Chapter Text
Freshly relocated, after both of his parents’ deaths, in the home of his maternal aunt and uncle, Joseph River was contemplating his escape.
It had been one thing to be next to his mother, only 58 years old when she came down with a terminal illness, while she took her last dying breaths a year ago. It had been another to hear that only a week ago, his father, a wiry, stubborn blacksmith, edging 70, had been caught in a horrible fire in the forge. He, sadly, was not one of the survivors. But becoming an orphan at the tender age of seventeen was nothing compared to what he had just heard.
“Ida, I don’t know what to do with him. He’s too soft. Our sons been gone to do things productive and take over all them businesses, and our daughters been married off. I ain’t want to take care of no new young’un. I sure as heck don’t wanna keep him.”
“Jonah, you don’t need ta worry ya little head off like that. I know a perfect way to gid rid of him. Got some crazy witch doctor talking about how she know someone who looking for a slave. Ready to pay a whole hecking bunch of monies if we give her someone viable.”
“I’m not sure I’m picking up, what yer putting down, Ida. Whatcha mean, sum’n viable?”
“I mean, Jonah, we can sell the kiddo. Don’t need no dead weight in our household no more. We’ve been done raising children. Ain’t this a simple solution?”
“Well, I reckon so. Simple as it’s gonna get anyhow.”
“We’ll break the news to Joseph in the morning. Sugar it up a bit.”
Joseph was shocked. The walls were thin, and pressing his ear to the bedroom door allowed him to hear every tone of the conversation. They were going to sell him!
He always knew his aunt was a miserable cretin, never did like him very much. His uncle was easier to deal with; he honestly could care less about what someone did or didn’t do. But for him to agree so easily to sell his own nephew off as a slave? There were limits to things like that.
Joseph wasn’t going to make this easy for them. He wasn’t going to be staying for any selling to be going on. He made his decision quickly, they were never going to see him again. Not for as long as they lived. As long as he lived.
He packed up quickly, as he didn’t have many belongings to his name, and set his bag in a corner, before closing his eyes for just a little bit. The night would be dark, and it would be a long trek and he wasn’t sure where he’d be going. But he did know that once his aunt and uncle fell asleep, he’d be out of the house and away from them. That’s all that matters.
~*~
A few hours later, Joseph opens his eyes, glancing at the clock on the wall. Past midnight. His aunt and uncle should be asleep by now. They always were deep sleepers. He quietly gets up from the bed, it creaking slightly. He slips the pack onto his shoulders, and laces up his boots. He pulls a brown cloak over his shoulders and ties the red ribbon around his neck. It would be chilly outside, due to the night. But he’d survive.
He tiptoes into the hallway, opening the door slowly, holding his breath as he opens it and steps outside into the air of the woods. He lets out his breath as he closes it behind him, before walking out towards the town.
It’s brightly lit, streetlights giving the sort of effervescent, golden glow. He follows the path of light to the town’s main park, walking through. A bird chirps on a bench near him, and slightly startles him, before the short, growly meow of a cat is heard, attempting to grab for the bird, scaring it away. Joseph swallows, fears pushed away now and continues on.
There’s a path formed by the forest, beckoning him. There’s no light that way. Only the light of the moon guides him. He walks through it, pushing away branches and shrubbery as he goes through the path, flat stones under his feet.
It’s a long path. He walks for what seems like hours. Eventually, he stops for a small break, eats a little bit of dried berries and nuts from his bag. The howl of a wolf makes him shiver a little; he’s never been this far from home before. The second howl spooks him enough to get up and keep walking despite the tiredness in his legs...and his eyes.
Joseph looks up at the sky, a small bit of light edging the horizon. It’s almost dawn. He doesn’t know where he’s going. He doesn’t even know why he left anymore. He almost feels like he might die out here. No parents. No family. Alone.
He walks and walks and walks. His legs seem to be crying. His eyes are drooping with the effort it takes for him to stay awake. His body screams at him to stop. The pack on his back feels so much heavier now. The air feels so much chillier. Soon he does stop.
Joseph looks up, and his eyes widen, the tiredness almost leaving his body. A gigantic mansion greets him, dark and completely distant from the rest of human living nearby. But it’s a place to stay, his mind tells him. There’s a giant, golden doorbell. He’s not sure if anyone will open the door, or if anyone even lives here, but he thinks it doesn’t hurt to try.
He stretches to press it; a heavy “ding-dong” rumbles through the estate and rattles his brain, making him wobble a little in his stance. He doesn’t expect the massive doors of the gate to immediately fly open for him, welcoming him inside.
He takes a tentative step into the open doors of the gate, before his legs carry him the rest of the way, renewed energy coursing through his body. He moves through the courtyard so fast that his lungs almost can’t keep up. He makes his way to another grand door, this one far easier to open with a single turn of the knob.
Joseph makes his way inside, door closing by itself behind him, and marvels at the interior. Every inch of the mansion is carefully decorated, from intricate wallpaper, to embroidered tapestries, to the portraits on the walls. He’s not sure in which direction he’s going, until he smells a delicious smell coming from one of the rooms. He follows the scent and finds himself in the kitchen, a spread of mouthwatering food placed along a table, from meats to fruits to assorted pastries.
The growl in his fairly empty stomach makes itself known, he went to bed without dinner that night as well. He sits at the table and helps himself, his belly being sated in a way that he had never had the pleasure of experiencing in all his seventeen years.
Belly full, and utterly exhausted, he gets up from his spot on the table, to venture into one of the connected rooms. It looks to be a sitting room of sorts, for greeting guests, and there are couches and chairs abound. Joseph takes a seat on one of the sofas, marveling at the softness and lies down on one of the cushions placed upon it. He is soon easily overtaken by sleep.