Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
For now, I decided to try my hand at making bread. The cheddar and potato rolls looked promising, but the soda bread seemed the easiest. As I worked, I couldn’t help but wonder if we would need more chickens. Not to eat, but to provide eggs. I’d just cracked the last one Kit had collected into a bowl. Without a grocery nearby, it was going to take a lot of gathering to keep a family of five fed—especially when three were huge men who were spending hours doing manual labor.
Despite the challenges, Kit and I pulled off our first big meal. The bread was slightly burnt on the outside, a bit doughy in the middle, but the mashed potatoes were creamy, the honey-glazed carrots delicious and from the way the men were devouring the fried ham… Suddenly, a recipe I’d read popped into my head.
“Where exactly did you get this ham?” I asked. “Do you have pigs here?”
“Oh, like Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web,” Kit asked, and then gasped, looking a bit askance at the last bite of ham she’d been about to put into her mouth.
Banks shook his head and reached over to pat her arm. “It’s all right, honey. All our pigs are wild.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means they forage in the woods, fending for themselves. If we run out of pork, we’ll go hunting and butcher one. Why?” Rye asked.
“Just wondering,” I said, rising to begin clearing the table. “But I’m telling you right now, if any one of you wants blood sausage, you’re going to have to make it yourself—and not in my kitchen, either.”
I wanted to grin as they all looked at each other as if wondering how to respond, but I wasn’t joking. I drew the line at anything made from actual blood. They expected me to follow their rules, well, they needed to know there were rules they’d be following as well.
11
Goldie
There was a full moon casting its light on the tips of the pine trees. An evening fog hung heavy on the forest making the scenery appear almost haunted in a gothic beauty. It was a perfect evening—temperature wise—for a quick jog, even though the setting wasn’t exactly ideal.
The day had been full of unexpected challenges. Alphas and fire weren’t exactly the recipe for a good day, I can’t say I hated every moment. A sense of pride washed over me that somehow Kit and I made the day go off with only a few bumps. I should have been exhausted, but I felt the need to feel some fresh air and get my muscles moving. I needed to feel some resemblance of freedom as my feet pounded against the ground. I needed a release. I also felt it was a good sign that the brothers had actually provided me with workout clothes and tennis shoes in my closet. So if that wasn’t the universe telling me to go for a run, what was?
The men were still downstairs awake. I could hear the rumble of their deep voices as they chatted about plans for the mountain. I waited for as long as I could but had no choice but to plan my escape now before I gave up on the idea of a run completely and went to bed instead. In a normal situation, I’d just walk downstairs and announce my plan, but I knew going for a run was out of the question, per their idiotic rule of not leaving the cabin until they felt it was safe. And a night run would most likely be seen as a worse sin. But I didn’t care. I’d sneak out of the house, enjoy my run, and be back before anyone was the wiser.
I looked out the window of my bedroom and focused on the trellis with the pretty roses running along the side. Taking hold of the wood, I shook it as hard as I could to see if it would hold my weight. I was only on the second story so if I fell, I wouldn’t exactly die, but I could most definitely break a bone if I wasn’t careful.
A wise woman would realize how stupid this was, but I was desperate for an ounce of freedom. I wanted to have a moment where I was in control. Me. I didn’t want to follow their rules. In fact… I wanted to break them.
Throwing caution to the wind, I climbed out of the window and began my descent. It wasn’t exactly easy, and it was made more difficult by the fact that I was trying to be as quiet as I could so the brothers wouldn’t hear me from the living room. I didn’t even want to think about what they’d do if they caught me.
Every time I crushed a rose, or felt a thorn stab my fingers and scrape my legs, I cursed my plan. But I was already half way down and decided to keep going. I could now see that climbing back up to my room would be impossible, and I panicked at the idea of somehow breaking into the house after the run. My guess was that the brothers would have every window and door locked up tight.