The Thief

Quick Note:  This was the one that didn't make it into Write Club, retooled and fleshed-out with some new details.  Would love any and all constructive criticism since I'm trying to learn everything I can from this failed venture.  Thanks!

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The road was frozen solid and each step echoed through his legs as he ran.  Night’s darkness cloaked him save for a sliver of moonlight reflected across the barren fields beside him.  The harsh, hot summer had laid waste to their normally fruitful crops and the vacant land seemed to mimic the emptiness in his stomach which jostled uncomfortably with each impact of his feet on the hard ground.

He understood his brother’s anger- the Lord’s tax had taken the best of the meager harvest and the remainder was barely enough to keep them alive through the long, unforgiving winter.  But Will was too young to understand the fealty owed and his foolishness would get him beheaded.  He second guessed his decision to follow his brother to the lord’s manor for the seventh time since he began the journey and for a second even considered the prospect of Will’s beheading as a just sentence.  But the thought of his mother’s face drove him on.

He slowed his pace as he approached the stables and made his way around the back to the servant’s quarters.  He crept down, staying below the light cast by the torches and found his way to a darkened window.  Despite the cold it was left slightly ajar and he knew he was following in his brother's path, though the opening was less than his considerably taller frame would easily allow.

He held his breath as he gave one final shove and slipped his thin body through the gap.  He landed with a thud on the cold, stone floor and bit his tongue to silence the yelp.  He scanned the dark interior for movement and waited.  There were shapes and shadows, all alien and threatening, and he lay there frozen lest he be caught before he’d even begun.

He could hear the crackle of wood burning in another room and smell smoke.  But the space he lay in was quiet and still.  He took a breath, and forced his feet forward.  A faint light from another room spilled into the hallway and lit his path down the corridor.  He found the source of the light in a large fireplace, the warm blaze inviting and comforting him... until he saw what lay in front of it. 

The dark fur moved gently up and down with the slumbering breath of the beast.  The orange glow of the fire danced over the features of the massive dog, illuminating the monstrous jowl and sharp ears.  Then his eyes landed on the bone under its enormous paw and the rest of the world faded away.

He’d seen bones like that before in the cemetery and knew it could only come from a human.  The realization of which human hit him like a bucket dropped from the mow.  He was too late.

His mind spun with a blur of memories that had not yet taken place.  His mother’s tear-streaked face.  His father’s hardened scowl.  His brother’s empty chair at the table and a long, hard winter shrouded by grief.  He stood there frozen and breathless and waited for the dog to awake and finish the meal.

“Jeb!” the harsh whisper hit him and he jerked his head to its source.

The sight of his brother kneeling in the opposite doorway flooded him with the breath of relief and the dried eel he saw sticking out from his satchel grabbed his stomach with a ferocious grip.  Without thinking he ran to him, already imagining the taste of the vital food. 

Confusion overcame him as his foot caught on the woven rug and he fell, face first, to the ground.  A cacophony of sounds filled his ears as a table toppled, swept over by the rug, and spilled its contents to the floor.  When the deluge of noise ended a single, heart-stopping sound filled his ears and he looked up into the growling face of the dog, now towering above him as it stood with hackles high and massive teeth gleaming in the firelight.

He heard Will’s voice scream “Run!” and the world became an abyss of chaos.