Wes sat on the edge of his bed. His memory had not yet returned but he knew that he had to get out of the prison within which he now found himself. He looked over his shoulder at the small curled-up figure in the bed alongside his. The old man was asleep as usual but this did not bother him. Let sleeping dogs lie, he thought. One less person to worry about!
His plan was simple enough. Wait for his meal to be delivered to his room, challenge and overpower the chef's assistant, find the tablet, and then escape to the hills. It shouldn't be too difficult. The only issue in his mind was seeking out the tablet's whereabouts and working out why it was so important...but he would cross that bridge when he came to it! The assistants were all young kids from what he had seen and would go down easily, probably without much force or persuasion and possibly by the use of words alone. He had worked out the timing of the food drops, pretending always to be asleep when they arrived. His rucksack was ready at the door and now all he had to do was wait.
A few minutes later, he heard the approaching footsteps and the click of the key in the lock. As it opened, he barrelled into his unsuspecting victim who found himself, within seconds, flailing on the floor, covered in passata and cheese.
What the...???
The young man looked up at him, wide-eyed and petrified.
Wes leaned down and gathered up the keys to the door that had fallen to one side in the fall.
Listen, I'm sorry about all this, but I have to get out of here.
No hard feelings, but I'm gonna have to lock you in!
As Wes pulled the door shut behind him, he had one final thought and peeked his head back into the room.
You can't tell me what day it is, can you?
They reached the outskirts of the Pizza Baron's Estate under Henry's expert navigation and stopped next to a river, just down from the roadside, for the horses to rest and drink.
It hadn't taken long for him to find familiarity in their surroundings once they were back on the main road, and from there it had been easy for him to plot their route. The entrance to the Estate was just over the next rise.
They sat together, at first in silence, Henry contemplating his words very carefully.
Lilah, I know I have asked you this already, but are you sure that you know what you are doing? If you go through with this, there may be no coming back. Your father...he won't forgive you. Your mother...Lilah...your mother...?
We both know she's not my real mother, Henry!
Delilah scowled at him. He was getting used to this!
Yes, of course, I know that. But she loves you all the same, Lilah. This will break both of their hearts.
I break her heart every single day, Henry! Don't you understand that? I see how she looks at me...I am a constant reminder to her of my father's infidelity; his betrayal.
She looked away quickly, her eyes brimming. Henry took her hand and held it, gently. She didn't pull away this time.
When will you let it go, Lilah? For your sake, when will you leave the past in the past? This has tormented and driven you for too long. She's not coming back. For goodness sakes, she abandoned you at birth. In all these years...nothing...and still you...
Henry's voice was soft, patient. He couldn't stand to see her being torn apart inside. He didn't want to hurt her but he felt her pain too intensely himself, and he knew he could not bear it much longer.
But I need to know, Henry, I need to know...
Lilah, if you give Danny the plans, your life as you know it will be over. Your father will likely go to jail; or worse! Your mother will be left alone, again... Just think about it. Reconsider your options, Lilah, you don't have to do this. Let's forget all of this and go back home. I can help you...
Henry's voice drifted off, his pleas falling on deaf ears.
But he is the only one who can help me, Henry. If I do this one thing for him and show him my loyalty, there is a chance that he will repay that in kind. And if anyone in the entire Barony has the network, power, and influence to help me to find my birth mother, it is Danny Rupert!
Henry gave her hand a final squeeze and then released it. He stood slowly and walked solemnly towards the horses. When he returned, reins in hand, he passed Jet over to Delilah. He hesitated briefly and then looked her straight in the eye.
If you still choose to enter the Estate, Lilah, you will go alone. I can't do this anymore. I love you and I won't stop you, but I will tell you here and now, that once you are safely through the gates, I will be headed back to your father, to forewarn him of the calamity that is bound to ensue.
Delilah stared back at him long and hard. And then she kissed him, and for a time, everything stood still, and it was just the two of them.
When their lips parted, she turned heel, saddled up, and disappeared into the night.
Henry broke.
He was composing himself and preparing to head back to the hills and the Solar Baron's Old Estate when a dark figure broke through the thicket in front of him.
Who goes there?
He demanded, ready to flee on Amber. The figure came into view.
Erm...hello good sire...and uh...funny you should ask that...!
This is my entry for A Tale of Two Pizzas, the first Hive Blockchain Novella collaboration by @dibblers.dabs.
You can follow the story to date here by reading the archived post link and getting up to date with where we are in the story. Please feel free to join in next week and submit an entry yourself.
Photo created using the Canva Pro library.
@dibblers.dabs here is my entry to A tale of 2 Pizzas week 15. @wrestlingdesires, tagged as requested ;-)
Awesome! It seems Henry and Delilah may end up in different camps! I like what you've done with Wes here! I'll be doing results and the next section tomorrow. It will be too late tonight to get the post up as I have an early start in the morning! !PIZZA !ALIVE !LUV
thanks Dabs. I enjoyed writing it. I had no idea until today that Henry would leave her, but I thought it necessary to inject conflict of the heart and an added layer of tension and stretched loyalties...and I had no idea until she kissed him, that she would do that either. For me, the scene just worked. I was actually really happy with it. I had planned to reveal that Delilah's family tree wasn't quite what we were expecting, but @an-man beat me to it, rather brilliantly I might add, and I thought the follow-through of that reveal into Delilah and Henry's story would work nicely. And Wes, well ...I have a plan for him but it remains to be seen whether I can carry it through amongst the other strong writers here 😂💗 !PIZZA !ALIVE !LOLZ
The twist with Delilah's parents is a great touch- @an-man has been rolling with the Italian barons storyline for a while now but it seems ripe to intersect with one of our other plotlines anytime now! I enjoyed this piece very much- time will tell whether it all works out as you envisioned 🤣 !PIZZA !ALIVE
They are defiantly going to intersect....the seas are blowing strongly toward this meeting.
