Chapter 6
AND NOW WE START INTO WIL’S POINT OF VIEW. Watch her be weird. Also, I love Silas. He’s hilarious. Total word count: 22,157
I later discovered that his name was Heston, and he was rather fond of the tug-of-war game. He took hold of some loose lace on my dress and gave it a tug, slobbering happily all over me. I saw it as an attack and immediately gave a surprising sort of battle cry and began to slap the damn thing’s ears. Heston retreated quickly, whining in a most piteous fashion and curling up. And here he thought he’d have some fun.
I laughed, grabbing up a few branches and tossing them at him for good measure, shouting, “And stay off, you mangy animal!”
Jack grabbed my arm, giving me that face he always does, that ‘oh stop it, you idiot’ face. “Oh, stop it, you bloomin’ idiot,” he said. I was almost right on the face.
“But—”
“Wil, he’s obviously not here to hurt us,” he said, using me to stand up. “Just let the poor thing be.”
He walked closer, hand held out. “Hey, boy, whatcha doin’? Come here, come on.”
Heston tentatively sniffed his hand, apparently deemed him okay, and licked him happily. Jack laughed and sat on the ground to play with him, leaving me to wonder what was going on.
“Um, Jack? Whose dog is that? And why were we running from it if you were only going to sit down and play with the infernal creature?”
“He’s not an infernal creature,” he said, letting the foul thing lick his face. “He’s one of the Brimbury’s, I’d expect. He’s not from your family, and I believe they’d be the only ones to send dogs after us. Well, after you, more like it. Doubt they care for me much at all.”
“Oh, those children adore you,” I said, keeping my distance. We were dirty enough without some dog touching us. “You’re the only one that sneaks them biscuits, after all.”
He chuckled. “They are rather cute. Their brother isn’t hard on the eyes, now, either.”
“I’ve heard quite enough about him, thank you,” I said, sighing. “If they’re going to get here, I wish they’d hurry up.”
Jack ignored me and kept playing with the dog. Ugh, Wynnes.
He and that blasted animal were so loud that we never heard the rustling of leaves around us, and never once suspected that the dog was not, in fact, owned (directly) by the Brimburys.
By the time the thick arm was around me and a dirty, calloused hand covered my mouth, Heston had left Jack and gone to its master’s side, prompting my dear friend to finally turn and look at the man. It was too little too late. He got Jack, too.
When we were finally released, I was thoroughly coated with grime and near tears. There was no telling what would happen. I’d never heard of anything like this from even the trendiest girls, or the trashiest, for that matter. For some reason, I was utterly convinced he would eat us.
I was plunked down in a chair, Jack in the corner opposite me. Heston sat in Jack’s lap, his tail wagging happily. I now saw that the man was giant, easily three times my size and dressed in many small animal furs all stitched poorly together. His hair was unkempt (I was secretly worried that my own hair looked about the same), and a scraggly red-blond beard covered his wide chin.
As he looked over a large black pot over a poorly made fire inside a makeshift fireplace inside a derelict cabin, I stood shakily and decided to shout at the man who could (and would) likely tear my head off in one clean, easy swipe.
“Let us go!” the crazy girl said. “My family will come looking for me,” the batty girl proclaimed. “All sorts of people were be here soon to retrieve us, and then you’ll be sorry.” I believe that, for the moment, I had truly lost my ever-loving mind.
The giant man was quiet a moment, never even pausing to look my way. He stirred whatever was in the pot, which I naturally assumed to be soon-to-be Wil-and-Jack stew, before calmly looking at me. Despite his composure, though, his eyes were hard and commanding, and his voice even more so as he said, “Sit.”
I did so, almost without thinking. He moved around the room quietly for such a huge man, collecting several round objects I assumed to be scoops for removing our brains.
I flinched as he came closer, but once I realized that I was entirely intact, I saw that there was a bowl before me, filled with something that I neither wanted to know nor cared what it was.
He nodded, but Jack and I were already quite gone. I’ve never eaten so ravenously in my life. I had wanted for nothing, both at my home and with the Brimbury family, but only a day—not even a full day—had rendered me insane.
Once we were done gorging ourselves on some interesting and slightly chunky soup, Jack came to the table and looked at the giant man. “Thank you for saving us,” he said carefully, “but who the bloody hell are you and why do you live in the forest?”
The man looked at him, wiping some bits from his beard. For a moment, I toyed with the idea that he was mute, but then he stood up.
“I am Silas of Brimbury,” he said. “Who are you?”
I laughed.
Both Jack and Silas of Brimbury looked at me. I covered my mouth in an effort to hide my smile, but a few giggles slipped through.
“What’s so funny about that?” Silas of Brimbury asked.
I looked at Jack, who appeared to think I was crazy for laughing (and he may very well have been right), then back to Silas of Brimbury.
