۶Smith Family
Samuel Smith (48) - sword/blacksmith
Gwen Smith (48) - smells of heather (only memory of her)
Sasha Thomson (28) - elder twin; married to Theodore Thomson (29), a guard; pregnant
Sarah Hunter (28) - younger twin; married to Talon Hunter (31), huntsman; two kids, twins Cain and Abel (2)
Christopher Smith (26 - apprenticed to Samuel; married to Anne (25); no kids; live with Anne's family
Aiden Smith (25) - trusted a lot by Chase; bookworm
Nicholas Smith (20) - apprenticed to Samuel; has intended, Angelina Tailor (19)
Edith Smith (19) - nun/school-marm
Derrick Smith (18) - guard in training
David Smith (16) - shepherd; survived riot?
Cole Smith (12) - stops Johnathan from picking on Chase
Mary Smith (10)
Owen Smith (8)
Johnathan Smith (7) - picked on Chase, a lot
Chase Smith (6)
Zane - Chase's puppy
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Riot
The day was warm, and where Chase lay hidden even warmer. All around him was the slightly smelly wool of the ready to be sheered sheep, at least three or four lay huddled around the redhead. He could hear his brother David getting closer and closer, a tune always falling from his lips, "...ta pluck wild mountain thyme, all 'round tha blooming heath--"
"Boo!" Chase burst out of the pile of sheep, arms raised and fingers spread. Only his brother wasn't in front of him and the familiar laughter came from behind. The short redhead whipped around, startling the sheep more until the small flock around him left.
"Tryin ta scare me, wee one?" David grinned at his little brother, ruffling his mop of a head.
"Ya moved! 's cheatin 'nd ya know it!" Chase tried his best to pout but it was replaced all too quickly by a smile and laugh as David lifted him up in the air.
"Tell ya what, ya go home 'nd take luncheon inta town 'nd 'll let ya scare me this afternoon." He set the laughing tyke down, "How 'bout that?"
Chase nodded rapidly, "'ll be back ta scare ya before ya know it!" Then he was off, racing through the waist-high fields of grass toward a house with a "stable" that had black smoke rising from it.
Set a ways from the house the "stable" was only a former one, having become a forge instead. The banging of metal on metal rang out as Chase ran closer, his brother Chris calling out in greeting as he passed. Chase wasted not a moment, running full tilt into the open house and into his mother's skirts that smelled so much like the heather. "Ma! 'm ready ta take 'rick 'nd Theo their luncheon!"
She let out a laugh after the shocked sound of being run into, "Plannin on knockin yer ma down first, ya lil hellion?" Chase yelped himself at being picked up and spun upside down by his brother Aiden.
"Was no'! She caught me!" He grinned at his upside down mother and sisters, "Aiden! Put me down!"
"Yer lucky!" Aiden turned Chase right side up, strong from years of forge work, and set him down, "If'n ya had, there'd been some words. Oof!" Chase grinned up at the brown-haired bookworm who's legs he had just tackled himself.
"Alright you two! Enough horseplayin in my kitchen! If'n yer gonna do that you can get outside 'nd forget 'bout luncheon!" She laughed again at the chorus of 'Aww! But ma!' "Alright! Alright!"
"I promise I won't take no shortcuts this time!" His mother grinned at him and handed Chase a big basket, Johnathan's soft "'ve heard that before" getting cut off with a hit from Cole.
"Ignore yer brother, Chase. Jus' hurry back so I can give you yer luncheon 'nd David's." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Chase's cheek.
"I wi--" Once again the little redhead was pulled back into an embrace, one inhibited by a protruding belly.
"Yer spoilin yer boys like always, ma. We never got any luncheon in tha fields."
Chase's scowl at his big sister for scaring him soon turned into the customary grin, "That's 'cause yer not cute like me!"
Sasha snorted and started laughing, something that quickly caught on in the rest of the kitchen, "Well then, hurry up cutie! Take tha luncheon ta my husband 'nd our brother."
"I will!" Chase gave her and the rest of the kitchen occupants another grin and raced out the door the best he could with his heavy load. Nick and his father yelled passing greetings this time as they headed into the house for their own luncheon.
