The tide turns

Chapter 8 / The village

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One day passed and Thorfinn didnt show up. At first gudrid had assumed that he would just get there later than he usually did, so she sat there on the beach in silence, in the cold with the blanket drawer tightly around her to fend off the biting cold that was turning her cheeks and nose red.
She fiddled a little with her splint and picked at the scab of one of her healed cuts on her hands.

At every sound gudrid perked up thinking that he was finally there, but as the shadows grew longer and the sun set behind the trees she realized that he wouldn't be coming.

She had no idea where he went every day, and she had no idea if she should be worried about him.

"He'll come tomorrow" she tried to convince herself. It was the first day she had spent all on her own since she washed up on the beach. She tried to count the stars in the sky as she had the first night, to try and slow her rapid thought.

She wondered what she would do if Thorfinn didnt show up again. Maybe she should look for him, even though he had told her never to follow him... but if she didn't find him... if he had left her, shopuld she just go? She had known it would always come to that, going alone, but it still scared her.

After her shipwreck she didnt have the same confidence in herself, not when she was alone at least.

Her mind was muddled and she felt tears in her eyes. When Thorfinn showed up —because he surely would, right? She was just thinking of the worst possible outcomes— she was gonna tell him how much he upset her, wether he had a good reason or not.

But... Thorfinn didnt show up the next day either.

It was still cold, but gudrid wasn't freezing as much, now, instead of sitting and waiting she paced up and down the same street of beach for what felt like hours. She watched the sun rise, she had been too restless to sleep through the night, and as it stood high up in the middle of the sky Gudrid decided to look for him.

Why would he just stop coming? Gudrid didnt recall having said something that seemed to have struck a nerve, not since the day she tried to guess his name.

She walked up the slope to the trees and placed her hand on the large trunk.

Disobeying Thorfinn's command made her a little uneasy, he had been so serious about it, and she still remembered the heavy feeling in her gut when from the moment she had asked if there was a village beyond there.

She shook her head, her hair flying around her as she stepped into the forest.

It was immediately easy to find the path Thorfinn took. The grass was lower, having been stepped up so it made a path, and branches that had been in the way had been broken and cut.

It felt strange, suddenly being surrounded by trees on all sides, she looked up and the sky had almost been entirely covered by the crowns. She allowed herself to smile. She had dreamed of a place like this...

Soon she stepped out of the wild forest, a few plants and leaves hanging onto her clothes like they were begging her not to go farther. She brushed them off before she looked up, and when she did a deep confusion settled over her.

"What?... why would Thorfinn..."

Why would Thorfinn lie?

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It didnt take long for Thorfinn to catch up. It was early in the middle of the day he arrived at the place they had set up camp and was in the middle of clearing up so they could leave again.