Civilized

Ch. 6

I was with Jake for a good five minutes until I didn't hear the sounds of shouts or hoof steps again.
"I'm going out," I said lifting myself of the tight corner we shared. He seemed surprised when I suddenly spoke up, but didn't say anymore and followed me.
"I'll run towards camp, then you go off and join them, saying you were searching for me too. Whatever happens, they're going to blame me for it. We'll go together till we see the camp," I explained. He nodded simply, to my satisfaction.
We tiptoed out first, then I led us by running silently towards the main road. His steps were much louder, but I tried to ignore it no matter how much it bothered me.
When we got to the road, I shushed him one last time before pointing in the direction he had to go. He lingered with me for a while before hesitantly nodding. It seemed like he was wanting to say something, but he didn't try to when I left crossing across the road to the other side.
I ran and ran until the camp came into view. Luckily no one was there except a soldier about to dose off. But he was in the opposite side of the camp, so I easily slipped into my tent.
Once inside, I sat and placed a hand on the zipper. Before I could, though, someone from the outside grasped my fingers tugging them outside.
"Where have you been!?" He shouted. I looked up fearfully. Jake's brother held me roughly by the wrist. I was still on the ground as he'd literally dragged me on the ground to get me out.
"Stand up and explain to me!" He demanded. Not letting go of my hand, I stood up, my knees shaking vigorously.
"Well?" He said sternly, letting go of my hand. I brought my wrist to my other hand and rubbed the part where he'd pulled.
"I'm sorry, I-I was going to the bathroom, and then I saw a spider. It surprised me, so that's why I screamed," I said.
He looked down on me with scornful eyes. He heaved a big, heavy sigh before crossing his arms. He pinched the spot between his eyes and stood silent for a while. Jake's brother frightened me a lot because he had such a muscly build. He easily towered above the rest and demanded full attention from them. But the soldier who took me from the Chinese didn't seem fearful of him in the least. He instead befriended Jake's brother.
"Is this good enough?" He suddenly murmured. I looked up from my thoughts, and saw him peeking through his hand.
"I'm sorry," he put down his hand from his face. He was looking around the camp, probably in case anyone would see us.
"There's a few of them over there, I was just waiting for them to move. Sorry if I scared you. And you didn't have to lie," he said with the smile just like Jake's. He crossed his arms and leaned in.
"Just helping my brother out with a girl. Nothing new, right?" He said. He stood up straight again.
"You scared me, but thanks anyways," I murmured. He smiled again, and nodded.
"Of course. Don't worry about it. See you later Fiera," he smiled even broader and waved bye. I waved back, then secretively snuck back into the tent closing the flap.
Inside, my hands shook from the shocking encounter. I was so shocked that I felt my hands shaking and to stop them, sat on them. I sighed and blew out to calm down. Again, I heard another tap on the tent flap. Hesitantly, I asked who was there. They sighed first before answering back.
"Fiera, it's just me," they said. I blew another huge sigh of relief. It was just Jake.
"You know how scared I was when your brother caught me here? I was so shaken up," I complained opening the tent flap. He laughed silently.
"Bruce was here? How funny. But you should be lucky you know. I had to give up my dessert to have him keep our secret, "he complained wide eyed. Now it was my turn to laugh.
"But, aren't you supposed to be at your tent?" I asked. He shook his head.
"I've already told them my side of our fake story. They think I was out looking for you now," he explained.
"That's a relief, but, you should really get going now. It's really late," I said. He seemed hesitant just like when we went our separate ways, but he said goodbye and ran off.
The next day, we arrived into town and one of the more observant soldiers noticed I had a huge tear in the hem of my dress and that dirt was stained from the collar down. They didn't ask how it got there, thank goodness, but they all made am agreement that I was to get a new one. They played some kind of game similar to the one we played in the village. Like that, they split off into three groups to get some work done. Four men, and Jake who was yet to be a man, accompanied me into town.
"Fiera, do you know how to go shopping for a dress?" Asked Jake. The soldiers behind us stopped there low key conversation and listened. Clearly they were wondering this too.
"No, I don't. Unlike you, I was born in a village where we didn't pay for our clothes, but made it ourselves," I said matter of factly. He took the message and stayed quiet the rest of the walk.
"Hello there," greeted an elderly woman when we entered what they called a tailor's shop. They greeted back in unison while I stayed quiet. The woman smiled warmly at the clueless group of men.
"Are you here to buy something for the young lady?" She asked. The men all nodded along with Jake.
The woman stole me away from them, and to their dismay, began trying dresses on me and presenting me to them. They groaned when I wasn't there, but then clapped and commented nicely when I came out. In the end, we got two dresses because the men were feeling quite pressured to get out. Plus, she was quite the saleswoman.
"Let's never do that again," huffed Jake when we finally left. I laughed at them. Even I was surprised how well I'd kept my cool in there. Maybe it was my feminine side coming through.
The next day, we began travels with a new member of the group.