NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Secrets
Luna
My legs burned and my chest heaved as I nearly tripped onto the dirt beneath me. I gasped and gulped the air before coughing heavily as Varis laughed and cheered, "I did it! I beat you!" He pumped his fist a few times in the air, the backpack full of bread bouncing up and down, before he turned to me and stuck his hand out.
I looked up at him and sighed in defeat as I reached out and took his hand. I don't know why I always put myself through this pain; like hell could I ever beat him in a physical challenge. I groaned as my brother pulled me to my feet, and he helped pat the dust off my shoulders as I smoothed out the skirt Mother always made me wear.
"You're getting faster," Varis said with a smug smirk. "But you'll never be as fast as me." He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder as I sighed once more.
"Shut it, jock head." I said as I began to walk towards the front door of the Hautchkins house.
Varis blinked and looked at me with a perplexed expression. "What'd you call me?" He asked.
"Nothing now, c'mere." I motioned for him to come over to me as I turned to knock on the front door. As my little hand rapped against the wooden door, we sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out from behind the door.
"Apologies! Be just a moment." I glanced back at Varis, who shrugged his shoulders as the sound of heavy bolts being undone on the door could be heard. Suddenly it opened, and a pretty yet immensely tired-looking human woman stuck her head out, her blonde hair matted and tangled as she looked down at us. For a second, she looked at Varis and me with a confused expression, and as if a light bulb went off in her head, her eyes widened, and she smiled. "Oh, you're the Ashflows' kids!" She beamed and stepped back as she opened the door wide. "Please, c'mon, don't mind me; I was just doing the laundry."
I once again shared a look with Varis; he gave me a big smile and strutted along past me into the house. I fidget with my skirt while inhaling deeply and then trail behind with a faint sigh. Couldn't we just drop off the bread and go? I don't do well with strangers and such.
"Oh wow, this is a nice house, Mrs. Hautchkins!" Varis complimented as we stepped into the living room. The room was adorned with intricate wallpaper, featuring floral patterns that added a touch of elegance and charm. A large fireplace stood proudly against one wall, its mantle decorated with delicate porcelain figurines and family portraits. Plush furniture filled the space, including a cozy armchair and a sturdy wooden table. Sunlight streamed through the lace curtains, casting a warm glow on the room's vintage decor. The entire place was pristine; not even a single speck of dust could be seen. No wonder this woman looks like a mess; she's probably slaving away here.
"Thank you, Master." Hearing the older woman address Varis as such made my head perk up. "Please make yourself comfortable while I get some tea ready." She walked out of the living room and into the kitchen nearby. "The walk must've taken so much out of you." She said it from the other room.
"Oh, it wasn't too bad!" Varis said nonchalantly as he removed the pack of bread, placed it on the table, and sat down. "Luna and I had a race!"
Oh god, don't bring up the race. I internally groaned as I looked at Varis, who was smiling at me. He vigorously waved his hand towards himself as he called me over. With a small shake of my head, I went over to him and climbed onto the seat next to him.
"Oh, a race?" Mrs. Hautckins stepped back into the living room. "That would explain why you arrived here so soon." She took a seat across from us, took the bag of bread, and began to open it so that she could inspect its contents. "Mind if I ask who won?"
Varis immediately puffed his chest. "Well, it was me, of course!" He beamed. "I left Luna in the dust."
Okay, now he's lying. "Nuh uh!" I blurted out. "I was right behind you the whole time!"
"That's not true! You were stumbling behind me, begging me to slow down!" Varis crossed his arms, and I gasped.
"No, that's not true! You were the one that nearly stumbled a few times because you were going too fast; that's why I was telling you to slow down because I didn't want your clumsy butt ruining the bread!"
Mrs. Hautchkins raised her hands. "Children, children, please, inside voices." She laughed nervously before returning her attention to the bag and finally opening it. "Oh wow! Look at these loaves and rolls." She hummed as she began to pull out the rolls of freshly baked bread. "My, my, Cailynn sure is an excellent baker. It smells like it came directly from Peshmurga."
Once again, my head perked up. Peshmurga? Another country, perhaps? "What's Peshmurga?" I asked.
Mrs. Hautchkins smelled the bread some more before setting out the many loaves and rolls on the table. "A beautiful and faraway land, dear. Dangerous though. Many of the folk there are excellent at their crafts, yet the leader of that land is fierce."
"Oh, so like a dictatorship!" I said this while making a mental note of another place to never go.
Mrs. Hautchkins blinked and looked up at me with a perplexed look. "Yes. No offense, Miss, but I'm surprised you know that word. Madam Soza must be a great teacher."
I blushed faintly. Sometimes I can't help but act smarter than I should be at this age.
