Chapter 4

Expect some action in the next chapter. I thought about cutting this chapter out to speed things up, but I needed to introduce the brother and step-mom before moving forward.

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As I neared the main house, I heard people talking and laughing. Even Lily sounded like she was having a good time—a rarity, at least when I was around.

Carefully rounding my house; that is to say, the wood-shed I slept in, I could see the three of them through the kitchen window. From the plume of white smoke rising out of the chimney, I knew they were preparing lunch.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the kitchen side door before walking in. The talking stopped for a moment before Grace stuck her head out from behind a shelf, spotting me.

"Ah, it's Arne!"

I almost returned her smile, but then Lily emerged with her hands on her hips. She was actually a pretty good-looking woman—dark-haired and in her mid-thirties.

My stepmother looked me up and down, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Lunch isn't ready yet."

I stood there awkwardly, scrunching my wool cap in my hand. Despite knowing I wasn't at fault for my presence in this household, I couldn't help feeling a misplaced sense of guilt for existing.

"There wasn't anything else for me to do in the forge, so I was sent to help…"

An uncomfortable silence stretched in the kitchen as I just stood there, waiting for my stepmother to say something. After staring at me for a while, the look in her eyes not exactly approving, she sighed.

"The kitchen can't take four people. Wait outside, then take the scraps to feed the pigs."

After speaking, she turned and disappeared around the corner, not sparing me another glance.

Grace, who'd watched the entire exchange quietly, gave me a secretive smile.

"Don't worry, I'll save you some-…"

However, before she could finish, Lily's voice suddenly rang inside the kitchen.

"Grace, darling, Erik needs your help with the vegetables. You know he can't peel to save his life."

A moment of awkwardness passed between the blonde and I before she grimaced apologetically, her head disappearing back behind the shelf.

Suppressing a sigh, I didn't loiter any longer, doing as I was told.

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While feeding the pigs, I reflected on the fact that my brother didn't greet me. Honestly, I wasn't surprised—he always acted indifferent when his mother was around. I don't blame him either; there was nothing to be gained from involving himself in our quarrel.

"Hey."

Suddenly, a boyish voice – seemingly in the process of cracking – spoke from behind. Turning my head, I immediately spotted Erik standing behind me.

'Speak of the devil and he shall appear.'

Though, the devil in question was only fourteen this year, in the middle of a transition toward adulthood. He was tall, rapidly closing the gap between himself and Jed, but a bit too rakish.

That being said, he was still a handsome young man, having inherited the best qualities from both father and mother. Like Lily, he had fair skin, dark hair and blue eyes, but with Jed's solid build.

I gave him a smirk.

"Wow, Grace came all this way to see you, but you actually left her to greet your little brother. I'm impressed."

I gave a thumbs-up with my one hand while scraping out vegetable peels with the other.

Erik frowned, but I didn't miss the hint of color appearing on his cheeks. Handsome as he was, he was only a teenager and insecure about those types of things.

"…Mom says to come eat after you're done, Arne."

After speaking, he turned and left just like that, leaving me to scratch my head in silence. It wasn't normal for an older brother to allow his younger brother to tease him—at least in the past, Erik wouldn't have hesitated to start a fistfight over a comment like that.

Recently, he'd grown in more ways than one—the boisterous kid I'd known turning into a silent, stoic young man.

'Could he be going through 'that' phase?'

Recalling my own journey into emo-ness, I shivered inwardly. In light of that, I supposed I couldn't tease him too much; it would be hypocritical of me. But then again, I never claimed to be a morally upstanding individual.

Putting thoughts of mischief aside, I tossed the last scraps to the pigs, checking to see if they all got their share. There was a tendency for the bigger ones to 'hog' all the food, if you'll pardon my pun.

When I was certain they'd all eaten, I stowed the plank bucket before going to wash my hands.

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Two straight tables stood in the kitchen, arranged into an 'L' shape. As custom dictated, we seated ourselves on the outside ends, leaving half of both tables empty.

