Chapter Sixteen
Wyatt
I’ve lost track of the days since Andi and Myles took off. Guards have since swarmed the town in droves and show no signs of leaving either. Spending their days drinking and picking fights with anyone and everyone, destroying shops and homes. Taking whatever and whoever they want.
It’s a sorry town to live in now. All under the watchful eye of Captain Auron. This once peaceful town has become abandoned under his ‘rule.’ If folk can leave, they do. The rest of us stay and deal with the consequences.
Leaving has never been an option, not while Nia and Elana still refused to go. I promised Andi I would look after them—although she didn’t need to ask, I would have done it regardless.
Nia looked after me when no one else did.
Not even my own blood.
Uncle Nik only agreed to take me in because he had no choice, and he made sure I knew every single day how unhappy he was at this situation. Unfortunately, with no other family, I had no option but to stay.
For years, I wanted my own space, away from him.
But lodgings are expensive. Just when I think I have saved enough, the cost rises again or my savings end up elsewhere.
Over the years, Nia has asked me to move in.
To get away from Nik. But I never wanted to become a burden to them, like Nik told me I was.
I didn’t want to make them regret helping me.
So, I stayed with Nik, avoiding him when I could.
After Andi left, I felt like it was my responsibility to move in. Besides, this way I could help with whatever arose and keep an eye on them with the guards nearby, I couldn’t do that in Nik’s broken-down flat.
Uncle, only by name. He was never caring. He would rather ignore my existence than take the time to teach me.
Well, teach me without fists involved.
Uncle Nik has no trade, other than being an expert drunkard. If it weren’t for Andi and her family, my fate would have been the same.
I first met Andi in the woods. I was maybe ten years old, a thin and grimy little creature who eyed everyone with distrust. Uncle Nik had been drinking again, and to avoid another beating, I had slipped into the woods before he arrived back from the tavern.
I would spend my days hiding, climbing trees, and building dens, living off the berries I found in the thicket. I enjoyed the quiet of the woods, listening to the sounds of the animals, with no one to yell at me or remind me how useless I was.
Frequently, I would camp overnight, and no one ever came looking for me, not that I minded.
The animals paid me no heed, since they were so used to my scent, it was like I was one of them.
I’d spent most months there, until winter, that is, then I had to find a hiding place in Uncle Nik’s and keep well out of sight.
One wet afternoon, while I was fixing the roof of my den, a young girl snuck up on me.
I’d jumped half out of my skin and fled into the safety of my lair.
Peering between branches and leaves, I inspected her.
She was dainty, couldn’t have been much younger than me, with the blackest hair I had ever seen.
But her strange eyes creeped me out, with one being the colour of chocolate and the other as red as blood.
I was terrified.
“You don’t have to hide,” she called to me. “Is this your den? It’s really cool. I’m Andi, what’s your name?”
I peeked my head around the door of my den, watching her closely, watching for any sudden movements. “Wyatt,” I whispered.
She furrowed her eyebrows, leaning forward, she held a hand to her ear. “Did you say something? If you did it was so quiet, a mouse wouldn’t be able to hear you.” She placed her hands on her hips, but her face held a gentle smile.
I took a deep breath. “Wyatt,” I forced out.
“Hi Wyatt. Are you from town, or do you live near the woods like me?” She walked right up to me. I hadn’t spoken to any children before. Never attended the schoolhouse, nor spoke to many grownups either, except the barman at the tavern when my uncle could no longer walk home.
“I uh—I live in town, with my uncle,” I nervously answered.
“Doesn’t he wonder where you are? My parents would go nuts if I weren’t home before it got too dark.”
I shuffled my feet on the dirt, kicking stones. “No, he doesn’t really care.”
“Wow, you’re so lucky, I get in trouble for everything. That’s so great, you get to go where you want, when you want.”
“Not really, I only get in trouble when my uncle finds me.”
I could see Andi was well cared for, her clothes were clean and made to fit her.
She was wearing a sparkly necklace, which must have cost a lot.
Her hair was clean and shiny, combed into a neat braid that sat on her shoulder.
Her face and hands were spotless, no dirt under her fingernails, unlike my raggedy appearance.
I felt very insecure next to her. The only clothes I had were Uncle Nik’s old ones, stained with beer and filled with holes. I was covered in dirt from sleeping outside. I tried to straighten myself out, but it didn’t help.
