The Return (Book One in the Wattpad Featured Return Series)

Chapter Two

October 1798

It's chilly and damp outside. The glass windowpanes in the warm cabin are foggy, and I wipe them clear with my palm, gazing up at the gray sky, hoping the weather holds. I still have a few more chores to finish out in the fields, and the cow will need one last feeding before I set off for the day.

The smoke from the wood fire in the center of our modest cabin hangs thick and heavy in the air, filling my lungs as I work to get Ma's meal ready. I check the bread one last time while listing the rest of the tasks I have to complete in my head. I'm supposed to go to my best friend Charlotte's house this evening. Normally I wouldn't leave Ma alone, but Charlotte's family is throwing a party for some folks who've just arrived in town, and parties at the Allston's are legendary around here. Of course, I have a lot to accomplish before I can even think of heading out, and I better hurry otherwise Charlotte will be furious with me if I don't get there on time.

Ma's rocking chair creaks against the floorboards, and I steal a glance over at her, watching as she lethargically rocks back and forth, her head drooping to one side. She wears a blank expression on her once-pretty face, and her bonnet lays askew on top of her matted blond hair. She hasn't been well for a while now, not since that horrible fight she had with Pa a couple months ago.

They didn't think I heard them, but I was just outside, and they were ferocious. Ma accused Pa of deceiving her, of knowing I wasn't their daughter this whole time. This information stunned me. It was the first I'd ever heard of it, but it was like everything suddenly made sense. Ma was sobbing hysterically, wailing like something inside her was broken real bad, and she kept demanding that Pa tell her what had happened to her real daughter. She kept accusing him of knowing, and wouldn't stop screaming, not even when he started to hit her.

I never asked either of them about it. I suppose I couldn't even if I wanted to now. Ma hasn't been right ever since, and Pa... I scowl at the very thought of him, turning back around and pulling the bread from the fire. He's worse than ever.

The cabin door swings open, and the suddenness of it, makes me jump. My fingers brush against the hot metal pan, and the bread tumbles from my hands.

Horrified, I gape over at Pa, standing in the doorway. His bushy eyebrows knit together, and I instantly fall to my hands and knees, doing my best to salvage what I can of the bread. I ignore the dull pain throbbing in my fingers as the apologies spew from my lips, but Pa lifts his hand, and with one gesture silences me.

"Happy birthday, Ellie."

This the first time he's ever wished me a happy birthday, and it's also the first time he's spoken to me since the fight he had with Ma. In fact, I reckon it might just be about the kindest thing he has ever said to me in all my years, and because of that reason alone, my spine tingles with suspicion.

"Thank you," I reply, unnerved by this seemingly friendly father-daughter exchange.

He walks into the cabin, taking off his cap, and exposing his thinning blond hair. Pulling out a wooden stool from the table, he sits down. It's odd to see him here—a man out of place in his own home, but then again, he's never been much of a family man, and since that fight with Ma, he's around even less. Judging by the disheveled state of him, he's also been drinking more.

Pa shifts his weight and places his cap on the table he made with his own hands years ago. "Now, girl, ya know things ain't been going good 'round here for some time now."

I pull myself up, holding the pieces of salvaged bread, and nodding even though my intuition is screaming at me not to. Whatever he's about to say, I know it isn't going to be good. It never is with him.