Evergreen Everleigh - The Wattys 2020

Chapter Twenty-Three - Capture the Flag

Chapter Twenty-Three

Capture the Flag

"I don't know how to play,' I whisper. 

Yarrow tosses me a length of orange fabric that has been roughly cut into the shape of a triangle by an eager Sweet Pea. He is grinning, clearly enjoying my discomfort. 

We are in the forest. The morning fog has not yet lifted from the dewy ground, yet the low humming of bees is barely audible over the anxious whirring inside of my mind. 

Around dawn this morning, Juniper awoke with a bad dream and everyone in the girl's bedroom could no longer sleep. Less than an hour later, Aster and Teasel had awoken and dropped their tin toy box with a heavy clanking noise so that Cedar and Yarrow could no longer sleep. Taking advantage of the early start, Yarrow had recruited Wister to help herd everyone into the forest clutching two bright orange fabric cuttings from the recreation room upstairs. 

"I can't believe you've never played capture the flag," Sweet Pea says, brimming with excitement at the thought. 

I began to go red, wondering if inevitable embarrassment was coming by way of initiation to the community but thankfully, Perennial took my hand in hers and gave it a quick squeeze as Willow turned to me. 

"It's easy. There are two teams, each has a flag. Each team hides the flag, and then you spend the rest of the game trying to find the other teams. The team that steals the opposing flag first wins," She explains, bouncing on the balls of her feet, gearing up to go. 

I run the makeshift flag through my hands and look up at Yarrow. His expression is challenging, with a cocky smirk and his eyebrows lifting as though he expects me to back out. I look around at Wister who is supervising us closely. Juniper and Violet are back at the house with Lady Lavender. I do a quick tally in my head. 

"Fine. Boys versus girls," I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel. Sweet Pea whistles quietly and grins and Willow and Perennial high-five. Aloe, who is standing a little way away from us, meets my gaze and nods, committed. 

Yarrow's confidence fails for a mere second. His smirk slips and his eyes dart to Cedar and down to the two little boys who are enjoying the idea of beating the girls. He is weighing his odds, yet it is Cedar who speaks up. 

"Deal. But Wister's with us." Yarrow and Cedar touch knuckles in a display of manliness that makes Sweet Pea burst into a laugh that she quickly disguises as a cough. 

"I'm in," Wister says, rolling up the sleeve of his light grey shirt and bending down to tighten the laces on his soft leather shoes. 

I meet Yarrow's gaze one more time and turn to Sweet Pea. 

"Can you plait my hair?" It is my turn to roll up my sleeves.

*

Ten minutes later, we stand in our teams outside the forest. Yarrow is kind enough to evoke the 'ladies first' rule and it is our turn to enter the forest and hide our flag. 

"Boundaries are the lake to the west and the tunnel to the east," Cedar calls. 

"Team captains pick who goes in to hide the flag," Sweet Pea whispers and with a start, I realise that she is talking about me. I glance around before handing the flag to Perennial. I've never met a quieter person and I trust her to be intelligent enough to pick a good spot. 

Her eyes widen behind her round glasses and she stiffens her shoulders before dashing into the woods. As I expected, there isn't even the sound of crunching leaves underfoot.