SONGS AND TRAILS (Book 1)

CHAPTER 28

"I need hawks up in the sky. Now." Caldor ordered and a few HawkEye's were instantly up. "Ms. Talari, stop crying and get in the air." Mia nodded and was in the air in no time. "The rest of you... just please help me find the girl... if you care."

Some went on and some just stayed behind not caring about it.

"Caldor." Mima held him behind.

"Yes."

"Hawks in the air." Mima told him and Caldor was confused but it finally hit him. He ran off to the others, searching, hoping.

They were all scattered searching and HawkEye's looking down on them. Arabella was with Finn and they were doing their best. Arabella made the effort she couldn't on finding Queenie until Mia came by.

"They HawkEye's found something." Mia pointed to the HawkEye's trainees circling something as if protecting a territory and Finn called Bella to go.

Arabella ran after him until it finally hit her. She remembered...

"This is also death with..." she traces a sign, "...I think this is wings... vultures... no... what is this?" she asked Mima.

"Hawks."

Mima's vision. Hawks circling death.

Arabella almost stopped in her tracks but just had to go on, hoping, praying it was not what she thought it was. The HawkEye's trainees were already on the ground and surprisingly everyone else. Finn had gotten on his knees and Bella could see the little body of a girl.

She got close to see Queenie lying there on the ground and she swallowed hard. She wasn't hurt, she looked like she had no scars. She looked fine. She squatted next to Finn and she saw how pale the little girl was. Pale.

She touched her soft skin and she turned her face to see a nook at her neck. It had been broken. She gulped hard holding back the lump in her throat. She fixed her, straightened her up, straightened her legs and her arms, and fixed her eyes as she took off the blindfold. She had hazel green eyes, beautiful eyes, lifeless eyes. Finn removed a clean white cloth and handed it to her. Bella covered her eyes with it, quiet all the while, and then fixed a smile on the girl's face then turned to look at the others who were just observing, quietly.

"Well, she's okay now." She forced a smile then turned back to face Queenie and fixed her hair.

A sob escaped Mia and she covered her mouth with her hand. Daya couldn't breathe. Every time she exhaled, smoke came with, and she was angry, infuriated. Finn got up and stepped back and in no time he sped- left the spot with hurt on his face.

"Is this what you do?" Daya shouted furiously in the middle of the market and everyone just observed cowardly and hypocritically. "You just execute without trial just because there's no rule here?"

Bella just stroked the girl's hair when Mima showed up and knelt in front of her.

"Bella." Bella raised her head to look at her and Mima saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so so sorry."

Finally, Bella broke and released a sob bending her head and letting her hair cover her sides so that no one saw her tears. She cried hard, clenching her fists, letting the tears drop onto little Queenie lying there on the dirt. Mima just put a hand on her shoulder but it didn't help, Bella pulled off not wanting to be touched.

"Do you think this is fair?" Daya asked them. "Do you think this is right?"

"What do you know about what's right or wrong?" a man said and Daya turned to see the same man who pushed Bella down and almost got into a fight with Caldor the other day at the market.