Chapter 5
Asterion
The walk is difficult for Clara, and I want nothing more than to lift her over my shoulders and run through the woods, taking her to her safety as quickly as I can, but I know this fierce human would allow no such thing.
We take frequent breaks, and she seems in better spirits the further into the woods we go.
Mark is a damned fool. I think savagely to myself.
I did not dare say it aloud, but I would love nothing more than to eliminate this human from the planet, but I know deep down that Clara would not allow this.
A small part of me is fearful that Mark might come into the woods in his rage to track her down and reclaim her as his, but I know most humans fear the forest, so I push this thought from my mind.
Every branch and tree is memorized, and I know exactly where we are, but Clara quickly becomes disoriented in the woods.
“Everything looks the same. How do you know where we are?” She says with wonder.
We are taking another breather. Clara’s cheeks are pink with cold, her hair dark and lustrous in the low light of the forest. If she were not in a fearful state, I would rip her clothes off here and now and make her forget all about Mark.
Instead, I say, “This forest was still young when I arrived, and I have watched it grow. These old-growth trees are my markers, and I have a few different paths I follow to my hut.” I pat a massive tree near us.
“This one here lets me know we are a little more than halfway. Also, I do not know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve been heading downstream, towards the creek. ”
She is listening to me as she sips water. “You have such a connection to nature. I envy it.”
“Well, now you are a wild woman, so you will learn the forest as I have.”
She stares at me for half a second before she throws her head back and laughs. “Wild woman.” She says under her breath. “Yeah, right!”
???
AT DUSK, WE STOP and make a fire. “The sunset will mask the smoke from the fire. If anyone is looking, they will not be able to see it clearly in the low light.”
I leave her for a short while to warm up by the fire while I hunt. When I come back with a rabbit, she watches with fascination as I skin it on a nearby flat stone, and makes a face as I skewer it onto a stick for roasting. I can only chuckle.
“We will eat, and then as the fire dies, we will sleep close to the hot coals and be warm. No one will see us.”
Although she might be squeamish about the process, she eats her rabbit leg with gusto. But I can see she is exhausted, and tell her it is time to sleep. I curl around her as much as I can with her puffy jacket and pants, and we sleep soundly by the dying fire.
In her sleep, she dreams of being chased, her body twitching to run. I smooth her hair back and whisper to her that she is safe, that no harm will come to her. She finally relaxes and falls into a deep slumber.
I look at the stars just peeking through the dense canopy as I lie awake thinking of a plan for what to do with Mark.
I know I cannot harm him, but I will need to make it so that he will not come back to find her.
I do not know if she will want to stay with me in my hut forever, or stay in Kate’s cabin, but whatever she chooses, she must be free of this man.
I sleep fitfully myself before the pink rays of the sunrise wake us. We hide evidence of our fire and where we slept and continue on into the forest, eating cold rabbit as our breakfast. Before long, we are at my hut, but I let Clara walk a few paces ahead of me, seeing if she can spot my hut.
“Clara, stop.”
She turns to look at me. “Water break time?”
“No, we are here.”
A puzzled look crosses her face as she spins around in place. “Here, where here? Everything looks the same as before?” She smiles. “Are you playing a joke on me?”
“I wanted to see if you could spot my hut, but it seems that it is well hidden from human eyes.” I beckon her forward. “Come.”
As she walks toward me, I shift the thick branches of an old-growth tree that is hiding the entrance to the copse where my hut lies. Clara ducks her head under the branches and gasps.
My humble hut sits in a pool of light from the sunrise, a tall, rounded building with the sparkling waters of the creek flowing just behind it.
The smaller outhouse is just off to the side.
I can see her face taking in the details of where we are to live for the next few days, and I wait anxiously for her reaction.
She turns to me, eyes shining with happy tears. “It’s perfect.” She declares.