The town was oddly quiet and devoid of normal life as the redhead ran, his bare feet echoing loudly to him and he shivered. Something was terribly off. Chase almost turned around to take a shortcut when he heard raised voices nearer the center of town. He rushed out into the square just as the great double doors slammed open and a mass of people poured out, their voices loud and angry.
Worried for his sister, Chase came to a stop just inside the square. The familiar brown mop belonging to Edith caught his eyes as he spied her being held by two of the townsfolk. Their voices were all jumbled together but he heard snatches of their cries, "heretics", "Satanists", "kill them". Chase was unable to make himself move, knowing he should run and get help, the guard or his family. But all he could manage to do was softly whisper his sister's name, "...Edith..."
As if hearing her name fall from an innocent's lips the nun looked up, her eyes locking on his just as the ax began to fall over her neck. The warm honey-brown was full of fear, yet the contact was short as her head fell from her body which slumped and then fell to the ground as well as her captors let her go.
Chase was frozen against the wall, eyes welling up with un-shed tears and his mouth agape. Any thoughts of fleeing vanished from his mind, it was too busy putting those few moments on repeat. It was the deafening sounds of the guard pouring into the main square that dragged his attention back to the horrible scene. Two familiar forms raced by with the rest of them, the dark blue of the guard and the lighter shade belonging to a trainee. Chase reached out a little for his family, almost calling out their names, but his throat still refused to work.
He watched the guard round up the rowdy crowd, working to arrest them and for a moment - despite Edith's death - it seems like everything would turn out fine. Chase relaxed against the wall, falling back into the shadow; something that probably saved his life as more rioters slowly crept up behind the guard. His legs still weren't cooperating and the redhead tried yet again to get his voice to work, he had to warn them!
"Derrick! Theo! Behind ya!"
Chase's small voice echoed even more loudly than his footsteps had minutes before. Several of the new arrivals as well as the guard looked back, seeking the voice that shouldn't be there at all. Still, Chase's efforts were too little too late; the fighting began anew, yells and screams rising from the square. His eyes widened yet again and Chase clutched the basket close, stuck in place as two of the men broke off from the fighting and advanced toward him.
"Chase!" He forgets the men upon hearing Derrick's voice, "Run!" A glint in that once beautiful sunlight and down went the trainee and as Derrick fell so did the basket. Chase's terror finally released him and he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Back past the baker's and the tailor's shops toward home and safe haven. He could hear the angry yells and doubled footsteps behind him getting closer.
He ran into the forge, yelling out of breath, "R-riot in to-town! ...Followed! ... Need...he-help!"
"Chase, don'cha be tellin yer wild tales again," Nicolas spoke up from his spot at the anvil, "Pa told ya 'bout it bef--"
A female screams nearby - their mother - and all of the men ran from the forge toward the house, Chase at their heels. By the time he had gotten into the house the men had grabbed the two that had followed Chase home and were carting them outside. His sisters comforting his mother, Chase took a step toward them when his father yelled his name, "Now where's this'n riot o'yers?"
Green met several pairs of hazel and a set of coal, "I-in tha square..." Chase's father, three brothers, and brother-in-law all went off to the forge for weapons, then off through the streets of town. He watched them until they were out of sight then Owen dragged his younger brother inside moments later, getting a yelp out of Chase, "What was that for?"
"Ma wants us all in tha back, easier ta defend if need be." Chase sent one more glance outside and shut the door - bolting it - before he followed his older brother into the sleeping area. Jarring one of the tables as he ran Chase thought nothing of it except hissing from pain and holding his side. The door slammed shut as Cole pushed it to and both boys went to their sisters' skirts. It was quiet but for the twins' cooing and the distant sounds of the riot.
Then they noticed the heat and the building roar of the flames, louder and louder as time passed, "Wha-wha's tha' sound, ma?"
"I donna know... Cole, go check," there was no complaints from Chase's brother as he went to the door once more and peered out. With the door cracked, they could all hear the roar grow much louder, could feel the heat even in the back. Chase hid his face more in Sarah's skirts, hearing Cole shut the wooden door and race back over, footsteps pounding on the dirt floor.