Andi watched closely and gave me a small smile.
“Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine,” I said with my head pointed at the ground. My stomach betrayed me, letting out an enormous roar. I snapped my head up, hoping she didn’t hear it, but Andi tilted her head, hands on her hips again, and her eyebrows raised.
Lowering my head in shame, I admit, “Okay, maybe I’m a little hungry.”
“Follow me,” she announced, walking away from me.
I stared after her for a minute before I followed, unsure of what awaited me at the end of her path—mocking, or jeering. I was used to that, but to voluntarily walk into it? No thanks.
I got enough humiliation at home, so I strayed a little behind her, ready to leap into the safety of the woods if I needed to.
She guided me confidently along various paths.
I was surprised, given the amount of time I spent in these woods, that I’d never seen her before.
The rain fell hard, once again soaking me to the bone, and the mud beneath our feet squelched with each step.
I cowered under the cold drops. Andi didn’t seem to mind the rain as she skipped and splashed into puddles, spraying mud in every direction.
“Where are we going?” I shouted through the drumming rain.
“Home.”
I slowed my pace to avoid the splashes from Andi. I didn’t want to get any dirtier, I already hated myself for how I looked. What if Andi’s parents turned me away?
Through a gap in the trees, smoke billowed above us. I hoped this was Andi’s home, so we could get out of the rain. Although, I was scared of how they would react to me.
A small cottage broke through the trees, snuggled in a glade, small but much bigger than Uncle Nik’s flat. The cottage was quaint, built with stone and a chimney spitting smoke from the middle of the roof.
Flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colours surrounded the cottage in painted boxes, beneath little windows with dark wooden shutters that lay open. In the centre of the garden, stood an enormous oak tree. I felt like I was walking into a painting.
Andi runs full speed towards the cottage. “Mum, Dad,” she roared as she burst through the door, traipsing mud all over the floor. “Can Wyatt stay for supper?”
“Who’s Wyatt?” a man’s voice asked.
“He’s my friend. I met him in the woods today. He’s hungry… we both are.” She beckoned me forward, but I stopped at the door frame, extremely aware of my filthy shoes and clothes. These folk had such a nice home. I didn’t want to make it dirty by stepping inside.
“Hi Wyatt,” a woman said, walking towards me with a soft smile, but her eyebrows were creased together with a look of pity. “Of course you can stay for supper. Andi, why don’t you and Wyatt take off your muddy shoes and go wash up?”
She turned to Andi’s dad and asked, “Can you spare some clothes for Wyatt? He’s drenched.” They side-eye me quickly, but long enough for me to see the concern in their eyes. It’s a look I saw often.
Sympathy.
Over the years, I spent almost every day at Andi’s. Sometimes, sleeping on the couch when things got really bad at Nik’s, and they never asked why. Which I appreciated.
Many times, they said I could call them by their first names, but one time, their names slipped out during an argument with Nik, and he abhorred it. That’s when I started using their first names all the time just to spite him.
Although they always felt like Mum and Dad to me. Euan taught me woodworking skills, and Nia taught me my letters and numbers. Soon I could read and do easy maths. When I became a teenager, I got a job with the local carpenter. They were so proud and prepared a special meal in celebration of me.
I had never been happier.
I will never forget the kindness they showed me. Because of them, I am the man I am today.
When Euan died, I was heartbroken, like losing my own dad, the one I never got the chance to mourn. Nik once made a joke about how I was tearing up over someone who wasn’t even family. That was the first time I had ever punched someone.
All I saw was red, and my fist had connected with his jaw before I knew what was happening. He stopped talking to me after that, and I made no attempt to make amends.
They are my family. Always have been. Looking after the Kohans was a role I gave myself after Euan died.
One I’ll continue to keep.
Leaning against the fountain, I’m surrounded by reminders of the last day I saw Andi.
The once polished steps of the temple are now painted in blood splatter.
Buildings with boarded-up windows now decorated in blackened scorch marks, closed shops resonate the emptiness of the once well-maintained town.
The guards’ inquests to find the ‘witch’ have affected everyone.
Even though it boils my blood that the townsfolk stood by and watched Andi being beaten bloody, and her clothes ripped from her body to display her family’s mark, I have to give them their dues.
Not one of them has given up any information.
Despite the guard’s best interrogation attempts, no one talks.