Chapter 1: THE WOODS ARE A DANGEROUS PLACE

"Ailly! Come out, now!" Markel screamed from the roof of their house on a high, grassy hill called Sauveur Hill, "Ailly!! We need to leave!", Markel jumped off from the roof in one leap, and started to run down the hill. It was so green and prickly, and it felt cool on Markel's bare feet. He felt like getting down on his knees and tumbling down the hill, but Mother didn't want him to get his nice clothes all dirty.

He sprinted to the bottom of the hill, then took a sharp right, right into a bordering forest. He felt rocks and branches and moss on the bottom of his feet, but he was used to it. He finally got to a large oak tree. It was big and beautiful and strong. It looked like the other trees made room for it, and Markel had always found that strange.

There, sitting on one of the branches farther up, was 10 year old Ailly. Her hair was mangled and dirty as well as her face. "Come on, Aye. It's time to go."Markel brushed back his dark brown bangs from his face," We have to get you bathed and ready to go."

Ailly whimpered," But i don't wanna go! Mumma's gonna make me wear a dress and I don't even wanna wear a dress 'cause then Mumma's gonna say that I can't run around or dance and she's not gonna even lemme'  climb trees and I hate that." Markel had already climbed up the tree and was sitting on the branch next to his twin sister. "I'm....not coming," Ailly said. Markel smiled." Oh, is that so?"

Markel and Ailly sat silently in the carriage across from Mother. She didn't really look like them, since she was pale and had a crooked nose and curly blonde hair. Markel and Ailly had thick, wavy hair and chestnut eyes. Ailly had freckles on her cheeks and on her nose - which people usually called cute - And really long eyelashes. She was pretty cute, unlike Mother, who was always caked with makeup and her hair always smelled like smoke and it was always oily. She wasn't a very pretty lady, nor was she a healthy one. She was constantly coughing up back stuff and she was very thin. Sometimes she spent weeks inside the house with a cold, while Markel and Ailly were always outside, going on countless imaginary adventures.

Mother took out her handkerchief and wiped Markel's face." Boy,are you dirty!" she exclaimed, pressing it to his cheeks. "Mother, I'm fine. I can take care of my self...but thank you."he said.

The carriage bumped along, and Ailly was dozing off. Markel laughed a little, since she was falling asleep with her arms crossed. "She must have been mad", Markel thought. Just then, Mother nudged Ailly's shoulder withe her bony fist. "Wake up, girl. You'll ruin your dress."

"We're hear, ma'am," The driver said. Markel had a funny feeling in his stomach. "Mother, where are we going?" Mother answered,"To a party, my love," She smiled, but Markel looked down at his hands. He was so nice him...why not Ailly? It didn't make sense...

Markel got out first, then, he helped Ailly down by carrying her -the same way he got her out of the tree- and fixed her dress. Then,  Mother came out, and dusted off her dress, which was white and frilly like Ailly's. Only, Mother looked like she was trying too hard to look pretty.. Ailly looked too cute to Markel, and it made him remember how she looked like when they were much smaller.

The party didn't look like a party to Markel. To him, parties usually have streamers and cake and clowns and music. But the closest to music that they had was a whole bunch of old people playing violin, and they weren't playing loud enough, so all he heard was the water fountain.

For hours, Markel and Ailly were forced to smile while old people talked about how "Absolutely lovely" they were. There was this one fat lady who kept pinching his cheeks so tight that he got red marks on his dimples. She even hugged Ailly so tight she was gasping fr breath. She hugged Markel, too...She smelt like prunes and soap at the same time.

Now they were home, in their clean little house, eating spaghetti at the table, while Mother was upstairs, probably standing in front of the mirror, putting more makeup on.

It was about seven o'clock, and Ailly had already put on her overalls and boot. "Can you take my braid out?", Ailly said, struggling to do it herself. Markel was an expert at untangling braids, as well as doing dishes, laundry, tidying up the house, and making sure Ailly stayed out of trouble. He was like a butler, and sometimes he thought of wearing Father's old tuxedo and call Mother Madam.

He untangled her braid until her long brown hair fell to her her waist. Than, he got his own overalls and boots on, even thought he knew he was going to take then off anyway.

They both rolled down the hill, giggling all the way down. Then, they took a right toward the forest. They heard something  move in the leaves, and Ailly stood still frozen in place.

"You should be used to this by now, Aye," Markel took he hand and headed toward the Oak tree," The forest is a dangerous place..."