By the Light of the Moon - Chapter 2

Chapter Two

“Hello, we’ve just moved here from Illinois,” said the man. I assumed that the boy on the other horse was his son. He looked about 14, only about a year older than me.
“I’m Paul, and this is my son, John,” Paul said. John smiled and said, “Hello.”
Pa invited the new neighbors inside the house for some lunch.
As we all sat down, Pa introduced us, “This is my wife, Brenda, my oldest son, Bill, youngest son, Rob, and my daughter, Alexa.”
“It’s very nice to meet you all,” said Paul as he shook hands with all of us.
When we were all seated, Ma asked, “Where is your wife?”
Paul looked at her with a smile. “She’s back at the house unpacking with our daughter, Anne,” he answered.
“Oh, well, that makes sense, I would want to get unpacked as soon as possible too,” said Ma as she served the bologna sandwiches.
After I was finally finished with my sandwich, I asked, “May I be excused?”
“Yes, Alexa, you may,” Ma said in an annoyed tone. She was so busy in a deep conversation with Paul about Illinois that she really didn’t notice what I had asked.
As I walked out the door to the fields, I couldn’t help but be glad to get away from them. I’d never been able to trust men; it was just something that I was born with. The only men I knew that I could trust was Pa, or my brothers, but like I’d ever trust them two.
I heard the door open and close on it’s squeaky hinges behind me. I was just entering the bean field when I saw a shadow and the sound of grinding gravel under someone’s feet. I looked up from my squatting position from the ground where I was inspecting a rock that had caught my eye, and saw John looking down at me. I stood up; there wasn’t anything else to do. Anyway, Ma always say, “Try to be polite, Alexa.”
He looked at me and said straight out, “Hi, I’m John.” He held out his hand.
“I’m Alexa,” I said as I took his hand and shook it, seriously wishing he would go away.
He was about four inches taller than me. He had tanned skin, probably from working his old land in Illinois. His hair was a light brown and his bright green eyes stood out like a full moon on a pitch-black night sky.
“Would you like some help in the fields?” he asked, glancing toward the rock I had just dropped.
“No, thank you, I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself,” I said as I pulled with all my weight on a rather tall weed. It snapped, I lost my balance, and fell on my bottom. I felt my face burn red with embarrassment.
I ran. Weaving my way through the foot high cornstalks and into the back woods. I was heading toward my secret pond that I had found just the other day. It finally came into sight when I was out of breath. But, it wasn’t my secret anymore. John had chased after me.
“Well, I guess I can’t ever keep a secret, no matter how hard I try,” I grumbled at my own stupidity.
John looked at me with a puzzled glance.
“I’m sorry about how rude I was back there,” I apologized, knowing that I should.
“It’s ok, I would have tried to get away too,” he said. He sat down beside me.
“Shouldn’t have been so lazy and just used the hoe instead,” I mumbled to myself.
John picked up a rock and skipped it over the smooth water of the pond, sending ripples through it.
“Do you mean that this place was a secret?” asked John.
“Yeah, until now,” I said.
He didn’t say anything else until we heard, “John!” Paul was calling John back to the house.
“How about you meet me at the abandoned barn up the road later on today?” asked John.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should accept the invitation. I didn’t know him, who he was, or where he was really from. He seemed nice, but my instincts were kicking me in the shins. My adventurous soul got the better of me, “I’ll try, but don’t be surprised if I don’t make it.
“Okay,” he said as he turned around and started toward the cornfield.