Rise of Jack Frost: The Past Ch.2

Caroline wasn't sure why she had decided to follow the boys into the forest, but it was as if a force was directing her. The fact that two boys walked in meant that the dangers weren't as severe as she thought, at least at this time of day, so she had the perfect excuse.

Her feet carries her onward through the fallen leaves, broken off branches mixed with the light feel of the mud under her soles. It didn't take her long to realize that walking through a forest with an umbrella wasn't her strong point. As she was trying to catch up to the speed of the boys, the girl would hit a tree bark left and a lower branch right. The red umbrella caught on so many times, frustration seeped deep in Caroline. She would never hear the end of it from her mother when she came back home with the small rips in the material.

The rain managed to scatter through the openings in the tree tops, but it was bearable enough to move along with minimal cover. Finally closing the umbrella after casting it another downcast gaze, she roughly parted any obstacles.

"At least if an animal attacks, I have something to defend myself with." The mud squished under her boots. It made a disgusting noise, that kept on playing in her mind and always gave her that feeling of near slipping. On the bright side of things, it was eerily quiet and serene, no one to disturb her except the occasional chirp and patter of a small critter. The girl closed her eyes and breathed in the air, the smell of the rain so unlike what she experienced back in the city. In the city she never had this peaceful feeling, never felt connected wit nature, happy and revitalized. Parks were mere copies lacking in both sound and the hypnotic effect it had on people, or maybe it was just Caroline. She once again found herself rooted in the middle, eyes snapped open realizing her mistake.

She had lost any trace of a shadow by now, but it was thanks to the tracks that she didn't found herself completely clueless. She knew the general direction, but the signs helped her lock down the path. Besides the set of footprints embedded in the mud, you could catch a glimpse of broken branches. In all honesty it could have been due to any reason, but she decided to follow her instincts.

"Stupid boys. They always run around like they own the earth, both here and in the city. They think they're so great, humph!" Caroline never had pleasant memories with boys. Back in the city she was frowned upon whenever she wished to join the boys on their fun, bounded by the rules of society and seen as a weaker link. It's one of the reasons she was so eager to move away from it all. Hopefully everything would be different now and she could be as wild as she liked.

Her ears perked up the moment she picked up laughter. They were close, but the sound echoed around her right. Luckily she knew just what to look for, she knew their mindset and their tricks. There was only one place to look for. With so much wildlife and space, the perfect hideout was out of harm's reach. The perfect coverage could be seen from up in the trees.

"A tree house! I knew it! That's so cool!" The brunette's voice broke through the rain's lullaby and startled the two voices prompted up in their tree house. They were in a secluded circular area, a single oak in the middle surrounded by the rest of the forest. It was as if the forest itself was gathered around this one tree, as if they were an audience. And right between its large branches, you could see the wooden platform on top of which stood that small, but sturdy, shelter. Peaking from the edge of the platform were the curious and startled brown eyes of Jack and Peter. Once they heard the high and cheerful tone of what could no doubt be a girl, they forgot all about their map and slowly took a look down below, as if slowing the process would make her go away.

"Oh there you are! Can I join you two?" The question further shocked them. The two boys retreated immediately back under the cover of their shelter, away from her eyes.

"Where did she come from?!" Jack whispered frantically.

"I don't know. Do you know her or something?" Peter replied with the same hushed volume. They were being careful not to be overheard.

"Ugh, do I sound like I know her?"

"I've never seen her before around here...I think.." Peter stood there thinking hard. He had this deja-vu feeling, that the memory was close but slipping by the moment.

"And what's up with her? Join us?" Jack decided to ignore his friend's apparent pause. The young Overland was too concerned with being caught and finding a way to get rid of the girl. If his mother found out, he would never hear the end of it, nor would he have a secret spot to plan all his tricks.

"Oh! I think we ran past her on our way here!"

"What?! Why didn't you say so before?" Jack yelled out completely forgetting his surrounding for a second.

"Well it was more of a glance really, on our way here." The red-head pointed out nervously, a bit ashamed he made such a mistake. "You don't suppose she's the new girl?"

"You mean the family that just moved in? ... Maybe."

"What do we do?"

