Midnight Flight

Chapter 6

Heaving on the coarse, tattered rope, Philip brought up the wooden bucket from the depths of the well. He smiled in triumph at this achievement, this being his first time using such a device, but the smile faded as he realised the bucket was empty.

Cursing, he dropped the bucket back into the well, slowly feeding the rope back down the hole. He continued until he heard the splash of the water at the bottom. Once more, he painstakingly pulled on the rope, taking care not to jolt the bucket, so it would be as full of water as possible.

The creak of a door behind him caused him to turn.

The girl from earlier- Ruth- was stood in the doorway of the house, light spilling out from behind her on to the muddy ground. She stood with her hands on her hips, but because she was backlit, Philip couldn't make out the expression on her face.

'Well?' She asked, expectantly.

Philip was unsure what to say.

'What's taking you so long?'

'Um... one minute' he muttered

'There isn't one minute, I need it now!'
Sighing in frustration, she marched over to Philip and took the rope from his hands, ignoring his sounds of protest. She hauled the bucket up, faster than he'd been doing it, but held up the empty bucket at the end and looked at him, eyebrows raised.

'No water?'

Philip looked down, feeling slightly ashamed at his pitiful efforts.

Ruth sighed frustratedly,

'go back into the house- Ma might have something simpler that you could do.'

Philip bristled at her words, but decided to leave it, and went back through the still- open door.

Back inside the house, the woman, Ma, was using a large rounded stone to crush some herbs on the table. Awel lay still, whimpering in pain as her bloodied foot glistened in the firelight.

'What's your name, lad?' Ma paused in her work to ask the question.

Philip hesitated- his real name would be recognised instantly as the name of royalty, and so far he'd somehow managed not to be recognised.

'Uh, Ph.. Fred.' He stuttered slightly at the the lie, but Ma didn't seem to notice.

'Right, Fred, fetch me that cloth over there.' He did so, handing the large scrap of rough material to her.

Placing down the large stone, she took a large handful of the herbs and chewed them quickly before spitting them out. Philip watched, mesmorized by this strange process. She then placed the pulp of herbs into the cloth.

Ruth presently entered through the door, panting slightly, with the pail filled to the brim with water. She pushed past Philip, giving him a look of disdain as she handed it to Ma.

Ma then dipped the cloth in the water and proceeded to apply it to the wound. Awel cried out in pain, causing Ruth to rush forward and clasp her hand, 'its all right, you're okay.'

'b...b..but it hurts,' she sobbed

'I know, just be brave for a bit longer' Ruth comforted.

Philip, still stood on the side, swayed slightly, feeling his head thump more and more. He reached out for the wall, and rested there, closing his eyes and feeling the heaviness of his eyelids. The sounds of the room distored, swimming in an out of hearing.

'...what happened Awel...?.........who is he?' Ruth's voice was as loud as ever

He heard Ma's voice as well, sounding softer now that the immediate threat was over and she wasn't shouting orders
'.....he said......Fred.........not from around here.............been through something.......his face....'

And with that, Philip slipped into unconsciousness.