I was surprised to see Jed there, not having noticed his arrival. He took the 'head' seat in the middle with Lily and Erik on both sides, and Grace sitting next to Erik. Despite there being space next to Lily, I sat at the other table.

Understandably, our guest found this odd judging from the glances she kept sending my way.

"Arne, for goodness' sake, why are you sitting over there?"

The question came from Lily, staring at me with exasperation.

Suddenly being called out like that, I felt my face turning red.

Apologizing and getting up, I sat next to Lily.

"Uhm, sorry."

When we were all neatly seated like ducks in a row, Jed clasped his hands and prayed a few short sentences. Honestly, the words sounded extremely out-of-place coming from him.

After he was done, I shoved my wooden spoon into my bowl without preamble, bringing the food to my mouth, tasting the thin soup. While eating, my eyes involuntarily wandered to the others' bowls, noticing their soup seemed a bit thicker, more flavorful and aromatic.

Sighing inwardly, I put such envious thoughts out of my head. Even if they ate a little better than myself, the difference was extremely small. It was like having a couple of pennies in your pocket when someone else had a dollar—either case was still poverty.

Aside from the subdued sounds of eating and scraping cutlery, the room was silent. However, it wasn't awkward—rather, everyone was too busy enjoying their first meal of the day. Despite my arguably poor food, I counted among them.

"How's your mother doing, Grace?"

Eventually, Lily broke the silence, making eye-contact with her future daughter-in-law. It might have seemed a bit premature of me to say something like that, given she was only thirteen and Jason fourteen, but things worked differently here—whether my modern sensibilities approved or not.

The blonde finished chewing with some embarrassment, holding her hand in front of her mouth.

"She's doing fine…"

Lily nodded, her expression not showing much change.

"That makes seven, doesn't it? You must be used to taking care of your little brothers and sisters by now."

Grace laughed embarrassedly.

"My big sister does that because I'm not very good at it. They're so naughty and always complain too much. If you don't give them what they want, they throw tantrums and break things. Especially Stevie…"

She stayed silent for a moment, apparently mulling over her next words.

"…that's why it's always nice to come visit. It's quiet here and everyone's so polite to each other. I wish it was like this at my house."

As a home-maker, Lily was understandably pleased from having her household complimented.

"You're always welcome here, dear. In fact, go ahead and think of it as your own house—we're all glad to have you."

Smiling warmly, she reached over and patted Grace's hand.

It needed to be said that, not only was this more affection than she'd shown me in a lifetime, even Erik didn't usually hear such kind words from his mother. Honestly, aside from sleeping and eating inside the house - as well as the odd head-pat – his treatment wasn't all that different from mine.

'Did she always want a girl or something?'

Fixing my eyes on the incomprehensible woman, I absentmindedly spooned some brined cabbage into my mouth.

"It's not polite to stare so hard, Arne. And don't eat so slowly, the food will get cold."

Without even looking at me, Lily apparently found a few things to criticize.

Lowering my eyes, I automatically brought the bowl up to my chin.

"Yes, sorry."

My obedience was basically conditioned at this point. However, before someone calls me out for not having a spine, I'd like to say I didn't have much of a choice. While Lily never hit me, Jed certainly would if I talked back to his wife.

"By the way Grace, I heard father John started teaching you how to read."

Returning her attention to her new favorite child, the thirty-something woman put her chin in her hands, waiting expectantly for a response.

Grace nodded shyly.

"Uhm, yes. I've been learning for a few months now and can read most simple sentences…"

Lily's expression brightened, her eyes filled with admiration and praise.

"That's incredible, dear. I wish my boys were as smart as you—just teaching them how to tie their shoelaces was already difficult; I doubt they'd ever be able to string a sentence together."

The matter-of-fact-ness in her tone caused both my and Erik's faces to distort, feeling wronged. Me in particular, since I tried to get that fat, old priest to teach me, but not only did he refuse, he wouldn't even let me take a look at one of his books. As it was, I'd barely gotten a handful of glances at this world's text.

Exchanging glances with my brother, I could see he was starting to regret bringing his girlfriend home, a sentiment I certainly agreed with.

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