"Maybe she left?.." Jack carefully crawled to the edge of their base once more. He took one very slow crawl at a time, left hand in front, right knee ahead, right hand ahead, left knee onward. He was acting like a kid trying to sneak his way out of the house or inside after staying out too late.

"Doesn't look like she's leaving."

"Stupid girl."

Caroline was pacing back and forth in front of the tree. At times her rhythm would change into a skip, before she realized it would only cause the mud to splash all over. She swirled around and behind the tree, trying to find a way to climb it, but no ladder in sight. She returned a glare back to those brown eyes, equally as aggressive. She was not backing out.

"Let's invite her up." Peter proposed.

"What?! But she's a girl! She'll only slow us down. We got nothing to talk to her about." Jack pulled his friend back by the shirt, once again confined.

"Jack, she's not leaving and what if she tells our parents?"

"That would be a problem."

"Hey, you two up there! How long are you going to make me wait?!" The question begged no answer, but was more of an order from the young girl. She didn't expect permission, she presumed it was her right from the very beginning.

"I don't know! How long are you going to stand there?"

"I wasn't asking."

"I don't know Pete, it sure looks cold out in this rain. Good thing we're way up in here, where it's warm." The two boys couldn't help but snicker at the situation. It wasn't nice to make fun of anyone in this case, but boys will be boys. These two especially never went easy on anyone.

"Well it's okay. I'm more scared about the animals." Peter added to list, in an attempt to further frighten the girl away.

"Right! Wild boars, bears, dogs and a whole lot around here. They smell new kids like you."

"I'm not leaving until you let me up there!" Caroline stomped her foot down in sign of defiance, resulting in splashing mud on her skirt. This weather was not doing her wonders.

"Go to school or something."

"Shouldn't you be going as well? Or are you missing out on purpose?"

"Hey, I can afford to be a few minutes late."

"How about I make those minutes hours?"

She proposed all to confident. What did those hours meant, nobody had a clue. Nor was it something they had expected. To say the two were intrigued wouldn't be the least. A seemingly normal, clueless and annoying girl was proposing a deal with two of the opposite sex. This was a first in their small town. In class it was always a girls versus boys war zone and they never really played together, unless i was during class break. Hide-and-seek, tag, now those were acceptable, but anything harder and the girls always cried.

"What?" Peter looked the girl dead in the eyes.

"Girls can't even play Red Hands without complaining." Jack complained.

"Red Hands? I was thinking more like, Treasure Hunter."

"Really?"

"Don't let her fool you!" The Overland persisted even still. He was not about to let some random girl ruin his plans or infiltrate his base.

"You let me join you and we could have even more fun."

"How about it, Jack?"

Should he let her in? His best friend was hardly any help in this situation. He was suppose to stick with him through and through, but seemed to lean towards letting this girl intrude on their fun. Or could it be he wanted to have fun on her expense? No, Peter's eyes were the pure brown, no hint f mischief, but honest curiosity. The question raked in Jack's brain for what seemed like hours to the other two present. He scratched his head, ruffled his hair and rattled his brain. On one side, there was the risk she would go telling on them to their parents, which he was already surprised she hadn't so far, and on the other there was the sacrifice of letting her play with them for the day and endure it. Option two seemed less of a problem. What was one day? Especially if he could get rid of her most of it.

"Fine!" He accepted in the end. "Only if you pass the test."

"Test?"

"Bravery test. To prove you're good enough to play with us."

"What do I have to do?"

"Hmm, a few ways from here there's a crow's nest. That crow been stealing a lot from town so you should fine all sort of shiny objects in its nest. We'll let you in our gang if you can find the nest and bring us something back."

It wasn't a lie, but the red-head boy looked surprised at his partner with the task. Finding your way through the forest wasn't something she could do and the threat of the wild animals was real, albeit they usually hunted at night. He looked at the expression on the girl's face and could read the worry.

"But that could take forever!" Caroline shouted back.

"Well no one said you had to finish today! There's always tomorrow, or the day after that."

"What are you doing Jack?"

"I'm just playing with her. There's no way she'll do it and she'll leave us alone." He was confident. If he player her around, she'd just get tired and leave or even better, mad at him and ignore him.

