The Main Characters speak...

I wrote a lot of dialogue in today's entry, which has come in at a little over 1000 words. After 3 days, my November writing total stands at 2774. That's not bad!! At this rate, The Forgotten Children should be a decent enough length at the end of the month.
Anyway, here is the next instalment.
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Charlotte stifled a yawn as the two friends walked back along the dirt track towards the cottages.
“Why are you so tired?” said Troy. “Did you stay awake all night?”
Charlotte shook her head. “No,” she said. “At least, I think I slept soundly. But it took me forever to wake this morning. I was exhausted, even though I slept well past sunrise.” She took a breath and looked across at her friend. “Promise that you will not laugh at me,” she began.
“I promise,” said Troy at once. “Is something the matter?”
“That’s just it,” said Charlotte. “I am not sure. I feel as if something happened to me last night. I have been trying all morning to remember what it was, but the memory will not come.”
“Perhaps you just had a bad dream,” suggested Troy.
Charlotte shrugged. “I suppose so,” she said, but even as she spoke the words, she knew she didn’t feel convinced by that explanation.

Shaking off her sense of unrest, she turned to smile at Troy. “I can carry that bucket myself, you know,” she said. “I do it every morning.”
“I know,” said Troy. “I just thought I would give you a break, especially since you are so tired.”
“Thanks,” said Charlotte. The two walked in companionable silence for a few moments. Suddenly Charlotte remembered Troy’s earlier excitement. “Oh, tell me!” she said. “Why are people saying that our town is cursed?”

“I thought you would never ask,” said Troy, his enthusiasm returning immediately. “They are saying that it is all the fault of that stranger who took away the vermin.”
Charlotte frowned. “I don’t remember any stranger,” she said. “I haven’t seen anyone different in the town.”
“But surely you must have noticed that the vermin around here have suddenly disappeared?” said Troy.
“Actually, I hadn’t until just now,” said Charlotte. “Of course! Lately the rats have been so bad that they were running everywhere. We lost some bags of grain and I’ve even had to check our water bucket each morning, in case it wasn’t empty.”

“It has been the same all over the village,” said Troy. “I am surprised you didn’t hear Mother the other morning. An entire family of rats had made their way into our cottage and were scurrying across the floor into the pantry when she awoke. Anyway, yesterday a strange man appeared in the square. He was tall with a coat that was all the colours of the rainbow. His eyes were dark and bright and they looked at everyone in turn. Finally, he marched up to Father and announced that he could rid the town of all the rats.”

“Oh, I wish I could have seen that,” said Charlotte, “but there was so much to do at home. What did your father say?”
“He said yes, of course,” answered Troy. “He has been worried for weeks now about how to get rid of the rats. ‘A Mayor should be able to solve the problems of a town’ he says. He asked the other members of the Town Council as well, but they all agreed immediately. They even agreed to pay him more than any rat catcher has ever been paid before.”

“How did he manage to get rid of all the rats?” said Charlotte.
“That was the best part of all,” said Troy. “From his pack he pulled out a long pipe and began to play. At first, everyone thought that he was a fraud, as none of us could hear a thing. But all of a sudden, the very earth started to shake and rats appeared from everywhere. They were climbing all over each other, trying to reach the rat catcher and his pipe. So he began to move towards the river and before we knew it, all the rats had followed him into the water and drowned.”

“That is amazing,” said Charlotte. “No wonder he commanded a high price. How much was he paid?”
At that, Troy looked embarrassed. “Well… nothing,” he admitted.
Charlotte stopped walking. “Nothing?” she repeated. “But I thought you said everyone agreed to pay him higher than ever before?”

“They did,” said Troy. “But afterwards they started talking amongst themselves. They started to think that since nobody knew him and he did look awfully strange, that maybe he was a magician who had charmed the rats here in the first place. And if that was true, then they owed him nothing for taking away the trouble he had caused in the first place. So they told him they were not going to pay.”
“And he was not happy?” guessed Charlotte.
“He was not,” said Troy. “He stormed out of the village, but vowed that he would make them regret their decision.” Troy stopped walking and looked around him before continuing, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“And then, this morning, there was an owl,” he said. “It was sitting outside our window, staring in at us. When I came into the square, I discovered that our cottage was not the only cottage it had visited. Others had seen it too. And as you know, an owl is an ill omen. That was when the rumour started. Since the owl appeared when the stranger left, he must have cursed us.” He paused dramatically, finally focusing on his friend’s face. Charlotte had gone white. “Charlotte?” he said, concerned. He put down the bucket and took her by the arm. “Are you all right?”

Charlotte shook her head. “The owl,” she said, softly. “An owl came to me last night too. I have just remembered. It was the middle of the night and I saw it from my window.”
“I’m sure it was just a coincidence,” said Troy, concerned at the effect his story had had. You fool, he said to himself. Look at how you have frightened her. “ Come on, let’s get you home.”

But Charlotte shook off his arm. “No, you don’t understand!” she said. “It spoke to me! I could hear it in my mind. It said I belonged to it. It said it was coming for me.” She turned to Troy, her eyes wide. “If this town is cursed, then I must be too!” she said. “But why? I never even saw the stranger! Troy, what am I going to do?”