He hadn’t really been expecting the amount of worry and fear that came from the girl, but here it was. Watching her carefully, Phineas considered how much he should say, if he should even try to answer her questions. They had both been brought in at the same time, so there was no hiding why they were here, at least according to the village. But the following questions were pressing heavily on his mind. Phineas hugged his knees tighter, pressing his forehead to the tops of them and letting out a deep sigh.
“Think you know why we’re here, whole village thinks we’re witches.” He said, lifting his head once more, briefly glancing to the window as well. “They’re scared, think we’ll hex them or something.” Phineas rolled his eyes, wincing a little at the movement. He had heard stories about what had happened to others accused of being witches, none of them pretty, he couldn’t tell her though. If she truly didn’t know, there was no sense in scaring her more, right?
“Hard to say.” He said, looking to the stone walls. “But it’s probably better than any alternative. I’m Phineas by the way, or Phin.” He wasn’t sure why he added that last part, maybe just to provide something other than the doom and gloom of the whole situation?
♦♦♦♦♦
Pulling on his boots Nathan took the paper from Mary, scanning over the contents as he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed her out, pulling his cloak a little closer at the chill. Hearing her words, Nathan could only shake his head and hold back the string of swears that came to his lips.
“Guess we’ve got our work cut out for us. Though you’d think someone would have enough brains to see how wrong this is by now.” Following Mary’s lead, Nathan approached his own moody mount, a blue roan with black splashed across the face, and matching mane. A stomped hoof and shaking of its head caused Nathan to chuckle.
“You and me both.” He laughed, running a hand across the horse’s neck. Turning to Mary, he asked, “Got everything?”
|