"Uh, she's ... going?!" Peter was panicking at this point, coated with excitement. He was starting to like her really. She was the first to ever talk to them on the same level and not act like, well, a girl. Yes, she was clearly a girl, but she didn't behave like the ones they knew.

"What?!" Jack stumbled to get up from his position on the floor. Sure as his eyes had not yet gone blind, she was leaving. Without so much as a word, she ventured deeper into the forest. "What an idiot."

"What do we do now?"

"Go to school?"

"And leave her there?"

"It's daylight out. Should be okay."

"But Jack, there still are animals out there even during the day. Plus she'll surely get lost!"

"Okay, you go ahead. I'm waiting 5 minutes before she'll come back all scared and then join you." Peter had already took out the ladder that was safely kept in the corner. Caroline had been right in thinking the two didn't just climb the tree, but used a more simple method. Too bad for her it was a rope ladder which they never left unguarded.

"If you say so."

"Trust me."

Jack remained in his spot as he watched his best friend drop and head back towards town. The red-headed boy seemed a bit hesitant at first, giving sideway glances towards the direction the young girl had went or back towards Jack. There was no changing the brunette's mischief, actually both brunettes. For a moment Peter was glad he had different hair color, maybe it was something contagious to brown hair only. He liked the next adventure just as any kid, but was more apprehensive towards how far you can go. Considering all things, it seemed he was on his way to making school.

On the other end, the young Overland was bored out of his mind. Three minutes up and he was already considering backing out. Without someone there to entertain him, there was nothing to do. He could only wait and keep a look-out. The rain was close to stopping, that was a good sign, but the cold breeze still scratched at your face. He was contemplating on going after the stubborn and irritating one. The five minutes had passed long ago still no sign of anyone close by.

"Please don't tell me she really did go to find the nest." Jack knew his way around and knew the location of the nest he mentioned, but it was too much trouble even for him. First you would have to climb the tree, avoid all the crows which, like any other animal, liked protecting their territory, then going down was another issue."For all I know, she ran into bears. Ugh! This is why girls are so much trouble!"

He took careful steps down the ladder. Once on the ground, he used a very thing thread hidden by the tree's bark to pull the ladder back up. This way no one besides the group could get in. Once the ladder was pulled up enough, all he had to do was tie the thread by a small broken branch, the color being enough of a camouflage.

He looked left and right, no one in sight still. With careful steps, he started in the general direction of where the girl had went. The thought of checking out the crow's nest also came across his mind. For all he knew, through some miracle, she was up there trying to snatch something.

"A likely story, but she was strange. Hey! You out there?!"

Jack kept calling at a steady pace. He could tell he was getting close. There were leaves and branches broken and scattered all over, with muddy footprints. One particular bush looked as if a person had fallen on it.

"If you don't come out I'm leaving you here!"

Still no answer. Further in and further in he went, towards the final location.

The nest was hanging at the very top. It wasn't alone though, one small detail young Jack Overland forgot to mention - a challenge presumed some difficulties. The prize lied in the highest one, but there were a few other nests around the neighboring trees. Crows nested in packs usually and didn't like visitors. The trees around were mostly branches, leaves very few in number, few enough to not provide any cover at all. And hanging from one of the branches of the tree, trying to get her footing, was none other than Caroline.

"Well at least you the tree right."

"Don't even think about it!" The brunette warned. She was struggling with her feet always slipping off, but there was no way she would back down. She was halfway up and didn't need to be patronized, nor did she want him getting close. Her dress was blowing left with the wind and she was embarrassed as it is with how ridiculous she must have looked. Even if she wanted to go back down, she couldn't find the proper support for her feet and looking back down made her discover a fear she never knew she had. The crows were watching intently.

"If you need any help, all you have to do is ask!"

"I don't need your help! I can do this on my own."

"Your dress is a mess." He only just noticed when stepping closer, but the red dress was covered in mud and leaves and some twisgs were sticking out in odd place. Jack could only laugh when he looked at her.

"Hey! No looking up!"

"What?! Who would want to look up your skirt?!"

"Just stay there!"

"You're going to fall..." .

"No, I won't! ... I won't ..."

