"So, if you were to put a monkey somewhere in this forest, the tribes would know about it immediately?" Avery asks, waving her fork at Sam.
"Essentially," Sam answers.
"That makes no sense. I mean, if I put a cracker on Mia's head, would she notice immediately?"
I duck, avoiding Avery's hand as she tries to drop a cracker on my head. "I think I would," I laugh, dodging the cracker that Avery throws at me.
"Okay, bad example. What if I put a piece of grass in Sam's hair? Would she notice immediately?"
"Um, yeah." Sam covers her head.
"Well, you get my point." Avery throws a stick at Sam, which she ducks. "Just because they have patrols to make sure that no unwanted people get in doesn't mean that they know everything that is going on in the forest at one time."
"Well, they obviously can't know everything. If they could then why would they also have the U.S. agree to protect them? Think about it practically. If you have spies all over your home, then you could find out about attacks before they came. And then you could prepare. And, the U.S. had an agreement with the tribes that said that they have to help if someone other than another tribe attacks. And the tribes here are peaceful. So if you could see everything, then why would you need that extra protection?" My head spins with all the reasons why they could potentially need that agreement.
"Well, would you rather have only the people that are in your tribe protect you, or would you want that extra protection?" Avery asks, picking at her lunch. "I mean, they probably feel safer knowing that they can call for backup if they need to, and that you have, at all times, a small group of soldiers."
"But remember how we learned how hard they pussed to get that agreement and how insistent they are on everything they wanted getting in there? Why would they do that if they have spies all around the entire forest?"
"You know," Sam says, "We probably just spent like five minutes debating the specifics of an expression. They probably don't have spies everywhere. They just say that and anyway, why do we care?"
"Good point," Avery says, "Wait, I just remembered something." She stares off into space for a second.
"And what did you remember?" Sam asks, looking confused.
"Oh, yeah." It comes back to me all at once. "Sam, how would you feel about going off onto a not-to-used trail to look for a thing I think that I saw fall from the sky?"
"Excuse me, what now?" The expression that crosses Sam's face is a mix of excitement, confusion, and a glare.
"Mia wants to go look for a rock she thinks she saw fall from the sky," Avery says, suddenly reanimated.
"Well, it's not only that," I say, glancing at Sam. "There is a path that we are technically allowed to go down that I would like to explore."
"Well, sure," She says, smiling at me a bit. I feel a hint of a blush creep into my cheeks.
Avery mutters something that sounds like "Oh my god," and stands up. "Well, I'm done eating and we have about a minute until we are allowed to explore."
Sam and I stand up. I walk over to a spot in the shade relatively close to where the path is.
"See that trail," I whisper to Sam and Avery, "That is the one I want to go down."
"Why did you have to pick one that is so...creepy looking." Sam shivers, and I can tell she wants to say something, but holds it in.
"Well, if it wasn't creepy looking then it wouldn't be as fun to go down." I turn back to the clearing.
YOU ARE READING
Queen of Hel
FantasyMia Bell is 13 years old, and ready for the future. She believes that she is going become a chemist. But when she is exposed to strange radiation from a rock that fell from the sky, her life changes. Now she has to deal with multiple realms, and an...
