Four young women sat by the river bank, washing clothes that they had carried from their homes. The river was hidden within the thick forest but not too far from their peaceful village Timberbury, providing necessary seclusion for women who wanted to take a bath.
"I did not steal the fruit from Mr. Donnet's garden!" One of the young women with light blue eyes splashed water on the other, making the other young women next to her screech before they broke into a fit of giggles.
"We know all about it, Carly. The dress stains said it all," teased the older woman out of the four and turned to her sister, "Isn't that right, Josie?"
Josephine Edwards wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and noticed her two friends and her elder sister Susan, who now waited for her to take a side. Her brown chestnut hair was tied into a bun so that her hair didn't hinder her as she washed the clothes. Rays of sun spilled on her honey skin.
She responded with a smile and replied softly, "There was a stain, but I am not sure if it belonged to the fruit."
"My sister, you are supposed to take my side," Susan complained before smiling at Josie. She remarked, "Always worried that someone is going to feel bad."
Susan was three years older than Josie by age, standing at the age of twenty and happily married, where she continued to live in Timberbury with her doting husband, who loved her dearly.
Carly put her wet hands around Josie's neck and said, "Josie is my best friend, so of course, she's going to take my side."
"We are going to fall into the river!" Josie tapped on her friend's hand so they wouldn't wet their entire clothes. Being the youngest child, her parents and her sister had sheltered her from many things, and she was yet to be betrothed.
"Oh, don't be shy," Carly sang, pulling Josie closer to her. "This is a practice when your husband hugs you."
"I don't think he will hug me like you are," Josie hurriedly said while untangling her friend's hands around her neck.
Susan said with a smile, "The man who marries my sister will treat her with gentleness and kindness, and love her very much. Keep her happy and with us. I was thinking about Peter. What do you think, Josie? Mother and father must have already spoken to him about you."
"Peter? Peter Blakwall?" Carly looked taken aback, the smile on her lips faltering.
On the other hand, Josie quickly shook her head and replied, "Peter is my friend and it would be strange."
Her elder sister waved her hand as if brushing it off and said, "A relationship built on friendship is the best one. You will understand it after a few years of your marriage to him. The man is decent to look at and respectable. Treats you well and I think you two would make a good match."
"I think he's more suited for Carly," Josie suggested, knowing her friend like Peter as he wasn't a decent-looking man in Timberbury, but a fairly good-looking man. But her friend had failed to confess her feelings for the man.
Quickly changing the subject, Josie turned to her other friend, "Mariella, you have been quiet. Are you okay?"
Mariella smiled in response, "I am. There were too many clo—"
The four young women stopped talking and what they were doing. They turned in the direction from where they could hear the hooves of the horses galloping. Suddenly seven horses appeared not too far from where they sat. They noticed one of the women from their village lying unconscious on one of the rider's horses.
Josie's elder sister whispered, "Isn't that…"
"Dorothy…" Josie identified the young woman, who was one of the fairest in their village.
The men looked like guards because of the same uniform they wore. Like the others, Josie felt fear starting to sink into her mind.
"Get them!" One of the men ordered, who held a gruff look and hollow eyes.
Hearing this, panic struck the woman's mind, and Susan yelled, "Run back to the village!"
The next second, Josie and the others dropped what they were earlier doing and ran as fast as they could.
The four girls ended up splitting up in twos, where Josie ran along with her sister Susan, who was slower than her, but she didn't want to leave her sister behind and kept looking back every now and then, while also noticing the three men on the horses galloping towards them.
"Josie, run! Stop looking at me!" Susan scolded her.
"Who are they?!" Josie asked as they continued running through the forest, passing through the bushes so the horses couldn't follow the same path.
"I don't know, but you should get to shelter as fast as you can. Stop worrying about me!" Susan urged her sister not to wait for her. "Go to mama and papa!"
Josie firmly replied, "I am not leaving you!"
But fate had already written their time to be short, and when they continued to run, another guard appeared and grabbed Susan. The woman fought the guard while he tried to hoist her on the horse. Susan bit into the guard's hand, which led to the guard to let go of her. But with the force the horse moved and she fell on the ground. Her head hit a nearby rock and blood oozed from her head, where she couldn't get up.
"Susan!" Josie cried out, starting to run towards her sister, while not realising another horse that came behind her and picked her up. She screamed, "NO! Let me go! Susan! SUSAN!!"
The guard caught hold of Josie, pulling out a sword as if ready to drive it through her stomach. Before he could use it on her, the head guard, who held a gruff look, ordered,
"Don't kill her."
"I thought two of them were enough. This one doesn't even look that pretty," said the guard, who held Josie's arm, who not tried to free herself but in vain.
Josie wanted to go to her sister and see if she was alright because blood continued to stain the dried leaves around her head. Her sister turned her head to the side, and her hand feebly tried to reach for her even though there was a large distance. Tears pooled in Josie's eyes and started to spill on her cheeks.
The head guard stared at the young woman, whose skin wasn't as pale as the others, and he ordered, "She can be used as a maid. We should get back now!"
Feeling the man holding her arm pull her, Josie struggled to push him. But not a moment later, she felt something hit the back of her head, and she lost consciousness.