Right foot up, left hand grabbing a higher branch, she pushed herself onward. Determination shined in her green eyes. The climb was hard, the trees back in the city were not as big as these and she wasn't as used to the exercise., but it made her happy. Steadily finding the rhythm, she swatted away any crow that flew her way. Everything was going perfect and she could see the nest clearly, she could even almost touch it by now. One small problem: the nest wasn't empty. Caroline backed her hand in hesitation.

"Okay, stay calm. I'm just going to take something back and leave. I won't hurt you."

"Oh, she's going to fall."

The crow attacked the unknown hand as soon as it got close to the nest, biting hard on the girl's finger. She wasn't prepared for it and like any child that age, she jumped back completely forgetting her position. To her, the crow was out to get her and she wanted to run away to safety. She felt herself falling backwards. As a last minute attempt to grab hold of something failed, she felt her feet suddenly in the air. She scrapped her skin on any branch she came into contact with during her fall, her dress catching and ripping up almost entirely. She tried desperately to alleviate her fall as much as possible, the momentarily stops of 3 seconds disrupting the momentum. Her back was met with the sudden ground, the adrenaline and rush gone so swiftly she hadn't understood what happened.

Jack panicked and froze, no idea how to approach the girl. The brunette girl was lying motionless on the ground, hair disheveled covering her face, arms spread out and legs turned to the side. Jack came to his senses and hastily approached the fallen. He began shaking her fervently, no concern to what should be a fragile body. He just wanted a response.

"Hey! You okay!? Wake up!"

He dragged Caroline upright on the tree, to help her position better. She seemed to be knocked out cold, but nothing visibly out of place, no bones coming out. He took a quick glance at all her scrapes, eyes landing on the bite; it was bleeding.

"This is why I don't play with girls."

Jack took out his handkerchief and used it to wrap the bleeding wound. He wasn't sure how deep it was, but it looked like it would hurt. There were other various scrapes on her face and limbs. He did the best he could to clean them up a bit. Now all that was left, was the waiting game. He couldn't just leave her alone.

"Well I see Jack is late as always. Should I at least expect him Peter?"

"Uhm sorry Mrs. Basset. I think he wasn't feeling well?"

Peter was fidgeting uncomfortably in his desk, in the make-shift classroom the grown-ups came up with. It was a nonsensical idea, but this lady had arrived with the prospect of shaping up their children. Mrs. Basset had come from a neighboring town and before that she had spent part of her life in one of the big cities, so as a result of her upbringing, she had different expectations than the rest. She came up to the grown-ups and proposed she teach their children proper etiquette and the basics to be able to get through proper conversations.

It was the perfect plan to keep their children under lock for a while and hopes for them achieving some high status. They put together their forces and built a small house with one singular room to serve as a classroom. It was nothing fancy, but they had the necessities and Mrs. Basset had agreed to travel back and forth in exchange for payment of her services - which usually resulted in food and other materials.

"Nonsense! You know, I didn't come here and agree to teach you kids just so you can skip classes!"

"But Mrs. Basset, we were doing fine being taught by our parents before."

"Nonsense! As well informed as your parents are about the rough life here in the countryside, I've been taught in one of the finest schools in the big city. It was an all girls private school, we were taught everything from poetry to geography. Everything to be come proper lady. While I'm afraid we can't separate you all, I can at least teach you common knowledge."

The woman in her early 40's continued pacing back and forth. Her students were far away, thinking about anything but the current lesson at hand. Some would occasionally focus on their teacher's features; her black hair pinned in a tight bun, the slight wrinkles under her eyes, the grey dress suit she always wore. She was the vision of a rainy day that would not go away.

"Now then, if Jack decides to join us later on he shall be punished accordingly. If not, I'll have to have a word with his parents."

"Psst, Peter. Do you know what happened?" One of the girls of the class, Alice, whispered and drew his attention.

"Well, part of it at least. We kind of ran into a distraction."

"Distraction?"

"Some children should realize this godforsaken ruse of a classroom isn't big enough to drown their whispers and mumbling."

It felt like she was hit with rocks all over, like she had taken a beating of the worst kind. Her muscles ached all over and the numbing pain in her leg was starting to pulse increasingly as she regained consciousness. It was hurting even more because she was moving. Caroline froze with the flash of rapid questions going through her brain: Where was she? What happened? Why did it hurt?

