DETERRENT - Apply Fic

14

"We're going to get sent home," Gale whispers.

Eurydice cackles, staring Faris down, "more afraid of the bitch farmer than the panopticon?"

Faris' chest puffs out, shoulders back, and Norbu leaps between him and Eurydice, "I already have enough injuries on my hands without you two scrapping. Come on, lets go to the farmhouse. And you better bet your life savings that the farmer's got wound closure strips, buckets of ice, and liquor."

~~~

 In the glow of the porchlight, Kae looks more like a North Marcadian than an Elysite. Calath isn't in the farmhouse. Kae bolts back to the fire but only Harvey and Rhiannon Rose are there. They sit quietly around the flames.

Harvey looks Kae before she can sprint away, "what is it?'

Kae clamps her lips tightly and bows her head.

"Well?"

"I..." she looks down. "I need Calath."

"Why?"

Harvey doesn't need sharpened teeth to scowl.

"I..." Kae's voice is caught in her throat.

She sprints off around the house. He can't catch her. They both know it. There is nowhere she can avoid him though for the next ten weeks. Her hand is sweaty. Kae's father should have listened to her. She's going to get caught anyway, was then too. There is no violin for her to play in the meantime. At least this way she can lessen the blow.

Unbeknownst to her, Harvey grabs his cane off the ground. He bowed his head, forehead sweating, caramelizing over the fire. "Goodnight, Hestia."

Rhiannon Rose turns away from the fire to watch him head into the farmhouse. Pity. She has always liked her name.

For Kae, finding Calath is more difficult than she had anticipated. She isn't hiding in their shared quarters, curled up underneath a thin quilt, or in the bathroom. There aren't many places to hide there, but still Kae looks. She already searched the farmhouse. The shed is unlocked and Kae whispered Calath's name to no avail. She wandered back further and further until she heard something scurry and slipped out of the room.

Perhaps Calath is in the fields, but Kae had heard a scream somewhere out there. Benji's wrath isn't worth facing whatever hurt that woman. The only other place Kae can conceive is inside the chicken coop.

Then, something rustles in the shed behind her.

"Calath?" Kae steps into the doorway, her feet so loud they seem to shake the earth.

A brown bag splits open, the crunch of its tear echoing in the shed. Dried husks of corn and spiders and Calath tumble out. A pair of shears clatters to the ground beside Calath and they snatch it. Dirt clusters in their eyebrows and lashes. They blink up at Kae.

"What are you doing?" Kae whispers.

"Hiding!" Calath answers. "Were you looking for me?"

"I called your name!"

Calath looks at the torn bag, and keeps whispering, "it's hard to hear in there. I ran out of air."

Kae hurries inside. She grabs hold of Calath's wrist. They drop the shears and run back to the homestead, Calath explaining along the way how their tool broke. Together, they bound up the stairs. Kae guides Calath to the back of the house. They round the corner and find Harvey, leaning against the door. He pokes the broken metal stuck in the lock.