Light of the Unexpected Adventure

Chapter 4 Mistakes Happen

Gabriella's POV

Without a moment to lose or time to even comprehend my words, she scoffs at that comment, slapping my cheek as I yelp from the unexpected impact to my face. "Of course you didn't, because you were too busy getting in trouble again.. Now, what did she do this time?!" she yells out at the guard before gripping my arm tightly in her hand, shaking me around as she shoves me closer to him. I stumble forward until I can see his steel boots at my feet. I keep my head hung as I feel my arm being grabbed once again as if I am her item to be thrown around at her whim. My eyes are squinting shut just expecting something to happen that will probably hurt more than that hit.

Mother Ann scoffs at my reactions as she flips me all the way around to make sure I am facing the guard. Her hand grips my hair at the back of my head to pull it up, making sure I am looking him in the eyes as I whimper out in fear and pain. I face the man as I see his head shaking. "I don't know what you are speaking of.. She has done nothing wrong." He declares in my defense, which surprises me. He could have easily not dealt with any of this by telling her the truth of why I was there or how I was rude to him.. but he is defending me. For what reason, I do not know. But no one has done anything for me without expecting anything in return.

Mother Ann doesn't seem to fully believe this apparently because she doesn't take that as an answer. She starts to question the situation, as if she knows there is more to this story. "Then what were you feeling the need to address with her? I saw a conversation happening over here, and Gabriella knows she is not supposed to bother or discuss things with the King's men. So, for what reason did you converse with her? I demand to know just in case if I shall punish her for whatever she has done." She demands this time around, as if she is just begging for a reason to punish me.

I have always felt that she liked hurting me for no real reason, but her acting like this has almost confirmed it for me. I look up at him again, swallowing the lump in my throat because I know with almost anything he says she will use it against me to execute another lashing. He stares at me for a moment before he clears his throat, then responds pretty quickly. "I was talking with her about how great these events are, and we both agreed that we love being able to come out and watch the guilty be condemned.. That is all." I feel her hand shove my head forward as I wince, but make sure not to make a sound, knowing just that response would give her all the reason in the world to lash me.

I hold my breath, just begging my eyes not to cry no matter how badly they might want to since they are now welling with unspilled tears. I feel as her hand drifts from the back of my head then straight below my chin before it quickly grips my face as she spins me around to face her, squeezing my cheeks tight in her hand before inquiring. "Then where was your turkey leg? You insisted on getting one, and yet your hands are empty." The suspicion is evident across her features as the guard speaks up for me again before I even have the chance to respond.

"I told her that a moment ago, I saw a worm in a man's turkey leg and that it might not be a great idea if she doesn't want to be sick all night.. and she said that she can not be sick since she has plenty of work to do and needs to make sure that her Mother is satisfied with her work for all of you. Sorry if I am being bold in assuming an obviously gorgeous and generous woman as yourself would be the mother that most of the villagers speak of." He says to her as I watch her features instantly soften.

"Why, yes.. that is me.. I am very generous and caring of my children, even the ones that seem to always be getting into trouble.. isn't that right, Gariella.. You love your Mother Ann?" She asks, squeezing my face harder with each word. I nod as much as I can through her hold as I push out the words. "Yes, Mother Ann." She swipes her hand away, along with my face before patting the guard on his chest. "Thank you for that much-needed comment, I will not forget it.. and thank you for keeping an eye on this one.. she needs it. Let's go, Gabriella." I reach up to gently touch my throbbing cheeks.

I watch Mother Ann turn and walk away as I start walking behind her just before my arm is grabbed, but this time, even though the hand is completely wrapped around my arm with an urgency, the touch is still gentle. "Be careful, Gabriella." the guard says to me in a tone that sounds as if it may be a warning, and maybe it is.. Or maybe it is just pity on my life and being stuck with this awful woman. "I will try.. Thank you for saying everything you did to her.. I appreciate it." I say softly as he lets go of my arm, looking away from me and ahead of himself as if he doesn't even know that I am there.

I turn to walk away as I hear him softly say. "Don't think about my actions in this hard time for yourself. It really was no problem." I nod at him, giving him one last glance as I keep walking away from him, but realizing I need to go faster or she might see that I am not following her. I instantly quicken the pace in my step, I get to her, following directly behind as Grace gets to my side. She leans in before whispering. "What happened over there?" I shrug my shoulders looking back to the guard that is still standing where I left him as I see his sapphire orbs look from the crowd then directly to me, as if he knew that I was looking at him.. Maybe he could feel it like I do when someone is looking at me.

