2 CH2: An Offer of Courting

Entertainment was rarer to get than clean water in the dirty village of Modest, a way south in Delaware Province. Still, when it happened, it came from heated arguments or plays. Silas might cut someone if he had to listen to one more rendition of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In their powdered wigs and frock coats, the old greybeards believed an example of teenage foolishness was a boon to the people's souls. In reality, girls saw it as romantic, showing just how out of touch the greybeards were.

Boredom wasn't his only problem lately; there have been reports of people going missing and strange tracks on the ground that no animal could have made.

At 16, he was a man and eligible to be drafted. However, if a war broke out against any nearby tribes, he would have to fight. Silas wasn't ready for that and didn't know what death would do to him. All he had to go off were memories, and no afterlife seemed to exist from what he understood. An all-powerful god or heaven wasn't something he was interested in.

Silas left the blacksmith with a few boxes of nails in his backpack and saw a banner for a play. It was yet another rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Why couldn't they choose another Shakespeare play like Macbeth, Hamlet, or maybe Antony and Cleopatra?

He was happy he had been born after Shakespeare and not before. There would be even less entertainment in the colonies if he arrived in the 1500s. Silas would have probably left for the west to escape Christianity if that had happened. The natives at least knew how to party.

Strong drink, outlawed in puritan towns, narrowed down the things he could do even more. At least it wasn't Sunday when people went to church to read the bible all day.

"Hark thee, Silas, have thou come to court, my daughter. Thy land tis rich with harvest with too few hands to pluck God's bounty. Mary tis one of six daughters and seven sons; twelve tis a fine time to marry and start a family of her own as God wills." John Grisham said.

Delaware was firmly in the business of looking the other way with slavery. John had several slaves on his farm but, in the open, liked to claim he worked his children as God intended. Discipline and hard work build character.

"Methinks my farm tis ill established for a wife. My head lays in the back of a shack and cold art the nights. Leaks prosper in the rain, and my misery would become thy daughters. Another harvest and we can address this conversation, cousin." Silas said.

"No hands reach to support thee in thou need. Thy own hands art too busy with harvest to support thou." John said before nodding his head. "Busy hands art immune to the devil's whiles and thy homestead contains many houses for harvest and hands. Yet, one house remains empty and open to renovations. Come when thou can no longer take the cold to court thy daughter and call thou cousin father." John said.

That was generous of him. He offered to let Silas stay in one of his spare houses to court his daughter. Then, after they wed, he would lend Silas some of his slaves for the harvest season.

The spare spiritual energy attracted to Silas's immortal's cave affected the local plant life. Everything he grew was larger and healthier. Silas also made some minor pesticides through his alchemic knowledge. Harvesting wasn't much of a problem, even by himself, thanks to the stronger plants. They didn't rot as quickly, giving him more time during harvest season. Most people believed it was the nearby lake that Silas immediately staked his claim around and fenced in. It made hiding his immortal's cave much easier.

"Thy generosity knows no bounds except my pride. Mayhaps we should speak no more of this until the first snow. A late harvest season with no snow tis unnatural as the tracks I saw on the road. They were heavier than my horse by their depth and longer than my hand with claws instead of fingers. At first, I thought bear, but there were victims untouched, and I saw no signs of feeding but the carrions. The deputy on the scene thought I was a bandit on the road until he saw the queer tracks." Silas said.

"Thy youthful imagination plays tricks on thee. So tis a bear, most likely spooked before feeding. God would allow no demons close to his home in consecrated lands. Methinks thou should call on a sirrah of God to bless thy lands. My daughter won't shiver comfortably in thy shack unless the grounds are consecrated." John said and chuckled.

Silas tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. He hoped it was just a big stupid bear spooked after it massacred a wagon full of men. He planned to take different roads back home to avoid seeing the grizzly scene again.