“Well…I happen to be a close family friend to the Brimburys, and I’m sure I’ve never seen you before in my life. Besides, you don’t much look like a Brimbury.”
Jack inhaled, cowering. Silas of Brimbury stared at me, his expression naught but unreadable, before his great bearded face broke out into a smile.
“Mm, honesty. It’s not something highly valued anymore.” He extended a large hand that could easily envelop mine. “I assure you, I am of their blood, however indirectly.”
I shook his hand warily. He could crush me without so much as a thought. Then again, he still smiled, so I thought I might as well.
“Um, Silas?” I started. “Why do you live in the forest if you’re from a noble family? I’m sure the Duke and the children would be glad for an adult to take some of the responsibility.”
He sighed and sat down. “I am not a welcome member of the main family. It’s…it’s rather complicated.” He ran a hand through his hair. “My father was considered a Brimbury by marriage. His mother was a common woman, and had a child out of wedlock by the head of the family. However, instead of marrying quickly and drawing suspicion, they waited until he was quite a few years older. His real father married and had a fruitless marriage; she married someone else in the meantime as well, and when my father was almost nine, she killed that man to marry his real father—my great-grandfather, the head of the Brimbury line at the time.
“This meant my father would never be marked as a bastard, only the stepson to a noble family. For reasons of safety, they never told him of his true heritage, instead letting him believe he was only of common blood.”
Silas sighed again here, closing his eyes a moment. When he opened them again, he looked rather sad. “That was when he went mad.”
Jack had moved closer to listen, and I must admit, it was all rather riveting. Every family had their dirty secrets, of course, but some simply ran deeper than others.
“Why did they do all that?” Jack asked, leaning over the table as though his words might not reach the entire way. “It just seems too elaborate. Why couldn’t they just tell him?” He always did like stories.
Silas removed his coat, revealing simple burlap clothing. “Because it kept them and their reputation safe. You should know how important those sorts of people think that all is.”
“What do you mean, ‘those sorts’?” I asked indignantly. “I’m of a noble family, and I care very little for my reputation.”
“Would you let someone think you had a child out of wedlock?” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischievousness and his smile too perceptive.
I bit my lip and sighed. “Well—no. No I would not. But that’s not to do with my nobility, it’s—”
“It’s personal, is it? Or is it how you were raised?” He got up again and took the empty bowls with him. “Child, it’s how you were raised. I can’t expect you to think like I do. I was raised out here, by the forest and its many gifts.” He reached out a crude window and plucked a shiny red apple (that I swear hadn’t been there before) from a tree.
Jack looked like he might burst, how cheery his cheeks were. “What happened, then? How did you end up here instead of in the main line?”
“My father, he went mad very early in life, yes? It seems he one day stumbled upon the nature of his birth, then ran away and never returned. Most thought him dead, but that is not the case.”
It suddenly struck me. “Your father was Adam of Brimbury!” I shouted.
Silas looked surprised, but nodded. “Yes. As I was saying, he did not die as the others thought. He simply hid.”
“Hid?” Jack repeated.
“Yes, hid. He brought with him a young servant girl and once they were old enough…”
“Ah.” Jack nodded.
I had not a clue. “What then?”
Silas shrugged, gesturing as though I should know what he meant. When I still didn’t comprehend, Jack whispered in my ear. I blushed and nodded. Ah. That.
“Yes. Well, from this, I was born. Both of my parents left me here, but I grew up rather all right, wouldn’t you think?”
Looking at him, I thought, he might’ve been a handsome man with a shave and bath, but I had issue getting past the raccoon skins hanging on the back of his chair.
Jack jumped up excitedly. “But this means you’re the rightful heir to the Brimbury line, doesn’t it? I mean, Charlagne’s a wonderful fellow,” (I stifled a giggle here), “but he doesn’t know a thing about being a duke, and besides, he would rather take care of his siblings, instead. Silas, if you go back, you could take over, reclaim your rightful place and all that!”
Silas gave a sad smile and shook his head. “No, young boy, I think not. I’ve nothing with which to prove any of this. I only know because it was passed down to me from the nymphs.”
I was familiar with the word. I wrinkled my nose. “Nymphs?”
Silas saw my disgust and laughed. “Yes, but not quite like you’d think. Come, I’ll show you.”
He led us outside and to a small pond and waterfall. I’d seen my share of muddy creeks in the past weeks while playing with Lowell and Thaddeus, but never have I seen such clear waters, and I doubt anyone will ever lay eyes on them again. It sparkled even in the low light of the morning, billowing like a radiant robe. I knelt next to it and almost touched it when a face peered up at me, black eyes shining.
“Silas, what is that?” I shouted as Jack pulled me back.
