StoweAway [three]

Thank you all so so so much! You've been extremely helpful!

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Chapter Three

“Where is she?” Uncle Steven yelled as he walked out the front door. He spotted Aly and Zek walking closer to the cabin. His bright red face and messy black hair frightened Aly for a second. She froze and bit her lip, uncertain of what she should do.

“Aly Marie Stowe, where have you been?” he roared and bounded off to her. Aly wanted to run away as fast as she could. She knew that when Uncle Steven got angry, it usually ended up in a beating with the yardstick.

“Zek and I just went for a walk!” Aly lied as he approached her all too quickly.

“Your aunt and I have been looking for you for hours! Aly, tell us before you leave! You don’t know what sort of a man might take you to his house and kill you! Aly, it’s not safe out there!”

This struck Aly at an unusual chord. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Just come inside. Clair needs you to try on your new dress before school,” he muttered and yanked Aly’s arm. He dragged her to the house, and inside it, through the door that was wide open. Auntie Clair had her hands on her hips and a scowl on her beautiful face. Aly felt ashamed for lying to her aunt and uncle. But then again, if she had told them where she really was, she would be in for it.

Uncle Steven and Auntie Clair strongly disapproved of the Rats. They knew they were up to no good, hurting people and terrorizing the town with their mischief. So, of course, Aly was permantatly banned from even coming close to the canal, where the Rats were always out and about. And, of course, Aly’s curiosity was too strong to hide inside, so when Zek had run off into the canal, Aly was naturally curious as to what the Rats really did.

“Aly, what have I told you about running around town in the morning?” Clair asked, her hands firmly placed on her hips. Aly dared not to look in her cold, gray eyes.

“I’m sorry, mum,” she replied, looking at the clean, wooden floors.

“An apology isn’t good enough. You know better than that, Aly. You scared me and your uncle half to death! I thought for a moment that I had lost me own niece. And just the thought of that is—” she never completed her sentence. Instead, she handed Aly a newly pressed dress. It wasn’t old and ragged, like the current one she had right now. It didn’t have mud spots on it. It didn’t contain any holes, rips or shreds. To Aly, it seemed forbidden.

“Do I have to?” Aly complained, taking the dress from her aunt.

“No, you must. It’s your birthday, Aly, and this is your birthday present. Your uncle has been working as hard as he possibly could to buy you that dress, and by God you will wear it!”

“But Auntie Clair!” Aly protested, her face boiling.

“No! Either wear it or go to school nude.” She ended the argument and turned her back to Aly as she grumpily changed into the new, scratchy dress. Auntie Clair was buttering a piece of toast for Aly’s birthday breakfast before school began. When Aly had finished clambering into the new dress, she handed her the toast.

“Hurry and eat up. We’re going to be late,” Auntie Clair muttered as she twiddled with her hair, watching Aly eat.

-

Percy wasn’t at class that day, which made Aly feel extremely sad. Her love for him grew weaker. Maybe he didn’t want to face her after they had kissed? Could that be the reason? Aly didn’t know. At the beginning of the school day, Aly had searched desperately through her classmates, but couldn’t find Percy. When Auntie Clair had let them into the one-roomed schoolhouse, Aly took her seat on her wooden bench that she shared with four other girls.

“That’s a nice dress, Aly,” Laura, the girl sitting directly next to her, whispered as the class was shuffling in. Aly ignored her and turned her attention to another boy in the class. It was Marvin, from the Rats. Aly tried to gain his attention, and right before Auntie Clair walked up the front of the room, she did so.

“Where’s Percy?” she asked. Marvin shrugged, and Auntie Clair began talking.

“Welcome to class everyone. I hope you had a good weekend,” she said politely.

“We did, Mrs. Stowe,” the class recited back.

“That’s good to hear,” she said. “Everyone, pull out your slate and let us begin with mathematics.”

They practiced the maths for quite a while. Aly had never been good at school. As hard as she tried, as hard as everyone attempted to help her understand, she couldn’t do it. Auntie Clair tried to teach her again and again, but she rarely ever succeeded the subject.

After the mathematics lesson was over, Auntie Clair was writing something on her chalkboard in the front of her classroom. Aly struggled to read what it said. All of the letters of her aunt’s handwriting was curved, making it harder to read.

Discussion: Political Insights

The words meant nothing to Aly at the moment. Some of the older children in the class nodded as if they understood what those three words meant.

When Auntie Clair had finished writing on the board, she dusted her chalky hands off and turned back to the class.

“We all know of the things that have been occurring throughout England. I would very much like to attempt to help all of you gain some insights on what is really happening. To do that, I think we must share what we know, what to know, and things we can do to help each other.”

What? What was Auntie Clair lecturing about?

“As we all know, Lord Isaac came to power eleven years ago. As we also all know, the English society has been down plunging since then. Famines. Wars. Death. All of these things have been occurring throughout these eleven years. What do you think about all of this, Walter?”

