CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

"Time to wake sweethearts", I heard suddenly, it sounded so much like mum, my eyes flew open "mum" I said as I sat up in bed, look toward my bedroom door to find it was grandma, my heart sank a litte and I look towards Lisa, beside me, who seemed to hve done the same, and she looked at me with the same sorrow I was feeling, we both looked back at Grandma, "good morning grandma", we say in unison, grandma wore a soft smile but her eyes told a sad and tragic story, "good morning my dears", she began, "breakfast is ready, we are going to eat before I set off" she said, "breakfast is ready already", I thought in amazement, my stomach made a low groaning sound at the thought of breakfast, "we will be down shortly", I say, grandma nods before leaving the room. I got up and dressed, "I genuinly believed that was mum", Lisa pipes up quietly, I look her way and she is still in the bed, I walk over to her, sit on the bed beside her and grab her hand, "although it was not truly mum, it was nice to imagine, even for a moment", I comfort, Lisa looks up at me, the sorrow not so deep on her face and she smiled slightly squeezing my hand gently, "thank you Annah", she said gratefully, "I do not know where I would be without you", I smiled warmly at her "thats why they put me on this planet", I say, "to protect you and comfort you", I smile, "now go and dress, I will meet you in the kitchen" I instruct, Lisa nods, leaves the bed and exits the room. I heard down to the kitchen after rebraiding my hair, I could smell the breakfast before I seen it, "smells so good", I hum to my self before entering the kitchen, "need any help there grandma", I ask as I see grandma doing a quick sweep with the broom, "no dear, all finished", she said, putting the broom away. I sit down at the table just as Lisa enters followed by father a few moment later, we are all seated for breakfast when Lisa pipes up, "what is our plans for today grandma", she asks, grandma looks between Lisa and I before saying, "well I am going to head home and prepare for dinner and the two of you will go and find that young man", Lisa and I nod in agreement, father chimes in, "no, I need annah here today", he says arrogently, all head snap towards him, he had his head down staring at his food, "what nonsense Edward", grandma says, he lifts his head to look grandma's way, "they both need to go, as soon as they find him, they need to come straight to my home and help me prepare for dinner", grandma continued, putting her spoon down, "they need to go by coach because of Annah's injury", she finishes, matter-of-factly, causingt father to grunt quietly, knowing he lost this battle "no they will take the cart", he adds and I role my eyes internally, "father's really not a smart man" I thought to myself. We had just finished breakfast and were about to take the dishes out to clean, when father grabs my arm tight "you are not to speak a word to him when you see him, okay Annah", father demands, I pinch his wrist so he will release me, "I will not ignore the person who helped me the most", I say through grated teeth, grandma cleared her throat to make it clear she was listening and we both looked her way, father stormed off towards his study and we went about cleaning the dishes. After the dishes were done we helped grandma pack up her horse, she hopped up and reminded us, "make sure you find that boy", she said with a smile, "I will see you girls this evening", we waved grandma goodbye before setting up the cart to the horses. Once we had packed our things on it we set out to find John, I was feeling giddy with the excitement of seeing him again, "I wonder what he is doing right now", I think, causing a dreamy smile to appear on my face, "why did father want us to use the carriage", Lisa asks from her seat up front, working the horses, her head facing straight ahead, I giggle a little, " he believes the coach is too good for someone with Johns status" I shrug, "and he believes you will tell him if there is any funny business and his also believes that nothing will happen between John and I, if we are out in the open", Lisa laughed at that, "father really believes that I would tell him anything, we both laugh for a few moments before continuing along in silence. We decided to look for John near the doctors house, maybe he stayed near by we thought, we continued down the dir, passing the doctors home, in the direction I remember John coming from the night when mum first became ill. As we went on we noticed a build behind some trees that did not appear finished, "that must be where John works", Lisa says and I hum and nod, "hopefully he is there", I say. Just as we were about to turn into the job site, a familiar figure walks out and is a little startled at first when he saw us coming, "hello Lisa", he greets cordially before his eyes find mine, I was resting on my knee with my head on my arms resting on the edge of the cart facing straight ahead, "hello my Annah", he greets me affectionately, making my mind float, "what brings you out today", he asks, not taking his eye off me in the back, "we have come to take you to our grandma's home for dinner", I say smiling, "she wants to meet you and thank you", I finish, "oh", John says in a surprised tone, he proceeds to look himself over, then looks at the construction site before returning his eyes to me, seeming a bit wary, "I will have to ask my boss", he says, "and get changed", he continues, "you will also need to pack for the night", Lisa chimed in, John looks to Lisa, momentarily confused, "why is that", he asks, "it is quite far, you will need to stay the night", John nods thoughtfully. "Can you wait here for maybe fifteen minutes", John asks after a thought, Lisa and I nod simultaneously, and we watch as John turn and head into the site.