"She's good, but mean!" Varis said as he crossed his arms. "She can be very harsh."
"That's just because you refuse to pay attention," I said, crossing my arms. "You spend all your time looking out the window rather than reading what's given or listening to her."
"Blah blah!" Varis dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "Mrs. Hautchkins, where's Avdol and Mila?"
The older woman, who was giggly at our squabble, took her hand away that was covering her mouth and said, "They're at school. They shouldn't be getting home for at least a few more hours."
"School?" Varis sighed. "I wish I could go to school."
School? I thought to myself. I never knew this town had its own school, and then again, I never honestly thought about it. To know that Mom and Dad had us homeschooled is, well, honestly, a blessing.
"I don't; I like staying at home with Madam Soza!" I said it with a firm nod.
"Yeah, but I'm stuck with you and that angry cat lady."
"Oi!" Madam Hautchkins spoke up firmly, causing both of us to jolt. "Watch your tone, young master; Madam Soza is a Serelli. Please do not say such inconsiderate things."
Varis's blue and green eyes darted back and forth before he gulped and nodded his head briskly. "My apologies; what I mean is that it would be nice to be around Avdol and the other boys."
For some reason, I felt my heart twinge, and I blinked. "Do you not like being around me?" I asked softly as my heart sank a bit.
Varis shook his head. "No, no, I do. I just. It's just..."
Mrs. Hautchkins leaned forward. "I think what he's saying is that he'd like to be around more kids his age." Mrs. Hautckins said with a soft smile, and Varis nodded. "It is okay to feel that way. When I was young, I always looked forward to hanging around my old school friends, though I'm sure your mother and father have a good reason as to why you're being homeschooled."
"Because they can afford it." Varis huffed. "Mother says it's because Soza is smarter than all the other teachers!"
Mrs. Hautchkins smiled. "And that's probably true. Your mother and father are quite wealthy."
For a third time, my ears perked up. "Wealthy?" I said it with a tilt of my head. I never once really considered my new family to be wealthy. Well, maybe, but compared to what I've seen around, which, to be honest, wasn't much, I thought my parents were just as good as anyone else.
Mother looked to be a baker of sorts, and Father was part of the local constabulary. I never really asked them what they did. Maybe Dad was like the chief, or maybe Mom sold her baked goods at a crazy price?
Mrs. Hautchkins blinked, and we shared eye contact for a few moments before she gently cleared her throat and said, "Apologies. I speak faster than my thoughts--" She stopped upon hearing the guttural caw of a ground dragon outside, and the sound of a rolling cart drew our attention to the window. Immediately, Miss Hautchkins got up. "Oh, it seems Herbert is home. I'll go get the tea and payment for your mother's goods, dearies; if Herbert asks, tell him I'm in the back." She got up and went back into the kitchen.
I looked at Varis, leaned over, and whispered, "What was that about? She seemed a bit sketchy, didn't she?"
Varis leaned into me. "Yeeeah." He hissed his response, his eyes narrowing. "Maybe she knows something about Ma and Pa that we don't?" Varis pursed his lips as I nodded, but before we could continue talking, there was a thud at the front door and a muffled grunt.
Turning around, the door opened, and from the outside came a tall, broad-shouldered human man in denim suspenders wearing a blue plaid shirt. His hair was blonde and slightly balding. He looked to Mrs. Hautchkins, who just come back into the room with a confused look on his face as he spat out a piece of straw in his mouth. Like Mrs. Hautchkins, Mr. Hautchkins, or Herbert, as I now know him, had the light bulb go off in his head.
"I'll be..." He said it in a low guttural draw. "You're those Ashflow kids." He smirked. "I see you have the bread." He nodded to the pack on the table. "Smells really good." He chuckled as he sauntered into the room, his shadow looming over us as he picked one of the rolls off the table and smelt it.
I about sank into Varis, who seemed quite relaxed. I don't know how he can deal with being around strangers so easily. Well, maybe not strangers to him. Varis does go out more than me, and he seems to know their kids. "Mother made them just this morning," Varis said, sounding pleased. "She made that backpack there, which she said is..." He looked over his shoulder at me with a faint blush and whispered, "Luna, what was the word?"
"Insulated." I whispered.
"Yeah! Insulated, Mother said it keeps everything nice and warm." Varis nodded his head as Herbert took a large chunk out of the roll and chewed with a soft hum.
After swallowing the bitten piece, he raised it in the air as if to toast and exclaimed, "Damn delicious. "
"Herbert, language!" Mrs. Hautckins scolded him.
"A-apologies." Herbert blushed faintly and cleared his throat. "It's good, and to be expected, though, knowing Cailynn, she's always cooking up some interesting gizmos." He chuckled as Mrs. Hautckins came over to the table and began to pour the tea for us, as well as placing a hefty leather coin purse on the table in front of Varis.
