Protection Or Fire(On Hold)

Chapter 4 - Precious Cloth

Chapter 4 – Precious Cloth

“William! Yer late, we almost left without ye,” Seona said. Her and Kenina were standing outside their small cottage situating their dresses for the ride into the village. They were both wearing their best dresses, so as not to attract too much scorn from the locals. They had two large horses attached to a decently sized wagon in which they would ride the hour-long trip into town.

“My apologies Seona, I was…. Preoccupied.” William smiled as he approached the two women. Woman, this was a weird thought for William to think of Kenina. It seemed like only yesterday they had been making mud pies and playing ‘warriors’ running around the fields.

“Oh? Is that so William? Well yer ‘preoccupation’ cost us enough daylight, we best be going now. Come on Kenina lets get ye up inte the wagon.” Seona began ushering Kenina towards the carriage before turning back to William. “Ye don’t mind sittin’ in the hay do ye William? We got te be tradin’ in some crops so’s we can get the fabric.” She smiled sweetly, not really waiting for a reply she climbed onto the front of the wagon beside Kenina.

“Not at all,” William replied, pulling himself over the side of the wagon with ease.

“Then let us be off.” Seona said flicking the reins.

“Ma where is papa at? I haven’ seen ‘im yet this morn’.” Kenina asked as the horses began pulling away from her home.

“And ye won’t be seein’ him neither. He went te work earlier than usual.” Her mother replied. A flash of confusion crossed Kenina’s face but went away when she turned to see William attempting to get comfortable in the bales of hay. At this current point his arm was up above him, his other trying to stop stray pieces from stabbing him in the back, while his legs were twisting about from his feet failing to stabilize do to straw. Kenina doubled over in laughter.

“William! What’re ye doin’ back there?” she laughed. William simply returned her laughter with a slight glare as he finally gave up and settled. With that they continued down the rough dirt road towards the village.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The village, although small, was very clean cut. The marketplace was tidy and organized, animals were kept in cages and the merchants were sure to make them not able to wander around. It was mostly occupied by locals with ordinary professions, however once in a while there was a foreign merchant or traveler. The merchants came with their spices and goods from across the world, while the travelers simply came with themselves.

Kenina watched as the wagon trotted into the main square, she watched the locals and merchants and even spotted a few travelers. One caught her eye, he had a hair color of mousy brown and black, strange mix Kenina thought to herself as she studied him. He was tall, around six feet three inches, at least! With a large build, muscular and very strong. He walked around curiously, eyeing everything each vendor had to offer. Finally he came to a halt and settled on buying a few fruit from one of the merchants. With that he continued on and out of Kenina’s sight, not having noticed the girl who was so captivated by him.

“Kenina are ye comin’?” Seona called from a few yards away. The wagon had been stopped and both Seona and William had gotten off already.

“Here allow me,” William said as he rushed to the wagon. Holding out his arms, he waited as Kenina cautiously stood and stepped to the edge of the bench. Kenina knew she wasn’t small and worried of embarrassment. When she was sure no one was looking she allowed William to grab her waist and hoist her down. He did so without making a fuss, she landed softly on her feet, however Kenina had accidentally side stepped twisting her ankle, causing William to wrap an arm around her to keep from falling over. A few women passing by snickered at her clumsiness. Kenina immediately straightened up and pushed William away smoothly so they each regained their composure.