Him and I (Declan Harp)

Chapter 4

It's no surprise that Dimanche glares at me as if I'm not the person holding his life in my hands. Either way, I shove him and pull my knife away, taking a few steps back, "You'd just be a waste of breathe."

Dimanche gathers himself, looking even angrier as he looks at Declan, "I'm done! I'm taking the men with me!" With those words to hang in the air, he walks away from us.

Sooner or later, I knew he'd grow sick and tired of taken commands from us. But taken our men? That was something that wasn't a surprise, but more of a disappointment.

"Let's go," I say, turning and kicking out the fire before starting to walk away. Declan keeps his distance for a bit, letting me cool off on my own. When my hand slipped my knife back into its holster, it gave Declan the go to catch up.

Hid pace matches mine as he walks in silence for a minute. Eventually, he broke it, speaking in a hushed voice. "Are you alright?"

I pause, trying to find the answer. Instead, I find a question of my own.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

Declan seems slightly taken back by my question, turning to look at me before focusing on the trail again. "Because I trust you. Because Dimanche was bound to get what he deserved eventually. And because I knew you wouldn't do it."

My head turned to look at him, finding his eyes back on me again. I don't know whether to feel disappointed or impressed. "And what makes you think that?"

"Like you said, it'd be a waste of breath," He said with a shrug, causing the smallest smile to jump on my face. Declan put his arm around my back, rubbing it soothingly before dropping it.

Night crept up on us and we all gathered around a fire to get some sleep. Declan was always the last to fall asleep and the first to wake up, making me wonder if he even slept. Tonight, Michael and Sokanon were the first to enter the darkness of sleep. For me, my eyes were closed, putting me in a sleep like look while my ears and mind still struck awake.

The feeling of someone watching me, let me know that my senses hadn't wavered when it came to my husband. I swear, in a crowd of people, if he looked at me, my eyes would pull to him like magnets and something would jump in my stomach.

No wonder the stories think Declan and I are connected.

The sound of a small kick and the movement of someone waking up pulled me from my thoughts.

"Can I trust you?" I hear Declan's quiet but striked voice ask the person, who could only be Michael.

"Of course you can trust me," Michael voice says, confirming my thoughts.

There's a small pause, making me wonder if that was it. But, I don't hear any movements so I'm left to think that it still is continuing. Sure enough, Declan speaks up, "It's gonna be dangerous in Fort James."

"I know."

"And your girl, Clenna? When the spring comes and a ship departs for England, will you be on it?" He asked, making silence fill the air. I can tell, even though my eyes are closed, that Michael is in deep thought.

Suddenly, his next words somewhat shock me, "Would you?"

Declan doesn't answer, and I can hear his footing change slightly, meaning his body had shifted with tension. He lets out a small sigh, the sound of movement heard as he says, "You have a decision to make."

With that, silence takes over once again and sleep eventually takes ahold of me like the rest.

The next day, we find ourselves back in the woods again, following a trail. The trail clearly has only ever been used by feet and hidden so deep into the woods that we knew it's be safe.