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Chapter One
“Adelaide, stop day dreaming! Do you want your father to come home and find you not doing your chores?” Mother practically shouted at my younger sister Adelaide.
Adelaide shook her head and said, “No, mother.” She then got right back to sweeping the dusty kitchen floor with her broom.
Mother put her hands on her hips, sighed and said, “I don’t know how you’ll ever be able to find yourself a husband before you become an old maid. Why can’t you be more like your sister?”
Adelaide hung her head low and looked down at the ground as she swept.
Mother was always doing that, comparing my two sisters to me.
I heard footsteps approaching on the wood floors of the kitchen as I washed the dishes in the sink. I turned my head to my right to see mother.
She smiled softly at me and said, “Charlotte, dear, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
I looked back at the dishes as I washed them. “Why do you always have to talk of me as if I am some sort of queen? It’s a miracle that Adelaide and Nadia don’t hate me by now.” I said.
“You’re a good role model and example for them. Maybe if I compare you to them than they’ll start acting like you more? You’ve already gotten several requests for you hand in marriage, and you’re not even the eldest of your sisters.” Mother said.
I continued to scrub the dishes in the soapy water in the sink when I said, “And I’ve refused each and every one of those requests.”
“I know, and I cannot help but wonder why you do not accept. Please, for the sake of a woman growing old, I would like to see a grandchild or two before I pass on.” Mother said.
She was always pushing my sisters and I to get married, she wanted to have grandchildren. It infuriated my sister Nadia to craziness because she always thought that that was all that mother cared about, grand children. I, however, saw her true purpose. I believe I am the only one who does, for Adelaide is too young to notice the hidden meaning behind mother’s words.
I stopped washing the dishes and looked at her. “Mother, I’m just not ready yet. I plan to marry someday, but I want it to be on my own terms. I do not care for any of the men that have proposed to me. I want to find someone whom I love and who loves me in return. You cannot expect me to live the rest of my life with someone who makes me miserable.”
Mother smiled sadly at me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Do not worry; you’ve still got plenty of time to find that person.” After that she walked off and I continued with the dishes.
The next day I awoke to the sounds of the townspeople. Something must have made them quite anxious to be talking so loudly and about so early in the day.
With a look to my window which stood right next to my bed, I could see that the sun had come up not too long ago, yet there was not a cloud in the sky.
I stood up and out of my bed and smoothed the wrinkles out of my nightgown. As I was doing this, I heard loud movements within the house.
Opening my door I walked down the hall and down the stairs and onto the main floor. Everyone was running around. I stopped the first person that I saw, Nadia.
“Nadia, what’s going on? Why is everyone in such a hurry?” I asked. She herself was searching the house for something that seemed a lost cause for it was probably lost.
“Travelers have come to the town.” Nadia said.
My eyes widened. Travelers? There had been no travelers in our town for years. What would bring people from the outside into our simple and isolated town?
“You best be getting ready. I heard from Niamh that some of the travelers are young men who are quite attractive. Mother wanted us to look our best, in hopes that one of them would choose us. All the other maidens of the town are in a bustle as well.” Nadia said, before running off in search of her lost item once again.
I crept back up the stairs and into my room. After closing the doors I looked around. If mother wanted us to look nice than I would surely get in trouble if I did not.
I opened my wardrobe doors and took out a simple sun dress. After putting it on I sat at my vanity. I brushed my long blonde hair. I then put on light make-up; a few strokes on the cheek of a cream colored powder, a tan colored powder on my eyelid, and peach colored cream on my lips. I was now ready to go outside to see those who had come to our quiet town.
I walked down the stairs ever so elegantly, for if I ran I would surely trip in my heeled shoes. My dress was white at the top and gradually faded to a vibrant yellow at the bottom. In the yellow part there were outlines of white flowers. The dress had spaghetti straps, a low neck but not low enough to show cleavage, and reached just above my knees. It was snug at the waist and torso and flowed out from the hips.
I reached the front door and opened it, only to see that the sides of the streets were crowded with the townspeople, leaving the road clear for the travelers to pass on. I gently made my way to the first row, where I would be able to see the travelers easily.
The townspeople gossiped amongst themselves as the travelers started walking down the street.
From the looks of it, the travelers were part of a caravan. There was a carriage and a wagon, both pulled by big brown horses. There were men walking alongside the carriage and wagon. They were young men too, each equally as attractive as the next.
To my right were Nadia and Adelaide, both gossiping excitedly to themselves. To my left were my father and mother, talking with the other townspeople around them merrily.
As the caravan drew nearer, I watched as the young women swooned for the young men who flashed them pearly white smiles as they passed.
I rolled my eyes. They probably thought they were deities, handsome gods bestowed with the gift to make any girl weak in the knees. I kept my mouth closed and my thoughts to myself though.
As they passed by where I was standing, I watched as a man with dirty blond hair in a rat’s-tail ponytail at the nape of his neck looked at me and grinned. He walked behind the carriage and in front of the wagon.
As common courtesy, I gave a small smile in return. It was only polite.
My reaction seemed to make his blue eyes shine in the morning sun.
My thoughts, however, did not make my dark brown eyes show any emotion. He was probably as egotistical and sexist as the others seemed to be. Not to mention he was probably headstrong, overconfident, and he probably underestimated everyone else around him.
After the travelers had passed through the street and onto another, the townspeople that lived on the street went back to their everyday lives.
“Charlotte dear.” Father said as he walked up to me. I turned toward him, giving him my full attention.
“I would like you to go to the marketplace and buy some groceries.” Father said as he handed me a piece of parchment with the food items I had to get on it.
I nodded and said, “I will get to it immediately after I have changed my footwear into something more appropriate, have collected the grocery basket, and a pouch for money.”
Father nodded and said, “Right. Come to me when you are ready and I shall give you the money you need. I will be in the living room.”
Father, mother, and I walked into the house. Adelaide and Nadia went off to talk with their friends.
I took off my heels in my room and put on a pair of white sandals. I then walked down stairs and grabbed the woven straw basket that my family used when we went shopping and put it on my arm. I grabbed the money pouch that was next to it and tied the pouch around my waist. They were both a wooden table up against the wall next to the stairs.
I walked into the living room where father was reading and mother was knitting.
Father handed me money which I put into the pouch and out the door I went.
I walked the three blocks it took to get to the marketplace, which was alive and bustling as usual.
When I had but a quarter of the list left to go I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to turn around.
“Hello.” The same man from the caravan who had grinned at me said, still smiling.
I smiled back politely and said, “Good morning.”
“My name’s Callum. May I know your name?” Callum said.
“Charlotte.” I replied.
Callum continued to smile as he took my right hand and kissed the back of it, bowing as he did so. “So lovely to meet you Charlotte.”
“Likewise.”
“Would you like an escort with you in the market as you shop? It can be dangerous for a young woman such as you to be alone with so many people around.” Callum offered.
“Thank you for the offer Callum, but I am in no danger. Crime is minimal in this town. It was polite of you to suggest it, though.” I said with a smile.
“Ah, so right you are. Well, I hope I may have the pleasure of seeing you again.” Callum said as he bowed.
I curtsied and he walked away.
Thank goodness. I wiped the back of my right hand on my dress and continued on with my shopping.
I heard footsteps suddenly until my door was thrown open to reveal a disheveled Nadia.
I turned to her immediately and stood up. “What’s wrong?” I asked, worried.
“It’s Adelaide, she ran away.”
