A Heart Unbroken [Book One]

Who's That Lady? ~ Hanan

Looking down at her, I said, "I won't say anything if you don't want me to."

"Good. Otherwise I might have to hate you, and I really don't want to do that," she replied, putting emphasis on 'really.' Her being so close, I saw her left ear bleeding from a cut. I put my finger to it, and hers followed. I saw the blood on my fingers, and looked at her confused. She smiled. "Oh that! My mom threw a vase at me, and it broke, with a piece bouncing back at me. It happens all the time."

"Well, then, I guess it's good you're leaving?" I asked, rather than said.

"Yeah, I guess so." With a glance at the Servant, she walked out the door and was greeted by the gang. She immediately said, "Listen, you may not believe me, but I know where we're headed."

"I'm glad you do, 'cause nobody else on this crazy train seems to!" Cameron laughed.

"How?" Lilly asked, deliberately ignoring Cameron's remark. If she could show annoyance, she would have rolled her eyes, no doubt about it.

"That's...going to have to be kept a secret. I'll bring you to her, but I made a promise a long time ago to someone very important to me that it would stay that way."

"So you want us to trust you?" I asked. It came out more hesitantly than I had meant, but she gave me a sly smile, narrowing her eyes and scrunching her nose, all in a respectively sequential order. I didn't seem to have offended her.

"Hanan," Lilly began. However, she was scrutinizing Meghan. "I believe she is to be trusted. The scroll chose her. According to Marshall, magic is prevalent in our world now. If Meghan is not to be trusted by choice of the scroll, then what can we trust?"

My cousin trusts in no one but herself most of the time, but her judgment skills are almost always impeccable. I trusted my cousin on this instance, and asked Meghan of our general direction.

"West," she said. I remembered what my dad had said about the island in the Pacific.

"It's an island. You know the coordinates."

She nodded somberly. "I do. Now we need to go - the sooner, the better."

We got out of town without incident, and without anyone stopping us to be questioned. When we were out of town, we ran up to Griffith and hopped on. I watched as Cameron and Marshall vied to help Lilly up, only to be ignored when she climbed up herself. Louis crawled up Griffith's front leg and took his place at front. I offered to give Meghan a boost, and with a smile she placed her foot onto my clasped hands. Once she was up, she reached her hand down and helped pull me up.

"Thanks," I mumbled as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Do you mind?" she asked, referring to her arms, which, I might add, were practically burning holes in my sides. I was so painfully aware of their presence.

"No. No, I don't mind," I said. The words stumbled out awkwardly, so I added jokingly, "Wouldn't want you falling off!"

She laughed and leaned up to rest her chin on my shoulder. Soon, though, she looked out at the view, which was breathtaking to me, but she held to me tighter. I winced slightly in response. "Sorry," she whispered, quickly letting go.

"Hey, you're okay," I whispered back. I guided her hands back to my jacket, where she resumed a harsh grip.

"Guys," Louis said from the front, "it's dark, and I'm hungry. We've got to land Griffith for the night and find some food."

He brought Griffith down before anyone could object. I hadn't noticed it getting dark, but Louis was right. When we landed, we all parted ways to find wood for a fire.

Cameron started a fire easily, and when he was finished, he looked triumphantly at Lilly. She just asked him, "It could be bigger, could it not?" She came over and improved the size of the blaze. His disappointment in not impressing her was quickly overwhelmed by the sense of her presence near him. As a boy, I totally understood his wish to seem...cool.

"Hey," Louis said, walking away from Griffith and holding a can of something. "We have no food, other than this."

"There was a town only a mile ahead," Marshall said. "I saw the lights from here. I bet a few of us could sneak in and grab some stuff."

"Good idea," I said. "Cameron, you take Meghan and Lilly with you to grab some dinner. Easy stuff we can take with us. If you're not back in two hours, the rest of us will come get you."

He nodded and grabbed his rifle. Lilly put her sickle in a holder that she made to rest on her back. Meghan flashed me a smile and strode towards them. I watched in their direction until they were out of sight.

"Are you handy with your sword?" Marshall asked, bringing me back to the two boys. I could tell he seemed hesitant in talking about the weapon, but I nodded. "Will you...help me practice with mine?"

For the next two hours, Louis and I took turns teaching him to wield a sword. By the end of the two hours, he excelled so much that I had cuts and bruises from fighting with him, as did Louis. When I asked him how he got it so quickly and could be so powerful for a little guy, he smiled.

"It's all about the math," he said. A rustle in a nearby bush turned all of our attention to it.

"Come out!" I said.

No response.

"Come out or we'll shoot!" I said again.

"How?" a familiarly deep voice replied. "I've got the gun."