Chapter XVIII:

I was fifteen at the time. The men in the village still thought me a man. It was a different time back then. By the time you were fifteen, you were an adult. I didn’t mind it. The problem arose when we needed women. Most of the men in the village were single. Only two of them left their wives back in England. Everyone is pretty lonely. I was fine with how things were. David on the other hand complained about how lonely he was.

“It would be nice to have someone in my bed,” he said. I would just nod in response. David looked at me with his head cocked.

“What about you?” he asked. I looked up at him.

“Hm? What about me?” I asked. David looked me deep in the eyes.

“Have you ever wanted to have someone in your bed?” he asked. That thought had never crossed my mind. I leaned back in my chair.

“No,” I said. David gave me a strange look.

“Is that right?” he asked. I didn’t answer. My opinion wasn’t going to matter. These men were going to do what they wanted. I figured that I would be fine if I stayed out of their quest for women.

I wouldn’t be so lucky. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.

The hunt first began in December. We didn’t have Christmas back then. I doubt that we would’ve celebrated anyway. We were too busy to try and survive in our village. Sure, we did take time to rest but he didn’t have a huge holiday for it. Our village was doing good but most of the men were still lonely. The only way they could meet their carnal needs was to go out and look for a wife.

The captain was the first to go looking. He walked out of the village early December. Three days later, he came back with a woman close to his age. I think her name was Barbara or Rebecca. In a way, she reminded me of my mother. Maybe it was something in her eyes. That had to be it. I only met her once. It was during the Winter Feast. In fact, most of the men met their wives there. David was so excited.

“I will finally get married,” he said. I only smiled and nodded at him. I truly was happy for him. Now initially I hadn’t planned on going to the feast. The last time I celebrated Christmas, I lost everything. This feast put me in a difficult position. On the one hand, I would be alone that night. But then again, I wouldn’t risk hurting anyone. My plan was to lock myself in my cabin and pray all night. But David wouldn’t hear it. I should’ve have taken a clue when I first heard a knock on the door. I tried to ignore it at first. The longer the knocking went on, the more I couldn’t focus. I clenched my teeth. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone?

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I stood up and walked over to my door.

“What?” I asked as I opened it. David stood outside, looking at me. At first, I looked confused.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. He looked just as confused as me.

“Why are you still here?” he asked. “We have to meet at the captain’s house for the feast!” I blinked at him.

“What feast?” I asked.

“The Winter Feast!” my somewhat friend said. “Everyone in the village is invited.”

“Oh no, no, no,” I said, shaking my head. David folded his arms across his chest.

“Poppycock!” he said. “You are coming too. You have to get out more.” He grabbed onto my wrist before I could slam the door in his face.

“Hey!” I shouted. David started to tug me along. Even as I grabbed onto to the frame of the door.

“Stop!” I shouted.

“Why don’t you want to come out?” he asked. “You never talk to anyone else outside of work besides me. You can’t keep living alone like this.” His words caught me off-guard. My grip slipped off of the door frame. David pulled one along in the snow.

“You won’t regret this,” he said. “We might even find you a wife.” I doubted his words even then. He had no idea that he would damn me further into the darkness. For now, I would have to try and change my plans to survive being in this village.