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Summer of 1762

Dust swirled behind the carriage as it sped down the dirt road that cut across the countryside. The sun was setting low and the horizon had become different shades of pink and orange. And, although it was the middle in the summer, it was very chilly outside and it made Jenny clutch her shawl tighter to her body and the small body in her arms to adjust itself.

A shadow of a smile appeared on her thin lips as she took one of her hands and ran it through her son’s thick, curled hair. He had been sleeping the entire trip. As soon as they sat down in the carriage, he had immediately fallen asleep with his head leaning against her shoulder. Now he was snuggled into her lap with his arms thrown around her neck.

"Jenny, remove the boy from your lap." He husband grumbled across from her, shifting in his seat. "He is too old for that."

"Hush." Jenny replied with a hiss in her voice, bringing her son closer to her body and hugged him tightly. "You have hurt him enough for today, at least let poor William sleep."

"He will be the end of me Jennifer!" Ethan growled, leaning forward in his seat as his bore into his wife’s.

"He is your son!" She rasped, holding one of her hands over William’s ear and looked up at Ethan with shock. "You cannot say such things!"

"We all know that he was a mistake." He mumbled underneath his breath, laying back against the cushioned seats of the carriage but sat straight up when he received a quick kick to his shin, his eyes snapping up to meet his wife’s. Her dark hair framed her exotic face that caught his attention when he saw her for the first time. "Don’t test me Jennifer, before you married me you were nothing but a poor farmer’s daughter in the country. I easily brought you out of that world and I can easily put you back in there."

Jenny was about to respond when the carriage immediately stopped, and the couple knew they had arrived. "Sir, we have arrived." Their driver called from his seat up at the front before jumping down and opened up their door.

"Very well, Arthur." Ethan nodded firmly as he stepped out of the carriage. "Very well indeed." He said silently as he surveyed the house in front of him. It was an old plantation house that had been sold to the Summers some time ago when the old owner couldn’t afford anymore. It wasn’t that far from Philadelphia so it was easier to travel back and forth for Mr. Summers from his law firm in the city. Ethan’s eyebrows furrowed when he finally noticed that his wife was not by his side. "Jennifer? Coming?"

"Yes Ethan…" The woman murmured as she ran her hand lightly through her son’s dark hair before shaking him awake. "William? Wake up now, we are here." She whispered softly to him, lightly shaking the young boy once again before his eyelids fluttered and his eyes opened wide. He looked a little confused for a moment until he looked up at his mother and a bright smile covered his lips.

"Hello, mum." He chirped before placing a small kiss on her cheek and then hugged her tightly. "We there yet?"

"Yes, dear, we are." The woman smiled as she removed her son from her lap and then stepped out of the stagecoach with a plastic smile set on her face as she stood next to her husband. William just watched the scene from the door of the stagecoach as his mother took her husband’s hand in hers. The small boy didn’t get the best feeling as he watched this.

"William! Come!" Ethan yelled at his only son, grasping Jenny’s hand tightly in his. "We don’t want to be late." He hissed as William immediately jumped out of the coach and ran over to his mother’s side. "You better behave William." Ethan hissed again staring over at his son with a hard look in his eyes.

William nodded his head meekly as he began to follow his mother and father up the gravel path towards the large plantation house. It was at least three stories tall and incredibly large, made out of dark bricks with wonderful French shutters and scarlet drapery adorning the windows. In front of him were large marble steps that lead up to a large, thick oak door. William watched as his father and mother approached the door and seconds later a short, plump redheaded woman whipped open the door with a bright smile on her face and a damp white cloth in her hand.

"You must be Mr. Rayne," the plump woman greeted as her smile widened, William could feel the warm vibes coming off of this woman and it made him smile. "Me name is Fiona, I work for the Summers. Come in."

Fiona stepped aside and gestured the family inside before turning to a thin looking man that was standing next to her. She looked him in the eyes and then gestured towards the coach that was still parked outside with Arthur standing patiently beside it. Without a word, the thin man nodded and eagerly ran out to the carriage and began to pull the trunks and pieces of luggage from it.

Jenny smiled kindly at Fiona as his her eyes scanned the large residence. "And where is Joyce? I am very eager to meet her."

"Her pregnancy is almost finished, so she is in bed at the moment but will be down for dinner." Fiona smiled apologetically towards the dark haired woman before looking over at Ethan who was taking in the rich surroundings with delight. "Mr. Rayne, Mr. Summers is in his office if you would wish to see him."

"I would like that very much." Ethan grinned as he turned towards his wife and tugged on her hand. "Come now Jennifer." He ordered with a fake smile on his face and tightened his grip on her hand.

