Men and War-2

Chapter Two in "Chic."

 As Clara finished up her fun and games, Anise finally sat up and walked her back inside.

"You remember the rules, right?"

Clara simply nodded her head.

"Then what did we learn today?"

"We read an excerpt from 'The Master's Questions to His Disipples'."

"Disciples," Anise corrected.

"Sorry. Disciples. Disciples."

"Good."

Anise felt a calm wind rush against her back. "Now, hurry on inside, Chile'. We definitely don't wanna get 'ur father angry."

Clara had never fully gotten used to Anise's southern accent. I mean, she knew that it was there, you could hear it in her voice. But she never got used to it. It never seemed natural to her. She, with the English accent her mother had taught her before she had died, often thought of having the nerve to correct her 'teacher.' But, like most children her age, she thought that was unspeakable.

"Clara," Anise called out as she ran towards the house. "Don’t run as you get inside! Slow down!" Clara didn't listen. She skidded on the marble flooring underneath her leather soles and ran towards the stairs to run up unto her bedroom. The rich carpeted stairs where now smothered in mud, and that trailed onto the marble she had slide on before. Anise sighed and she stumbled into the house to clean up the mess.

As Clara passed her father's room, his pen scratching on the paper, he called her into the room with a calm, "Slow down, Child." Clara rejoiced. She loved the sound of a word said correctly. 'Child' not 'chile'' or 'chime'...just 'child', the way it was meant to be said.

"Yes, Papa?" she said, as she shuffled into the room on her muddy feet.

He looked up from his papers for the first time today. "Slow down." He looked at the hallway, only as to remind her...then he saw the muddy tracks she had left on the floor. He suddenly got very enraged.

"You were supposed to be studying," he muttered through his gritted teeth.

"Uh...uh...we were. We went out to the forest to read..." 'Oh, dangit! What was that book called?'She suddenly wished she had listened to Anise. "Uh...'The Master of Disipples'"

"The Master's Questions to His Disciples?"

"Yeah, that’s right. Disciples."

Clara lifted up her feet one by one, turning them up side down so that she could see the muddy cover of her shoes. Had she really gone that far? Had she really gone that far into the wet, mossy dirt?

Since her small heart couldn't hold it in, she started to whimper.

Clara's papa let out a small groan as he rolled his eyes at her. "Bye. Go get cleaned up. Your breakfast is on her bedside."

She staggered out the room.

"-And," her father added. She reached behind her shoulder to look him in the eyes. "Eat quickly."

Clara nodded her head. "Yes, Sir."

Instead of walking straight to her bedside to eat her meal, like she had been instructed, Clara ran down to the kitchen. Along her way, she found Anise, cleaning up the floor she had just dirtied along the marble end to the stairs. As she passed, she ran and slipped and slid on the wet floor, only causing it to have more mud than before. Anise sighed then went back to her duty. Such a foolish child.

Clara ran past the cook and the gardener out side and the apprentice to Papa as she ran around, up, down, and across all flooring known to man. The marble and carpeting inside, the clean cut fresh green grass outside, and the dirt puddles in the farm, which only got her shoes so much dirtier than they had been before.

As she ran, she still cried. Why had she been so foolish as to run around so far? So long? Why?

She reached her destination.

As she stared out among the creek of her "Rockaway Bay," (or so she called it...) she remembered all the other times she had been here. All so magical. When this house belonged to her rich aunt who now lived in Ireland. She had loved to come out her when she had been punished, for her aunt was very strict. She searched both left and right for life. No sign. She relaxed and rejoiced. As Clara sat down where the gravel and grass met, she left her head fall behind her legs and her hair fall down to her back from the tight bun she just wore. She let the tears she had been crying fall to stain her brown dress and then got p slowly after so long. Some one must be looking for her. With her sleeve, she wiped the already-fallen tears from her plain face. She was about the leave and go back to her father when a man in uniform walked up to her.

"Excuse me, Miss. Could you point me to the direction of the Darlen household?"

Clara nodded, tears still fighting their way through her sad eyes. "Ye-" she managed muttered out.

"What's wrong chile'?" It was that accent she hated, again.

"Nuttin'"

"Okay. Far well Ma'am," the uniformed-man said, tipping his hat.

As he walked away, Clara stopped him. "Excuse me, Sir." She was still crying, but she managed to get through the sentence without her voice breaking. "Why would you need Pap-I mean, Cpt. Reynold?"

"Oh, you do not know, Miss?"

Clara shook her head, trying to be as invisible as possible.

"Well, he's going to war." The uniformed man shook with such confidence and trust in his voice, almost joyous. "That would be why he moved New York. To get ready. You did not know?"

Again, Clara shook her head. She had stopped crying by now, but the waterworks seemed to start up again at the thought of her father going to war...again.

The man tipped his hat at her again. "Well, guh' day Ma'am."

"Good day," she whispered out of her trembling lips.

Author's Note

This is my first hint in dialogue. I show some more of it in a later chapter, so I will tell you when it comes to the time of posting. But do you like it for what I have?

Reviews

[Kelsey Desmond]

Excuse me? Sorry, but I don't know what your talking about, Greg. I've posted this for about five months on WEbook with countless reviews and no here for about 1 month. 6 months posted! I've read it countless times and I just reread it about, and I never switched to first-person. Would you please give me an example?

[Gregory Hill]

Ok first of all, when chile has a e at the end its pronounced like the pepper, and after a little I think you meant for it to sound (chi-l). Next: She had loved to come out her when she had been punished, for her aunt was very strict. When you read it, it sounds almost like she liked getting punished so she would be allowed to come out there. Lats thing I say was that in various places you switched from first to third person. Read it through and you should find these part. Anyways good job.