Dinner was delicious and by the time I had cleared my plate I was extremely tired, but I couldn’t call it a night without first letting Hawthorne know that we were spending the night in Scyre. I worried that Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood would be suspicious if I walked to the outskirts of the town. I confided this to Jack and he waved it aside.
‘Who cares what they think? I’ll come with you.’
Finding Hawthorne was never difficult. We seemed to be in tune with each other’s thoughts. He knew when I was looking for him and always turned up at the right time. We told Jack’s father that we needed to collect something from a shop in town and quickly ran into the forest where Hawthorne sat waiting for us. He seemed extremely putout when I told him that he would have to make do for himself until dawn. I gave him a kiss and together Jack and I walked back to his father’s home. Jack remained deep in thought until we reached the apothecary once again.
Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood insisted that Jack and I take their bed for the night and said they would sleep in the sitting room. Jack and I tried to decline, but they shouted us down and sent us to bed. We had shared a bed on only one occasion before now and it had not been comfortable. However, as Jack and I slid between the cool covers it felt strangely familiar and natural. Both Jack and I let out sighs of relief when we hit the pillows.
‘It’s been a big day,’ I said as Jack blew out the candle on the bedside table.
‘Mmh,’ Jack agreed. ‘I never expected this. I suppose I have you to thank.’
‘Me?’
‘You brought me here,’ he said, turning to me. ‘Perhaps that is why I felt compelled to hang around you.’
‘You mean it wasn’t my good company?’ I smirked.
Jack chuckled. ‘The question is; what do I do when you find your own family?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Do I come back here and get to know my father and his family?’ Jack said hesitantly.
‘I don’t know,’ I whispered.
‘Or do I stay with you?’ He finished.
You stay with me, of course, I thought to myself, but I did not tell Jack this.
‘I suppose I shall cross that bridge when I come to it,’ he said. ‘But you know, we could do it.’
‘Do what?’
‘Live together, find somewhere nice and get steady jobs. I think we could do with a little less drama in our lives.’
‘It would have to be somewhere sunny’ I mused.
‘Of course. We’ll get a dog too.’
‘What about Hawthorne?’ I asked.
‘Oh yeah. He can come too.’
I smiled. ‘Perhaps we should live on a farm then.’
‘I could deal with that.’
~
‘Be careful, won’t you dears? Don’t get lost.’ Mrs. Greenwood said, straightening my collar.
‘And don’t trust the Concord City officials,’ Mr. Greenwood added.
‘You’ll come back right?’ Jamie said, looking up at me with his enormous blue eyes.
‘Of course,’ I said, glancing at Jack. ‘Right?’
‘Right,’ Jack agreed.
‘Thank you for everything,’ I said to Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood. ‘For the food and the clothes.’
‘And the accommodation,’ Jack added.
‘We wish you would stay longer,’ Mr. Greenwood said with a sad smile.
‘You’ll see me again,’ Jack promised. ‘There are just some things we need to do first.’
‘Take care, son,’ Mr. Greenwood said. Hesitantly, he gave Jack a one-armed hug before releasing him and kissing my cheek. Mrs. Greenwood gave Jack and I a kiss each before pressing a heavy parcel into my hands.
‘What’s this?’ I asked, looking down at the neat package.
‘Just a little bit of food and medicine’ she smiled sweetly.
‘Thank you.’
‘We are very grateful,’ said Jack, a little stiffly.
Everything felt strangely formal as we left the Greenwood’s property. They waved at us from the apothecary door, watching us walk down the street and out of view.
‘How nice,’ said Jack a few minutes later when they were out of sight. ‘What’s in the parcel?’
Opening it I found that there was bread, cheese and a bladder filled with liquid, along with an assortment of medicinal herbs. Amongst this was a small pouch filled with coins.
‘Great!’ said Jack, quickly counting the coins. ‘This is very generous of them. I suppose they didn’t tell us it was there because they knew we wouldn’t accept it.’
‘We need it,’ I told Jack.
He nodded in agreement, ‘What’s in the bladder?’
I handed Jack the bladder. He took out the stopper, sniffed the opening and tasted it.
‘It’s wine,’ he told me a moment later, his lips stained red.
‘Wine?’ I said with raised eyebrows. ‘Do I like wine?’
Jack smiled and handed me the bladder. I took a small sip and pulled a face, making Jack laugh.
‘I do not like wine,’ I concluded.
Chapter Six
Concord City
Hours passed. Days. Miles.