#love how he overshoots the track and tries going down the actual trail

[fidgetspringer]

Mini track + item search

[clembarbarossa]

Rest and Peace III

The life of an Assassin is one of constant toil, emotional duress and gruesome murders. So, I thought it would be nice to give them rest. Nice days to recover and do what they enjoy at least, amongst their loved ones.

Hey! New chapter is out! Special serving for all of you who love our Frye twins when their are little shites! 

Here on Ao3

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   « Jacob! That’s the third time this week you ditched Father’s lessons; he’s going to whoop your arse! » Evie bellowed. “And if I have to do your chores again, I’m going to kick your buttocks up to London!”

    No response. Typical.

    In this slow spring afternoon, only a few of the denizens of Crawley payed any mind to young miss Frye in her quest for her missing twin. They all have learnt that getting involved in the businesses of these two was way more pain than it was worth, especially if the esteemed Mr Frye wasn’t here to keep them in check, especially Jacob… although his sister could be just as much of a menace when she wanted to. How the scholarly and dignified Mr Frye could have sired such a rambunctious pair was anyone’s guess, but the early death of poor Cecily, their late mother, and the frequent absence of their father to mysterious “business travels” could most certainly be to blame. At least, that’s what Ms Perkins told Ms Brawnsworth when they last had tea together.

    Evie was simmering. None of the passers-by could give her any information about her brother’s whereabouts. He went too far this time. Skipping lessons was something already, but his chores too! He’s going to get it this time!

    After several fruitless leads, Evie sat on a bench to collect herself and devise a plan of action. Father’s teaching on this topic guided her to be methodical in her search and it wasn’t the first time she had to track someone to hone her skills, but few targets proved to be as elusive as her brother. He may feign to ignore a lot of their father’s teaching, but it certainly wasn’t lost on him. A search plan started to spring in her mind: going straight to the market place as she was used to was a mistake, she needed to go back to the source.

    Back home, the young girl started to inspect the surrounding of their house and it didn’t take long before she was able to spot her brother’s tracks… just under his bedroom’s windows. Couldn’t he use the door like a civilised person? He might have eloped this morning when Father called for them.

    From then on, Evie focused on the tracks Jacob made on the fresh ground. Contrary to what she first expected, it wasn’t an easy task. Not because her twin made any effort to hide his tracks but because they were frequently interrupted by his climbing of any buildings or trees that happened to cross his path. Evie frequently had to circle whole blocks of houses to find his path again. The process was considerably sped up when she reluctantly started to follow him in free-running. She wasn’t as skilled at it as he was yet, but her proficiency at stealth helped her to complete her task without being spotted and yelled at by any passing adult. Once on the rooftops, a few displaced tiles or mark of hands could help her guess the direction of his escape, details that would escape the perception of most people but not one of an Assassin. Well, a novice one, at least. Her focus would heighten her senses and allow her to see what most people would miss.

    She continued to follow Jacob’s trail and noticed it led to the Mole river. She wondered if he was here to plan mischief with his usual gang of brothers from the large Welsh family down street. The silence when she reached the riverbank surprised her, none of their usual ruckus could be heard. Evie noticed from the tracks that her brother sat near the water for a while before getting up to follow the stream. She followed his track till the ruins of the old mill.

    The contraption was in disarray since quite a few decades now, since bigger water and windmills were constructed in the village. Small water mills like this one couldn’t compete against the big ones like when the one in Ifield[1] once it was rebuilt and even this one was starting to struggle against the new ones using steam to grind wheat into flour. Such was progress, thought Evie. Now the old mill couldn’t grind anything even if it wanted to, the water wasn’t even reaching its rotting wheel through the overshoot anymore and sand was starting to pile up at its feet under the shallow stream. This was after noticing this that she spotted Jacob.

    Her idiot brother was lying on top of the wheel, the broken blades where in a near horizontal position and could actually feel comfy even without the blanket Jacob probably stole somewhere to lay down on them. Taking care to not be seen, Evie approached to get a better view of what her twin was doing. The rascal was lying on his back, one leg tucked on top of another, barefoot and – to Evie’s surprise – he was reading a book!

    Now the young girl was taken aback, Jacob actually went this far just to read in peace? And he seemed quite taken by his reading as well, what piece of literature could it be to rapture Jacob’s attention? She squinted to take a better look at it from where she stood.

    Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. Really??

    It was so just like him. Father taught them of the various drugs and chemicals they could use in the last lesson he actually attended. And he mentioned opium as something to avoid unless in need to alleviate extreme pain. Of course, Jacob had to learn more about everything Father warned them against.  Or could it be that he was reading this book in order to actually understand why this drug was to be avoided? Evie pondered a moment about her brother’s possible bout of wisdom and if she should make her presence known to him. She suddenly got curious about his choice of place of hiding instead. The broken blades atop the wheel couldn’t be the only thing of interest in this place, couldn’t it? The door of the dilapidated building was missing and Evie entered it.

