Chapter List
�Where�s the water bucket, Jewell?� I asked her. She looked at me with a look of worry.
�I dropped the bucket. I�m sorry.� I sighed and looked down in the well.
�That�s okay.� I told her. �This well is shallow so it won�t be that hard to get it back.� Even though I wasn�t too sure on how I would do it.
�I just haven�t had to get water from a well before, we usually got ours from a stream.� She said to me. I looked at her and smiled.
�Well, you�ll learn eventually. It�s not that hard. Now, to get that bucket out.� I looked back down the well and tried to figure out a way to get it back. The well was about eight feet deep so it wouldn�t be easy to get back out if I just jumped in. I looked around and saw a long stick with a curved end. I figured that as long as the bucket didn�t get too much water in it then I could grab the handle with the end of the stick. I picked the stick up and found it to be just over three feet long.
�Um, Jewell? I think I have an idea. I�ll lower you down into the well an� you grab the bucket using this stick.� I told her while handing her the stick. She looked at me then at the well.
�Are you sure if this�ll work?� She asked.
�It should.� I told her. She looked back at me with a nervous expression.
�I don�t think I can do this.� I shook my head slightly.
�It�ll be fine, I just lower you down an� you get it an� I�ll pull you back up.� She nodded slightly and climbed up onto the well side and leaned over it with the stick in one hand. I grabbed her by her ankles and slowly started to lower her down. She was surprisingly light in weight. I lowered her down as far as I could, leaning partway over the side myself. I held her there as she moved the stick around, trying to catch the bucket with the end of it.
�Alright I got it!� She called up to me. I leaned back to pull her out until I was standing up strait. I continued to move backwards, pulling her farther out of the well. I just about had her waist out when I lost my footing and slipped forwards, hitting my jaw on the side of the well. I lost grip of one of her ankles, making her slip down at an awkward angle. She gave out a short yell from the sudden drop back down and started squirming. I shook my head of dizziness and I could taste blood in my mouth from hitting my jaw. I felt her movements and started to lose grip of my other hand, which still held her other ankle.
�Don�t move!� I told her. She stopped moving and quietly whimpered to herself. I slowly got back up and reached for her ankle that had dropped and started to pull her up.
�I got you, don�t worry.� I said trying to calm her. I pulled her farther and grabbed her around the waist when she was far enough up and lifted her out of the well. I set her on the ground and she dropped the bucket next to the well and hugged me tightly.
�Thank you so much, Renard. I was afraid I was going to fall.� She said to me. I smiled and put my hands on her shoulders and eased her off of me.
�It�s alright, everything is okay. Now lets get back inside before one of the guards come.� She nodded to me and walked back to the house as I tied the bucket to a rope and lowered it down and got the water.