My first reading lesson ended up being an unmitigated disaster.

It turned out that whilst I thought I had some understanding of how sounds were made and knew at least the basics, that was far from the truth. Jonathan decided that it would be best if we started from the very beginning which ended up being the alphabet, something I definitely did know. Still, he thought it would be better to go over it again just to be sure that I knew it well enough for the next stage of our lessons which would be sounds.

That was where the trouble started. I quickly became frustrated by the way the sounds were made and how different combinations of letters made the same sound. It didn't make any sense to me. There were words that I thought were easy to spell, but then weren't because the letters that made the sound were different to those in the previous word even if the sound was the same.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Sybil. You'll get it eventually," Jonathan had said, but it did little to help.

"Who created this language, anyway?" I grumbled.

"It's mainly Latin, Greek, French and plenty of others. I agree that it's a pain, sometimes I get confused with spellings."

I know he said it to try and make me feel better, he even laughed a little afterwards, it didn't help me. Everyone else I knew had managed to grasp the different sounds and spellings when they were five and yet I was fourteen and still struggling to grasp it. Jonathan and Barbara had both tried to be reassuring about it, especially by telling me they had come across countless others with the same issues I had, but it didn't help much.

Monday came around and with it came a dark, brooding cloud that lingered over the farm from the moment I woke up. The house returned to the gloom and darkness it had been encased in when I first arrived only this time the cause was the weather and not the amount of dirt caked onto the window. Barbara grumbled at the sight of the cloud as she prepared breakfast that morning, staring out of the window and watching as the cloud moved. It looked fit to burst at any moment.

"I really don't like the look of that cloud," she said, placing some toast in front of me.

"What errands have you got to run today?" Jonathan asked. He dropped toast crumbs down his jumper almost immediately.

"I need to get some more carrots for the soup tonight." She tutted. "The sooner this farm is up and running, the better. We can have our own carrots then."

"I'll go," I said. "There isn't much I can do around here now and I have to find my way into the village on my own someday, right?"

"Hm, perhaps. You might fare better in the rain than I will."

"There you go then! Sybil can run the errand for today and you can do whatever household chores need doing."

"And you?"

"I thought I might hang up that photograph of Mother and Father in the living room, just above the fireplace."

"That's going to take all morning is it?"

Barbara raised an eyebrow at her husband who nodded and grinned like a child, clearly trying to get out of any other chores other than hanging up a photograph. She shook her head and I saw the slight trace of a smile on her lips when she did so. The two of them were almost polar opposites with Jonathan being on the more goofy side and Barbara on the more serious side of life. Despite that, they seemed to work out quite well and they had yet to have a serious argument between them whilst I was there.

After breakfast, Barbara put together a shortlist that just had carrots written on it, apparently she didn't trust me to remember. She dug out the wicker basket that she always took on trips in the village so she could carry everything back in one piece. I pulled on my coat, just in case it did rain, as Barbara fussed around with her purse and pulled out several coins which she tucked into a smaller purse.

"Just the carrots. Nothing else. If it starts to rain, try and take some shelter, I don't want you walking around in the pouring rain."

"I will."

"Go on then, off you go."

She handed me the small purse and the list which I tucked into my slacks pocket to keep them safe. I swung the basket up onto my arm and left the farmhouse, stepping out into the cold November air. My coat did little to protect me from the coat and I knew it wouldn't protect me from the rain were it to hit, but Barbara had insisted I wear it as a precaution for whatever weather we were to expect as the morning went on.

I stumbled down the hill, taking it at the usual slight jog so that I didn't fall face-first onto the mud - that wouldn't go down well in the village. After several trips to church and several days spent following Barbara around on her errands through the village, I had a pretty good understanding of where I was going. Still, I was glad to get out of the house for a little while and do something on my own for once.

Back home I had a little more freedom about what I could do and where I could go. Mum trusted me to not get into too much trouble and always preferred for me to be out of the house rather than it and creating a mess. The Goodwin's were less trustworthy when it came to my freedom and how much they allowed me to have. I know they didn't know me all that much which would limit how much they trusted me, but I wished I could do a little more on my own, without them.

My few tastes of freedom had only occurred when I was out with my friends in the village square, although Barbara was never too far away, or when I went out riding with Alec. We had been on only one other excursion since our first but it had been nice to not have an adult watching my every move. I didn't need babysitting.

I made it to the village without any incident and even the clouds appeared to be moving, although not very quickly.

"What are you up to?" a voice said behind me. I jumped and turned around, coming face-to-face with Alec's smug smile.

"Don't scare me like that!" I said.

"Sorry, the opportunity was too good to miss." He laughed. "So, what are you up to?"

"I'm here to get carrots."

"Sounds like fun."

"It's the first task they've let me do on my own, I intend to embrace it."

"Even if it rains?" He raised an eyebrow at me and gestured to the dark sky above us, the clouds still rolling by

"The clouds are moving, it's not going to rain."

"We'll see about that."

"Alec!" Mr Thompson called from behind us. "Time to go!"

"I'll see you around, Sybil. Try not to get soaked."

