ℙ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔸 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝 - 𝕂𝕒𝕪𝕔𝕖 𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕟

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 2

The day lasted much longer than I had wanted it to. I rushed to finish my work, and this obviously caught the attention of everybody because by the time I was done, they were still rounding about trying to finish their own tasks. Rip wasn't the biggest fan of my finishing early, but I brushed past him and made my way to the main house.

"Kayce." I hear my father call out from behind me. I peek over my shoulder and let out a sigh of frustration. It had been hours since I dropped off the girl with Beth, and I had yet to see either of them. I just wanted to get to the house.

"Where are you going?"

"Go check on Beth and the girl."

"What are you wanting to do with her?" He clears his throat as he finally stands next to me, and we start to walk together.

"Figure we talk to her first, figure out where she's from."

"She hasn't spoken any yet?"

"No. She was probably in shock. She understands English so it's not like she's incompetent."

"You really think she's from the mountains?"

We reach the porch and a sarcastic smile spread across my face as I lean against a wooden column. My father, the myth himself, was asking me if I believed in mountain-dwellers.

"Dad. You can't be serious? I don't think that she's from the mountains. My best guess would be she's some hiker that's insanely tough or insanely lucky."

"Doesn't explain the clothes though."

"Maybe she's got a family stuck up there."

"Yeah, alright. We'll have her join us for dinner and see what we can find out."

"You must be feeling real funny today." I shake my head and bite down my lip to prevent myself from getting any smarter. "We're trying not to scare her away, remember?"

"It'll be fine. Besides, she's probably starving and needs a good meal."

We walk in together, my Dad goes straight into the dining room to sit down for dinner and I book it up the stairs towards the bathroom. I brush past Jamie on my way up, but I don't break my pace.

"Hey, who's that girl Beth was walking with around the house?"

"What do you mean, where did they go?" I whip around to face him.

"Your room." Jamie bewilderingly states. I immediately start heading towards my room, not bothering to continue wasting time explaining who she was to him. "Who is she, Kayce?"

"Don't worry 'bout it."

I stomp up to the door but stop myself from barging in. I can't hear anything, and I don't want to frighten her or walk in on her changing, so I instead lightly knock on the door before letting myself in. When the door opens, I see the girl fast asleep in my bed and Beth sitting in my armchair reading a book.

"Why is she in my fucking bed, Beth?" I lowly growl as I approach my sister.

"She was tired, so I put her to sleep."

"In my bed? She needs to be getting checked out. She's got a shit ton of infected wounds."

"Yeah, you should see the one on her stomach. Gut wrenching."

"Dad wants her to join us for dinner."

Beth snorts as she laughs, I feel some solace that she thinks this is a ridiculous idea as well. Being that she is the one who spoils family dinner, of course she would have the same idea.