Lathonia At War

Chapter Two

I thanked the coachman and asked where we were. She responded, “Shush, and follow me.” I ignored the annoying comment and did as she said. She led me to a beautiful house on a large hill. It was as beautiful on the interior as it was on the outside. It was beautiful and cabin-like. It smelled like a rainy day in the forest. I announced, “This house is quite beautiful.”

“I agree. I hope you will love it here just as much as I do,” Ms. Belaine responded, walking behind me. “May I go into the forest for a while?” I asked.

She agreed and told me to come in for supper before sundown. As I walked, I looked over the hills and saw Liniyopolis. I could spot it because of the dark clouds, a sad town, and a little commotion. I ignored the feeling of sorrow and went on with my day. I came in for supper after a couple of hours. She prepared delicious salmon for the two of us. That night, I could hardly sleep. Because of this, I was groggy all morning. Ms. Belaine was up very early. She was making cinnamon bread and yogurt.

I finished breakfast, put on my day clothes, and went to the forest after I packed myself bread and tea. This time it was windy, and I could barely keep my bonnet on. As I roamed around, the forest looked less and less like the forest I saw yesterday. It was bright and misty, and everything was like a dream. I fed some ducks I discovered with my bread. I ate the rest. I headed back a few hours later. The sun was going down. Ms. Belaine made supper again after making blueberry pie. The blueberry pie was quite something; I practically ate the whole thing. I ate so much that I went right to bed that night.

I woke up quite late the next day. It was the afternoon. I didn’t eat breakfast, though I had a small meal to hold me over. And with that, I was off. I could only stay for an hour because we were having an early supper. Ms. Belaine wanted to talk to me more. She was becoming strangely kind. I ate supper and she asked me about wanting to stay. I responded, “Well, I love it here but need more time. Perhaps a week or two.” That night I had a nightmare. It was horrifying. It was about my mother. She was in a corner. The room was dark and damp. She was sobbing. Zander’s lifeless body was in the corner. I woke up crying. That night I stayed up sobbing my eyes out.

The sun was almost ready to come up. Ms. Belaine wasn’t awake yet. I made breakfast for her. I made omelets and bacon, some of the only things I knew how to make as an eleven-year-old. When Ms. Belaine woke up, she was delighted at my ability to cook and ate happily. She asked me how I slept. I told her that I had a nightmare, and I was all right. I went outside to the forest. She stopped me and said, “Before you go, I wanted to ask you if you could follow me because it is quite foggy, and you could get lost.” I invited her to come along.

After we got our jackets, she said, “Be careful and stay by me. I know these woods better than anyone in this town.” I didn’t know that there was anyone else in the town. When we were walking into the woods, I checked everywhere to see if there were any houses or cottages. I could barely see anything anyhow.

As I wandered further, I forgot that Ms. Belaine was supposed to follow me. I was lost. I called her name and walked against the trees, keeping track of where I was by putting stones on the trees that I walked by. I did a full circle at least three times. I have seen every tree in the woods. I needed help. I felt as if I had already marked every tree. It was true until I got more and more tired of walking.

I searched for a place to rest until the fog settled a bit, so I could see. I saw something in the distance. I could have sworn that it was a dream. It seemed like I was hallucinating. Then I heard a voice. It was faint but still there. It was a woman. It echoed like she was screaming.

She was in danger. I ran as fast as I could to the woman. Then I stopped when I saw a man that looked like a lumberjack. He was huge and had a red ax. No it wasn’t red, it was b****y. I looked around for something I could use to distract the man, so he didn’t hurt the woman as he did the dead man on the floor. I quickly spotted a shed. I thought of a diversion. I grabbed a stone and threw it at the metal shed. It was too far, and I missed the shed.

I recognized the tree. It had three branches. There was also a log next to it. It was the first tree I placed a rock under. I quickly grabbed the stone and threw it. It was slightly smaller, so it was easier to throw. It made a clunk. The murderer went to check the inside of the shed.

He put down the ax to open the shed. It was my chance. I grabbed the ax, so I could chop this evil man in two. The ax was huge and heavy. I dropped it. It made a bang on the floor. I was going to get caught.

I attempted to run back to the tree. The man grabbed me, pulled me up, and growled some words, “What do we have here?” I spat into his eye and threw him off. The woman that almost got killed could barely see. Even so, she could make out what the lumberjack was doing. She grabbed the ax and cut off his. He fell to the ground and tried to stop the bleeding. But he fainted because of blood loss. He made a large thud when he hit the ground. I wanted to thank the woman. When I walked up to her, she looked familiar.

I got closer and noticed she was tall, slender, and seemed to have dark hair. Ms. Belaine. I ran to her and quickly hugged her, “Thank you,”

I asked her how she got into this dilemma. She responded, “Well, I noticed you weren’t with me and figured you were going home. So, naturally, I went home too. I called your name. Since you didn’t answer, I checked your room when you weren’t there, but I walked further and saw a man.

I thought he was a lumberjack simply cutting down trees. He was not a lumberjack. He had just killed his g**g member for telling someone about him. Then he said to me that he had to kill me too. I screamed, and here we are.”

With that, we rested next to a tree. When we woke up, the mist had settled; we could see the house. And we had a clear way home. As we went to the house, Ms. Belaine asked, “Remember when I told you I wanted to show you something if you came here?”

“Oh, yes.”

She said, “I think it’s time to show you.”

I asked, “All right, what is it?” She led me to the highest point on a mountain next to our house on the hill.

With the last step, all the leaves and trees started to shake and spin. It halted to a stop. The dust was in my eyes. I couldn’t see anything.