This is my first story on , but I have written 27 stories on . I hope I'll be writing more on this website. I've always loved writing... I guess you don't have to do a disclaimer here, do you? Yes!

Fire of Dawn

Tap, tap, tap. My finger hit the dark wood of the table in front of me. Tap, tap, tap. The grandfather clock in the corner of the dining room ticked in time to my finger. My mother began shifting in her chair, signalling that she was getting cross with my consistent tapping.

Tap, tap, t-

"Jane, please stop," Mother snapped.

I glared at her, but stopped tapping. It wasn't very wise to get into trouble with Mother.

"When will Father and William be here?" I asked, playing with the ring on my finger.

"They'll be here when they get here," Mother said coolly. I could tell she too was getting impatient. We had been sitting there for almost an hour, waiting for my father and brother to get back from the city.

"Can't I go do something else?" I begged. "Why must I wait here?"

"Because," Mother said. "I don't want you to have to run through the house to come greet them. You will stay right here with me until they come."

I sighed and slouched down in my seat. Almost immediately Mother was onto me about it like a vulture.

"Sit up straight, Jane," she said. "Do you want to have a hunched back when you're older? No man will want to marry you then!"

I sat myself upright just as Father and William stepped into the dining room.

"Father!" I cried, jumping up from my seat. Mother gave me a disapproving look, but I didn't care. I threw my arms around Father in a hug, and he wrapped his around me in return.

Mother slowly got up to go greet her husband and son, making sure not a wrinkle appeared in her dress. That woman is too cautious sometimes; she needs to learn to be more care-free.

"What took you so long?" I asked William once I had let go of Father. "I had to sit for an hour, waiting for you to come home!"

"We got stopped by the authorities," William explained. "According to them, a pirate ship has recently been spotted about twenty miles from London, and they wanted to make sure there weren't any in our carriage."

"Now why would there be pirates in the carriage?" Mother asked. "They're filthy criminals with nothing to live for. No self-respecting gentleman would allow one to set foot in their carriage."

"But they just wanted to make sure," Father said. "You never know. William and I could have been pirates for all they know."

Mother glared at him, as if telling him to hold his tongue. Father opened his mouth to say something, but the maids chose that moment to come into the dining room with dinner.

We all took our seats at the table and began eating. It was a silent dinner, with little talk, mostly to the maids to bring more wine or another bun.

I think Mother was still most uncomfortable with all this pirate business. She despises pirates, and never misses an opportunity to point out how vile or crude they are. When I was five, she nearly threw her own father out of the house for telling William and I a tale about pirates. I never knew why Mother hated pirates so until I was ten, when William told me it was because her brother had been murdered by a band of ruthless pirates.

Until that moment, I had always wanted to join a pirate crew and sail the oceans, searching for buried treasure and riches beyond my wildest dreams. But I never spoke of it aloud. Mother would certainly have beaten me with a wooden spoon and stuck me in my room for three days.

Once dinner was finished, the maids cleared away the table and we all went our separate ways. Father to his study, Mother to the parlour to work on her sewing, William to the library to work on his lessons, and I to my chamber for a bath.

As I soaked in the sweet-smelling water I thought about how unsociable my family was. We hardly ever spent time together except during meals and holidays. The last time we were all voluntarily in the same room for more than an hour was during the Christmas season, three months ago.

When my bath was done, I changed into a soft night gown and crawled into bed. It was only about eight in the evening, but I was tired as I had woken up early and sat in a most uncomfortable chair for an hour.

I kept thinking of the pirates Father was talking of. What if they come here, to our home? Mother would probably start beating them with a pan and scream at them, telling them that they are worthless and need to get good, honest jobs. I smiled at the thought of Mother scolding a pirate. But if it really happened, she would most likely go hide in the dumbwaiter in our kitchen, and have some servants protect her.

It would be rather scary to be attacked by pirates. William told me tales when I was young that they were blood-thirsty, God-less men who wanted nothing more than treasure and to murder those who got in their way. I like Grandfather's pirate stories much better. He talked about adventurous, young men out on the sea seeking their fortune. That's what got me interested in being a pirate. But that was before William started telling me pirate stories, and before I knew that they were criminals who murdered and stole.

I heard an owl hoot outside my window, and opened my eyes. It was dark; much darker than when I had gone to bed. Could I have really fallen asleep? It had felt like mere minutes to me. I couldn't see my clock, so I couldn't tell what time it was. The house was quiet, so I suspected it was late enough for everyone to be asleep.

I threw the covers up and got out of bed. The floor was cold and frosty against my bare feet. I went very quickly towards the window, where I set my feet on a rug. Opening the curtains, I could see that night was in full force.

There was a faint orange light in the distance, and I fought I thought it was the dawn. But after a while I realized it was fire, burning the small village but a few miles from our home.

I immediately fell to my knees and began praying that they would not reach our home; that we would stay safe.

Dun dun DUNNNN... cliffhanger! I hope this story isn't too rushed...