"Ma, tha house is on fire..." Soft cries of distress went up from the adults, "There's no real way out."
"Let me be tha one ta determine that," their mother handed Cain off to Cole who struggled to hold the squirming bundle and walked to the door herself. The heat filled the room again, Chase could feel Sarah lean over him and Abel, protecting them from it. "Sarah, give Abel to Mary. Mary, Cole, take your brothers and nephews. Sasha, Sarah, is that hole in tha wall still there?"
"I-it is... What's goin on, ma?"
"Just do as I say for now! We can't let them stay in here," Chase allowed himself to be pushed from his sister's side while she handed her son to Mary. Their mother hurried back over and grabbed the bed Chase had shared with John and Owen, pulling it to reveal a hole big enough for only a child to crawl through. "Cole, Mary, take yer siblings out to tha fields where David is. We'll come 'nd get ya as soon as tha fire is out."
Both the curly-haired kids nodded and she kissed their foreheads, moving on to do the same to Owen, John, and Chase, "Keep ta their sides 'nd listen ta them, David too 'til we say all is clear." All three of them nodded just like their older siblings who were already working on climbing through the hole with the twins, "Be good, now go!"
Sarah, Sasha, and their mother wrapped scarves around their heads and faces, grabbing the rest of the blankets as well. Chase stood still and watched them open the door, walking into the flames. Staring, mesmerized by the dance that they did, even as his mother and sisters moved to beat them out. "Chase!"
He whipped his head around at the sound of John's voice, "Wha'?"
"C'mo-- Ahh!" John - the brunette that had always teased and picked on Chase - was tugged out of the hole by a hand that didn't belong to anyone he knew. "Le-let me go!"
"Oi! Brat!" The voice was gruff but struck a cord in Chase, it was the same one from the church. The same one that was leading them all on, "There another brat in there?"
Chase froze near the hole, wondering if his brother would rat him out as he always had in the past, "Th-there's no one else!"
"Then who were ya yellin for, ya damn brat?!" John cried out as if he was being shook, "Tell me or 'll shut ya up like tha others!"
Chase covered his mouth, glancing back at the raging fire where he could no longer see the forms of the women who cared so much for him. He jerked, his back hitting the wall, "'s my dog! He won't leave tha house!" There was a loud crash deeper inside the house, shaking the room.
He stilled, "Fine! Damn mutt can burn with tha rest o'em!" Chase ran toward the door then stepped back. There, pinned beneath some of the beams that had once supported the roof were all three of his family's eldest women, burning and dead; distant behind him, screaming. Chase staggered back, looking at the hole in the wall. He'd have to chance it.
He ran to the hole and slipped out quickly, intending to run as he first had in town. However the men that had been threatening his siblings were gone, in front of him were four small bodies and two even smaller ones. Throats slashed, stomachs gutted, and eyes wide open and staring at that horrible blue sky. Chase felt his stomach clench and he staggered away from their bloodied bodies. The mid-morning snack and breakfast both came up, leaving Chase gasping against the side of the burning house until it started falling in on itself.
As soon as the rumble started he moved, stumbling back until he fell, tripping over Owen's outstretched arm. Chase stared at his brother's open eyes from where he landed, warm honey-brown just like Edith. A sob sounded under the popping and crackling of the raging fire and Chase struggled to get to his feet with his vision obscured by the tears rolling down his face. He ran, ran from everything that had been taken from him to the one thing, the one person left.
Once again he was running through the waist-high grasses, but to Chase it felt like years had passed since he left David and the sheep. But when he crested the hill even his tears didn't block the view.
The entire flock was gone.
He stared wide-eyed at where just an hour or so ago there had been thirty of the woolly things and his brother. Chase walked numbly down the hill to the cut-out shepherd's shelter. It too was empty, ransacked, but Chase couldn't bring himself to move any further, his small body exhausted from the horrible tragedy he had just witnessed. Instead the small redhead plopped himself down on the ground, staring out at the great oak tree. Over and over the events of the day played and kept playing for three days. Even when he slept Chase couldn't escape the tormenting sights and sounds, "No more...!"
And then an elderly man with kohl around his eyes stepped into view, wearing the oddest clothes he had ever seen, "I thought I heard a voice."
