|
|
Post by Luke Scarlett on Sept 4, 2008 22:15:05 GMT
Seriously, who did this guy think he was? Luke was seething, and he looked rather petulant while doing it, his face fixed in a childish scowl. His old home looked exactly the way he remembered it, thatch neat, walls carefully repaired, fence posts standing straight and upright. It was all wrong. Under any other circumstances Luke would have been overjoyed to see his home (and he still thought of it as his even if he hadn’t set foot inside it for almost a year) in such good repair. It hadn’t looked like that in years, not since Vaysey took power and times had become hard. His father had thrown every spare minute into work and didn’t have time for repairs, after Jane died he hadn’t cared enough to carry them out even if he had the opportunity.
If possible, he furrowed his brow further and glared over at his old home. The problem was that the only reason the small cottage was in such good shape was because somebody had moved in. It had never occurred to Luke that he may return to Locksley to find somebody living there, the place that had been his for 15 years of his life. The place that held all his memories and now there was a trespasser tramping his way through and making his mark, corrupting the way Luke remembered his childhood. Being the stubborn boy that he was, and not much of a thinker at that, it never occurred to Luke that the house really did look almost too remarkably similar to the way it had been in his youth.
He slouched against the wall of the house next door, his toe scuffing repeatedly at the ground in a sullen movement. A cloud of dusty dirt was kicked up every time he moved, spreading up in a plume before settling back over the ground as well as his feet. In fact he was getting rather grubby in the process, but he was in too much of a bad mood to care. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been dirty before, now he was just more so. Eventually his foot connected with a small stone, it flew away from him, skittering across the ground and thudding into the side of the house that was the attention of his animosity. The action was rather soothing so he quickly sought out another pebble and kicked it, harder this time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Robert Williams on Sept 5, 2008 0:20:08 GMT
Roe had settled down into one of the few old chairs that he had sitting in the cooking area. He had gotten up early that morning to begin, and hopefully finish, the process of patching the thatched roof of the building and the shop. He had spent much of the previous day scouring the countryside between Locksley and Nettlestone, and Sherwood Forest itself, for some proper supple beech fronds that he would methodically weave into the existing thatch in the roof. He had run into some people that he knew in Nettlestone and made some new acquaintances, but had stayed longer than he originally planned, and it had taken some time to get back to Locksley with the heavy load that he was carrying. He had tried to get some sleep, but the lack of a proper bed had not worked in his for toward getting much rest.
So, despite the fact that he had not gotten enough sleep to suit him, he got himself up early to dutifully start the repair process. After several hours of pretty continuous work, he had used up his supply of beech and had almost all of the worst spots repaired. He had decided to do the work in the early morning, since it would be cooler during the morning, and he was able to keep his back to the sun and out of his eyes. However, it had become quite warm, and toward the end of the process he had taken his shirt off so it wouldn’t end up too wet with sweat and perspiration. Even though he was unable to fill every last hole, he was pleased both with the quality of the work and the fact that he had used up all of the beech fronds that he had collected yesterday. Although he would have to go out in the forest in search of more roofing material, in the short-term it meant that he could take a break, get off the roof, and maybe relax a bit in one of the chairs on the kitchen on the ground level.
He had not intended to, but after sitting back in one of the chairs, he quickly nodded off. Suddenly he was awakened by a small thud, which seemed to have come from one of the exterior walls. Shaking himself awake he said to himself, “nah …. I probably just dreamt that.” However, that was soon followed by a louder thud. It didn’t sound like anything that was endangering the structure, so Roe went over to one of the window openings to peer outside. What he saw was a young man, who in some ways reminded him of a very young version of Dan Scarlett, kicking up rocks and a giant cloud of dust.
Quickly Roe got up and went out the back of the hut and circled around to the corner of the front of the structure. The young man didn’t appear to be carrying any obvious weapons, and Roe didn’t feel too threatened, so he had seen no need to bring any weapons, but he did think that he might have a bit of fun with the lad. Still shirtless, but now chewing on a piece of straw, he directed an observation toward the boy, “You know, we have some much larger stones in the old garden out back that would make even louder impact than what you’ve done so far, and the cloud of dust, well you’d be able to see it for miles, if that’s what you’re really interested in,” he asked him with a questioning look on his face. “However, before you graduate to even larger objects, I would sure like to know who’s try to destroy the old Scarlett place.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Luke Scarlett on Sept 7, 2008 17:08:18 GMT
Luke had never been one to think things through and fathom out all the possible consequences for his actions. Which was why he was completely surprised when a man appeared from around the corner of the hut, having clearly just come from inside. For some reason Luke had thought the new resident of his old home would have been out, perhaps stealing toys from the local children or some other evil, soul destroying deed. For several long moments he considered taking off, running back to Knighton and not showing his face in Locksley for a good while, but he was just angry and defiant enough to cross his arms and remain slouched against the neighbouring house.
It was one thing to think of this man as a cowardly trespasser with the safety of a wall between them (even if the ownership of said wall was the source of the animosity), but quite another to do so when said man was approaching. In fact Luke suddenly had second thoughts about confronting the man at all, he was older and looked both stronger and perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight. Any kind of scrap that might start between them had only one definite outcome; Luke getting a beating. What could he possibly do, stick his tongue out and run away? Yeah right, that would sort the problem.
And now the guy was teasing him! Luke's eyes flashed with irritation and he uncrossed his arms in order to clench his fists at his sides. "I'll bear that in mind." He replied stiffly, voice sounding more petulant than the sarcasm he'd been aiming for. "And I wasn't trying to destroy it!" He denied hotly, the tips of his ears turning pink with embarrassment as he realised that was exactly what it must look like. He wondered how the tables had turned so quickly, he felt like he was being scolded when this guy was a blatant trespasser! "I'm Lu-" He cut himself off, again remembering only just in time that for Will's sake he shouldn't reveal his identity. "Louis." Luke corrected quickly, looking decidedly shifty.
|
|
|
|
Post by Robert Williams on Sept 7, 2008 18:59:35 GMT
Now that they were a few feet from one another Roe was able to take stock of the man a bit better .... rather .... of the boy. He couldn't quite get over the fact that the boy did remind him of someone. Initially he had thought of Dan Scarlett, but he realized it could be just about anybody else too, since he couldn't quite put his finger on it. In any case, he did appear to be about 15 or 16 in age. By his manner, he seemed to be someone who was prone to impulsive outbursts. His pink face and red tips to his ears were ample evidence of that.
Luke's eyes flashed with irritation and he uncrossed his arms in order to clench his fists at his sides. "I'll bear that in mind." He replied stiffly, voice sounding more petulant than the sarcasm he'd been aiming for. "And I wasn't trying to destroy it!" He denied hotly, the tips of his ears turning pink with embarrassment as he realized that was exactly what it must look like. Roe couldn't help himself, but he continued to smile and laugh. "I'm not really laughing at you, young man, but you don't wear your anger well. It gives you a most ridiculous expression. So .... you weren't trying to destroy it, then? What were you trying to do, improve on Dan's original work and my repairs?"
"I've just trying to put it back the way it was when I left, when the Scarletts were a happy family. I was an apprentice for Dan for 5 years, before I left for the Crusades. They had just had their 2nd son. When I got back I was told had happened, so I thought the least I could do would be to put it back into the shape it was before, and start up the carpentry shop again. ..... Louis, eh," he said with a quizzical look on his face. "I take it that you are from around here. Did you know the Scarletts?"
|
|