“That is a nymph,” he said simply, kneeling as I had done and reaching out a hand. A slender, elegant woman appeared out of the water, formed out of the surface. She was naked, her skin a bright, shimmering blue, hair long and waved like the water, though not transparent. She was beautiful, no matter how strange it all seemed to me.
“Nymphs are nature spirits,” Silas said, kissing the cheeks of the water-woman in front of him. “This is a naiad, of the rivers and streams. She and her many sisters raised me out here because I had no one else to turn to.”
Jack frowned and covered his eyes. “Yes, well, can she at least put on some clothes?”
Silas laughed and clapped a hand on Jack’s back. “Ah, does a lad good to see a woman in full from time to time.” The look he gave the naiad was less than pleasant.
Jack laughed uneasily and kept his hand in place. “I’m fine, thanks.”
Silas ignored him, and looked to be talking to the naiad. I mean this only in that his lips were moving; I couldn’t tell what exactly, because he said nothing and even then, he formed no recognizable words.
The naiad gurgled (for that’s the only accurate word I can use) and splashed back into the water, fluid once more. I nudged Jack, who opened his eyes and looked around.
“You two look to need some cleanin’ up,” Silas said. “You can use this pond. Heston will bring your clothes if it suits you.”
As Silas went back, I looked at the aforementioned pond. “I hope he doesn’t expect us to go bathing in his friends.”
We did eventually bathe, but Jack was much quicker than I. He kept claiming to see women dancing beneath him, trying to pull him under.
I, however, saw nothing, though I think I wouldn’t have minded quite so much. The only think I was worried about was catching my death due to a wet head. Jack and I retrieved some fresh clothes from my suitcase, the one I didn’t remember bringing along, and went back inside.
On the table, I found a note in handwriting that I couldn’t decipher. “Jack, come look at this. He can’t be a Brimbury. His penmanship is atrocious.”
He came over, running a hand through his still-wet hair. “It’s a variant of Wynnish. Says he’d gone out to catch dinner.”
“Oh, that’s positively disgusting.”
“The man lives in the woods, Wil. Be grateful he found us, too. We might be dead if not for him.”
I sighed. “Fine.” I sat and rested my head on my arms. It had been a long day or two.
It was in the moment of peace that the contents of the day really struck me.
I shot up and grabbed Jack by the arms. “Jack, what did we see out there?”
He shrugged. “A naiad?”
“Those can’t exist!” I shouted. “Those are…they’re demons, surely!”
Jack sighed. “Wil, that’s silly.”
“But the Book says—”
“You won’t like what I’m about to say, but damn the Book. There is more to the world than the Book. What about your shadow friends? I think they qualify as demons more than those naked pond girls ever will.”
I was religious. I may have been strange to my family otherwise, but when it came to my devotion to the Book and its teachings, I conformed in a way my mother would be proud of. Jack, however, was a gypsy through and through, so we left our respective beliefs out of conversation. It was the main contending point between us; he thought my adherence to the Book made me a sheep, and I thought his gypsy magic would condemn him. Without talking about it, we were content.
But then he brought Neesha into it.
“Th-They are nothing alike!” I shouted, crossing my arms. “Besides, I won’t be seeing them again.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “I’ll leave your lackluster argument alone for the time being. Why won’t you be seeing them again?”
I sighed. I hadn’t wanted to tell him because I knew he’d just tell me that he was right all along, that they were evil, things like that. And even though I was absolutely livid with Neesha, I still cared somehow. It was all rather infuriating.
But I couldn’t dodge his questions long. He knew it, I knew it, so I thought I might as well give it up. “I…I saw Neesha last night. She offered to take us home.”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, and you didn’t let her because…? I mean, otherwise, we wouldn’t be here with the mad woodsman!”
She sighed. “She and I fought. She thought I had forgotten about her. I guess—well, I was rather distracted, but I didn’t forget her—”
“Calm down. What’d you two fight about?”
I sighed, sounding somewhat whiny. “She thought I’d forgotten about her while we were with the Duke and his family…”
Jack shrugged. “You did seem rather preoccupied, but I can’t quite blame you for it. It was the first time you’d ever been outside your house.”
I looked down at my hands. “I admit, I did spend a lot of time playing with the children and whatnot, but I didn’t think I’d ever see her again! What was I to do?”
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he said. “I am curious as to how they found us in the woods, though. I thought they could only visit in the basement.”
It wasn’t them, it was just her.” I bit my lip to keep from crying—I’d been doing it an awful lot of late—but the tears sprang to my eyes anyway.
He placed a hand on my back, sighing. “Hey, hush now. Let’s just get in some resting time before he comes back.” I could tell he was purposely forgetting that we’d been fighting the moment before. The boy was sweet, if nothing else.
After drinking what I hoped was not one of the water girls, I looked at Jack with a new revelation bursting on my lips. “We’ve been found for the moment, but how on Terra are we getting home?”
