Creation

On My Way (#Bronte200 Featured)

This chapter is an entry for the #Bronte200 contest.

The carriage ride was miserable.

During the half-a-day ride, I can't stop myself from grumbling, feeling querulous. The paths we crossed were bumpy, the horses were walking too slowly, and to top it all-Alberic!

My explosion-obsessed neighbor, who happened to receive the same letter as I did. Such a shame-I expected to boast it to him.

Why should our parents put us in the same carriage, despite knowing our bitterness towards each other?

"Jethro Earnshaw, yes?" The coachman approached, with a bowl palmed on his trembling hands. Instinctively, I stood up and opened a vacant spot for the poor, exhausted guy, and placed his bowl full of soup on the wet grass.

He smiled genuinely in return, sitting carefully on the ground. Judging by his face, he must be above sixty. Wrinkled face, squinting eyes...

"Ouch!" I almost knocked him sideways when a harsh force shoved from my right. I glared at the doer, who's none other than my fellow passenger himself-Alberic Grunnion.

"Alberic! Are you not satisfied with bothering me all day?" I scolded, frowning deeply at his mischievous, punchable face.

Leaving to Hogwarts should've freed me from his torture, but apparently...

"That's not good, son." A hoarse, shivering voice chimed in. The coachman, despite already wearing a warm set of clothes, is still trembling within his wrapped blanket. "You shan't..."

"Yeah, sir." He shrugged nonchalantly, slamming his bowl of soup to the ground and splattered some drops to random directions.

In an irked demeanor, I rose with my empty bowl, rushing to the other side of the coachman. Leaving Alberic alone, being the farthest between us three.

I spooned a ladleful of steaming soup from the black pot and poured it into my bowl, where a warm sensation emanated from later. I observed the soup with my wooden spoon, checking for any insects...

"What did he do to you, boy?" The coachman shuffled closer to both the flickering bonfire and me, seeking for more warmth in the chilly night.

Alberic's behaviors had driven me nauseous almost the entire ride.

"He stole my suitcase's key and ransacked the insides, which mom had packed so neatly." My voice quivered, containing the anger and irritation I've tried to bury. "He impudently unloaded my stacks of paper, and read my private diary out loud. Including insulting my relative, which was of a different race."

Hence, my bottled resentment burst out once more.

"He treated me harshly when I avenged him by doing the same. Can't you drop him somewhere and leave him there?" I pleaded, hopeful of his agreement.

He seemed to be thoughtful as he played with his spooned carrot. "So, that was why the carriage shook horribly all along." He gave a little, halfhearted smile my way. "However, I can't, since his parents paid me too, boy! To be honest, I'll be delighted to get rid of him from my beloved carriage." He whispered in my ear, and I chuckled.