The Prospector's Daughter

Lessons

It wasn't long before Nicholas decided it was time to jump right into our lessons. Don't even think for a moment that I'm lying when I say that I was more excited to be working with Nicholas than I had been for anything else in my entire 9 years of life. I was finally able to do what I wanted, and learn to explore. I was doing to be such a deft explorer by the time we were done, I was sure of it. I still had some questions though.

"Nicholas?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why did Father just leave like that without even saying goodbye to me? He's never left me like that before, and definitely not with a man he doesn't know. He's normally so protective. I don't understand..." Nicholas looked into my eyes deeply and I noticed something new about them. It didn't feel like it did looking anyone else in the eyes, they looked almost antediluvian, and exuberant. There was so much knowledge and passion in his eyes. Though, he worked quickly to expunge my concerns.

"Little Miss Colwood, sometimes as adults, we must focus on our duties in order to come out on top, you see. Your father was proposed the opportunity of a lifetime out in the mines. He must have thought he mustn't waste any time, and that he needed to get started right away. You'll learn someday, young one. We must take our responsibilities seriously, otherwise we won't be as successful as we could be." I nodded my head, once again eager to learn.

"What, then, are we going to start on, Mr? We will have loads of time, shall we set off now?" Nicholas chuckled at my enthusiasm and shushed me down before leading me to his desk where he had a piece of paper and a quill with a pot of ink setting next to it. "Well, what am I supposed to do with this? I can neither read nor write, Mr. Creede!"

"This is the first part of your lesson. To be a successful explorer, you must be able to read a map, and road signs, and to write just the same, so that you may document your adventures, Dear. And what did I tell you about calling me Mr. Creede?" I nodded and looked toward the desk, wondering how he was going to manage to teach me words. "Now, I will write the alphabet for you to copy, and we will go over the sounds of each letter as well today." I nodded once again and waited for him to write the letters for me to practice. I copied the letters and much as I could, learning every curve, every point. I practiced until my fingers hurt, and I continued on. I was so eager to keep learning that I was willing to push myself to my limits. Before I knew it, I was able to write my name.

***

I excitedly jumped up from my seat at the desk and started calling for Nicholas, as I'd realized he'd wandered off into another area of the house while I was diligently practicing my letters and name. "Nicholas! Where are you?! I wrote my name, I finally did it! Come look!" I started running through the house looking for him, and as I turned the corner into a dark room in the back of the house, I ran directly into him. "Oh, oops. Uh, Nicholas, look, I wrote my name!" I showed him the parchment with my name written sloppily on it, and smiled as brightly as I could possibly manage to.

"My goodness, Sylvia, you're learning quite fast! How proud I am of you!" As the excitement slowly wore off, I looked around and realized that I probably should not have entered into that room. The walls were covered in hooks and shelves containing weapons of all sorts. On one wall there was a crossbow, with different types on bolts leaning up next to it, along with spear-like things as well, on another there were chains, bottles of different liquids and powders, a couple of pistols with different bullets. On the back wall, though, there was something I could never unsee. There were heads. Not human heads, no, but the heads of beasts. What sort of hunter keeps his kills' heads as trophies? Not even the pelts, just heads. I slowly backed up away from Nicholas and started to head for the door. I needed to get out of that house, and fast. Something felt very wrong about that room.

In an instant, Nicholas had moved into my path to the door, at an inhuman speed. "No, Sylvia. You are to stay here, remember? It's part of my arrangement with your father. Now go back and sit down in the study, I'll give you more words to practice reading and writing." I gulped as he closed in on me, making me feel more and more nervous. How had he moved that fast?

"No, I think I need to go home now. Sorry, Mr. Creede."

"What made you change your mind, pup? You were so excited to learn just a while ago." I wanted to make up a lie, anything to get out of the house, but I couldn't bring myself to lie to him when I looked into his eyes. It was like he had cast some strange spell over me that prevented me from saying anything other than the truth.

"Mr. Creede, I saw what was in that room behind you."

"That's what made you falter? Why?" Once again, I spoke the truth without hesitation.

"Your room, it was... Kind of scary." He raised his eyebrow at me, waiting for me to elaborate. "Nicholas, you had heads mounted on your wall. Heads, Nicholas. They weren't just any normal animal heads either. There was a wolf that I could see, something humanoid that I didn't recognize. Have you killed people, Nicholas?" His expression darkened at me.

"Yes I have. I will not lie to you, I promise you that, Sylvia. The people I killed were not good people though. The they things they had done were horrible. They deserved the fate they received." MY jaw dropped and my voice quieted as I asked my next question.

"Will you kill me, Nicholas?" Tears started welling up in my eyes as I realized I was in the presence of someone who I thought was going to end my life.

"Sylvia, I promise you, I will never kill you. I hunt monsters. Don't let that scare you though. This world is a much darker place than you could ever imagine. People like me are the only thing keeping it safe enough for you to live here in peace. My plan, in tutoring you was to teach you to hunt like I do, to keep this world safe for the people we love."

"But I'm only nine years old, Nicholas. How will I ever be able to hunt monsters? I couldn't hurt a fly at this point..."

"It will take training, dear. You will be able to with time, and by the time you are ready to hunt by yourself, you will be much older than nine years. What do you say?"

"Can I trust you, though?"

"As if I were your own father, my pup. I want to train you to defend yourself, to rid the world of evil, to keep the words safe for your beloved father. I will help you to become like me, and someday, you may do the same for somebody else."

"Alright, let's do this."

***