-patch over his left eye. He was dressed very smartly in black, something only rich men could afford. He looked at the two of them with one eye ablaze. Hugh grabbed his sister's hand and began walking backwards.

"We're very sorry to disturb you, Sir, we'll be on our way now." They had only begun to turn around when the man called out to them.

"Hugh and Heather, welcome."

Both heads whipped round and looked at the man aghast.

"You two look hungry," said the stranger slowly turning inside. "Its...chicken stew that you prefer isn't it? I have it cooking on the stove, won't you come in?"

Hugh squeezed his sister's hand, a little reluctant to enter, yet desperate for food. The two would on occasion dance for as little as an apple to share between them. Heather's grip had loosened and she watched the man intently. A faint sound of crackling fire could be heard from inside the tavern, along with an unmistakeable smell of tender meat and vegetables stewing in a pot. The man dressed in black stood in the doorway as he looked on the children.

"Be sure to wipe your feet on your way in." The stranger walked inside.

Heather turned to her brother with eyes that spoke of hunger and thirst.

"I can't see any other people here. It's odd."

"But I'm hungry Hugh! Let's go inside!"

"No Heather! We'll look somewhere else, there must be another shelter somewhere."

"But Hugh-"

"Shoosh! Come now!" He dragged his wailing sister away from the warmth and smells of the homely site and briskly walked in the other direction. Both of them went ahead further and further from the nice gentleman and his tavern till it became no more than a passing dream. They walked through fields and rough terrain as the sky darkened overhead. All the while Heather cried for food and warmth, her brother stubbornly trudged on. The sky was crimson by the time Hugh had spotted it in the distance. Smoke was coming from a building – it was a chimney, which meant a fire, which meant there were people. Hugh grabbed his sister's hand and sprinted down towards the house. Closer and closer they came, their little legs pushing them to their destination. They stopped on reaching the front of the house, their lungs burning with exhaustion. Suddenly the door opened in front of them and there stood the figure dressed in black, with flaming red hair and the eye-patch covering his left eye.