I look away from him quickly, just hoping he doesn't think anything of my wandering eyes that have been landing on him without me even trying. I look back to Grace, seeing her eyes that look anxious for answers, just wondering what happened. "I wandered off to get some meat but didn't get it because of that guard over there.. and Mother Ann wanted to know why, that's all." I say quickly, knowing that Mother Ann is listening in on our conversation, so there is no way I am saying why I was really over there.

"Oh ok.. Then why is he staring?" she nonchalantly asks this as I shrug my shoulders before I retort. "He said Mother Ann was pretty, so maybe that's why.. But she also told him to keep his eyes on me, so maybe that's why.. or both." Mother Ann turns around and states. "He said I was gorgeous.. so probably watching me." Just her responding like this proves why I never answered honestly. I knew she was listening in. There is not much when it comes to privacy with people like Mother Ann in the place that she runs. So you have to try to be smart about it if you don't want to receive lashings for your thoughts and words.

"Come on ladies, keep up.. You will be the ones cooking for everyone tonight. So you better get a move on." Mother Ann declares over her shoulder as she struts through the people who are slowly dispersing since the event is now complete. But when they see her they instantly move out of the way showing what kind of an impression she leaves on the people she comes into contact with. I roll my eyes as I notice that Grace has the same look in her eyes, being just as annoyed as I am with the mothers, but there is not much we can do about that.

"I was able to do some dealings with the shopkeep, and he has allowed me a good deal to get some chicken bones for soup tonight. You have to go get it, Grace.. Then you will need to head straight to the crops because they have promised herbs for the work that was done for them the other day. Then for you Gabriella, when we get back you had better start working on getting everything else cleaned and ready for when she gets back." I look over seeing the look on Grace's featuresm showing how bad she feels that she is getting the easier job of getting the bones and herbs while I am stuck with the brunt of the work like usual.

"Well you have your task, so get going." Mother Ann instructs in a tone that intertwined with impatience which gets grace jumping, looking startled as she starts vigorously nodding her head before turning in the direction she is needed to head into just to retrieve these items. "Yes, mother.. and I will be back soon." she declares, looking at me as I nod and give her a little wave before she is prancing off to get the job done.

--------Hours Later--------

I finally finished making the soup, then portioning it out for everyone just to make sure that no one was left without a bowl, but that the mothers got more than the rest, as usual. Everyone in the hut and under my supervision has started eating or has finished. Making me the last to eat, which is normal since it is my assigned task to make sure that everyone has what they need before I can get what I need. So I slowly tip the cast iron cauldron on it's side while letting the hooks of the stand hold most of the weight of this heavy item. I keep tipping it just to get every last little drop, since it isn't as much as I would love to have. But I will take what I can get.

The last drops are observed dripping from one item to the next. I use the spoon to get every last bit into my bowl until I am satisfied with my work. I then take my bowl, letting go of the cast iron one. I look down at the hot liquid in my hands, letting the aroma take over with it's soothing tones. I find myself leaning in to steam of the broth as the incredibly strong scent takes over in my nostrils making my mouth instantly water. I clutch the bowl tight between my hands as my stomach sings a song of praises for my hard work of putting this together.

It smells great, and I can't wait to try it, especially after the day I have had. I think I need this more than most. I smiled to myself as I turned the corner, running into mother Ann since I never knew she was there. Being startled in that instant had my whole body jumping. I think the soup jumped just as high as I did. I yelp out in surprise before seeing her hand on the back of the bowl, tilting it more to make sure it all spills onto my chest, not just most. This action from her has flipped the bowl of soup completely over on my chest and all over my clothes. The hot liquid burns as it drips down my body on the inside and outside of the cloth.

The burning is much more than I ever expected from spilling it. I gasped in shock, trying to comprehend what has happened as I looked up to see a smirking Mother. She looks as if she is satisfied with these results when I am starving and frustrated. By this appearance, I can safely assume that she came up with this plan, and it was played out perfectly in her favor, especially since there was not a drop on her. She swipes her pointer finger out and across my skin, getting some of the soup off of my chest and on the tip of her finger just to suck it right off in front of me.

"Oh no.. my mistake.. I am so sorry for this unintended interaction. You know that mistakes like this happen, just like earlier when you did it to me. I am truly so sorry it had to waste the last bit of dinner for you because it was so good." she mocks me as I nod, clenching my teeth, just wanting to say something to her, but I think she wants the same things. So I resist just by grabbing the now empty bowl from my chest, seeing there are only a couple of drips left inside it. "Maybe you should have had that turkey leg after all." she spitefully says before laughing to herself and walking off.