Gwen Smith (48) - smells of heather (only memory of her)
Sasha Thomson (28) - elder twin; married to Theodore Thomson (29), a guard; pregnant
Sarah Hunter (28) - younger twin; married to Talon Hunter (31), huntsman; two kids, twins Cain and Abel (2)
Christopher Smith (26 - apprenticed to Samuel; married to Anne (25); no kids; live with Anne's family
Aiden Smith (25) - trusted a lot by Chase; bookworm
Nicholas Smith (20) - apprenticed to Samuel; has intended, Angelina Tailor (19)
Edith Smith (19) - nun/school-marm
Derrick Smith (18) - guard in training
David Smith (16) - shepherd; survived riot?
Cole Smith (12) - stops Johnathan from picking on Chase
Mary Smith (10)
Owen Smith (8)
Johnathan Smith (7) - picked on Chase, a lot
Chase Smith (6)
Zane - Chase's puppy
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Riot
The day was warm, and where Chase lay hidden even warmer. All around him was the slightly smelly wool of the ready to be sheered sheep, at least three or four lay huddled around the redhead. He could hear his brother David getting closer and closer, a tune always falling from his lips, "...ta pluck wild mountain thyme, all 'round tha blooming heath--"
"Boo!" Chase burst out of the pile of sheep, arms raised and fingers spread. Only his brother wasn't in front of him and the familiar laughter came from behind. The short redhead whipped around, startling the sheep more until the small flock around him left.
"Tryin ta scare me, wee one?" David grinned at his little brother, ruffling his mop of a head.
"Ya moved! 's cheatin 'nd ya know it!" Chase tried his best to pout but it was replaced all too quickly by a smile and laugh as David lifted him up in the air.
"Tell ya what, ya go home 'nd take luncheon inta town 'nd 'll let ya scare me this afternoon." He set the laughing tyke down, "How 'bout that?"
Chase nodded rapidly, "'ll be back ta scare ya before ya know it!" Then he was off, racing through the waist-high fields of grass toward a house with a "stable" that had black smoke rising from it.
Set a ways from the house the "stable" was only a former one, having become a forge instead. The banging of metal on metal rang out as Chase ran closer, his brother Chris calling out in greeting as he passed. Chase wasted not a moment, running full tilt into the open house and into his mother's skirts that smelled so much like the heather. "Ma! 'm ready ta take 'rick 'nd Theo their luncheon!"
She let out a laugh after the shocked sound of being run into, "Plannin on knockin yer ma down first, ya lil hellion?" Chase yelped himself at being picked up and spun upside down by his brother Aiden.
"Was no'! She caught me!" He grinned at his upside down mother and sisters, "Aiden! Put me down!"
"Yer lucky!" Aiden turned Chase right side up, strong from years of forge work, and set him down, "If'n ya had, there'd been some words. Oof!" Chase grinned up at the brown-haired bookworm who's legs he had just tackled himself.
"Alright you two! Enough horseplayin in my kitchen! If'n yer gonna do that you can get outside 'nd forget 'bout luncheon!" She laughed again at the chorus of 'Aww! But ma!' "Alright! Alright!"
"I promise I won't take no shortcuts this time!" His mother grinned at him and handed Chase a big basket, Johnathan's soft "'ve heard that before" getting cut off with a hit from Cole.
"Ignore yer brother, Chase. Jus' hurry back so I can give you yer luncheon 'nd David's." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Chase's cheek.
"I wi--" Once again the little redhead was pulled back into an embrace, one inhibited by a protruding belly.
"Yer spoilin yer boys like always, ma. We never got any luncheon in tha fields."
Chase's scowl at his big sister for scaring him soon turned into the customary grin, "That's 'cause yer not cute like me!"
Sasha snorted and started laughing, something that quickly caught on in the rest of the kitchen, "Well then, hurry up cutie! Take tha luncheon ta my husband 'nd our brother."
"I will!" Chase gave her and the rest of the kitchen occupants another grin and raced out the door the best he could with his heavy load. Nick and his father yelled passing greetings this time as they headed into the house for their own luncheon.
