Novels2Search
Tabby the Witch
Chapter 1: The start of a new day

Chapter 1: The start of a new day

Mr. James Williams POV:

It was an especially bright and early Monday morning on the 6th of June when James Williams woke up from his slumber. As the sunlight came through his window it illuminated the old-fashioned bedroom with a strong glow still unusual for the early days of the Summer season.

Now Mr. Williams had long ago gotten into the habit of not closing the curtains of the room due to his need to wake up early. His job as the local woodman of Brent was demanding and takes a large amount of his time and attention. So as much as he hated the sun effectively blinding himself, he knew it was a necessary evil.

Unfortunately, he simply didn’t have the makings of a morning person. So begrudgingly and with much effort Mr. Williams left the comfort of his bed to start the day.

“Remember your promise James, you’d take care of things around here.” Thought Mr. Williams as he slowly sat up and stretched his muscles. “And to keep her safe, never you forget that.”

Now, his many years of living and responsibility’s had given Mr. Williams a strict and specific way of doing things. Starting in the bathroom with the cleaning of his teeth followed by a rousing cold shower (Never to combine the two activities).

Then after leaving the shower, he moves over to his wardrobe in the bedroom to choose the clothes for the day. Almost always consisting of a simple white t-shirt, a brightly colored red sweater, blue pants, black workman boots and his signature silver pocket watch.

Taking a Glance at the pocket watch he noticed with a surprised look that he was almost forty minutes ahead of his usual schedule. A feat that he hadn’t been able to achieve close to six years and one that Mr. Williams hadn’t decided was a good or bad omen.

“But now I can afford to put a bit more effort on breakfast today, my little Tabby’s alarm clock shouldn’t go off yet for a long while” Said Mr. Williams softly to himself as he moved to find the biggest cooking pan from the cupboard to place on the stove.

Pancakes in the morning, a good start to his daughter’s day, “And mine of course” he continued while lightly chuckling to himself.

Unfortunately for Mr. Williams, it didn’t even take long enough for the first and only pancake to leave the stove before he was interrupted by the ringing bell of the front door.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Now there were only two people in this town that Mr. Williams could think of that would be standing behind his door this early on the well-kept porch. He also knew that whichever one it was, both would only give him troubles.

“Guess this morning was a bad omen after all” Mr. Williams sighs before turning of the gas on the stove and moving towards the increasingly more rapid ringing of his front door.

At the door (confirming his earlier suspicions) stood a middle-aged  looking undersized gentleman with meticulously groomed grayed hair sticking underneath his dainty derby headwear; All the while holding a cane loosely within his left hand whilst using a handkerchief in the right hand to nervously wipe his face.

And immediately upon seeing that Mr. Williams had answered the door he began to talk; ‘Apologies for bothering you so early James, I know your fond of the time you have in the morning but I’m afraid there was little choice” he says continuing to wipe the sweat of his face.

“And a good morning to you as well Major Coins.” Mr. Williams said sarcastically “I would offer an esteemed guest such as yourself a cup of morning coffee but I have not gotten around to making it yet.”

“Allright, Allright, I was rude again James, I do wish you a good Morning.” begins the Major slightly taken aback by his tone. “But you know I’m not lying when I say the situation is urgent, there is trouble in the woods. The danger level is very high, colour Orange, possibly higher.” He says walking closer to James to whisper the last words to him.

And the words of the major were effective, for it took no more than a minute or so after the threat level was mentioned that Mr. Williams cut the conversation short. He knew enough and not much needed to be said.

he was a woodsman, this was what he did.

Only one question after that point was needed for Mr. Williams

“Are you sure?”

“Yes” replied Major Coins in a unhesitant tone not given in the conversation up until this point

__________________________________________________________________________

Major Coins soon left upon giving the details and information to Mr. Williams, who after hearing about the danger level promptly started preparing to head out.

Of course not preparation for the danger. “No,” thought Mr. Williams “Aside from my axe, I’ve got all the things I would need at the cabin”

But there were important things that he needed to think off, he had to make sure his daughter had everything she needed for today before he went to his work.                                              It took Mr. Williams a considerable amount of time but eventually (after dubbelchecking 4 times) he felt confident enough to pick up his trusty axe and walk through the front door, leaving a letter and a pancake behind up on the kitchen table.

“Guess no pancakes today” he says as he begins to walk towards the direction of the woods “At least not for me, at least Tabby has them“ as he continues to walk to the woods.

Towards danger

Towards mystery

Towards yet another day inside the woods for the James Williams the Woodsman

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter