Grettel and her goons had left for a dinner with some new acquired friends, further out in the mainland. Which meant, William had the house for himself... He promptly left to fetch Joss, so they could have some fun.

The moment he saw his brother, he noticed the new bruises that idiot had gained. William questioned Joss, as he pointed towards the cuts, “What habbened? Why do you have those?”.

Joss cocked his head, before checking his arm, “Oh, these?.. I guess it’s because father doesn’t want the same tragedy to happen this time… Like with Harvick and his lameness… He's testing me, to see if I’m ready… You know… For going out and bonding with my own dinosaur, hehe”. Joss was filled with pride as that sentence left his mouth.

Sparkles formed in William’s eyes, “Dinosaur!? You’re very own dinosaur!? Agh! I’m so jwealous!”. Joss sighed, “Yeah, you wish… But hey, I’ll let you ride on my dinosaur just as Harvick let you fly on his…”. Thinking back on how Joss got denied that very same ride, made his otherwise happy mood a bit salty.

“Yeah, yeah… I look foward to it! But that’sh not why I’m here”, William said. Joss folded his brows and voiced out an, “Oh?”. William explained, “I came to inwite you over to my place. Grettel’s in the mainland, along with her servant and sons… So come on ower!”.

The first thing they did was jump in Grettel’s bed, while flinging her pillows all over the place. When they left the crime scene, it was of course left intact, so she wouldn’t notice the battle that had taken place.

Afterwards they searched the house for hidden treasures. While Joss rummaged through the attic, William knocked on floorboards... Suddenly one of them gave out a hollow sound. William shouted, “Joss! I think I’ve fwound their hidden stash! Helb me lwift this board”. Joss immediately complied with William’s request.

The board was lifted with some work and broken fingernails. Within it was a stock of food and ale. But also something else… Something that shimmered with the help from the rushlights surrounding them. Joss took it out since he had the longest arms. When they both realised what it was, shock and disbelief was written all over their faces.

William had only heard of it, but the jewelry was quite unique, “Ishn’t this..?”. Joss clenched it within his fist as he tried to contain his anger, “Yes… It’s mother’s heirloom… The one that got lost after the bandit attack…”. William studied it further as he commented, “So it wasn’t the bandits, but Grettel who had it all along?.. She’s weally cunning…”.

The jewelry was a brooch. Not particularly valuable compared to what a lord had in his treasure chambers. However it had a lot of value to the one who owned it. Their mother... Because other than her sister, it was the only thing she had to bind her to her family, that lived so far away.

William touched the white stone and bronze metal, “You know… I really mish her sometimes… Even though she could be demandwing and lecturing. In the end… I think she wanted the bwest for us… And I’m gwateful for that… It’sh just really frustrating that I never gwot to tell her that in person…”. William heaved a deep breath before asking, “Joss… Do you also fweel the same?.. What would you have told her, if you had the chance bach then?”.

Joss didn’t respond. Instead he put the brooch back into the stash. William got infuriated by this and asked, “Why!? Don’t pwut it back! Grettel stole it! It’s not hers!”.

Josh ignored him and put the board back on. After that he stood up and sighed with force, “I don’t want to look at it… Besides… She’s gone now. She doesn’t have any use for it anymore… Neither do we… Instead, you’ll get into immense trouble if Grettel finds out that we rummaged through her stuff…”.

William retorted, “But our fwather will surely punis her for this!”. To this Joss could only chuckle with despise, “You really believe that he will uphold justice for someone’s who’s dead? When he can risk ruining a better deal?.. Have you forgotten, Mirabelle? Our father still has a year left to be Harvick’s official ‘uncle’. With all the achievements Harvick is racking up, do you think he’d let anything sour the deal now?... Besides. Grettel is a shrew. She’ll probably lie about how she gained this jewelry and claim that it’s hers. It simply isn’t worth it...”.

William blinked at all the logic that was thrown in his face. When did his brother start making so much sense?

If he wasn’t such a hothead sometimes, maybe Joss would be the exemplary scholar type? The strategist? But then again… He still picks his own nose, so too much credit is perhaps undue...

****

It was the day right after the Harvest Feast. Or as they called it: The day everyone has red eyes because of the autumn leaves: Red Leaf day.

The simple act of keeping your mouth or hands still, would let you hear a chorus of snoring and drunk talk in the background. Those poor peasants. So drunk of their ass that they could barely find their way home, without lighting a rushlight before the celebrations began.

William got a good whiff of alcohol, as he observed Grettel in her bed. She was sound asleep. Then he lurked his way in front of the boys’ room. All three shared the same room and bed. Luckily the festivities seems to have tucked them out. Festivities that William wasn’t allowed to attend this year, now that he was merely a lowly servant of a peasant.

The rogue sneaked out of the house to meet up with his best friend: Joss. They had agreed to meet behind Owel’s house, which was the most obscure meetup place they could think of. 

William ran, filled with energy as he shouted, “Joss!”. Said person turned around and laughed, “Mirabelle! Let’s see who can swim the fastest!?”. Then he threw away his clothes and plunged into the water. However he wasn’t alone. William quickly followed up, almost overtaking Joss. They both gasped for air. The water was indeed ice cold, but it was fun and thrilling racing each other.

“I’m gonna gwet you!”. William yelled as he grasped after Joss’ angles. Joss giggled with glee and yelled back, “Not a chance!”. Then he thruttled his way forward, as if he was a fish. This tempo was too much for William, so he sank back and decided to instead attack with water splashes. As long as they didn’t swim out too far, it was possible to reach the bottom. So he found his ground as he flung his attacks out like a water-cannon.

Joss retaliated with similar attacks. In the end they stood for a while with closed eyes, just slapping and guiding water at each other. “My, my… We’re up early…”. Through the loud noise of water getting splashed, the sharp voice, easily cut through to its recipients. William immediately felt a shiver. He found it hard to look at the demon on the shore. She was not happy in the least…

Grettel continued scolding, “What a view… I see nothing but shame, shame… SHAME! Get up here right now, Mirabelle!”.

William stood for a while, frozen in place. He didn’t want to comply with that she-devil. But then again… He’d rather not see Grettel fling off her clothes to fetch him… Ergh! So he reluctantly trudged back up on land. A small, “Gwood morning…”, escaped William’s lips. It didn’t soothe Grettel at all.

She gathered up his clothes and threw them at him with contempt. But she didn’t signal for them to leave. Instead she stood for a few minutes, glaring at Joss. Thinking and pondering on how to separate the two of them permanently…

For some reason her usual punishment methods didn’t seem to work on William… And she couldn’t exactly go all out. That would be unreasonable and harm the girl too much for further use.

So… Maybe she was attacking the wrong target? Maybe it was the brother she needed to take care of instead?..