Cursed

Chapter 29: Is this the beginning of a friendship?

“What? This isn’t funny. That took me a whole day to put together. It’s not as easy as it looks, you know!” 

She put the bones away into a satchel on her belt. 

“Sorry,” I apologized, although it didn’t feel entirely like I was in fault. 

“You scared of mice or something?” Brianna asked. Her voice suddenly had a strange crack in it.

“What? No!”

It was almost laughable that she even dared to ask a question like that. I mean, I grew up in the forest. I found my best resting places right at the center of nature. Imagine, if I was scared of mice! Those creatures were part of the world, just as much as humans and horses and everything else.

“That was a carcass of a dead mouse! Not the same!”

Brianna shrugged, as if she didn’t entirely agree. 

“Perhaps not.”

Now that she had gathered the remains of ‘Rodo’, she held out a hand for me. I ignored the gesture, and pushed myself up. Now that she was standing right next to me, I realized she wasn’t that tall. She looked taller, with those thin, endless legs and arms, but she reached about the same height as myself. 

“So, what are you doing in these parts of town? On the ground, nonetheless.” 

Her gray, almost white, eyes pierced mine. I wasn’t sure if that was because of the color or the way she stared. 

“Lost my way.”

Brianna nodded, then looked over my shoulder. 

“I guess you must have.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re on the other side of the town. And I don’t think you know this town enough to have walked here on your own with a higher purpose.”

Was she serious? This child was very condescending. I might’ve done research, or I might’ve followed her here. She didn’t know what I was capable of.

With a frown, and enough irritation towards her, I grumbled, before I walked past her. Not without grazing her shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Brianna called. Unfortunately she didn’t get the gesture that I was done with her, because with a few steps, she was walking beside me. “If you got lost, let me at least show you how to get back?”

She didn’t even get a grumble in response this time. 

“Don’t you have to work on the field?” 

The realization both hit her and myself. It was indeed not great to stroll around town - probably looking like a spy - when the terms were that Kate and I had to help on the field. Something I hadn’t done the past two days. I was also supposedly having a heat stroke, something that I clearly didn’t have anymore thanks to Kai’s mysterious drink. Perhaps, having Brianna walk me to the silo wasn’t so terrible after all. 

“Yes, but I wasn’t feeling great this morning. And Kai bought me a drink to get better, and then I got lost. I’m still not feeling too great though, maybe you could show me the way back?”

Brianna pulled her eyebrow up. “I’m not an idiot, you know.”

She didn’t clarify, and I didn’t mean to ask further. Instead I kept my eyes on the dusty road. 

Today, the sun shone bright, but stood low in the sky, casting long shadows in the streets. It gave the streets an extra chill to it. 

“So,” Brianna began.