Glad to hear it! I can't wait to see how it all plays out in the coming weeks! !PIZZA
It is really coming to a head waters. Exciting times here and there. !PIZZA
!PIZZA !ALIVE
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hee hee...I suspect things are going to get interesting all round as our characters all start bumping into each other and interacting. it was useful knowing what @wrestingdesires and @an-man had written and being allowed to take those elements into account when I wrote my own piece. i tried to write mine in such a way that even if you had not used one of the other contributions, mine would have stood alone fine and vice versa. !PIZZA !ALIVE
:-)
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I'll not interfere with Wes this coming week, can't wait to see what you have in mind ❤️
!LOL you are very welcome to...in fact, I think it keeps us on our toes, makes the story more collaborative and interesting...I mean look ...@an-man came up with a similar idea to me but accelerated the time frame and gave her a different mother instead of a different father! And it made me sit up and think...woah...spanner...works? Nope - instead... creativity sparked!😍 And I love where it is taking us! But I do love that when we see each other write a piece that works well, we haven't been trying to compete with it :-) I am so enjoying this collaboration with all of you. I can't wait to see which threads we all pick up on this week and how we continue to build the story and tie all the loose ends together. !PIZZA !ALIVE !LUV
It makes sense for each of us to focus on the parts we have been working on, rather than all trying to write our own version of the same pieces of the puzzle. It's just more fun, and makes for a much better story ❤️
That is the sign of a good writer, able to go with the new element. So glad you are writing in this.
I'm super happy to be writing alongside the 3 of you regularly too @an-man. We all work well together😍
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@samsmith1971(1/1) gave you
lolztoken.com
It's riveting
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Use the !LOL or !LOLZ command to share a joke and an $LOLZ. (1/2)
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lolztoken.com
An Orcastra
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You sound like you need a holiday 😂
Don't forget to enjoy Christmas :)
I'll do my best to remember Santa is coming to town hahaha. Just busy at the moment keeping everything running as best I can! !PIZZA !LOLZ
lolztoken.com
It’s not like you’re getting any younger
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Speaking of which, perhaps a 1 week break over Christmas/New Year may not be such a bad idea...what are everyone else's thoughts?
He definitely deserves it! I don't want him missing out on the fun because of us.
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Thanks, checking it now 🙌🙌🙌
I enjoyed reading this, felt like I was actually watching a movie.
I love the twist at the end, I've not been really following the story but it feels like Henry and Delilah have shared a lot together.
Yeah, it really is like an epic movie :) Or an addictive series.
Swers...I'll have to go back to start reading to get a better understanding of the whole story..
It's a fun read :)
Thanks Chinco. It really is a superbly fun collaboration to be involved in...don't sit on the sidelines mate...get reading all 15 weeks so far and bring yourself up to date...and then add to our story...you know you want to😍!PIZZA !ALIVE
Yeahh sure... it's going to be like reading a novel..well it's already a novel. I'll read through it and if I have any thing creative to add I'll write about it. THanks dear ❤️
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Wow... So Henry decided to stay loyal to her father, even after the kiss? That took a lot of integrity. I hope it works out for him.
!PIZZZA !ALIVE !LUV !LOL
Excellent writing as always ❤️
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I decided to go for a wok.
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We needed some tension, some conflict, some romance, between them... I know what role I want henry to take on next, I just don't know how to write it yet, or whether he is ready for it... maybe bumping into Wes (presumably) may cause another unexpected change in tack?
We are forgetting someone else too. Delilah can't abandon Mirabel 🤯I have a feeling that sooner or later, she will visit her first home again.
Oh...I have been thinking about Mirabel too...how funny...not sure exactly what role she will play yet...been toying... but I think the cat with 9 lives needs to be important. If you have any ideas, just let us know you are gonna write her and run with it :-)
Will do :) My main thought would be that she's the one thing still tying Delilah to her old home. If Henry is to reunite with her, it would be possible to do so elsewhere. But cats can't really read a message and grab a horse from the stables 😂
Yes! Exactly! I agree 100%. Mirabel is really important to her and she will definitely want to return home for her so that gives us a purpose for her return. And I do think she loves her parents; she just has much bigger things going on in her 14-year-old mind at the moment...and we all know that teens can be self-absorbed at the best of times. I think Delilah's motives are that of a 14-year-old child who feels the angst of abandonment and shame and has a need for belonging and acceptance and to meet the woman who gave birth to her and understand the reasons why she left. I don't think she gets all the politics, but maybe one day she will surprise us with her insights for one so young. She is certainly strong-willed, independent, impatient, and often impetuous. Henry is her counterbalance. Even if he makes decisions that no longer support her actions, I still see him fulfilling this role in a more subtle manner at the very least. Mirabel gives her unconditional love and perhaps in their quiet times becomes her muse (?), if a cat can be a muse...
I think a cat or any other animal could definitely be a muse :) ...
And yeah, she's still a kid, but she's old enough to understand a lot. But she doesn't have access to all of the pieces either. Like us, she doesn't know what is driving her father to take such drastic action.
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@clixmoney, I forgot to tag you in this week's collaboration post of mine for A Tale of 2 Pizzas Not sure if I need to or not or whether just using the #dcc and #dcooperation tags are sufficient?
Using #dcc tag is enough.
🙏