Tiny Tidbits: Goodbyes

At this point in my process, I am just writing. I write as much as I can, finish a scene, or a thought and move on to another. All the tiny tidbits I post are works in progress with no major editing and punctuation checks. Please keep that in mind. :) You'll notice highlights for spelling or other languages where I need to add in the appropriate accents and blanks where I haven't completely decided on the appropriate name for a character, even though I already know who they are and where they're going. This is exactly where I stopped this scene and moved on to something else, to come back another day. The sun was just peaking over the eastern hills as I stepped across the doorway into our yard. The sheep were bleating in the nearby field, the smell of fresh dewy grass on the air, it was a beautiful morning and yet my chest tightened as I looked on those eastern hills, I felt the muscles in my hand clench until my fists shook at the end of the arms hanging uselessly at my sides. I wanted to scream, tears welling in my eyes, just as I wanted to scream that day, the beginning of the end. “Do you have to go, Da?” I whined again while pulling gently on his cloak dragging my feet through the dirt. I had not even wasted the time to pull my shoes on before running out the door behind him, tripping over the dog in my haste. “Ta, mo chroi, I must, 'tis my duty,” he answered softly, “Now hush before you wake your sister.” The sun had barely begun to lighten the night sky at the eastern hills and I shivered at the cold mist wrapping its tendrils around my bare feet and legs. “But Da why do you have to fight? You said that we paid tribute to the Lord to earn his protection, why do you have to protect him from the invaders?” I asked wrapping my cloak tighter around my shoulders as I quickened my pace to keep up with him. We quietly made our way to the edge of the farm, behind the shed to the ditch that separated our space from the cattle enclosure.  Da slid the large stone laying in the ditch and turned to the side to grab me and lower me into the tunnel it revealed. We had not built the cave ourselves; Da discovered it while he repaired the ditch when he bought this land. Tis a safe place to hide things and big enough to hide ourselves should we have the need. I stood to the side in the darkness,my back against the rough hewn stones, waiting for Da to drop down into the tunnel alongside me. I heard the soft thud of his feet on the dirt floor and then bright sparks fell to the ground as he struck flint, lighting the oil lamp he kept in a small alcove near the entrance. The soft glow grew slowly and light travelled down the stone-lined passageway as it descended, gradually shrinking in size to where even I had to bend over to pass. There were other alcoves in the walls of the passage where Da kept other lamps to light our way should we ever need to spend more time in here than was necessary for him to fetch his weapons. After a short time and a bend to the right the passage ended at a wooden door through which was a small chamber with a single stone bench. Here father kept his small wooden shield, wrapped in leather, his stiff leather helm, and my grandfathers sword with which my mother taught him to fight and later my brother and myself.  “For your brother,” he explained as he grabbed the long spear that was leaning against one corbelled wall and handed me the oil lamp. I scrunched my nose at the scent of the burning oil and stretched my hand further out from my body.  “Why does_________ get to go and I have to stay here? I am the oldest and I can fight too!” I said as we ducked through the door and started back up the passage. I followed so close I began to trip over my own feet in an attempt to not step on his.  “One day you will understand, Alva, that there are certain things that only men do now. Perhaps in the future it will be different, but this is not the land of your mothers people and I will not have you put in harms way. I will do my duty and so will your brother. 'Tis time for him to learn our ways,” he turned to look at me, “Besides, I need you to remain here, tend to the farm and protect your mother,” he said, winking. As we made our way back towards the house, ____________ quietly closed the door behind him and stepped out onto the yard.  My brother had never looked so grown up as he did that day. I am glad that is the last memory I have of him. I watched my father and my brother walk towards the sun as it slowly peaked over the eastern hills, never to return. They walked to their deaths at the hands of the Norman invaders, ordered there by their own people to fight a war that was not their own.