My head perked a little bit as Varis grabbed the bag of coins, his eyes wide as Mrs. Hautckins warned him this was for Ma and Pa only. I looked up at Herbert and asked, "What more do you know about our mother?"
The man stopped himself short of taking another bite of the roll and looked down at me with a somewhat confused expression. Though he pursed his lips, he thought for a second and said, "A fair bit. We Hautchkins and the Ashflows have been good friends since shortly after your brother there was born." He nodded to Varis. "Your parents moved into Oren, oh, some... ten years ago? The whole town went up in a fuss because some adventurous folks were moving in." He chuckled.
My eyes widened a bit. "Adventurous?" Even Varis took his eyes away from the money and looked up at Herbert, who laughed softly and nodded. "Were Mom and Dad adventurers?" I asked.
Herbert shrugged and winked and said, "I think it's best you ask them about it." He wiggled his finger at us. "If you're just hearing about this now, then that means I spoke too much." I blinked and squinted; now he was just furthering my suspicion.
I've been in this world for nearly six years now, and I still don't know much about the people around me. Aside from Varis, at least, he and I are pretty much glued together, yet Ma and Pa... I don't know much. Herbert was right when he mentioned that Mother is always working on something. Behind our house was a smaller cabin. Mother always went out every morning for a couple of hours; at least once I was of age to walk around on my own without her supervising me. I always assumed it to just be Mother's bakery, but then again, she does use our kitchen for that too.
I never really bothered going out to it in my earlier days because Mother restricted me to the house, though that hasn't stopped Varis, who I once saw getting scolded for trying to go in there without asking. Asking? Well, that's it. There's no harm in just asking.
"Mother! Mother!" I rushed into the kitchen to Mother's side and threw myself into her legs, nearly causing the elven woman to stumble into the counter while she prepped for tonight's meal.
My mother gasped with surprise, gripped the counter, and said, "Wh-what is it, Luna?!" She took a deep breath and looked down at me with a soft smile. "What has you all clingy this evening?"
Across from us at the dinner table, Madam Soza looked up from her meal. "Little one seems full of energy; I too am curious." Madam Soza smirked, her fuzzy tail flicking gently.
Okay, you got this. Just try to pull off the cutest expression ever and melt her heart, and we can see what's in the cabin. Yet I need a scapegoat... I don't want to make it seem like it's all my idea, so... sorry, brother. "Va-Varis and I were wondering if we could play in the building out back, y'know, for more space and quiet." Now smile. I flashed Mother a big dopey smile.
"No." Fuck, she deflected!
Mother placed the knife and fork she was using to carve the meat for tonight's dinner, and she placed her hand on my head and ruffled my hair. "That building isn't a playhouse, dear; as a matter of fact, that's where Soza is staying; it's also your father's and my work area. No little elves allowed—or well, any kids for that matter." She smiled and ruffled my hair once more.
"But why? What're you hiding?" I whined and puffed my cheeks; both Soza and Mother laughed as I tugged on Mother's dress gently.
"I'm not hiding anything, Dearie." She gently plucked my small hands off her skirt with her free hand and said, "Nothing that should concern you at least." Mother winked at me. She freaking winked at me! It's like she's begging me to go break into the cabin!
I huffed and stepped a few feet away from my mother. "I can't believe you're keeping secrets from me." I stuck my nose up in the air and turned my back on her. Mother gasped with shock, and Soza snorted with laughter. I could hear her almost choking on her food due to her giggling and heavy purring.
Mother looked dumbfounded, her mouth agape as she stared down at me. "I--I'm not keeping secrets, uh, well..." Mother stuttered, sighed, and placed her palms together as I glanced at her from over my shoulder, trying hard not to smile smugly. By the kitchen door, I could see Varis poking his head in while covering his mouth and trying not to snicker. After a few moments, Mother regained her composure and said, "Little Lady, I'll show you what's in there when you're older."
I raised my eyebrows and could no longer hold back the smile. Now we're getting somewhere—a compromise. Testing my luck, I asked, "When is older--"
"When you're older," Mother cut me off with her tone, now shifting to an authoritarian one. "Now, come help me with dinner. I need you to start washing plates."
Suddenly, my smugness dropped, and my eyes widened as I turned to look at her. "But it's the rest days; why am I getting chores?!"
"Because you're being nosy." Mother winked. Why is everyone winking at me today?! "Now come, Momma needs your help," she said as I whined and sulked. Feeling hopeless and lost, I looked back, hoping to find my brother, who could maybe save me yet… Varis was gone. The bastard abandoned me.