Friday, March 11, 2016

Avarice: Chapter Six



Layout of the first floor of the Besons' house (north is up):



Abby dragged the wood into the kitchen, then sat down at the table. Her hands were covered in dust. Her father walked in carrying a hammer and a bucket of nails. He grabbed the boards and walked toward the kitchen window. He held them up, evaluating the best way to attach them to the wall.


As he was looking out the window. Glad popped his head up from the cellar “I found two old muskets, not in the greatest condition, but I think we can clean them.“ “Good.” said Osman. Glad set them on the table.


Abby made several more trips in search of wood and material to burn. At Glad’s suggestion, the two of them worked together to unhinge a few heavy oak doors and prop them up against the windows. It took quite a while to drag them across the huge house, and as the day dragged on Abby’s hands and arms began to ache with the effort.


After her first trip to the study, she had avoided the second floor entirely. As a result, Abby had barely seen Vera or her mother. Neither had she heard them. This was probably a good thing, since any alert from them would likely mean danger was incoming.


Abby and Glad dragged the last door they could find in the west wing into the kitchen and propped it up against a window. With a dull thud, the door fell against the wall and the light raced from the room, as if a lone lamp had been extinguished.

“Abby,”said Osman “Can you try to find me some more light”? Abby hadn’t noticed, but the sun was rapidly going down. “Sure” She replied. She started to head up the stairs toward her room, thinking she’d grab the lantern there. As she turned the corner at the top of the stairs, she saw Vera anxiously staring out a window


“See anything yet” asked Abby “Not yet” said Vera.


Abby sighed and looked out the window. The sun was almost down. In the fading light, at the edge of the tree line, she saw a slight bit of movement. Not sure what it was, she looked closer. It looked like there was a man pacing between trees. “Do you see that?” asked Abby. Vera just stared. Abby turned to ask the question again. Vera grabbed her shoulder and squeezed. Abby knew she saw too. “Let’s get downstairs” said Abby.

Chapter Seven --> Copyright 2016 Tyler Smith

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