The Witch and the Wind God

Chapter Two: Starting Over

It was Tuesday morning, Anne was in her room getting ready for school. Her room was lovely and spacious with great big bay windows on one side letting as much sun in as possible and on the opposite outside wall was a 'built in' barn door that led straight into Artax's stall. The top part of the barn was open and the horse was leaning over into her room watching her get ready. She couldn't believe her dad was making her go today. It was the first day back and nothing happened on these days, it would be a complete waste of her time. She would normally try and sneak out and run away with her horse Artax, but she had promised Sam not to do that today. It has been 3 days since the incident in the veld with the tree, and Anna had stopped obsessing about it, but she had asked the guys not to talk about it or to mention it to anyone. She didn't want her dad to know how reckless she had been, and she didn't want the town to know that she has survived a 20foot fall unharmed. It would be one more mystery surrounding her and people still stared at her when they thought she wasn't looking. Nine years ago Anne's mother died in a storm, a storm that destroyed their entire house, there was no trace of her mother, but 5 yr old Anna was found sitting in the middle of the rubble with only a blanket around her, completely unscathed. People had contributed the damage to a freak tornado. A tornado that seemed only to have destroyed the house, leaving the rest of the farm untouched. The tornado theory seemed acceptable to most people, after all what else could it have been, however there seemed to be no explanation as to how the 5yr old girl had survived. Ever since that day people eyed her with a bit of suspicion and reverence. Luckily for Anne, she turned out to be quite good at sports. Especially show jumping, but to that, Anne gave Artax most of the credit after all he did all of the jumping! But because of her good sportsmanship she was quite popular in her town, the small town people really loved their sports, especially winning!School was mostly okay,  she had Sam and the guys but they were 2yrs older and their classes were on the complete opposite side to hers. She didn't get bullied or anything, and most of the kids politely smiled at her, and greeted her...but there was a reservation with most, like they thought she was odd or worse like they feared her just a bit, and so apart from her sports mates who she only socialized during practice, she hardly spoke to anyone much during the day and couldn't really call anyone a friend.

Anne was brought out of her thought by a knock on the door. "Hey Anna are you ready to go?" her dad asked. "Sam is here!". 

Anne sighed at herself in the mirror, she was not ready to go, but she reminded herself that because today was only the first day there would be plenty opportunity to read her book in peace and quiet. She looked over at Artax who looked even more forlorn than her, and she couldn't help but giggle at him. Poor Artax hated being left behind even more then she hated going to school. She went over to the horse and stroked him. "Don't worry boy, I'll be alright, I'm just moaning for nothing, it not that bad, and when I get back you and I will go to butterfly field!" she said. At her words the horses ears pricked up and he nudged her as if to show his excitement. Anne giggled at him. "Okay its a deal then" she said giving him a hug goodbye. 

She grabbed her school bag and headed out the door, giving Artax one more look before she left. She walked down the corridor and into the open plan living room and kitchen area. Her dad  and Sam were sitting at the kitchen island, looking at photo albums. They both looked up when she came in."There she is!!" her dad called out. "Did you manage to get out of bed young lady?" he asked her faking a surprise tone. She walked over to him smiling and gave him a side hug and a peck on the forehead. "Morning Dad, yes Artax always makes sure I'm awake...you know that!" Anne said, pretending to completely miss his insinuating tone, he was probably surprised to see her at all, seeing as though she had a habit of sneaking off."Hey Sam" she said looking at Sam, who was looking at her, in fact he had been looking at her non-stop since she entered the room, as if waiting for her to spontaneously combust, or something. He had been doing that ever since the tree incident and it was starting to annoy her. A fact that she was not hiding well, because Sam suddenly held his arms up in a kind of surrender gesture, and winked at her smiling.Anne rolled her eyes at him, but smiled back deciding to let it go. "Are you ready to go?" Sam asked her, changing the subject, and looking back down at the album in front of him, it was one of her Dad's rugby albums. Her dad had been a bit of a rugby legend during his school years.  "Ja, just give me a min, I just want to grab a piece of toast." Anne said walking to the opposite kitchen counter and getting the toaster out form inside the cupboard.Would you guys like some toast? she asked, looking at them.

"No thanks, sweetie, but I'll have some more tea!" her Dad said, holding up his cup. 

"Okay, sure" she said, coming over to get the cup.

"Sam?" she said, looking questioningly at Sam

"Uhmm?" he said looking up at her confused. 

"Would you like some toast? she asked again

"Oh, ja sure, thanks Anna?" he said quickly, and then looked at the album again. 

How they could stare at all that rugby photos over and over again, she didn't know.

She was busy making the toast when her dad spoke to her again."So Annie have you decided yet what you want to do for your bday this weekend.....its the big 15!!   Whoo hoo!!" her dad said looking all excited. 

