Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Treachery: Day 2

Word Count: 12,010

Summary of Events:
Adeline had changed to walking during the night, and it was nearing sunrise when she came on a farm whose owners were already up and working; when they got called in for breakfast Adeline managed to sneak past to the safety of the thicker trees on the other side. Edward's breakfast was interrupted by a man who wanted to buy his mare; Edward refused him and left town with his horses. Adeline woke up later than she'd expected to and started walking; it didn't take long before she noticed a house in the darkness . . .

Excerpt of the Day:
"Almost as if cued by the sight, Adeline's stomach grumbled painfully, and she had to admit that she was quite hungry. It was rather fortuitous that the house was here. Eating early into her journey would be a good thing, she was sure.
Going slower now, Adeline approached the house and followed its perimeter until she found the outside door to the root cellar. She had a feeling a garden filled only with moist, black soil, and maybe some tender green shoots of vegetables to fill the larder in the coming autumn, stood not far away.
Feeling for the latch, Adeline found it was easy to open. She carefully lifted open the doors and felt down for the first step. Her foot hit something, then she heard a rather solid crack and then a dull, wettish thud.
Puzzled, Adeline reached in with her hand and found that the stairs into the cellar as far as she could reach were filled with jars of preserves, and that she must've knocked one of the jars onto a lower set of jars, causing it to break and fall between the stairs to the floor.
She felt bad about the waste, but quickly took two jars of the preserves and closed the cellar door. That would keep her fed for awhile. She checked and saw there was no sign of any activity from the house.
Quietly, slowly, she made her way away from the house, watching out for the grass to turn to soil, not wanting to ruin their stock of vegetables for the next year.
A board hit her abdomen and she startled. Then she looked down and saw that on her side of the fence there was grass, and on the other side not, or at least it looked like it.
Following the fenceline, she made her way around and continued walking somewhat nearby the road until she found a bridge and could hear the sound of a small creek bubbling under.
It didn't sound as full of water as the ones that had flowed by the house in West Virginia, but then again, those had been in the mountains, and it was awhile since winter had ended.
Adeline climbed down the bank and nestled herself under the bridge. She'd stop here and eat some of the preserves. Then she'd continue on her way until sunrise, whenever that happened to be.
It took some effort to open the jar, but she got it done rather quietly and then reached into the cool brine until her fingers grabbed an odd shape. Lifting it out, she put it in her mouth and recognised at once the taste of pickled beetroot.
Nervously Adeline looked down at her dress. She hoped she hadn't dripped. Beetroot brine was notorious for staining, and she didn't want to have those stains joining the dirt and grass stains that already marked her dress, they wouldn't come out like the dirt and grass stains would."

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