ILLUSTRATION SUGGESTIONS, ANYONE?

Chapter 7: Slaying Dragons

The event left Eve with a temporary limp and Rose with the inability to wear a corset for a couple weeks but it also gave her and Jean another excuse to be closer. Eve hobbled about in the barn every day with Ben's help, of course, and would do her daily chores. The limp was a nuisance in her mind but a blessing in Ben's mind. it wasn't that he was happy about it, it was that she didn't protest to his helping her anymore. Jean tried to help Rose out but his wound inhibited him. She would smile gleefully and hold back an urge to giggle whenever he proudly walked by and tried to lift something heavy. He reminded her of the dignified knights that she read about in the books her uncle bought for her and her cousins when they were little.

TTTTT

Night fell and Rose didn't worry about tending to the fire. Jean and Ben insisted upon sleeping in the kitchen, just in case wild animals came around again. Rose went upstairs and tucked in Laura while listening to Ben and Jean talk to each other, chuckling from time to time as they shared their manly stories.

Rose just rolled her eyes sometimes but Eve would sit in the kitchen downstairs and sew while she intently listened to them. Rose, however, preferred to spend time with the younger girls and tell them stories to help them sleep.

Rose always went downstairs to help Sarah and Madeline get ready for bed, however, one night, the younger girls she had tucked in upstairs, ran downstairs again, wasting all the hard work Rose had put into getting them to sleep. Ben and Jean nearly had heart attacks as the girls trampled over them. Laura led the pack and was intent upon having rose tell a story.

"Tell us a story, Rose," Laura looked up at Rose and jumped up and down excitedly. Rose wore a perturbed and shocked look on her face and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I want to hear one too," Madeline said excitedly as she caught her breath and sat on the edge of the bed. Rose looked around at them all and smiled.

"Which one?" Rose finally loosened up and giggled. Since most of the books had been burnt when the town fell, Rose had to dig up the stories from her memory or make them up herself, giving the girls some hope in their time of need.

"Make one up, Rose," Eve said as she leaned in the threshold of the door and smirked.

"Fine then," Rose laughed as she thought for a few minutes, "Once upon a time, there were nine sisters, each one more beautiful than the stars. They were able to wear the finest silks, pearls, rubies, every gem under the sun. However they were trapped, living in a tower, away from the world and guarded by a fire breathing dragon. Each day, the girls hoped for a way out, and each day there was a little hope. One day, nine bold men in shining armor..."

Jean laid awake and smiled as he listened to her story, wondering how she and Eve had kept things running. There wasn't a town anywhere near them and they had no connections outside the small land they were confined to. He had no clue if any one of them had wondered outside the small clearing in the woods in all the years that had passed.

TTTTT

As morning came, there was a strange feeling in the air. Ben woke up just at the crack of dawn to see Eve hovering over him. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and she was just bending down to shake him out of his sleep. He sat up and she pulled on his coat sleeve, trying to keep him from saying anything. She pointed to the window and he stood up, looking out to see several torches coming through the woods a mile away. He lightly kicked Jean to make him wake up.

"Merde!" Jean grumbled as he rubbed his eyes and stood up to look where Ben was looking, "well, what is it?

"DO you see the torches?"

"Oui," he sniffed as he forced himself to wake up. Eve looked up at Ben in fear.

"Wake up everyone and keep them quite," ben whispered. Rose was already awake, though, and was quickly getting dressed, knowing that whatever or whoever was outside, wasn't good. She immediatly ran into all the girl's rooms and started to shake them awake. They barely had any time to get dressed, but Rose ordered them to grab the first things they could get their hands on to change into later. Eve kept the young girls quiet but Laura was crying form the shock. Ben had ran out back to wake the men while Jean kept an eye on the approaching flames.

"Who do you thing they are?" Rose asked quickly as she ushered all the girls out the back door wrapping the girls in shawls and coats. Jean looked back and shook his head. He had an idea of who they were but he didn't want to say anything. Eve was outside, huddling the girls together in a group. Rose pushed herself out the door reluctantly and Jean followed as he ordered them to make their way into the woods. Rose grabbed Laura's hand and rushed as fast she could towards the dark woods. It was frightening to Laura but Rose reassured her that everything would be all right. Madeline and Sarah were complaining about their bare feet and about how cold it was but Eve shushed them up by pinching their arms.

