My Voice for My Heart

Chapter 21: Journey

Keela

The summer was waning. I could tell because I was running out of daylight. There was a full moon last night, and while I'd hoped to see Balthair and the others; they hadn't appeared.

My only company was Maximus, and he was wonderful. He brought me rabbits and distracted me with silliness. This morning, while I had wiped away tears of frustration and loneliness, the dog had engaged in a crazy chase game. He ran up to me, dropped down with his tail in the air, barked once, and then ran around in circles. He'd run back, drop, and then do it all over again. He made me giggle silently through my tears, and when he pranced back and forth, clearly proud, I'd thrown my arms around him and hugged him tight.

I thought I had enough thistle to complete most of the shirts. I had skeins upon skeins of thread. I was anxious to start weaving but I knew I couldn't. If I ran out of thistle, I'd be lost. A gnawing anxiety constantly ate away at me. It preached in my ear, hurry hurry, faster faster.

I dropped the thistle at the mouth of the cave and waited for Maximus to join me. When he didn't, I shrugged, assuming he'd been distracted by a butterfly or the light. He always came back. I held my hands in the water, staring down at the rocks beneath the surface. I gripped a cold smooth stone in my hand before letting it fall back to the bottom. The silt puffed up, obscuring my view, until the running water cleared it away. I lifted my hands out, shaking off the droplets and turned back to the cave. I heard the snap of a branch, and stopped, expecting to see Maximus.

Nothing.

I drew back to the mouth of the cave, collecting my booty quickly, ready to hide it away when I heard another snap. This one was followed by the shuffling of leaves on the forest floor and the sound of murmured voices.

I dove for the cave opening, pulling the blind with shaking hands, and crawling to the darkest corner.

The voices had quieted and so had the footsteps, but I was so accustomed to the sounds of the forest now, that I could discriminate their careful padding. I held my breath, staring at the blind as if I could will them to pass, but the feet stopped.

"Lady?"

I covered my mouth with my hand, and forced my eyes open.

"I won't hurt you; I promise. Please come out." 
I didn't. I waited.

I heard a sigh. I saw a shadow pass in front of the blind.

We sat there, the two of us; me, pretending I wasn't in the cave, and him, determined to wait me out.

"I want to help you," the voice began as the light grew dim. "I know who you are, Keela. I think I know what you're doing out here. Let me take you to my home. I'll protect you from the witch. And from anyone else that might try to hurt you."


He knew.

Whoever this was, he knew about Maeve. I didn't move. He could easily know because he was in league with her. My only care was breaking the curse that would turn my family back into men. The only people I could trust were missing. I had to be wary.

"I know you don't trust me," he said quietly, as if he could read my mind.

"Sir?" I heard a voice say and I sucked in a breath. There was more than one of them out there.

I heard the man utter a curse beneath his breath, and then the sound of retreating footsteps.

"That didn't help, did it," he muttered.

I heard the sound of shifting and then the voice was much closer. I could see the outline of his body through the blind.

"I'm going to leave now," he told me, "but I'm leaving you some supplies. I'll be back. Alone. And I hope you'll talk to me then. Please, Keela," he whispered. "I really do want to help."