Awake - Book One of the Spinner's Curse

Chapter Five: The Raid

  

                          Chapter Five:

                               The Raid

　

　

           Weeks later, Ryler decided I could go on a raid. It was going to be him, Ben, and me. A small raid, but my heart beat in my chest just thinking about it. The week leading up to it I was excited and jittery. Ben laughed at me, "Settle down, Rory. You'd think we were going shopping or something." I grinned at him.

         "You were like this your first time and I didn't say a word."

         "Yeah, but now I'm older and wiser. I know it's better to treat these things with respect." He smirked and I punched his arm. I had learned violence wasn’t frowned upon within our group, it was expected. Often, arguments within the clans were settled by duels.

         "You hit like a kitten," Ben told me proudly, lifting up one arm and flexing. I hissed at him before pouncing. My knee connected with his stomach. We fell and I made sure I ended up on top. While he was trying to regain his breath, I pinned his arms beneath my legs.

          "Give up?" I asked him proudly. "Or.... Do you need more proof that I can hit harder than a kitten?" He gasped.

          "Man you've gotten fat! Pud probably gives you bigger helpings than the rest of us," he complained. I smacked his head with the flat of my palm.

           "Don't be rude! Pud feeds us all equal." This was a lie. Pud had been sneaking me extra portions since learning about the raid. I hopped off Ben's chest lightly. "You’re just mad that Ryler invited me."

           He rubbed his arms. Pink spots were already forming where my knees had been. "Yeah, Rory, I'm so mad that Ryler's decided that six months after bringing in the biggest haul our clans ever seen your finally ready to go on a big time raid. That's it." He rolled his eyes and pushed past me, heading for the kitchen.

         "Wait! You are mad at me?" He stopped and turned to look at me.

           "No, I'm not. You have very little self-confidence. Sometimes you get this look in your eye...it’s as if you've already given up. On what, I don't know, you never tell me." He shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal and started again toward the kitchen. Another thing I learned about Ben, everything was always about food. If he wasn't stealing, he was eating. I sighed and followed him. My good mood was gone.

           I sat in my usual place between Ben and Lock. The money I earned bought us good quality food, and it had turned out that Pud was an exceptional cook. It had been the main reason Ryler let Pud stay. No one wanted to go back to SkyAnn's cooking. I had never tasted it myself, but from the way Ben and Lock teased her, it couldn't have been good.

           Occasionally, I would see SkyAnn talking and laughing with the others. When she would notice me watching or see me coming, she would quickly scowl at me until I left. Ben told me to ignore her, but I couldn't. Aside from me, she was the only girl in the group. My mind wandered to the portrait on her building. There were two of them painted there, but I had never gotten around to asking Lock why. What had happened to the second girl? The little one?

           Part of the reason I didn't ask was because I knew Lock wouldn't tell me. He would say that it was her story to tell and that it was always best to let people tell it in their own time. I loved this about Lock. He never pressured me into saying anything about my past if I didn't want to. When I did happen to mention something he wouldn't jump on it, trying to pry more from me, and if it were particularly hard for me to say he would wait patiently until I was done.