"Quiet!" she hissed.

As they ran deeper and deeper into the woods, they stopped. Rose peered through the thick trees and foliage and watched the men as they readied themselves and loaded their guns. Eve had all the girls duck down and Rose followed. They waited and watched from behind a large oak tree for what seemed an eternity until finally a shot sounded and shouting ensued. Laura grasped onto Rose and held back her tears. Rose slowly peered out from behind the tree and gasped when she saw who the attackers were. Eve gathered up the girls as Rose ordered them to go deeper in. Her look of fear told eve everything she needed to know. The horsemen were back.

Eve heard a crash and looked back to see the barn light on fire. She screamed and ran towards the house. Rose tried to h old her back but it was all in vain.

"Betsy!" Eve screamed as she came out of the woods. Ben shouted when he saw her and watched in horror as one of the dragoons circled her with his horse. She was shouting at the man and he cocked his gun at her. All the chaos around caused everything to be a blur and Eve hardly knew what was happening when she heard the gunshot. Thankfully, the man missed her but the shock caused her to fall on the ground. Her ankle was throbbing and she looked up to see the barn burning down. She cried and tried to make herself get up but Ben grabbed her up and forced her back into the woods. unfortunately, the girl's cover was blown and Rose was now running out of the woods to help Eve.

TTTTTTT

Tavington smirked as he watched the barn go up in flames but his smile faded as he watched several of the militia men run out with their horses in tow. One of the men was comically dragging a cow behind him and clearing out the barn of all the bigger animals. Tavington grumbled as he shot at a man and nearly missed when he saw a young woman run out of the woods with a another girl in tow. He recognized the second woman and nearly laughed in delight. She was the one who had given him a nasty scar on his shoulder when she stabbed him. It took him months to be able to move his arm again afterwards. He hurried his horse up and rushed towards the girls, watching as one of his men tried to shoot one of the girls. Tavington shot at him and missed but his attempt shocked the man, making him miss the girl and shoot a tree nearby. Tavington yelled out at the man, ordering him to leave and watched as Benjamin Martin helped the girl up. However, Tavington couldn't have cared less about the first girl. He tried to shoot at Ben and dismounted his horse, running as fast as he could towards him. Eve screamed and Ben turned around just in time to block Tavington's sword.

TTTTTTT

Rose screamed along with Eve as she watched the man she recognized run at Ben. Jean rushed towards Rose and snatched her, pulling her into the woods as the militia men retreated. Rose glanced back at the house, which was half way up in flames and began to cry loudly. Jean had to force her to run faster but she was staring back at the house too much. He pulled her harder and she fought him off. She wasn't in the least bit ready to run away from the home she had grown attached to for three years. She watched as Eve crawled in the mud. Ben and the dragoon were hacking away at one another and Eve was unable to get up because of her ankle. Jean realized what was happening and let Rose go. She sprinted towards Eve and helped her up quickly with Jean's help and hobbled her into the woods...

TTTTTT

It had to have been several hours until Ben finally limped into the thick patch of woods where the militia men were hiding with the girls. He collapsed in exhaustion and Eve hobbled over to him to see if was all right. He smiled weakly as tried to catch his breath.

What took so long?" Eve chided, "you're injured."

"Me and several of the men buried the bodies before- before some more-," he was cut short when Eve started poking around the wound he had received, "before some more men came."

"Is he dead?" Rose asked weakly. Her eyes were swollen with tears over the loss of her home.

"No," Ben coughed, "he got away."

"Is it safe to go back?" Laura's little voice peeped.

"Yes," Ben said quietly, "the whole house didn't burn. There's still some of it left."

Rose stood up as fast as she could and ran again through the thick woods until she hit the clearing. The house was still smoldering but the flames had died down considerably. She looked over to see Betsy grazing with some of the other animals more than several feet away. She sighed with relief when she saw that enough of the house stayed in tack that she could poke around and salvage whatever was left. However, she knew they couldn't stay there for long. The man that had escaped was in no doubt going to come back with more men. The others came out of the woods and helped poke around the house while Eve rushed over to Betsy and began to pet her to see if she was harmed.

Rose stalled for a few moments and looked at the wreck. She knew that she had gotten her wish. The girls were indeed going to get out of the place they had been trapped in, but this wasn't the way she wished it to happen...