Hellen

Charles and I traveled for an entire twenty-four hours. We had stolen two horses from a local farm and ridden them until we reached the Connecticut River, which the horses could not cross, even though the river was completely frozen. We didn’t know how to cross.

“So,” Charles asked after we’d been staring at the river for ten minutes straight. “Do you think we just try to run across?” 

“No. We’d fall and break an ankle or two.”  

“Then how d’you think we should cross?” 

“I say that we walk downstream until we find a bridge or something along those lines.” Without waiting for my brother’s response, I start to travel in the direction of the current. 

I didn’t realize that Charles hadn’t been following me until I’d walked two miles. That was when I stopped to look around for something to cross and noticed that my twin was still where I had left him on the opposite side of the river from Hartford.

“Charles!!!” I called out. “Hurry up and get over here!” 

I climbed up a large tree and awaited his arrival, which as I expected took about an hour since he’s always very slow-moving. “Hellen? Where’d you go?”

“Up here; try looking around next time.” I swung down from the tree in a graceful manner. “Let’s go. Saybrook isn’t too far South of here. There might be a bridge to cross.” 

We continued southbound for another hour and a half until we found a small, peaceful village. 

Charles and I made our way through the town and found a small inn to rest.