Here you go! sorry it's been a while! I have been busy and have had writers block but I think it's gone. Still if you have ideas please share them! Enjoy!
I stand there for a minute wondering what just happened and then I start towards the kids that the fangs had been escorting. I talk them into letting each other go, then tell them, “Hey, don't worry everything will be ok. Why don't you go back into the house.” We walk up to the house and the kids go inside. Inside I can hear the parents sobbing. Once they realize someone is walking in they look up and gasp. I see them running to their kids and can hear their happy reunion. I suddenly feel sad, longing for my mom and Ki then turn back toward the Carriage.
“Julie, wake up!” I said as I shook her awake, “Come on we gotta figure out what we are gonna do with these kids.” Julie starts to sit up and rubs her eyes. “What kids?” she says sleepily. “The four other kids in this Carriage!” I say impatiently. She jolts awake, “Four!”
“Yeah, come on it’s after curfew if other fangs see us we are dead, we need to find a place to stay the night.”
We rouse the two older kids, a 9 year old girl named Kiya and a 8 year old boy named Jared and carry the younger two, a 6 year old boy named Philip and a 4 year old little girl whose name we weren't able to figure out. We start towards the city trying to avoid fangs and we find an abandoned shop. We step through the broken door of the shop, careful not to cut ourselves on the splintered wood of the door. The shop is a wreck; there's broken glass, overturned shelves and dust everywhere. I walk to the back, the girl in my arms, and find a place relatively clear sheltered by a shelf. I grab a broom from behind a shelf and sweep an area for us to sleep then layed the girl down. I walk to Julie and carry Jared over to the little girl. Julie and I carry the other two over, so they don't cut themselves. I take off my jacket and lay it down for the kids to lay on. They fall asleep immediately, I quietly retell Julie what happened then tell her to get some sleep.
I stayed awake for the rest of the night, coming up with plan after plan of what I was going to do with these kids. I explore the shop looking for anything that might be useful. The shop has the main shopping area, a back room as well as 2 rooms above the shop. I find blankets in the rooms as well as some money in the back room. I walk back to our little area and put the blankets over the kids and Julie.
A little after the sun starts to rise Julie wakes up and turns toward me. “I'm gonna go and get some food. I found some money in the back.” I say confidently. “I'll come with you!” “No, stay here, keep them entertained, there's some toys upstairs. I'll be back soon, okay?”
“Fine but be quick.”
I soon find myself in the city, I quickly figure out where we probably are, Dugtown, “Oh no,” I think to myself, “not as bad as Stranders but close.” I walk into a bakery and buy some bread. Then, I start back toward the shop. I start to hear a faint sound as I get closer I can tell it's, of all things, music. I'm intrigued, so I start walking towards it. This music is sweet and strangely familiar, though I can't think why. I soon see the source of it, a middle aged man with a whistleharp surrounded by children.
I watch for a while from behind a wall. Then, he stops and says, “I can see you, you know, come on over.” I walk towards him and can't help myself from saying, “That was beautiful! Who are you?”
“I'm Armulyn, the bard, I travel Skree singing songs, mostly about Anniera. What's your name child?”
“I'm Wren, like the bird…I know you, you came to Glipwood not too long ago, you said Fangs were ugly, in front of Fangs,” I said in awe.
“I did say that, didn't I, what are you doing this far from Glipwood, or did you come from Dugtown from Glipwood?”
“Um.. well I do live in Glipwood, my sister and I um.. were headed toward Torrboro, she wanted to see the… cats.”
“This isn't Torrboro so how'd you get here?”
“Well..um we got caught by Stranders and put in the Black Carriage and then a man in Black named the Florid Sword saved us from fangs but then left, and now I have 4 kids under 10 with me and I don't know what to do.”
The children just stare at me but the Bard says, “Wow… these children are orphans, if you would like I could take on your children.”
“Ummm I’ll have to think about it. Would you mind if I stay with you for a few days?”
“Not at all”
“Mr. Bard!” Philip shouted, “Mr. Bard!”
“Yes?” The Bard answered.
“Watch!” He starts to whistle a simple tune, “I learned how to whistle, now I can be just like you!”
“Good job, maybe you can be just like me, would you like to learn some more music?”
“YES!”
I laugh to myself, Philip would be just fine staying with the Bard. I looked down at the girl on my lap. We had finally figured out her name was Sylvia. I wasn’t sure how she would like staying with the Bard, any time someone else picked her up she cried. I had thought about taking her with us back to Glipwood but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. The trip back to Glipwood would potentially be dangerous. We would have to walk back, which will be pretty dangerous, especially with a 4 year old. Kiya came running up to me, “Wren, Wren! Come play with us, please!”
“What are you playing?”
“Ships and Sharks!”
“Ooh, that sounds fun, is Julie playing?”
“Yes! Please…”
“Sure!”
We walk towards Julie and the other orphans, I see Jared playing with the other kids and smile. I would miss the kids I had saved but I knew they would love staying with the Bard. “Wren, you and Julie are it!” Kiya says excitedly. All the kids line up and Julie and I stand in front of them. “Go!” I shout. All the kids run and Julie and I run after them. I grab Kiya into my arms and start to tickle her. She squeals and squirms away and then continues to run around. I watch her help Jared save a little girl from being tickled and turn to find another kid to tickle. We play until all the kids are worn out. I sit down and Sylvia runs up to me and sits in my lap. “Hi Sylvy!”
“Hi!” She starts picking flowers, and says, “can you make a crown, please?”
“Sure, I’ll try,” I laugh. She stands up and collects more from out of reach then brings them to me. I start to weave the flowers together and make a crown. I place the crown of flowers on her head and say, “You are a beautiful little princess.”
“Mr. Bard?” I ask.
“Yes?”
“I think the kids would love to stay with you, except Sylvia… I don’t think she would like staying here but I’m not sure if I should take her. I don’t want her to be unhappy but I also don’t want her to be unsafe, what should I do?”
“I think you should take her if you think you should. I know you will take good care of her. With that being said I would still be more than happy to look after her.”