Unexpected

Chapter 1

"Wake up!!" Yelled Jaxon, " What time is it?" Mara said yawning. " It's time to go get more wood. We are out." "How can that be? We just went last week!" She complained. " I don't know...you girls always complain how cold it is in this house. But anyway, I figured if we all go, we will be good for a few months." Jaxon commented. "Alright, go wake Ari up." Mara said. " NO!! I don't wanna die!" He yelled. It took some persuading but Mara finally got Jaxon to wake her up. After about an hour, they were all ready to go. They owned two dogs, Roxi and deoge. They were still puppies. Well, they were both 4. But they were hooked up to the sled they used to carry the wood. " You guys ready?" Jaxon said with a little whine. " Hold on Jaxon!...Ok we are good." She said as she tightened the rope that connected to the dogs harnesses. Ari was already good to go. The sled was big enough for all of them. Two people could fit in the sled and one could drive it. Jaxon was usually the one to drive. But today Ari was the one to drive.

"Slow down! You are gonna kill us!!" Jaxon yelled. Ari just smiled. Ari had not talked since she was separated from her mother when she was 4. "We only have a little while longer. It's fine. We need to get this done by the time the hunters come!" Mara mentioned.

As they stacked the wood in the sled Ari had gone a little farther away from Mara and Jaxon. She had wandered onto what she thought was just a patch of ice but it turned out that it wasn't. *CRACK, CRASH* Ari had fallen into the ice. She expected to be in water. But it was wasn't. I was a cave of some sort. Mara and Jaxon had both heard it. They came running to see what had happened. "ARI!!" Mara yelled. They found the large and slowly approached it. "Jaxon, can you go get the rope from the sled?" Mara asked. Jaxon ran to the sled and grabbed the rope. "We will get you out of there Ari!" Mara called. Ari was too busy looking down the long dark tunnel she fell into.

"Here." Jaxon said gasping for air. " Thanks." replied Mara. " Ari! Grab the rope! We will pull you up!" she called out. Ari shook her head and motioned for them to come down. So as the wrapped the rope around a tree, Mara asked Jaxon, "Do you think anything is down there?" " I don't know. Obviously someone was down there before miss clumsy over there decided to fall down the hole." Jaxon replied. Mara giggled a little. Jaxon was the first to go down. Then Mara. " WOW!" Jaxon yelled. There was a slim light coming from one end of the cavern. "Should we check it out?" Jaxon said with a little whimper. "You want to? Or do you want to climb back up?" Mara said laughing. "I'm not scared! If that's what you meant." He replied.

As they walked towards the slim light, the walls became thick with ice. Jaxon noticed something frozen in the ice. He took out the ax he had around his back and started picking at it. Ari and Mara kept walking. "What do you think is down here?" Mara hesitated. Ari said nothing. She was silent as they walked. As they followed the night and turned the corner they were amazed at what they had found.

"J-J-Jaxon!!!!" yelled Mara. "What is i-ahhh?!" Jaxon yelled as he came running and slipped. "I think....I think it's a...man?" Mara said softly. "If this is hollowed out how come no one has found this?" Jaxon said. "Probably because there is no way out. No way to find people who can help get the body." Mara replied. "Should we take him home? See what happened to him?" Jaxon asked. Ari looked at both of them and nodded. "What about wood?" Jaxon complained. "I will trade wool to Mr. Shane when we get home. That should keep us warm till tomorrow." Mara answered.

They chiseled carefully for the next few hours. While the girls did the Jaxon went to get the sled and bring it closer to the hole. Making sure hunters wouldn't shoot the dogs, he put a red fabric on a stick. (this meant this area could not be hunted). "How is it going down here?" he asked. "Almost done! Just have to get his face and other arm!" Mara stated. "Alright. How long do you guys think it will be?" "Not much longer. 20 minutes maybe." she replied.

After a while they had gotten the mad to the sled. It took a while but they got him up. The ride back was a little harder but they managed. Mara, Ari and the man rode in the sled and Jaxon steered. The man was wearing a full suit of armour and a sword. When they got home, Jaxon and Ari brought the man inside and laid him on the couch. While Mara put the dogs in their areas. Mara walked in and asked "What do we do if he wakes up?" No one answered. She walked over to the man and stared at him for a while. She finally got up from the seat she had take and removed his boots. And then his armour. She had placed his armour but the fire to dry them. She asked Jaxon to fetch some old clothes of her father's and change his clothes.

After Jaxon was done Ari hung his clothes by the fire to dry. "We should go to bed." Jaxon said. "I'm gonna sleep out here....just in case he wakes up!" Mara said. "Uh huh!" Jaxon teased. They all giggled. As they all said goodnight to one another, Mara made a place right next to the man to sleep. She laid blankets on the floor and used a few pillows to be comfortable. The man had not moved a bit and Mara was getting worried. She had brought him her thickest blanket and one of her pillows. She watched him for any movement for a while until she had fallen asleep.