Part 3

Peregrin and Berhin return to their home to an unhappy father.

By the time we reached the house, we were an hour past our curfew.

“I’ll go in first,” Berhin said in a cautious tone. I was going to argue, but he went in the house before I could say anything. Berhin was courageous, even though he wouldn’t admit it.  One major thing he cared about was my safety. He didn’t need to worry himself; I could take care of myself. I walked the horses to our barn and made sure they had enough food and water for the night. When I closed and locked the barn, I heard yelling from the house. The whipping had started early I guessed. I felt extremely bad for him. No one should have to experience this. I took a deep breath and forced myself not to imagine myself in his boots. After walking up the path to the house, I noticed that there was no whipping or cracking sounds. There was only yelling. I could make out some of the conversation.

“I AM AN ADULT, FATHER! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS TREAT ME LIKE ONE!” Berhin screamed. I had never heard Berhin this mad before.

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE AN ADULT!” Father yelled back.  I walked inside the house only to find the workers and the human sitting on chairs, looking down at their feet. Not a word was spoken.  Everyone was listening to the yelling between brother and father. Out of all of them, I was most afraid, for I knew that I would be next. We sat there for a good five minutes when I heard stomping on the stairs. At first, I thought it was father and that he was going to scream at me for being late, humiliating me in front of the workers. Instead, it was Berhin. He did not look bruised; however, his arms looked a little red. He walked right passed us straight to the door.

“Where are you going?” I asked with concern.

“For a walk.” He said. His anger at father made him yell at me, which he never did. Even so, I looked at him apologetically. I felt responsible for him being the one to have faced father first. It should have been me, after it all it was my fault.  With a look of guilt on his face, he looked at me and then slammed the door. I knew he hadn’t meant to yell at me, but it still hurt. Going for walks was nothing unusual for him, so I decided to talk to him after he returned. Mother quietly walked downstairs and stared at me. I gulped. She did not have to say anything to tell me what was going to happen next.

“He called for you, Pippin.” Mother said, using my nickname that only she called me. It was an embarrassing name; I got mad at Berhin and Jamamros when they would tease me by using that name. Her eyes were teary so I gave her a hug.  She gripped me tightly, refusing to let go. It was slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time, I didn’t want to let go. She finally released me and I walked upstairs. Even though I knew I obviously wasn’t going to die, every step I took felt like my last.  I walked into father’s room, which was pretty big. He had a bed and two cupboards. A few portraits of our ancestors hung on the walls along with about a dozen weapons and lying on a table there were some wooden tokens he used as chips for gambling.  A lantern was on one of the cupboards.  Some of the weapons he used to beat us and some he kept out of tradition. His father had collected all kinds of weapons and my father received them when he died. Father kept most of his weapons in the basement.

“Where were you?” He asked. I tensed up. It was a rhetorical question. His voice was raspy and mean. His dark brown hair and thick beard added to his overall meanness. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hands were scratched. .

“I went into town with Berhin, sir.” I replied. He always insisted on us calling him sir. “We left for home, but then we saw a man who needed our help finding his son. It took a while but we found him.”

“I don’t care about some pathetic story. You’re late. You made all of us stay late to get the work done; therefore, you’ll do more work tomorrow to make up for it.”

“You mean the workers stayed late to do the work! You do nothing around here!”

“I give you a house that’s what I do! You are supposed to work for me!” He walked over to a wall examining the weapons, deciding which one to choose for me.

“Father, I saved a boy’s life. I even got money for it. You can’t punish me for that.”

“Give it to me.”

“Give what?”

“The money. Give me the money.” I looked at him defiantly to show that I refused to give it to him. He grabbed a whip from the wall. He walked over to me, but there was still a little distance between us.

“Come here.” He said. I refused.

“I said come here!” Before I could refuse again, I glanced out the window. Berhin was walking behind the barn, and into the bushes. Berhin never walked that path.

“Berhin is running away.” I stated. Father didn’t even turn around.

“I don’t care. He’ll be just as pathetic as always and come crying back to me. Nobody wants a worthless child.” That made me angry.

“Berhin is twice the man you are!” He whipped the table beside me to make me flinch. It didn’t work. I grabbed his whip and yanked it out of his hands. He stared at me with rage and walked right up to me. He grabbed me by my shirt. Out of instinct, I drew my knife and flashed it at him.

“Is there a problem here?” Someone asked. I turned around to see the human. Father stared at him in shock. He backed away from me. I almost forgot that he was afraid of humans. He gave me a childish look of revrenge, as if he was telepathically telling me that he would kill me later.

“Go.” He demanded. I didn’t question it for one second. I immediately left the room and followed the human downstairs.

“Thank you.” I said to him. I honestly meant it. He had prevented me from being hurt. He looked at me and nodded. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I gave the human five gold pieces as a form of gratitude.

“If anyone asks, I went to find Berhin.” I told him. He nodded and I left.

From what I remembered, I tracked his footsteps and went into the forest. This part of the forest was not cursed, but it was close to the borderline. The borderline was an imaginary line brother and I had made so we could categorize the forest between cursed and non-cursed. We still called it a borderline, even though the forest gradually got darker and more cursed the deeper you went. The best and worst part about the cursed forest was that the footprints left behind could be easily seen. I found Berhin’s footprints and followed them. I knew they were his footprints because they matched his new boots, plus they were around my size.  Goblins feet were bigger than Halflings. As I searched through the forest, the footprints changed. An unfamiliar set of footprints appeared at Berhin’s from the right. He had been attacked, I thought to myself. I found the rest of his footprints and ran towards the end of the trail, hoping to find my favourite brother surrounded by fallen goblins.  The footprints ended. I looked a short distance in front of me and I saw a body on the ground. My heart skipped a beat. I ran towards the body and turned it over. It was Berhin. Immediately, tears rolled down my face.

“NO!” I screamed as loud as I could. He was my favourite brother, and my best friend. He was one of the most important people in my life. I loved him. I picked up his lifeless body and hugged it. Never again would I have such a great companion by my side. I closed his eyelids and stared at his body.  When I was about to look for any nearby goblins, I heard a shriek. I looked up to see a goblin with a net. It tangled me and I fell to the ground. Another figure came out from behind a tree. In his hand he had a wand that looked like a stick. He was a human. He shrieked at the goblin who had captured me. The goblin backed off. The man pointed his wand and cast a spell over me.

“Goodnight.” The man smiled.  My eyes grew heavy and I eventually passed out.