"Aah!" The pain suddenly became unbearable. She felt the sudden touch of the cold ground beneath her as she was placed down.

"What? Are you okay?"

"It hurts! My leg!"

"Which one and where?"

Caroline averted her eyes to the boy speaking to her. She remembered now, it was the same boy that had pushed her into the dare, the same one she was trying to prove herself to. She had been so sure, so clumsy, she had lost her hold and fell from the tree. At least now she knew where the pain came from. This boy in front of her had been carrying the girl and from the looks of her surroundings they were at the outskirt of the town. She began wondering how long was she out. And what happened to the second boy?

"Hey! Did you hear me?"

"Ah! Yes! It h-hurts here." Caroline pointed towards her right ankle.

"Well it won't be long and you'll be home. You think you can make it?"

She wiped back her tears. She didn't like crying in front of anybody, but she couldn't help it. The pain was too much for the 10 years old to bear. With a reluctant nod Jack got on his knees with his back to the girl. Her arms came around his neck and once more she was up in the air. The pain was still there, it would not go away anytime soon, but she would feel safe at home. Her mother would know what to do.

"How old are you?" Jack decided to start a conversation in hopes of making the girl feel better.

"10 years old, born on December 6th. You?"

"What?! Really?! That's the same as me!"

"Huh? Your birthday is on December 6th as well?"

"Yes, same age, same birthday. Kind of creepy if you think about it."

This was the first either of them had heard of two people having the same date of birth. It might have been meaningless in reality, but to these two small children it was like seeing Santa Claus or The Sandman. It was one of the strangest occurrences they experienced.

"I thought only twins had the same birthday." Caroline's voice was inquisitive. There was a pause, followed by outrageous personified. "Maybe we're secretly twins! Ah!"

"Don't joke about that!" The boy ignored the small cry of pain that came out of her mouth at the end. He abruptly stopped, shocked and actually debating the possibilities in his mind. But it wasn't possible, his mother would have told him and he had enough trouble as it is with Emma. "You're not my sister okay? I already have one."

"I feel sorry for her."

"At least she's not as stupid as you." That earned him a slap on the head, but it didn't stop his tracks this time.

"You're right, I wouldn't want you for a brother. You're a jerk."

"I'm the one kindly taking you home."

"After you made me go through that silly dare."

"You were the one that said yes."

For the next few minutes a silence settled between the two. Caroline didn't snap back to the boy's remark as it was the truth. She had just wanted to prove herself, but it turned out wrong and it was by her choice. Still she gave him part of the fault at hand, as any child would do. In fact she did blame him now that she thought about it, it was because of his dare that she even had to climb that tree. Caroline was pouting, squeezing the tears that threatened to spill, angry she failed.

"But I was close." A soft whisper grazed his ear. It felt uncomfortable for some reason, but the boy ignored the feeling in the end. He was just not used to girls.

"Yeah, you were. Didn't think a girl could climb so high." The young Overland's tone expressed genuine fascination, with a hint of jealousy. He was suppose to be the superior one, the stronger. Every boy knew girls were weak and silly.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't play like you boys. I like climbing trees."

"But you must hate crows now." Jack bent his neck in an uncomfortable angle and smirked in her direction. Worthy price to be able to tease the brunette. He wondered now if she would ever go near a crow ever again, in fact, even more ploys were being built inside his consciousness. There were tens of ways he could use this to his advantage, tens of ways he could make fun.

"Never liked them. They're always sad and they hang around dead animals."

"How many crows did you meet?"

"There were a lot back in the city..." she pauses to gather her memories - an involuntary action- "... on the hunting grounds." It wasn't a pleasant recollection, it never was. The days spent there were exhausting both physically and mentally. The Marsh mansion was built on the outskirts of the city, at the brink of the neighboring forest. The estate was large enough to accommodate one of the influential families and its servants just nicely, with the mansion, gardener's house and servants quarters, the large hunting field, horse ranch and more small trinkets.

"Hunting grounds?"

"My parents went to all type of social events ... hunting was a bonding ritual between men."

"And they took you along as well?!" The news came like a jolt of current through him. Not even Jack had been permitted to participate in one of his father's hunting trips so far, not that he wished to, even though he was the second man of the house, but this girl has just admitted to taking part in that experience.