"And William?" Jenny nodded towards her son who was shifting his weight nervously on the balls and heels of his feet.

"Don’t worry Mrs. Rayne." Fiona jumped in with that warm smile on her face and took William’s hand in hers. "I will take care of ‘im. I think I shall take ‘im to meet Elizabeth. She has been quite eager to have someone to play with."

Jenny nodded as she took a step towards William and ran her hand gently down the side of his face. "Be a good boy for mum, okay?"

William sent his mother a bright smile before she walked off with her husband, who was clutching her hand tightly, following one of the Summers’ other servants.

"You want to meet Elizabeth?" Fiona asked him with a slight chuckle in her voice as she led him towards the stairs that went up to the second floor.

"Yes…" William replied meekly as they walked up the stairs towards Elizabeth’s room at the end of the long hall. William could feel his small heart beat radically in his chest as their footsteps neared the open bedroom door. He could lightly hear small sounds of the servants down in the kitchen cooking tonight’s dinner and the sound of a small girl humming. The sound of her humming made the organ in his chest to beat faster as he removed a strand of dark hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"Elizabeth!" Fiona shouted in a loud cheery voice with that huge grin still on her face as she glided into the room. William felt the woman tug on his hand and bring him into the girl’s room. There she was, spinning around and around in circles in the middle of her bedroom. She had on a long emerald dress that brought out the golden color of her hair and the slight paleness of her skin. The young boy watched her with fascination as she stopped at the sound of Fiona’s voice and turned around to look at them. She had bright eyes that almost matched the color of her dress with cheeks that were round that had lost some of her baby fat. "Look who is here!"

Elizabeth giggled as she skipped over towards William and curtseyed in front of him before sticking out her left hand. "I’m Elizabeth!" She chirped. "S’pleasure to meet you William!"

William sent the girl a shy smile before taking his hand in hers. "Hello."

Elizabeth looked up at Fiona and grinned. "We will be all right Fiona. You can go help mother now."

Fiona shook her head as she turned and left the room, leaving the children alone. William began to shuffle on his feet like he had done earlier.

"You have a pretty home." William mumbled, clasping his hands in front of him while his hair had fallen in front of his eyes, shielding them from Elizabeth’s gaze.

"Thank you."

"Where did you live before?" He mumbled now rocking back and forth on his feet.

"In the city, but, father got tired of it, so we live here now!" She chirped.

"Ethan loves the city. He likes to work all the time."

"Who is Ethan?"

William’s hands began to twitch as his eyes briefly met hers. "My father."

"Why do you call him Ethan?" She asked curiously, as she twisted her hips about, making her dress swish around her feet.

"Cause that is his name and he doesn’t like me to call ‘im father." William replied sadly as he remembered what had happened earlier this morning at home. He internally flinched when he could somehow feel his father’s tight grip on his shoulder and the look of hatred he had given William.

"That’s terrible." Elizabeth replied sincerely, taking his small hand in hers.

"I am use to it."

Elizabeth smiled sadly at William before she briefly squeezed his hand and tugged him over towards her bed where a lonely book sat amongst the lavender sheets. "Come now. Let’s read a story until dinner. Mother usually reads to me since I don’t know how to but she can’t get out of bed because she prewgnant with my new sister."

"Okay." William whispered as he crawled up onto the bed with Elizabeth and they both settled against the headboard. The book was now nestled into William’s lap while Elizabeth sat next to him.

"You do know how to read right?"

"A bit. My mum has been teaching and I have been learning a bit at my schooling."

"Good." She smiled, before lying down next to him, her head resting on one of her beaded pillows. "This is my favorite."

William nodded as he began to read from the book. About a page into it he was stopped when Elizabeth sat up in bed and looked at him. "That is not how it goes."

"It is what it says in the book." William grumbled as he started to read the sentence again but was stopped by Elizabeth’s voice.

"You are lying. My mother reads this to me all the time. I know this book from the beginning to the end and that it not what happens!" She told him with a defiant look in her eyes that wanted to prove him wrong. That was when the meek little boy personality left William and something else replaced him.

"If you know the book so well why don’t you read it?" He shot back at her, closing it and shoving it in her hands.

"Because I don’t know how to read!" She yelled as she threw the book on the floor and then got up off of the bed herself. "My cousin Anya told me that boys were the devil and were evil and she was right. You are not nice at all."

"You are the one who keeps telling me I am wrong." He muttered as he jumped off of her bed and stood beside her. "You are not very nice either." William crossed his arms over his chest, as did she.

"Well—"

Elizabeth was stopped when the sound of small bell ringing from downstairs interrupted their conversation. A small growl came from the small girl’s throat as she turned on her heels and stomped out of the room and down the hall. William followed her soon after.

To be continued…





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