The town was oddly quiet and devoid of normal life as the redhead ran, his bare feet echoing loudly to him and he shivered. Something was terribly off. Chase almost turned around to take a shortcut when he heard raised voices nearer the center of town. He rushed out into the square just as the great double doors slammed open and a mass of people poured out, their voices loud and angry.
Worried for his sister, Chase came to a stop just inside the square. The familiar brown mop belonging to Edith caught his eyes as he spied her being held by two of the townsfolk. Their voices were all jumbled together but he heard snatches of their cries, "heretics", "Satanists", "kill them". Chase was unable to make himself move, knowing he should run and get help, the guard or his family. But all he could manage to do was softly whisper his sister's name, "...Edith..."
As if hearing her name fall from an innocent's lips the nun looked up, her eyes locking on his just as the ax began to fall over her neck. The warm honey-brown was full of fear, yet the contact was short as her head fell from her body which slumped and then fell to the ground as well as her captors let her go.
Chase was frozen against the wall, eyes welling up with un-shed tears and his mouth agape. Any thoughts of fleeing vanished from his mind, it was too busy putting those few moments on repeat. It was the deafening sounds of the guard pouring into the main square that dragged his attention back to the horrible scene. Two familiar forms raced by with the rest of them, the dark blue of the guard and the lighter shade belonging to a trainee. Chase reached out a little for his family, almost calling out their names, but his throat still refused to work.
He watched the guard round up the rowdy crowd, working to arrest them and for a moment - despite Edith's death - it seems like everything would turn out fine. Chase relaxed against the wall, falling back into the shadow; something that probably saved his life as more rioters slowly crept up behind the guard. His legs still weren't cooperating and the redhead tried yet again to get his voice to work, he had to warn them!
"Derrick! Theo! Behind ya!"
Chase's small voice echoed even more loudly than his footsteps had minutes before. Several of the new arrivals as well as the guard looked back, seeking the voice that shouldn't be there at all. Still, Chase's efforts were too little too late; the fighting began anew, yells and screams rising from the square. His eyes widened yet again and Chase clutched the basket close, stuck in place as two of the men broke off from the fighting and advanced toward him.
"Chase!" He forgets the men upon hearing Derrick's voice, "Run!" A glint in that once beautiful sunlight and down went the trainee and as Derrick fell so did the basket. Chase's terror finally released him and he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Back past the baker's and the tailor's shops toward home and safe haven. He could hear the angry yells and doubled footsteps behind him getting closer.
He ran into the forge, yelling out of breath, "R-riot in to-town! ...Followed! ... Need...he-help!"
"Chase, don'cha be tellin yer wild tales again," Nicolas spoke up from his spot at the anvil, "Pa told ya 'bout it bef--"
A female screams nearby - their mother - and all of the men ran from the forge toward the house, Chase at their heels. By the time he had gotten into the house the men had grabbed the two that had followed Chase home and were carting them outside. His sisters comforting his mother, Chase took a step toward them when his father yelled his name, "Now where's this'n riot o'yers?"
Green met several pairs of hazel and a set of coal, "I-in tha square..." Chase's father, three brothers, and brother-in-law all went off to the forge for weapons, then off through the streets of town. He watched them until they were out of sight then Owen dragged his younger brother inside moments later, getting a yelp out of Chase, "What was that for?"
"Ma wants us all in tha back, easier ta defend if need be." Chase sent one more glance outside and shut the door - bolting it - before he followed his older brother into the sleeping area. Jarring one of the tables as he ran Chase thought nothing of it except hissing from pain and holding his side. The door slammed shut as Cole pushed it to and both boys went to their sisters' skirts. It was quiet but for the twins' cooing and the distant sounds of the riot.
Then they noticed the heat and the building roar of the flames, louder and louder as time passed, "Wha-wha's tha' sound, ma?"
"I donna know... Cole, go check," there was no complaints from Chase's brother as he went to the door once more and peered out. With the door cracked, they could all hear the roar grow much louder, could feel the heat even in the back. Chase hid his face more in Sarah's skirts, hearing Cole shut the wooden door and race back over, footsteps pounding on the dirt floor.
"Ma, tha house is on fire..." Soft cries of distress went up from the adults, "There's no real way out."