"Well, not exactly, but I could see them from the house..."

Caroline had never actually witnessed the killings face to face, the bodies or the blood, but she had seen its shape from the windows. While most of the women remained at home for serving tea and sharing their usual slice of gossip, Caroline was pushed aside. She could have, better said should have, spent her day playing with the other children, but decided against it. Once she caught sight of the shadows of falling birds, the inevitable thud they must have made when they landed on the ground, the cheer of pride, the scattering of woodland creatures and the cries of the crows, it made her sick to the stomach. The trees were full of crows and they would cover up the sky in a second when the gunshot sounded; sunny or rainy, it didn't matter.

Another silence followed them soon after. They didn't really see the point in extending the conversation, they were getting close to Caroline's house and the mood had taken an awkward turn. Jack's steps were unsteady, tired from the weight.

"So why did you guys go to your base this morning?"

"That's a secret."

"Hmph, I don't care anyway." she turned her head away, frown present on her face. It was nagging her, it was driving her curiosity, but the typical stubbornness of a 10 year old child was also stopping her from admitting defeat. Caroline was strong enough to keep her tongue in check, that and she never gave up easily. There would be other chances, when her leg would be healed.

"Then why did you ask?" Jack inquired.

"Put me down."

"Huh?"

"We're here."

They had reached their destination, the Millard's. Jack put the girl down as she tried to keep her weight on her good leg. For a moment he hesitated knocking on the door, anxiety and fear swelling up. It was the same feeling before a test, when you got caught doing something you're not suppose to, when you know you can't escape a lecture. No child would ever be looking forward to it.

With a gulp and slightly shaking hand, the young Overland knocked twice on the front door. He waited and waited, almost hoping for no answer, but the click of the door lock and squeak of the hinges brought his whole world down crashing.

"Yes-My word! Caroline Bell Millard, just what have you done?! What happened to you?!" To say she was mad was the least. Mrs. Millard was furious, furious beyond her feelings fear for her daughter. When the woman answered the door, only to be greeted by the sight of her only child covered in scrapes, her leg raised as if any pressure would end in a world of pain, her heart almost took a fall off the cliff of a mountain.

"You see mother, I had a small accident."

"Small accident? You're covered in wounds and your dress is all torn up. If I didn't know any better I would say you went and got into a fight with some wild animal .. No, you wouldn't."

"No, I just .. fell from a tree." As quiet as a whisper she explained, as hesitant as one could be, she lowered her face and prepared herself for what was to come. This was not the first occasion she got in trouble or a lecture and certainly would not be the last. It was a repeated speech, first would come the questions, the shouting, the inquiry to Caroline's sanity and then the stories, the exemplary behavior she should follow and the punishments.

"And just what were you doing up there?! Seriously, this is our first day here and you already caused trouble? I thought moving here would be a good choice, but considering-"

"Can we talk inside please?! I don't want everyone hearing us." The last thing they needed was an audience.

Mrs. Millard ignored being interrupted so abruptly by her own daughter and simply nodded. That was one point the two had to agree upon. The mother turned her eyes to the young brown haired boy that seemingly was helping Caroline support herself. He wasn't in the same sorry state as the girl, so that left the question on his implications in all of this. Was he being a gentleman and helping her or was he involved and responsible? The look in his eyes spoke of some guilt, he was squirming under weight.

"Ah, of course. And you young man ... I don't know whether to thank you or call your parents. Whose son are you?"

"My name's Jack, Jack Overland ma'am." His voice sounded hoarse. He began leaning the girl towards the entrance of her house, making sure to get a quick escape once she's in. Caroline looked back towards him when she noticed the insistent pushing. Of course, he wasn't paying her the least of attention. With a huff, she decided to skip by her own volition, freeing herself and quite loudly throwing the door open and hoping towards the living area.

"Jack Overland? ... That explains a few things. Your mother did mention you were a handful." The woman receded into the hallway. "Rest assured I will get to the end of this story, from my daughter. Run along to school Jack, where you should have been by now."

"Yes ma'am!" The last he heard was the shut of the door and more lecturing. "I did warn her."

But the sudden realization as he was heading for school dawned on him.

"Mom is going to kill me!"