Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting. Now you can't sue me for copyright infringement... stuff.
A/N: Here's chapter two! I hope that people enjoy my story, and thank you for the reviews, the favorites, and the alerts! They really made my day.
The journey back to the manor was a peaceful one. They were exchanging stories, mostly on Jesse's part. He spoke of the sights they saw, the places he visited, and the adventures the entire Tuck family went on.
"We traveled the across this entire continent you know? Managed to visit forty-eight states. Mae was so surprised when we went to South Dakota a few decades ago. The view from Mount Rushmore was amazing. Not as good as Paris's Eiffel Tower, which in turn makes it not as good as mine, but it was pretty good. We all agreed that my Eiffel Tower had the best view in the world. Miles wanted to get a raise out of me by saying the one in Paris beat mine by two-fold… it was a good attempt. Too bad Mae and Tuck supported my side. Sure, they were laughing, but it was still a pretty intense argument.
"After that discussion, there were a few jokes thrown around, but it became pretty quiet after that. Our faces and moods were happy, but the atmosphere… you can look everywhere, but there's very few places that feel like home. And our home is here, in Treegap. Everyone knew that, but we started getting impatient. You'd think that living for over two centuries would increase our patience… but we still act our ages you know. It'd be kind of creepy if I started acting like how someone my actual age would act." Jesse spoke animatedly while walking, turning to look at where he was going every now and then, but he was mostly facing Winnie. He was looking all over her face, as though he couldn't get enough of it.
Winnie laughed. "Acting like how someone your actual age would act? Dead you mean? I don't think that normal people could ever get to how old you are right now."
Jesse grinned good-naturedly. "I suppose. But you know, most normal people wouldn't be able to get to your age either, Miss Foster."
She slapped him lightly on his arm. "OW!" He exclaimed, clutching his arm dramatically. "I haven't seen you in about a century, and this is how you treat me? I can see how much you love me!" Jesse grinned at her, to make sure she understood that he was merely joking.
"Oh, stop exaggerating, Jesse Tuck!" She giggled, before looking thoughtful. "Though you know, we are quite an odd pair. Living as long as we are right now."
He stopped, placed the basket on the ground, lifted and spun her once. "No, love. Odd is what you say when you don't know what to call someone. The word you're looking for is 'weird'. 'Weird' translates out to 'different', which could mean 'unique', and you, Winnie Foster, are definitely unique, which is why I love you so much!"
Jesse kissed her quickly and picked up the basket again. He noticed her staring oddly at him, and shrugged as he continued walking. "It was something I picked up over the years. 'Weird is good, strange is bad, and odd is when you don't know what to call someone. Weird is the same as different, which is the same as unique, then weird is good!' Or something among those lines. You coming?" He looked back at her. She blushed slightly, embarrassed, and jogged up the path to catch up.
He finally noticed the clothing that she was wearing a pair of sweatpants, a rather comfortable looking T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Noticing that he was looking at her clothing, Winnie grinned. "Styles these days are much better than corsets. That's one of the better things that happened as society advanced. Like I told my mother: the French are…were crazy."
The two finally exited the woods. After crossing the road, they entered the house. Jesse looked around curiously. It was his first time in there. Before he could comment, footsteps could be heard, rapidly approaching them.
"WINNIE!!" A small girl cried out and almost flew into her. Winnie laughed and caught her in an embrace as though it were a regular thing occurrence.
"Hello to you too, Vicky." She held the girl in her arms and turned to Jesse. "Jesse, this is Victoria Porter. Vicky, this is Jesse Tuck." She introduced.
Vicky stared at the stranger with her green eyes. After a few moments, she smiled brightly. "Hello, Mr. Tuck! I'm Vicky."
Jesse blinked, before laughing. "Nice to meet you, Vicky. You can just call me Jesse. Mr. Tuck is something someone would call Tuck." He explained to Winnie. "It's… it's just really odd being called Mr. Tuck. People rarely call me that."
"Vicky, did you clean your room yet?" She asked the girl, who simply looked at the ground. Winnie shook her head slightly. "Why don't you go and clean your room first, and then come and talk with Jesse, okay?" She looked at the girl as Vicky nodded and ran up the stairs. "Come on, I'll explain everything to you in the living room."
After settling down in the living room, Winnie began. "Victoria Porter was eight when she first drank from that spring."
It was a blistering summer day in the year 1972. A young girl could be seen creeping near the woods. Creeping wasn't really the correct word for her actions. She was merely walking softly around the trees, brimming with curiosity. These woods were legendary. There were many stories surrounding it circulating the town. Strange ones would pop up every now and then, but only a few were about the owner of the woods. The owner was said to be a young and beautiful lady who would never sell the land. Few had ever seen her, and their mouths were sealed on how she looked.
Victoria Porter was an orphan; had been all her life. Her parents had died when she was but a baby due to circumstances that never reached her ears. She stayed at a nearby orphanage. The lady who watched over all the children often overlooked her by accident because she was shorter than the other children.
She took advantage of that fact that once, and took that time to explore the mysterious woods of Treegap. There, she met the owner of the woods, Winifred Foster. Crashed right into her actually. Vicky, once that she was in the woods, started running gleefully. She was so caught up in her happiness, that she stopped looking where she was headed and ran into Winnie.
The two, after that meeting, started spending time with each other, as though they were sisters from birth rather than a pair of strangers that met the other just a few days before. Vicky mostly spent time in the manor with Winnie. If she ever went into the woods after that first meeting, it was always with Winnie. It was as though… Winnie didn't want her in the woods by herself… like there was something to hide.
Two months after their first meeting, the two were in the manor once again. Winnie had to run on a quick errand to the town, and requested that Vicky remained in the manor. After getting the girl's agreement, she left, and Vicky was alone in the house. It was such a curious thing that there were no servants in the house. Winnie was rich. Didn't all rich people have servants?
Of course, being so young, Vicky dismissed these thoughts. After a while, they started heading towards the woods. What were in them? What were these woods hiding? After a short while, her curiosity started to get the better of her. A short trip to the woods wouldn't harm anyone. Besides, she had always been there with Winnie. She would just spend time in the areas that she was familiar in. Nothing bad was going to happen. And she was right. Nothing bad did happen… but something did happen in those woods.
A/N: Haha, yeah, the rest of the flashback will be in the third chapter. Please review or something if you liked it... reviews and stuff really serve as good motivators! Well... I don't think that the movie ever said where Treegap was located, or it slipped past me... but I decided to make it in... Maryland or something near that. Mind you, I don't live in Maryland, so the setting might be off, but oh well. Thank you for reading this chapter! Now I have to go plan out chapter three...