"Let me be tha one ta determine that," their mother handed Cain off to Cole who struggled to hold the squirming bundle and walked to the door herself. The heat filled the room again, Chase could feel Sarah lean over him and Abel, protecting them from it. "Sarah, give Abel to Mary. Mary, Cole, take your brothers and nephews. Sasha, Sarah, is that hole in tha wall still there?"
"I-it is... What's goin on, ma?"
"Just do as I say for now! We can't let them stay in here," Chase allowed himself to be pushed from his sister's side while she handed her son to Mary. Their mother hurried back over and grabbed the bed Chase had shared with John and Owen, pulling it to reveal a hole big enough for only a child to crawl through. "Cole, Mary, take yer siblings out to tha fields where David is. We'll come 'nd get ya as soon as tha fire is out."
Both the curly-haired kids nodded and she kissed their foreheads, moving on to do the same to Owen, John, and Chase, "Keep ta their sides 'nd listen ta them, David too 'til we say all is clear." All three of them nodded just like their older siblings who were already working on climbing through the hole with the twins, "Be good, now go!"
Sarah, Sasha, and their mother wrapped scarves around their heads and faces, grabbing the rest of the blankets as well. Chase stood still and watched them open the door, walking into the flames. Staring, mesmerized by the dance that they did, even as his mother and sisters moved to beat them out. "Chase!"
He whipped his head around at the sound of John's voice, "Wha'?"
"C'mo-- Ahh!" John - the brunette that had always teased and picked on Chase - was tugged out of the hole by a hand that didn't belong to anyone he knew. "Le-let me go!"
"Oi! Brat!" The voice was gruff but struck a cord in Chase, it was the same one from the church. The same one that was leading them all on, "There another brat in there?"
Chase froze near the hole, wondering if his brother would rat him out as he always had in the past, "Th-there's no one else!"
"Then who were ya yellin for, ya damn brat?!" John cried out as if he was being shook, "Tell me or 'll shut ya up like tha others!"
Chase covered his mouth, glancing back at the raging fire where he could no longer see the forms of the women who cared so much for him. He jerked, his back hitting the wall, "'s my dog! He won't leave tha house!" There was a loud crash deeper inside the house, shaking the room.
He stilled, "Fine! Damn mutt can burn with tha rest o'em!" Chase ran toward the door then stepped back. There, pinned beneath some of the beams that had once supported the roof were all three of his family's eldest women, burning and dead; distant behind him, screaming. Chase staggered back, looking at the hole in the wall. He'd have to chance it.
He ran to the hole and slipped out quickly, intending to run as he first had in town. However the men that had been threatening his siblings were gone, in front of him were four small bodies and two even smaller ones. Throats slashed, stomachs gutted, and eyes wide open and staring at that horrible blue sky. Chase felt his stomach clench and he staggered away from their bloodied bodies. The mid-morning snack and breakfast both came up, leaving Chase gasping against the side of the burning house until it started falling in on itself.
As soon as the rumble started he moved, stumbling back until he fell, tripping over Owen's outstretched arm. Chase stared at his brother's open eyes from where he landed, warm honey-brown just like Edith. A sob sounded under the popping and crackling of the raging fire and Chase struggled to get to his feet with his vision obscured by the tears rolling down his face. He ran, ran from everything that had been taken from him to the one thing, the one person left.
Once again he was running through the waist-high grasses, but to Chase it felt like years had passed since he left David and the sheep. But when he crested the hill even his tears didn't block the view.
The entire flock was gone.
He stared wide-eyed at where just an hour or so ago there had been thirty of the woolly things and his brother. Chase walked numbly down the hill to the cut-out shepherd's shelter. It too was empty, ransacked, but Chase couldn't bring himself to move any further, his small body exhausted from the horrible tragedy he had just witnessed. Instead the small redhead plopped himself down on the ground, staring out at the great oak tree. Over and over the events of the day played and kept playing for three days. Even when he slept Chase couldn't escape the tormenting sights and sounds, "No more...!"
And then an elderly man with kohl around his eyes stepped into view, wearing the oddest clothes he had ever seen, "I thought I heard a voice."