Anne giggled at his silliness."No dad, I haven't really thought about it, maybe we can just stay in and watch a movie......" "Aargh" they both suddenly protested loudly, making her jump a bit. She looked at them with wide eyes." What??" she moaned back at them.

"Anna you are turning 15!" Sam begun, "We have to have a party,!" he continued getting up and walking over to Anne. "Ja Annie, come on it will be fun, you can invite your classmates and the guys and we'll have a nice braai or a spit, I can even invite some of the neighbors to come too"

"Oh Dad no, its winter and its cold and nobody wants to be outside in the cold" Anne protested taking out the toast.

"You mean you don't want to be outside when it's cold" Sam interrupted loudly rolling his eyes at her and taking the piece of toast she was holding towards him.....    "and anyway we can have a day braai or make "potjie kos"...and be done by 4pm." he stopped talking, and a gave her a questioning look, and then looked at his toast pouting. Anne shook her head at him, and opened the top cupboard to get out the Nutella. She handed it to Sam, who accepted it with the enthusiasm of a 5yr old kid. He then continued saying, as he smeared a thick layer of chocolate on his toast."Come on Anna you never have a party!" he looked at her pouting again.She shook her head at him, and pushed him out of the way, so she could get to the kettle and finish the tea."Ja Annie I have never even met some of your friends, you never invite them over....are you ashamed of your old Dad now" dad asked teasingly. 

Anne smirked at him, they were really laying it on thick now, ganging up on her."Yes actually that's it, you embarrass me Dad, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but your boring rugby stories put people to sleep" Anne said  sarcastically sticking her tongue out at him. "Excuse me, young lady. but my rugby stories are awesome!! he said feigning hurt ".....Look, Just think about it today and let me know...its just a few days away...we need to prepare"

Anne grabbed her toast and her bag and started heading for the door. Sam followed, greeting Mr. Sinclair and thanking him for the toast and pictures! "Okay I will Dad....see you later....love you" she said opening the front door and stepping aside so Sam could leave first, she waved at her dad then shouted"Don't forget to feed the cat" while pulling the door closed behind her.

She skipped down the driveway after Sam.

"So you excited for the first day back"  Sam asked as he walked over to his bike. Anne froze!

"You brought the bike" she exclaimed excitingly, clapping her hands together.

Sam laughed at her reaction. He was 17 and had a learners already, but had to wait until next year when he was 18 to go for his drivers license. And technically you weren't allowed to drive with passengers when you only had your learners, but nobody really cared about that stuff in a small town.

Most days, he would pick Anne up in his dad's old farm bakkie or they would take their bikes to school, but today he brought his new off road motorbike. A Kawasaki KX450, his 16th birthday gift. It was a total surprise, and I great one for Anne, going with the bike was always exciting. This day is starting off well she thought. 

"Oooh can I drive?" she asked excitedly!

Sam gave her a look, like he was considering it for a moment. Anne was dying with anticipation.

"NO!" he said and then laughed at Anne's disappointed expression.

"Come on, hop on Sinclair!" he said taking her by the hand and pulling her toward the bike.

"If you're really good, I might let you drive the dirt way home" he continued, handing Anne a helmet and hoping on the bike. 

'I'm always good!" Anne said with a pout, putting on the helmet. 

Sam looked at her smiling and suddenly her breath caught...and she lost her train of thought.

"Are you okay?" he asked still smiling at her.

".... Ja.......sure!..... why?? she asked just standing there frowning.

"Uhm.?....I don't know?... you're just standing there!"....he said still looking at her with a bemused look on his face, Anne still didn't move.

"Well are you coming?", he asked again

"Oh yes off-course!" she said, snapping out of her day dream. She had been wondering what just happened.

She rushed over to the bike, putting her back pack on. Sam was still looking at her bemused, she avoided making eye contact, she could feel her cheeks going red.

"You're in a funny mood today", he said while she climbed up and sat behind him. She put her hands on his back pack, holding on while he kick started the bike, and then they were off.

Anne leaned in closer, and holding on firmer for support. He never really drove very fast with her on the back, at least that's what he said. It was fast enough for Anne!

As they came out of the farm, into the main dirt road, they were met with Daniel, who was waiting for them with his bike. Without stopping, Sam flew passed him.

Anne looked back to see Daniel jumping on his bike, and chasing after them. She was torn between a giggle of excitement and a gasp of nerves. She grabbed onto Sam tighter and closed her eyes tightly. 

Boys, why'd they always have to make a competition out of everything, she thought excitedly!

She could feel the world fly past them as they raced down the gravel road, into town. It took less than 5min to arrive at the tar road leading into town. The boys gradually slowed down as they entered town, and Anne could finally loosen her grip and sit up straight. She enjoyed this part of the ride most, where she could see, houses and trees and people going past, not just blurs.

