"No, Grandmother! Stay back," Will said and drew the boy away from her grasping hands.
"What of your sister and your father? Have you thought of them?" Grandmother Iris asked.
His father turned a stern face to Will and told him, "I will not lose you or your sister to that river's curse. That child cannot remain in this house, or all of us will suffer. Take him away. Leave him at the crossroads. Leave it to fate to decide..."
"No. I will not abandon him," Will said, but his grandmother wanted to consign the boy to a much worse fate.
"This thing has blighted our house. The child must be driven out straight back to that river. Let the river take him. Throw him into the cursed water!" she shrieked.
His grandmother's heartless words shook Will to the core. "No. That is pure wickedness," he gasped. "I will not!"
"You need not go that far. But, son, rid yourself of this child. He surely carries a curse," his father told him, speaking calmly. "Take him away from here. If you don't, the village will turn on us all."
That was true enough. The others in the village would never suffer a cursed child to remain among them. And none in the house that harbored him would be spared their wrath. The child was not safe here. Will's own grandmother as much as wanted the child dead.
It was clear to him now. The child must be away from this place, this very house. And if the child had to go, then Will did too. The boy was too small to be abandoned to take his chances in the world.
"The boy and I will go and be on our way then," Will said firmly.
"No, not you too, son," his father said.
"I must go with him. A little boy like him cannot be on his own. How would he live? This child is mine to take care of until his kin are found," Will told his father.
"You will return when you find this child's proper home. Then you will come back to us?" his father asked.
"If I find his kin," Will told him as he backed away toward the front door of the cottage.
"Hold up, son. You will need some provisions for your journey," his father told him. "Wait and I will get what you need."
Uncertain, Will hesitated at the door. His father hastily grabbed bread and cheese and stuffed them into a satchel. A flask of water went in too. With the satchel in hand, he approached Will where he waited in the doorway.
"You cannot go without saying a word to your sister. Before you set off, you must wait for Sally to return so she can wish you a safe journey," his father reminded him, but to Will it appeared as if he was determined to delay him.
Will backed up, stepping out of the doorway and into the courtyard. As his father held out the satchel for him to take, his eyes never wavered from Will's. At the same time, his grandmother looked only at the boy. The very next time his father took a step toward him, Will turned away, ready to run.
He did not get far. Having dropped the satchel, his father encircled Will with his arms. In the same instant, Grandmother took hold of the boy and wrenched him from Will's grasp. She could not hold on to him though. Somehow the boy wriggled away from her.
"Fiend!" Grandmother shrieked at him and could not grab him again. Having held him for only a second, his grandmother was more horrified of the boy than ever.
Meanwhile, Will struggled to get free while his father held his arms pinned to his sides in a strong hold. The boy was free for the moment, but Grandmother had taken up the rake that leaned on the fence. She was using it to drive him into the corner of the yard.
"What will you do with him?!" Will asked though he would rather not know. "Don't harm him."
"Hush, boy. Mother, there is no need to capture that child. Throw rocks at him. Drive him away," his father told her.
"No. Leave him be!" Will shouted while attempting to get free.
Holding up the rake threateningly, Grandmother stubbornly continued to stalk the boy though he was more nimble than she was. "Don't concern yourself with that. I'll do what's best. Son, you take care of your child, I'll take care of this cursed thing," she said to Will's father. She struck out with the rake to strike the boy, but he was fast and slipped by her.
Imprisoned by his father's hold on him, Will could not help the child. His father's strong arms were crushing his chest like steel bands. It did not matter. His father and his grandmother would not separate him from the boy.
Just then Will saw his chance. His struggle had made his father stumble close to the tree in their courtyard. His back was turned to it and there was a low branch that Sally liked to swing from. Rallying all of his remaining strength into one swift heave, Will pushed his father off balance. His shoulder hit the branch and his hold on Will was no longer strong enough. While his father tried to keep from falling, Will wrenched himself free.
At a run, Will scooped up the boy. Through the courtyard and out of the gate, Will went rushing headlong down the village lanes before his father could recover.
As he ran with the boy, Will hoisted him over his shoulder. Behind him, Will heard his father calling his name. Though his father called for him to come back, Will could not chance it. They would not see reason. He left with nothing, too afraid of what his grandmother might do if the child stayed in her presence one minute more.
Even as he ran away, he could hear her yelling for his father to give up his chase. "Our Will is lost. Forsake him. Let him go. He will never return," his grandmother shouted after his father. "Look how he clings to that boy and will not relinquish him though the child be touched by evil. Will is the same. Both are cursed."
His father would not be discouraged. He ran after Will though he was not as quick. If Will had not seen Sally at Mrs. Hubble's gate, his father would not have caught up to him. But seeing her so confused and frightened, Will could not pass her by.
Will stopped. "I'm sorry, Sally. I must go now. Take care of yourself," he said, already out of breath. Shifting the boy so he held him more gently, Will looked behind him then Sally did too.
"What? Is Father chasing after you, Will?" she asked, her expression bewildered.
"He is. I cannot let him take this boy," Will told her.
"You're not going away for good, are you, Will?" she said.
"I don't know," he told her in all honesty.
"Don't, Will. Wait," she implored him. "Take me too then. I want to go with you."
"No. Grandmother and Father need you. I'm sorry, Sally, I love you." Just as Will said this, he saw that his father was upon them.
"No, Will, wait," his father said and tried to grab onto his arm but merely snagged his sleeve.
Will struggled away before his father could take hold of him properly.
"Stay here. You belong with us, not with this cursed child," his father said.
"This child is mine to take care of and protect," Will said.
"Don't go, Will," his father said but there was no hope left in his voice.
Though his father made no further move to hold or restrain him, Will shied away from him like a frightened animal. His father only stared hard at him while sorrow filled his eyes. The sight of it made Will want to cry, but the grief he caused his father could not make him stay. With the boy in his arms, Will ran as fast as he could, past the hedges, down the village lanes and out of Talisbury.