Walter, a thirteen-year-old boy in the back of the classroom blinked his eyes and shrugged.

“I s’ppose it means that England’ll keep getting worse,” he answered, avoiding Auntie Clair’s eyes.

“Interesting,” she replied. She called on a girl this time.

Linda, the girl chosen, spoke up.

“I think it means that there is going to be a lot more wars, like Walter said, Mrs. Stowe. I don’t think it’s going to get better for a long time, or at least until Lord Isaac is dead.”

Auntie Clair nodded. “So, how is England going to support itself if we are on the last limbs of the country?”

No one in the classroom spoke.

“I think, before we answer that question, we have to go back in time a little bit,” Auntie Clair said. “Imagine that it was thirty years ago. 1773. That’s when Lord Isaac was born. His name is Elias Isaac. He wasn’t born into the Royalty, like all of our other kings and queens. No. He was born of peasants and villagers, much like ourselves. Imagine that one of us in this classroom would grow up to rule England as a king, or a lord.”

The class nodded. Aly tried to keep track of the conversation. She, from a very young age, said that she always wanted to be a princess. Being a princess would mean she would be beautiful, lovely and marry a handsome prince.

“He became a part of Parliament. After that, in 1792, Judge Isaac (for he was a Judge back then) assassinated the Prime Minister of England, or so the story goes. Lord Isaac has admitted that he killed the Prime Minister, after he took power of England.

“Can someone tell me what kind of a ruler Lord Isaac is?” Auntie Clair asked the class. Laura, the girl sitting next to Aly, raised her hand.

“It’s a dictatorship,” she replied.

“Exactly!” Auntie Clair spoke, excitedly. “We are under the power of a dictator. Can someone please explain to the class what that means?”

“Doesn’t it mean,” Laura said, “that he can do whatever he wants without going to jail, or being taken out of office?”

“Close,” Auntie Clair replied. “It means that he sends his ideas to Parliament, and they either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Everything should be working smoothly, correct?”

The class stared at her, unsure of what to say.

“You’d think it would work smoothly,” Laura said. “If the politicians realize what Lord Isaac is doing, then they should be able to stop him.”

“You’re getting there,” Auntie Clair stated, giving Laura a smile. “There’s only one problem. One huge problem that determines whether Lord Isaac dictates or rules. Parliament. There’s a huge problem with the Parliament we have right now. Can anyone take a guess as to what that problem is?"

Laura raised her hand.

“Anyone besides Laura?”

The class stared blankly back at Auntie Clair. She sighed and pointed to Laura.

“My mother told me Lord Isaac chose all of the men that are currently in Parliament. That means that he picked his friends. Men he knew would allow him to do whatever he wanted to. That means that the whole government is corrupted, all because of Lord Isaac and his comrades.”

“Interesting word of choice, Laura,” Auntie Clair said. “Comrades. So, you are suggesting that Lord Isaac has all of this already figured out? Do you think he has reasons to his actions? Or is he just a man corrupted with power, greed, and fame?”

“I think so, yes,” Laura replied.

“Interesting. Are there any other opinions? Aly, what about you?”

Aly gulped and dodged Auntie Clair’s eyes. “I don’t know. Why can’t other important people kill Lord Isaac and get it all done with?”

“Because he’s too heavily secured. No one can touch him. He and his comrades have all of this planned.”

“Is there any way that we can kill him?” another boy asked from the back of the classroom.

“I don’t think so,” Auntie Clair replied, playing with her fingers. “Not unless England fights back. One entire nation against a few men. It sounds unfair, right? But the advantage is on our side.”

“So,” Laura said, “you’re talking about a rebellion?”

“More than that!” Auntie Clair said. “A civil war. Everything is leading up to one right now. There are already rebellions throughout the country. North Bristol, to this day, is forming a militia. Can anyone tell me what a militia is?”

“It’s like a community army,” Laura replied.

“Yes. That’s exactly what it is. Now, if all of these militias get together, then we have a very large army, am I correct?”

Laura nodded. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“That’s what’s happing right now in England. Militias are forming around the country. Militias are combining to form larger and larger armies. That’s what’s happening. England is fighting from the inside out.”

“What about East Bristol?” Aly asked.

“What about it?”

“Does East Bristol have a militia?”

Auntie Clair licked her lips and folded her arms across her chest. “Not yet, we don’t. But we will soon enough, I fear. Lord Isaac has sent a decree throughout England. Does anyone know what the decree is?”

No one knew.

“It’s telling the country that if any rebellions are formed, the Loyalists (much like the Loyalists from America) are allowed to attack and kill everyone in them. So it’s a great risk forming a rebellion, or even a militia for that matter. Our lives are in danger. If we don’t do something quickly, England could fall apart. You children are the new generation. All of you in this classroom are going to be responsible citizens of England. You are the ones that will be fighting Lord Isaac. Maybe not physically, but through the things that you do, I know that we can all take him down.”

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Lots of history and politics in this one. Sorry. I had to dump all this info on you somehow.

-Jared