    It took her eyes some moments to adapt to the darkness inside, although several rays of light were peeking through the ruined roof. Some birds were chirping above the young girl’s head and flew away when she moved further in. She paused, in case it tipped off Jacob of her presence, but the boy just lazily rolled on his side to assume another reading position. Evie sighed and started to inspect the mill’s mechanisms. The wood was rotten in many places and the grinding stone covered in dust and moss, but everything was still in place. Surprisingly, the wheel’s axle was still linked to the main mechanism and only held on by a rusting brake. Sure, it wasn’t as dangerous to leave it that way compared to a windmill but still, the brake could break and the wheel move again…

    It was with this sudden realisation that a mischievous grin illuminated Evie’s face. She knew exactly how to get back at Jacob for ditching his chores onto her.

    Whilst her dear brother was still oblivious of her presence, she moved to further inspect the brake and how to move it without alerting him. The damn thing was heavily rusted and the wood thoroughly rotten. She tried to move it without much success and the effort nearly made her grunt which would have given away her position. Her frustration, pilling up from this morning was reaching new heights as her idiot brother was obliviously reading junk literature just a few feet away. Collecting herself, she figured that a lever could do to lift the brake, more silently than a hammer for sure. She quickly spotted an adequate plank in the surrounding mess. Not to large and still in good shape.

    Placing the plank’s end under the brake’s tip, she started to maneuver it and had to refrain a sound of triumph when she saw the engine starting to give way. Through the holes in the wall she saw the wheel moving a bit. Jacob was so enraptured in his reading that he payed no mind to this worrisome – for him, at least – development. She pushed her lever again in the widening cap between the brake and the wheel and, once the lever firmly in place, pushed down all her weight on it.

    The brake jumped from the cogwheel it used to hold and the latter, free at last, started to move, the axle in tow. Slowly at first, with profusion of creaks and groans, that startled Jacob. The young boy sat up on reflex and the sudden change in weight distribution atop the main wheel, plus a few well-placed pushes from Evie, flew the whole engine in motion.

    “Wow-ah! What the bloody heeeeell?!” Jacob screamed as the he was cast down head-first by the wheel onto the mud bellow.

    From inside the mill, Evie had a really hard time suppressing her laughter when she saw her brother land flat on his belly, the blanket followed and covered him just before his book stroke his head which elicited a painful “Ow!” from the boy.

    Groaning and moaning, Jacob slowly emerged from under the now soiled blanket to stand up, still shivering from the shock. He glared with anger at the slowing wheel and kicked it. Being still barefoot at this point, he only managed to hurt himself and yelled in pain, before getting startled when broken fragment of the blades nearly feel on him. Evie had to bite her own hand to refrain herself from snickering at her brother’s ordeal. Said brother, once his pain dulled, started to suspiciously look around and Evie made sure to stand completely still and silent. After a few moments, he picked up the blanket and his book before fetching his shoes from under a bush and running in their house’s direction.

    Evie needed a few moments to collect herself as well, as spams of laughter wouldn’t let her breathe in peace for several minutes. Once calmed down, she left the mill to get back home.

    She reached their house while dusk was slowly setting. She saw her brother getting gently scolded by their father on their front lawn, the book now in his hand. Jacob was silently starring at the ground, Evie noticed that he had taken the time to put his shoes back but was still caked in mud in many places, the blanket was nowhere to be seen. Evie approached slowly, feigning an air of innocence:

    “Oh my! She said with a mocking tone, the bird has finally returned to his nest!”

    Both Ethan and Jacob turned to face her and Jacob squinted suspiciously at her. Ethan’s face remained neutral when he spoke: “Indeed, before you could find him.” Evie was picked by the unexpected answer and Jacob couldn’t help but notice it with a smirk that vanished once his father’s attention was back on him.

    “Now my lad, you’re going to wash yourself, change into clean clothes and you’ll launder those first thing tomorrow morning, understood?”

    “Yes father…” Jacob mumbled, and Evie couldn’t help but to feel a bit sorry for him after all. As he was making way inside the house, Ethan taped on the book cover and handed it to his son with a smile.

    “Make sure to finish it too and tell me what you learnt of it after, alright?”

    Both twins stood a moment, taken aback by this, but Jacob took the book from his father’s hand with a nod before heading home. Both Ethan and Evie watched him go silently before the Assassin turned to his daughter:

    “Now Evie, some more lessons in tracking targets are in order, don’t you think?”

    The young girl silently nodded. She probably had proven herself in this matter today but telling it would expose the prank she subjected her brother to and she wasn’t going to risk that. Plus, she was always looking up to the prospect of new lessons from her father and a part of her hoped that Jacob will finally be with them at least.

    “I think so too, Father. Jacob and I still have much to learn.” She said with an earnest tone that elicited a nod of approval from Ethan Frye.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifield_Water_Mill