He laughed and started to walk towards Mr Thompson who appeared to make some comment about the dark clouds because he pointed up. I shook my head and walked over to the greengrocer who stood outside eyeing up the dark clouds that appeared to have the attention of everyone in the village. Those who were walking around were quick to disperse, moving through alleyways and returning home just in case the weather decided to shift. I didn't see what all the fuss was about, there had been clouds darker than this in London and nothing had ever come of it.

I managed to catch the greengrocer's attention and purchased the carrots that Barbara needed, covering them over in the basket with a cloth so they didn't get hit by any flying leaves. Since I had a little more freedom, I didn't head straight back to the farm and instead hung around the village for a little while. The wind picked up, whipping up leaves and flinging them all around the square, I had to keep my head down so I didn't get hit in the face.

After a little while, and with the wind picking up, I started the walk back to the farm. Most of the walk faced uphill and I ended up having to walk against the wind rather than with it with my feet slipping on the mud. Every step I took felt like I was being pushed back down the hill and I knew it would take me forever to actually reach the house at the rate I was going.

A loud clap of thunder echoed above me and I looked around me to see if there was anywhere I could shelter from a potential downpour, but I didn't think trees would be great protection. I tried to run up the hill in the hopes of making it home before the clouds burst, but the wind fought against me and I had only just made it to the top of the hill before the heavens opened.

I was drenched within seconds, the coat doing nothing to protect me from the torrent of rain that dropped. Keeping my head down, I tried to push forward at a run to get home before I became a walking sponge, but still, the wind kept fighting me. It felt like the weather had decided to get revenge for me saying it wasn't going to rain.

When another loud roaring sound started, I assumed it was another clap of thunder, but when it wasn't, I looked up to see a tractor rolling up the hill with the trailer attached. Alec peered over the side of the trailer, as wet as I was, but pulling a stupid face.

"Need a ride?" Mr Thompson called over the rain.

"Isn't it going to be out of your way?"

"Not at all. Hop in the back with Alec. Barbara would kill me if you caught your death and I didn't at least drive you back."

"Thank you."

Mr Thompson smiled and I ran around to the back of the wagon where Alec had undone the latch and lowered the back so I could get in. He took the basket from my arm and placed it down before offering his hand and pulling me up and into the wagon. I shuffled in and took a seat at one of the edges with the basket on my lap. Alec re-latched the back section and the tractor pulled forward, moving down the track a lot faster than I would have been able to had I been walking.

"What was that about the clouds moving?" Alec asked, sitting beside me.

"You're not exactly dry yourself so don't get smart with me." I hit him with my coat sleeve. "I thought you would be home by now?"

"We forgot something and had to double back. It's a good thing, we did, eh?"

"You're so annoying," I mumbled, bumping my shoulder against his.

We rode the rest of the way in silence with the rain showing no sign of letting up the entire time. By the time we reached the farm, about five minutes later, the tips of my fingers were numb from the cold and I couldn't feel my cheeks. Alec hadn't fared any better and the very tip of his nose had turned red in the cold, his glasses covered in water droplets to the point I wondered if he could even see anything. He didn't seem to mind all that much and smiled the whole way.

Barbara stood in the doorway of the farmhouse when we pulled in, her eyebrow raised but I couldn't decipher her facial expression. She had told me not to try to walk home in the rain, yet in my defence, I was already halfway back before it started raining so it wasn't really my fault. Mr Thompson turned off the tractor engine and scrambled off the front, coming around the back to undo the latch and let us out. I clambered out and ran towards the front door.

"Carrots," I said to Barbara.

"Hm, slightly damp ones." She shook her head and then looked at Mr Thompson. "Why don't you and Alec come in, at least until the rain stops."

"We don't want to put you out," Mr Thompson said.

"You won't be."

She herded all of us into the house where Jonathan had lit a fire, the heat instantly warming me up, although the tips of my fingers were still numb. Jonathan took one look at me and started laughing, although he tried to stop and rushed over to the doorway to help me peel my coat from my blouse. Every piece of clothing I had on had become stuck to me, it felt like I had gone for a swim.

"Tea?" Barbara asked.

"Yes, please. It's cold out there."

Barbara looked at me as she crossed the room to the kitchen. "I thought I told you to take cover when it started raining?"

"I was already halfway home and trees don't make for good cover from the rain. That, and I didn't want to have a stick drop on my head. It was out of my control."

"Well, at least you didn't get into any trouble." She turned to Mr Thompson. "Thank you for bringing her home."

"That one's on Alec. We had arrived home when the rain started and he almost forced me to turn around because he knew young Sybil would be out in it."

"Well, thank you, Alec."

Across the room, Alec's cheeks were tinged red but I didn't know if that had been from the cold or something else. It was then I realised that even if they had double backed to the village for a forgotten item, their route wouldn't have taken them up the same track since they lived in the opposite direction.

Why would he lie about that?

~~~

A/N - We are back! Offline writing continues xD

Questions! What do you think is up with Alec? Thoughts on how Sybil is doing in the country?

Comment below!

First Published - July 22nd, 2021