[5]
900 Words
Chapter 5
The next mornin' I awoke before the sun. My dress was a mess, my hair looked worse than a train wreck, and there was an ache in my head. But, still, I knew what I had to do. I looked over to the other side of the cave, and saw the bandit was gone.
Perfect! That made this much easier. I started to stand up, and pain stabbed my leg. But I wasn't going to stop. I needed to do this.
Last night, the bandit backed down. I decided that I was going to go home. I wasn't going to trust the bandit. He was a criminal for Pete's sake! I wasn't going to listen to him.
I limped out of the cave, and realized just how high up I was. I looked around, and saw faint specks of light in the distance. It was a town. My town! Home!!
I looked down, and saw that not only was I up high in the mountains, but the mountain side was steep. I would never make it down. Not with these shoes. I reached down and took off one shoe, then realized something. I would have to either stand on my bad leg, or sit. And I might not have the energy to stand back up.
I looked around, and I spotted a large tree. I limped over to it, held on to a branch as if my life depended on it, and took off my second shoe.
When I was finally done, I limped down the mountain side. After literal hours, the sun had begun to dip back into the earth. I had been so slow, it had taken me all day to get down. I limped into town, to be greeted by the sheriff.
"Hello Lillie," he stated blandly. He almost looked like he was holding in fury.
"Hello sheriff. Please, I really need your help," I said quickly. The bandit was probably after me, but I could show the sheriff the cave, he could arrest the bandit, and he…
"Listen here Lillie," he started. "I believe that I can no longer trust you. I mean, you probably helped the bandit escape. The townspeople have decided what they think would be the best punishment for a criminal like you."
"The townspeople," I asked. "Why would they choose to punish me, I worked hard. I worked for them! What do they think of me," I begged.
"To them, you are less than dirt. And to them, you must be hanged," he stated. Almost as if he never knew me, and if I was in fact a criminal.
He took me to his office, where he locked me in a cell. I watched through a window on the other side of the room, and watched the sun slowly disappear behind some hills. Multiple times, the sheriff would try and start a conversation, but I just ignored him. Eventually, the clock struck 9:30.
"Lillie, please talk to me," he begged. I paid him no mind. "Lillie, you're going to die soon. Please, give me a reason to hate you. Admit to doing something terrible. I don't want to hurt an innocent person."
I decided that because I was about to die, I would do something quite adventurous for me.
"I did do something terrible," I croaked. He looked at me wide-eyed. I stared at him, and finished saying what I had to say. "I trusted you." And with that a single tear rolled down my cheek. I looked back out the window, when the church bells began to ring a funeral tune.
The sheriff came over and unlocked the cell. He grabbed my arm, and pulled me out harshly. He dragged me outside where I limped after him, struggling to keep up. Eventually we reached the town square, where a gallows had been set. A rope noose hung from it. People had gathered around. People I once knew, people I once trusted, people who sealed my fate.
The sheriff pulled me up on the gallows, and tied the noose around my neck. The rope scratched my neck, but the sheriff was tying my hands behind my back, so I couldn't scratch at it.
The moon was peeking out from the mountain tops, casting light onto the square. Casting light onto the beautiful hills I would never get to travel over to reach the city; I would never fulfill my dreams. It was over. I was going to die now. Not even God himself could help me.
People raced into homes and raced out with torches. They sprinted so that when my time came, they could view every detail. They lit their torches so they could see better. So they would be able to see my doom better.
The sheriff stepped off the platform, and looked back up. He walked to the front of the gallows, and another man jumped up. This man was tall and slender. He was supposed to kick the trapdoor out from under me. He would be the one to end my life.
I looked at him. Everything he wore was jet black, including a hood that covered his head. It cast a shadow over his face, and anyone in the crowd wouldn't be able to see him. But I was close enough I could make out a pair of eyes. They looked so familiar…
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