Charlotte

It hadn’t been snowing all night or the morning. It was the perfect time to leave Rhode Island and go home! Edmund and I were the only ones leaving the Mansion. The remaining Turners were staying with Grammy until they could make their way back to the U.K. It was difficult saying goodbye to Alice. She wasn’t too weird about it, which made it easier to leave. Edmund was bringing a bag full of food and a med kit. Once again, I was in pants. Even Edmund had agreed about them!

We left around seven in the morning. The breeze was still cold, so we put on our coats and took Grammy’s horse. She only had one horse, so it had both of our weights on its back, causing it to go slower. The horse was surprisingly fast for the weight it was lifting, which was surprising to Edmund and me.

Edmund and I traveled all day until nightfall. Edmund was so kind to let me sleep on the horse while he continued to ride. It had to be at least eight in the morning when I woke. There were a few inches of snow on the ground and I was now lying on a tree. Edmund was snacking on an apple, giving the core to the horse.

“Shall we continue?” I asked while standing up. I tied my hair using a red ribbon I’d brought along. My hair was flowing down my back but with enough convincing, it was now in a braid.  

“I don’t know. We can’t cross the river. Unless we want to skate?” Edmund was sharpening a stick with a small knife that he brought along. I walked over to the frozen river the ice was solid. I threw a rock at it as hard as I possibly could. Hard as stone. I took one step on the ice my boots slid ever so slightly. The ice did hold my weight.

“Hey Edmund? You have some thread correct?” I made my way over to Edmund. He gave me a long strand of thread. I took the sharpened bit of wood from Edmund and began tying the two together. I then tied the mechanism to my boot. “Ta-da! Now when I walk, I won’t die!”

I started walking on the frozen river once again. Every step my left foot had the bit of wood would stab the ice keeping me balanced. I was in the middle of the river I was so close to the other side! I lifted my left foot just about to make another step, but the ice decided against me. 

I lost balance and fell on my right arm.  

There was a sharp pain in my elbow. I let out a piercing scream. I felt as if my arm had just caught fire and was being smashed by a large stick.  

“CHARLOTTE!” I heard the terrified voice of Edmund scream. I tried to stand but my body just felt terrible. I began to crawl towards Edmund without using my right arm. I made the mistake of looking over to see if my arm looked severely injured. My arm was contorted at the elbow facing the opposite direction as it usually does. 

All I did was let out another terrified scream. I began to hear footsteps from the opposite direction of Edmund. I tried to make out the two faces, but everything went black.