Chapter 2

“I won’t allow it! It’s a desecration to the mountain and we don’t want big companies such as yours come ruin our beautiful nature!” He said in such an angry voice she’d never heard him speak in. The man up on stage which her father was angry with was dressed in a black suit with neatly combed hair to the side; glistering in the light. She tugged at her father’s wool padded jacket again; trying to get his attention, not wanting him to be so mad.

“Not now, Abigail.” He said in a soft voice and stroked her over her hair. Her father was a large stocky built man with a hint of a bald spreading on the top of his head. He was also a kind of spokesperson for the town; people listened and respected him. She adored him for the loving father he was, and the exciting tales he used to tell her by her bedside before she went to sleep.

“The decision has been made and the papers signed. There is nothing you can do about it. Besides, this would give the town an opportunity to grow out of this miserable state it’s in.” The neatly dressed man said. His tone now a whole lot sharper than it had in the beginning of the meeting. “If there’s nothing else then I bid you all good night. I had hoped you would have seen the benefits by this, but clearly I was mistaken.”

The people gathered in the barn; in which they held the meeting, started to shout as everyone tried to make their voice heard, speaking all at once and trying to shout down one another with their own claims to why the mountain should stay untouched. The man drowned by the sound made a few attempts to calm the audience before he started to sort the papers he’d brought and put them back in his briefcase. When he was about to leave he saw a small outstretched hand in the throng of people and halted himself. “Yes, child?” He said and pointed at her. The room grew quiet again as all eyes were focused on her.

“What is your name?” She said, trying to sound important too.

He smiled at her. “It’s William.” He then sighed deeply and looked out over the audience again. “Look, even if I agree with all of your claims it’s not in my power to do anything about it. I’m just here to inform you on what is going to happen. I’m sorry, I really am, but this is the way it’s going to happen. Part of the excavation personnel are already here and ready to depart in the morning” His voice now soft as if coming from a man and not a lawyer representing the firm. He then picked up his briefcase and left them.

“Don’t bite your hair, Abigail.” Her father said and picked her up. “What do you think mama has made for us?”

“Pancakes!” She said and wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her out of the barn, following the rest of the men.

“Maybe” he said and chuckled. “Maybe”.

 

  Early next morning Abigail woke by the sound of her parents arguing. She lay still in her bed listening for a while; it seemed that they were talking about going to the mountain.

“I don’t care, Catharine! I need to talk some sense into them, I’m sure they’ll listen”.

“And why’s that? That lawyer didn’t listen to you, why would they?” Her mother sounded angry but she also had that hint of worry that Abigail recognized when she had done something she wasn’t allowed to do.

“What if you get hurt on your way there, what will you do then? You’ve got a little girl to think of!”

“Calm down, Catharine. I won’t get hurt. I’ll be back by nightfall. I need to do this. I’m doing this because of her, and you. I don’t want this town to turn into one of those steel block cities that they have down south. And I don’t want Abigail to be brought up in such a city.”

“Do you really think it’ll be that bad, Bernard? That steel complexes will spring up just because one coal company settles here?” Her mother’s voice was becoming more heated.

“Well, it’s a start. Anyway, I’m going and that’s final!”

Abigail removed the covers and ran out to the kitchen where her parents were but stopped in the doorway. Her father was sitting by the table with a cup of coffee in his hand, and her mother was standing by the sink with her hands on her hips.

“I want to go too. I want to see the wind wolf.” She said before any of her parents had noticed her.

“See, Cat, our brave daughter would do it.” He said and smiled and motioned for her to come and sit in his lap, which she did.

“I knew your stories would have a downside.” She said and poured Abigail a glass of milk. “Why must you go, why not someone else?” She then said gently and gave Abigail the glass.

“Nothing will happen, Cat. I promise.”

 

Reviews

[Stephanotis]

I really liked the line, "His voice now soft as if coming from a man and not a lawyer representing the firm." It really gives a deeper insight to what this town thinks of city folks, or maybe just people who don't revere the land like they do. I expect that if Abigail asked William his name, then he's going to show up again later.
Technical mistakes:

"Her father was a large stocky built man with a hint of a bald spreading on the top of his head, he was also a kind of spokesperson for the town; people listened and respected him." - "he was also..." is its own sentence, so it should be "...top of his head. He was also..."
"Besides, this give the town an opportunity to grow out of this miserable state it's in." - It should be "this would give the town..."
"but clearly I was mistaking" - "but clearly I was mistaken."
"What is you name?" - "you" should be "your"
"ready depart in the morning" - Should be "ready to depart"