A Child's Heart, page 11

A few days later, the children discovered a well nearby, hidden by large bushes. That made things much easier for them, since before they had to lug their water all the way from the creek that was deep in the woods, and then boil it to make it safe for drinking. And Justace began giving Rylen and Wendol violin lessons. Even though Wendol was rather young, and Rylen wasn’t really the musical type, he knew they could both learn. During the rest of the week, time crept by at a calm pace; and things seemed to be going quite well. Then one day…“Good mornin’ Rylen, Wendol.” Said Justace. “Did you all sleep well?” “Good morning, Justace.” Wendol said. “I already did my chores, and now I’m hungry!” “So am I. What’s for breakfast?” Justace asked Rylen. “Yer gonna have to go catch some. There’s no food left here.” She told him. “Okay. Say, Wendol… you ever been hunting?” He asked. Wendol shook his head. “Well, how about you come with me.” “All right Justace.” Wendol said. So Justace grabbed his rifle and headed off to the woods with the little boy close behind him. “Now remember, you have to be very, very quiet.” Justace whispered to him. Wendol nodded. They tiptoed through the trees for a bit, and before long, they spotted a rabbit. Justace carefully aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. “Yes!” Justace exclaimed happily as he ran to fetch the lifeless animal. “Got ‘im on my first try.” Wendol however, was shaken by the loud bang of the rifle. He suddenly had a flashback of what had just happened, and then his subconscious memory replayed the terrible scene of his mother getting shot as she tried to protect him. Over and over, he saw in his mind the evil old man pointing his revolver at him, and his mother screaming as she dove in between him and the man. Like a horrific nightmare, he relived the moment when he first realized his mother had been killed. These memories had been long forgotten by Wendol, because he was so young at the time; but the shock of hearing a gunshot again brought it all back to him.