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Chapter 2A
Title: “An Extraordinary Girl” Chapter 2A
Author: auntiewrites
Rating: PG
Pairing: None
Summary: Sometimes, what a boy needs most is someone who will listen…
Warning: Work in progress, so it’s bumpy, guys!
Words: 1,185
Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction. Please do not take or use without permission.
A/N: Okay, y’all, it took me two weeks to write this much. Mostly because of all the interruptions to my writing, what with sick kids, nearly broken ribs, and broken plumbing. However, I think I’m finally back on the right track. Let me know what y’all think!






Julian walked out of the house, hands in his pockets as he whistled softly to himself, ambling though the kitchen garden with no apparent destination in mind. Mozart spilled carelessly from his lips as he looked around, apparently admiring the tomatoes before the sound of a ball thunking on dry soil caught his attention. He listened, fondling a large, reddened tomato before shrugging and straightening up, walking carelessly toward the sound, staggering a little as he reached the end of the row when the toe of his boot caught on a stone. He frowned thoughtfully at the path, and hearing another thunk, shrugged again before following it.

The path brought him out under the pergola Vivi had insisted on building the previous summer. He shifted his shoulders with a remembered ache as he looked at the massive pillars, the memory of digging the holes for them, and pounding sand around their heavy stone bases all too clear in his mind. He had to admit, though, his sister had been right. It was very pleasant to stand here, with a view of the river valley on one side, and the long sward of summer baked grass that led to the pastures on the other. Wisteria climbed and twisted through the latticing overhead, shading the terrace below while the occasional grape-like cluster of pale purple blooms hung here and there to sweeten the warm air.

His target sat at the far end on a worn bench, shoulders slumped as he listlessly threw a battered tennis ball for a dog who limped carefully after it, heavily bandaged head tilted to one side.

Julian watched this for a few minutes, then shuffled toward the bench, sitting down just behind the boy, not touching him, but close enough so that the boy knew he was there, and available. He pulled off one boot, shaking it as he turned it upside down, and frowning at the two pebbles that dropped out. Grumbling under his breath, he rubbed a bright blue socked foot, watching his companion from the corner of one blue-grey eye. The boy barely looked up, throwing the ball for the dog again, and Julian watched the dog get up and limp slowly after it again.

“Should you be making Blue do that, cher?”

The boy shrugged as the ball dropped into his hand, and he ran gentle fingers over the bandages wrapped around the big head. “He whines if I don’t,” he said, scratching under the dog’s chin. Then he threw the ball again, watching it thud against packed, dry soil

Julian watched the dog patiently follow the ball again, moving slowly and steadily as he limped after it. “He is felling as helpless as you, I am thinking… ne?” He watched one brown hand tense on the weathered wood of the bench, and Julian sighed. “Rob… mon brave…”

“S’all my fault,” the boy said, his jaw clenching. “All my fault, Jules.”

“Rob, bebe, you can’t think that way.” The man reached out to the boy, who dodged his hand, getting up and striding away, hands fisted at his sides as he stood stiffly glaring out over the valley.

“It is my fault! I’m the oldest! Her… her Knight in Shiny Armor!! S’my job to protect her!! My job!! I didn’t stop her. I had a chance, if I’d just gotten up to go look at her…”

“Rob…”

“All I had to do was get up!!” Rob insisted, whirling to face him, tears competing with sweat to streak his face, which was pale and twisted with anguish. “I heard her! I heard her, Jules!” he sobbed. “I knew something was wrong, okay? I heard the dogs yelp, but I was busy, I was being selfish… I was… I was annoyed, okay? I just wanted to finish reading my article! I was reading, just reading…”

“You had no way of knowing, cher,” Julian began, getting up and holding his hands out to his nephew.

“I did!” Rob shouted, stepping back, wrapping his arms around himself. “I did! I could feel her, I just didn’t want to get up! I just … reached out to brush against her mind and… and…” He was shaking, and Julian could feel waves of self-loathing coming off the boy, but worse, he could feel something else, something he had never associated with this boy. Fear.

Julian moved slowly, as if with a skittish horse, his hands out and open as he slowly approached his nephew. “Mon brave,” he said softly, raising a hand to slowly touch a thin shoulder. “Mon brave… you are just a child. It is not your fault…”

With a moan, Rob turned and buried his face in his uncle’s chest, skinny arms wrapping tight around the tall man’s waist. “Jules,” he whimpered.

“Shhhhhh..” he whispered, pressing a kiss into the messy hair as the old dog came up to press his body into their legs, trying to comfort them in his own way. “Shhhhhh, Rob, go ahead and cry…”

“Uncle Jules… it’s awful… that woman, she’s so…”
“What woman?” His arms tightened ever so slightly, dreading the answer.

“I could feel her, I could hear what she was saying to Ry… and there was nothing I could do!” Rob was shaking now. “I tried to stop her, tried to do what She was doing, and make Ry think she was deciding for herself, tried to make her think of how frightened Mom would be… but…”

“But?” whispered Julian, staring out at the horses grazing down the slope from the pergola, how normal and placid they looked in the bright sunshine, tails twitching flies away. Cicadas whirred, slowing as the heat of the day gave way to the late afternoon breeze. Nothing bad could happen here, thought Julian bitterly. Not here, in such a place.

“She is so… evil,” said Rob, his voice small and helpless now. “And She has my Ry…”

“We’ll find her, mon brave,” said Julian, hugging the boy close. “We will find her…”

“I know where she is,” said Rob quietly. “I can find her.”

“Rob…”

Rob pushed gently free of his uncle’s arms and looked up at him, his young face resolute. “I can find her, Uncle Jules. I have to find her.”

Julian studied the dark eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “All right, Rob. We will go speak to your mother, hien? And see what we will see.”

Rob nodded, and let Julian put an arm around him, the dog moving to stand on his other side. Rob laid his hand on Blue’s big head, and heard the dog whine softly. He looked up at his uncle. “He wants to come, too.”

Julian looked down at the old dog, taking in the determined gleam in the intelligent eyes. “Blue, mon ami, you have been badly hurt. I think it is best if you stay here.”

The dog barked once, and nudged at his knee insistently.

“Very well, but you do know that Vivi will be the one who decides.”

Blue barked, and Julian shrugged. Together, the three of them headed back toward the house.