They arrived at school in no time, and Sam parked in his usual spot, with Daniel right behind him.

Their school consisted of 3 huge building, each built in a u-shape form, and build in the beautiful old Cape Dutch style. One building was exclusively for primary and pre-primary kids and stood to the far right, the other two were closer together, one building was for the middle school, were Anne attended and the last building was for the seniors, where Sam, Ethan and Daniel went. Each building had it's own court yard, where pupils could relax during break times. The court yard was filled with beautifully maintained gardens, which was an odd site, in this dry and bare Karoo, where water was scarce. The school was surrounded by sports grounds, tennis and netball courts and even an Olympic sized pool, and on the far left past the seniors were the stables and the outdoor riding arena.  It was truly a beautiful old school, and the best one in the area. Kids from a number of small towns nearby also attended here, living in the hostel during the week. The hostel was another Cape Dutch Style building on the right hand side of the school buildings about a 1km away.

Anne got off the bike first, and was removing her helmet, when she got bumped aside quite roughly. 

She knew who it was without looking. Darla, Sam's girlfriend... Urgh!

Darla threw herself at Sam, hardly giving him a chance to get his helmet off.

How needy, Anne thought!

She didn't like Darla much, not because she was dating Sam. She just didn't think she was very real. No-one could smile that much and mean it all the time. On the other hand Darla was a beautiful girl, with thick brown wavy hair and lovely tanned skin. 

"Oh sorry Anna", she said smirking at Anne. You see FAKE! Anne thought again. Darla was hanging from Sam's neck. She addressed Anne using Sam's nickname for her, but on her tongue it always seemed a bit too much. A bit nasal, like a foghorn, Annnn-naaa, Annn-- naa!! Anne grimaced at the sound, and then stifled a giggle.

She  smiled at Darla and told her not too worry. Sam was smiling at her in a kind of apologetic manner, before being pulled into an embrace by Darla once again.

Eeuw!! Anne thought, as she watched Darla, practically try and suck Sam's face off.....kissing is so gross she thought. 

Sam pushed Darla away a bit, and Anne thought he looked a bit annoyed with her. She secretly smiled to herself, it would be a pity if Sam fell head over heals for a girl like her, not that he ever did, he had only had 3 girlfriends, the 3rd being Darla and the longest girlfriend had  lasted 6months before she and her family moved away. They had tried the long distance thing for a bit, but they were both only 15 at the time, and honestly Anne thought, who needs the drama..`

Suddenly she felt a arm twist around her shoulders and she was pulled backwards into and embrace, and before she could react, Daniels voice was in her ear whispering.

"What you looking at there Banana?" he teased.

Anne tried to pull away, but Daniel tightened his grip.

"You like that hey???.... all the kissing!" he laughed in her ear.

"Oh shut Daniel, you tool" she said elbowing him in his side and stepping away.

Daniel continued laughing at her, trying to get his arm around her neck again.

"Oh come on Banana!!, I will be your special friend, if you want? he continued, winking at her.

Anne laughed at him while trying to slap his arm away. 

"Hey!!" Sam interjected. 

"Ja, voetsek!! Daniel!!! In your dreams!! she said laughing out loud and running away towards her part of school. 

She waved to Sam as she went, but he was pretty tied up with Darla still. She saw Daniel walk over and start pestering them. Soon Darla was forced away from Sam, as Daniel lodged himself in the middle and started walking with them towards their first class. Darla looked annoyed, but Sam looked relieved. She laughed to herself again. Relationships seemed more trouble than they were worth, she wondered why kids even bothered. She was thinking about this, when suddenly she bumped into someone hard and got knocked off her feet, taking the person's school bag with her as she went down.

She hit the ground and books went flying everywhere, both hers and the person she had walked into. She started apologizing immediately for not looking where she was going. She was on her knees quickly getting books together, when the person kneeled down next to her. She looked up to see who she had just bumped into, and was met with the most beautiful, big green eyes, they were however not friendly, in fact they seemed angry. She did not recognize the owner either, he was a fairly dark skinned boy with wavy black hair. Anne thought he must be about 16 or so. She wondered briefly if it was the new kid, the town was talking about the week before. Him and his mom had just recently moved to town from the city. Everybody new about it, in a small town, new people were always a welcome sight, at least in the beginning.

She apologized again for bumping into him, as she handed  him some of his books.

The green eyed boy took the books from Anne, gave her another annoyed look, and sauntered off towards the school building. Anne was left on her knees, feeling a little stunned at the encounter. She couldn't believe what had just happened, she laughed out loud thinking about it, it was crazy, he was so rude, she thought, grabbing her books, jumping up and running towards class.