Primrose Mellark

Chapter Twenty-One

   I yank open my door and crawl inside as fast as I could. I shut the string to the door and tie it securely around the rock, making sure it doesn't blow open by the wind. I had taken out my decorations in the front of my yard-- flowers, extra rocks, dirt, anything that says that there's somebody living in here-- and threw them into the forest. The rain would get rid of my tracks. Hopefully the workers will stay away from the lake altogether.

   What happened with Evan and I is still a shock to me. The turn of events happened so fast. We were hiding behind a bush, with me asking why he showed me. Then we're running to the little cabin that he calls his home. His old home, anyways.  Then we were hiding in that dark, empty cellar for a few moments before the men left. I can still hear the soft breathing of Evan and I as we try to be quiet.

   I shove some more sticks into the fireplace. It's died down quite a bit since I left so suddenly. But I'm slightly afraid that the men will see my smoke, and then come to get me. I shiver and put more branches in the fire.

   The rain is stopping, by the sound of the fading droplets against the lake's waters. I sigh with relief. I can't stand this horrid weather any longer without going insane. 

   My thoughts flicker back to Evan and I. I don't like him, and he doesn't care for me either! Why was I so okay with sitting in there with Evan for those moments? Maybe, it was just from the fear. Of course it was, I tell myself. When your scared, you don't stop to check things that you don't like. A boy, for example.

   I take out extra rabbit from the day before. It's almost going bad, and this is the last of it. I put it on a stick and roast it in the fire. As I rotate it, I try to figure out how long I've been here. Two, three weeks, maybe? That means it's already July, or mid-summer. If I can make it, I can live here until September until I might have to go back, in order for warmth. But with these men here, something says in the back of my mind that I will be staying shorter than that. I pull out my cooked rabbit and gnaw on it, while staring out the little crack in the door. The birds aren't coming back to life quite yet, although the frogs are seeming to have a good time in the new mud.

   I wince as I move my right leg. Curious, I lift up my ragged pant leg. I am shocked to see a long, fresh cut-- or gash-- along my leg. It's nearly the length of my whole hand, and a finger wide. I wonder how I couldnt've felt it before now. I touch a finger gently to it, and pull back with blood on it. I wipe it on my pant, and reach for some cloth. It's long, and I wrap it around and around the wound, wincing with pain. I make sure it's tight, yet loose enough for my leg to breath. In the middle of all this, I remember my mother saying that her little sister, my aunt, was a fantastic nurse. I always wanted to meet her, but mom won't talk about how she died. At all. It's something of a rude manner to talk about it around mom, as papa says to me and Rye. It's the thing she's most sensitive about, which I find hard to believe at some moments.

    I wrap my leg up and finish eating the remains of my rabbit. I also swallow down something called peppermint to help my growing stomach ache. I think it's from the mud I accidentally swallowed while running from the men.  

    Everything is suddenly quiet. Too quiet. The birds stopped singing, no frogs, and it even seems as if the wind stopped moving the grass and lake waters. I turn and lift the door up silently with my one hand. I look outside, and I look around. It's empty. 

   A man's shout makes me quickly retreat into my cave. My pulse quickens, until I can hear my own heartbeat. Slowly, I reach to the side and pick up my bow, and sling some arrows over my shoulder. I'm prepared this time.

   "Malachi!" a man shouts. There's a sounding of what seems like chains rattling against each other. "We caught 'em!" There's footsteps running, and more chains. They are right outside my cave, in the clearing by the lake. I can hear them clearly. I wonder who they caught, or what. I listen fearfully at the conversation.

   "Who are they?" another voice demands. I assume it's Malachi.

   "Them poachers that were stealing along this area." the man says. "We should turn them into the police." Poachers? They mean those two men that were here that one time! I should have known they were going to get caught. I hear the chains again, and shouting. I have a cold feeling that those two men are attached to the chains. 

   "No," Malachi says gruffly. "We can't turn them in. We'll get caught ourselves."

   "How?" the other man demands. "We're supposedly with the guards of the city, remember? They wouldn't question us." What does that mean? That these two men are impostors? I listen for more of the conversation between the two men.

   "We will report you." There's a new voice, yet it's familiar. It's the young man, the poacher that was here.

   There's laughing. "Report us? How about you, poacher? They won't believe you."

   "Who would we report them to?" Malachi asks. "There's nobody around here. We would have to travel. Just to report these idiots!" Silence. I can tell the man is thinking.

   "We could call. Hey. I heard there's a girl and boy on the loose, out here. They chased them to the abandoned house, but then lost them. If we catch them also, we can turn them in, too. Two less things to worry about." The man doesn't sound like he cares whether we die or not. I flinch. Me and Evan will be in trouble if we are caught. If these are really imposers, we might get hurt. But if they turn us into the police, we could easily go to jail for staying behind when everybody was ordered to follow to the new city. Or for trespassing on the construction sight. I clutch my bow tighter.

   "I saw them!" Malachi suddenly says. My blood runs cold as I listen on. "They were in the city hall a few days ago! I was spying on them. They looked like a couple." A couple?! No way! I wanted to go out and show myself to the men, just to say that we weren't a couple. But I can't, unless I want to get me and Evan in more trouble than we actually are.

   "Really?" the man says. The chains rattle. "Shut up, or else you'll get it!" There's a sound of a kick. What are they doing to the poachers? They chained them up, like animals? Cruel... and illegal.

   "They have to be here somewhere," Malachi says. They don't know how close I am, actually. "Let's hunt them down."

   "Very well. But as soon as we get these guys somewhere else. Let's go." the man says. The chains rattle again, but this time there's more footsteps. They're all walking away. My hands are sweating, and my chest feels heavy. We're in trouble, now. How am I supposed to warn Evan, without getting caught? I have no idea where he is.

   What he says makes me think. They aren't a part of the guards, or whatever they are, that's for sure. Yet they caught the poachers. They are out to get me and Evan. We might get imprisioned, or worse. Killed.

   Things aren't turning out so well.

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hey guys! sorry for the late update! i hope to get more done on this story! and sorry for the short chapter(s).

-katniss_on_fire13