Chapter 2: the beginning 

Errol pushed his glasses higher onto his nose, and brushed his pure white hair out of his eyes, he was a thick and well built boy. With very broad shoulders he looked like some kind of football player. Brought up by his family, in the wyoming mountains, living off grid was his life, and he loved it he turned to his brother, Jedidiah, and his other brother Abraham  and grinned “he's a hanging   bull isn't he?” he said, almost laughing with delight as he turned around to inspect the elk pieces  they were dragging down the mountain to the sleds, having no such thing as quads in their family, they had to make the journey on foot, to the sleds with the dogs, and there they would begin the long trek back home.  a day or two, at most. On them they had their hatchets,  knives, an axe or two, a backpack each full of the essentials, and Abe, as they called him, the oldest, was allowed to bring a gun  a 30-06 in case of a bear, now, though there parents had not allowed them to see anyone, and neither had the parents for the last five generations, the first Blade (Blade being the family name) Samuel Blade had worked out a system to get certain things, “just in case” items, such as guns, ATV’s , gasoline and other items to make it so, in case of an emergency, the family would have defenses and essentially, another family, the Oscars, old family friends of the Blades  would leave the supplies at a designated area, in the bush of wyoming, a Blade runner would pick up the supplies, and leave money in its place. Now, the money was a mystery, they knew Samuel Blade had been VERY rich but where the money was hidden or how much was left  The  boys and girls of the Blade clan did not know.  But they did know, that should they chose to stay in the wilderness, like their parents had, (the other Blades of their generation had left)  they would receive were the money was and how much was left, they also knew that at some point they would need to go back to the urbanized areas to get more money, but they was not soon, so little worry was in their hearts. As Errol and his brothers dragged the bull (a male elk) down the mountain, they laughed and talked excitedly of old times, good hunts, and odd occurrences around the mountain in which they lived 

“Once” Abe said excitedly “ I was walking out at night, going for a walk, and then I saw two red eyes peering out at me!  I was scared out of my mind!, but I held my ground and a low growl hit the air!”

Errol and Jedidiah leaned closer eyes wide with interest 

“I  thought it was a bear, but bears don't have red eyes! So there i was , facing down this odd creature  and then, it ran away, to this day I do not know what i was seeing!”

“Why didn't you shoot it, brother?” Errol asked, the youngest of the two, Abe was the oldest in the family, and a hero to Errol, to him, Abe seemed like the most powerful, strongest man he had ever seen,  the smartest a wisest too, not much of a compliment when your whole life is fourteen people, but still. Abe was seventeen, and  as it was early december, his birthday was coming soon.

“I love my skin a little too much little brother” he said, affectionately ruffling his brother's hair” Abe was even stronger built than Errol or Jedidiah. He was practically a giant, with every inch of him bulging with strength  he had red hair, a thick red beard, and was, like his brothers, wearing animal hide clothes and moccasins. They laughed and talked as they tramped through the snow, until they finally reached the sleds, secured the meat, and headed home 

***

The brothers reached home a day later, so excited to get back that they rushed home with surprising speed. They reached the house, a giant log cabin, having been built over by the first generation; it was large  and could house many. Even the dogs picked up on their master's enthusiasm, and howled  into the moon,  ecstatic to get back to a warm bed and good food. The family had a very large garden, so they could make many good things to eat. Though the winter freeze was here, they had stored many things over the harvest and the boys ran up to the house, yelling with delight and practically barging through the door. They ran inside 

“MA WERE HOME!” Abe yelled up the stairs the torchlight flickered in the night, and soon, footsteps were heard, an older woman walked down the stairs 

“My boys! She said, running into an embrace by her oldest son, she hugged all of them in turn , and then pulled back

“Ma are Beth and Mary back?”  Errol asked, referring to two of his six sisters 

“Yes, they went hunting and came back with a basket of rabbits for lunch tomorrow”  

“Where's papa? Errol inquired. 

“Right here!” came a booming voice from the kitchen. They all ran to their father, who hugged them each, then smiling said “I bet you boys are all tired, came in half the time it usually takes!”

“Yes sir!” the boys chorused 

‘Well then, it's good to see you all again! Want to head to bed or get something to eat first?”

They boys all looked at each other “sleep” they all said at once

Their father laughed again “off to bed with you then, see you tomorrow!”

So they did

***

Morning came quickly, and soon (after grace)  the family was eating breakfast, with an appetite to rival a bear or a pack of wolves  they ate pancakes made from acorn flour, the inner bark of pine trees, maple syrup with the hotcakes, and dried venison. They ate and ate until they were full, and when they were, they all began to talk before morning chores would have to be done, the six sisters, Mary,(age 12)  Beth (10), Rachel (10) Rebekah, (12)  Deborah(13) and Sarah,(13)  on the boys side, there was Noah,(14) Abe (17), Jedidiah,(16) his twin, Jeramiah(16), Micah (15) , Joseph,(14) and of course, Errol (15). They were all similar in one way, strength , the girls had a lot of lean muscle, and the boys had a lot of bulk. They all had either red, black or in Errol's case,  white hair, and they all had blue eyes. And they were all white skinned. 

Their father clapped his large hands together and said “all of you, chore time, Abe and Joseph , go check the traps, Rachel and Errol, go foraging, Rebekah Deborah and Sarah, go sharpen the dull  knives and hatchets, Jedidiah and jeremiah, go feed the dogs then help me and your mother clean the house, and Noah and Micah you help Abe and Joseph 

“That's two chores! then there's  the rest too! That's not fair!” the twins whined   in unison 

“Well, at least you don't have to get all sweaty and dirty eh?!” their father said in a stern tone 

With that, they all headed out to do chores

Foraging with his young ten   year old sister was a fun task, in Errol's opinion, though young, Rachel was wise beyond her years, and she was kinda sweet, like most of his sisters, she was smart, confident, and nobody's fool, you wouldn't catch her dead cooking and cleaning, she loved hunting almost as much as Errol. As they walked through the forest with their baskets, looking for berries, nuts and other plants that grow in the cold. They talked of their plans for when they grew up

“Well, I'm staying,” Errol said. ”I'm never leaving these beautiful mountains, god has blessed us with this beauty, and i'm never leaving,plus i love mama and papa a little too much to leave, you know? Not that i'm saying” he said, smiling affectionately at his sister “ that you dont little sister, i'm just saying im not as good with missing people you know?”

“Yes brother, I see your point, I think I will go, I would love to see the cities and see what they look like, meet new people, and maybe get married. Speaking of that, how do you supposed papa met mama? In fact, how did the last five generations marry and have kids?”

“I'm hoping that we somehow have the oscars send up their family for us to marry to, because mama was an oscar, so that makes sense, i really hope that because the alternative is that we inbre- i mean uh, to say that uh, we just well, you see-” Errol became flustered as he realized, that though she was wise, she was still only ten and didn't know much about such things 

‘What, what did you mean?” she asked as Errol rushed ahead

“Well, you see sister” he said, "sometimes in life, people can be...interesting, mom and dad will explain that to you one day but, you see, i can't exactly explain now because it's a bit private.  understand?” without turning around he waited for  her to answer, but she didn't

“Rachel, I said, understand?...............................................Rachel?” he finally turned around, and it took all his willpower not to scream, because there, on the floor, were his lovely, amazing sister, had once been standing, was a blood smear, and then indentations in the snow as tracks led away, as though someone….or something, had dragged something bleeding heavily through the snow