Hunting the runaways

Vic

   I stare at the sun start to rise, purples, oranges, crimsons and golds pile themselves on distant hills, the last of the dark fade away replaced by the orange sun rays. "Ah, beautiful," I sigh to myself. In one direction, there is the forest, Birds fluff up their wings and start chirping, small rodents wake up and start searching for their breakfast, it looks so peaceful. In the other direction, there is the small stirring town. Merchants walk to their shops, ready for business. Marauders slyly slip away, stealing the goods that many merchants were going to sell. "Vic!" I jump up, almost falling off the roof. I turn around and look down annoyed. "What!" I growl at my older brother. "We have a busy day ahead of us, go help Henry at the farm," Richard tells me looking up.

"And what are you going to be doing, dringle all day?" I say angrily. Richard never does anything to help the farm, the market nor the house, but he always tells me what to do. "No, I'm going to help dad at the market, he's making me," He says. I roll my eyes and slide down the roof and onto the small berry bush that dad planted a while ago. Next to that berry bush is a bigger and more flourish bush that mom planted when I was three. I pluck a berry off and plop it into my mouth. I was three years old when mom died, I don't remember much of her but there are always stories, stores from my dad, brothers, and family friends. "You're mother was a beauty," Father would say. "She was so beautiful that every woman envied her, accused her of being a witch," He said.

"Well...was she?" I would ask timidly, all of the stories of witches used to always scare me. "Of course not!" Father exclaimed, "Witches are horrendous, wicked, hideous creatures, your mother was the most kindest person with the purest heart," He said this with a distant, unsure, guilty look in his eye, but I just took it as nostalgia.

I go in the house and to my room where I strip off my clothes and put on some leggings, doublet,and my leather boots. I push my hair out of my face. "I need to cut this hair," I mumble to myself. It stops right below my shoulder blade, I had cut it to just above my jawline a month ago. I tie my hair with a leather strap, pick up my bag full of seeds and some of the money I've made from my job at blacksmith's shop.

I go out the house, Richard is in the wagon heading to the market. "Hey! Give me a ride!" I yell. "You can walk!" He laughs, making the horses go faster. I groan and start running after him. "Come on!" I yell. Even though the farm really isn't that far off, I don't want to walk if I have a faster way. I run faster and when I'm close enough, I fling myself into the wagon, landing on the hard wood. Richard laughs hysterically so I punch his shoulder. "Feather-head!" I yell as I climb to sit next to him. "That was great!" He says. I punch his shoulder again. "Hey now!" He protests. "You deserve it," I say. "Whoa, look at her!" Richard exclaims, thrusting his chin towards a pretty girl walking, carrying an empty basket. "Okay?" I roll my eyes. "What a bellibone!" He cries out. "Aren't you and Colette getting engaged?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm breaking it off, I don't love her, look at that pretty lass, look at that pretty maiden, look how the wind blows her raven hair, look at how kind her eyes look," Richard says as we get closer and closer to her. "Thou art Bedswerver, no commitment what so ever, oh poor Colette!" I say. Before I can stop him, Richard slows down the wagon. "Milady, where are you headed, maybe I could offer you a ride?" Richard says, completely stopping. I roll my eyes. "I think I'm going to be sick," I mumble. "No, no, I'm fine thank you, I'm goint to pick berries and I like the walk, besides, thou art going to the opposite direction," She replies. "Where we are going isn't very important, we've got all the time in the world," Richard says. "Hey, speak for you self, I've got places to be!" I say. 

  The maiden looks shyly at me and smiles. "Are you brothers?" She asks. Richard clasps my shoulder, "Do we really look alike? I'm the more handsome one," He says. I shrug his arm off and before I can say that i'm actually a girl she smiles and says, "No, not quite, I think he's more handsome, I like his green eyes," She flirts. I scoff and so does Richard. "You know what, we don't have time we really do need to go, you can walk, you enjoy walking," Richard mocks the girl. The girl scoffs as Richard makes the horse move. "Enjoy the berries!" I call to her. She smiles and waves before walking again. "She sure was a fair-head but she was also a feather-head, It wouldn't have gone well anyway," He says.  

 "Oh I think it would've been perfect, you are just like that, minus the fair-head, you aren't a beauty," I laugh. "Ah, and that's where you are wrong," Richard laughs. "Just take me to the farm before Henry yells at me before a whole market place," I say. Richard makes the horse go even faster.         

*Dringle: To waste time in a lazy manner. to just lay around all day 

*Doublet: A man's snug-fitting jacket that is shaped and fitted to the man's body 

*Bellibone: A lovely maiden, pretty lass. pretty, young girl. 

*Bedswerver: A person unfaithful to the marriage bed. a player or cheater. 

*Fair-head: Beauty. someone with a lot of beauty 

*Feather-head: A silly, lightheaded person. air-head