Meredith:
"Wake up, you lazy pests!" Came Mama Rue's angry voice. "The house won't clean itself."
She bang her palm on the door so loudly that it sent my body jolting from the bed. "Up! Up!"
I forced myself out of the bed. Mason rubbed his eyes irritatingly. "You, boy! Chop the logs on the lawn. Girl, sweep the porch and dust the chairs!" She went out. "Don't make me repeat myself!"
I never understood why Mama Rue got angry so easily. She'd be nice at first but then begin to throw tantrums everywhere.
The porch was very dusty; so much to make a whole desert out of it. I picked a broom with a slanted wooden handle and began sweeping. To be honest, working for Mama Rue was not a problem because she had provided shelter for us and readily took us in. What more could we do than to help around the house?
A little farther away, I could hear the sound of wood being chopped. Mason is at work too. I decided to peep, try to get a glimpse of how strong he was to handle those logs. I shouldn't have looked!
Mason was bare chested and sweaty. As he lifted his arms to strike, his arm muscles contracted and his veins popped out. His body must have been well carved by a really good chisel. He glowed under the sun rays - literally! I turned away quickly, blinking hard and shaking my head to get the image out of my mind. Mason looked so...so....!
I hate to admit...I turned again to take another glance, but he caught me! I gasped, turning back sharply to continue sweeping.
"Do you like the view?" I heard him shout. I felt dazed. Do I ignore his question?
"No!" I blurted out. "Not at all!"
I heard him chuckle, a little longer than expected.
The work wasn't over. I was assigned to clean the bottles in her crooked cupboard.
"Don't dare drop them, else-!" She laughed hysterically, not because either of us said something funny, but I presumed it was because she imagined what she'd do to me if I broke the bottles. I wonder what she had in mind.
Mama Rue planted a basket of strange, pungent leaves into Mason's arms.
"Go on, now. Give those to Lilith before she silks again." She said, nodding towards the backyard.
"Lilith?" Mason blinked. "Is that a person?"
"No, silly!" She giggled. "That's my goat." She began to walk away. "And don't let her nibble your jacket." She opened the door to her room and entered, shutting it behind her.
"When did she have a goat?" I heard Mason mutter under his breath. I couldn't help but snicker.
Mason went to the backyard with the basket and spotted Lilith, the goat.
His eyebrows crinkled, "I could have sworn that wasn't there earlier." I agreed. I never saw a goat around the house or nearby, or maybe I didn't look close enough. The goat made eye contact with him. They both stared at each other like they knew each other.
Mason and Lilith eventually made a bond, not as friends, but as enemies. Lilith considered him as an intruder whereas Mason considered her as a stuck up nanny. It was funny how this 'cold-looking' man had quite a soft spot in there.
Amidst all this, I had to remember, we were criminals. Thieves. Wanted by men we barely knew and accused by people we'd barely seen. Our lives were on the line, and one small mistake could cost us.
We had to be thankful...Mama Rue did help us a great deal. Living with her wouldn't be bad. All we had to do was follow the rules...her rules.