Richard was confused. Just 2 days ago he had been walking in the woods to go to a cricket match with his friends. Now he was running for his life every day.
And the strangest thing of all was he didn’t know why he was running for his life. Sure, he was being chased but why was he being chased in the first place?
He just didn’t understand why the Dueglesteiners wanted him and the other children.
But then maybe there was a reason for the Dueglesteiners to want them. Richard truly got goosebumps when Skylar had taken down the general, Boromir, without even a second thought. And Luke was talented with his sword, but what about the rest of them? Richard certainly didn’t feel like he could fight anyone but verbally. He wasn’t exactly coordinated. Even when he played cricket he wasn’t good.
Finally, it seemed like all the walking had got to him.
“My feet hurt,” Richard complained, “and my legs are tired.”
“Really?” Peter asked sarcastically, “Welcome to the club.”
Richard scowled and switched tactics. “My boots have mud on them. You know they probably cost more than your house,” he said to Peter.
Peter looked at him and smiled that sarcastic smile. “So nothing because I don’t have a house.”
Richard was infuriated. He’d wanted to feel rich, powerful, and authoritative over the group.
Just like his father.
But he knew that would never happen. Not in this group of kids.
Luke and Skylar were fitting the leader category, and Peter just would not listen to Richard. He seemed to just not care about money or power, which surprised Richard because Peter was poor, homeless, and an orphan. If Richard were in Peter’s shoes, the first thing he’d do is try to rise to power and money.
And Helen…Helen just seemed to be so innocent. She didn’t care about money or power just as much or more than Peter did. She also was so kind and noble she didn’t seem to want to follow orders from someone as rude and horrible as Richard.
And the black girl…oh how Richard hated her. He was not only racist, but he felt she was so full of her religion. He wanted so badly to yell at her that religion doesn’t matter when you’re dead like he felt they’d soon be.
But where could he begin with Skylar? What was the feeling he felt when she pinned him against the tree? At first, he was surprised and scared, naturally, but he was impressed by her strength. He had to be at least half a foot taller than her and weighed much more. He wasn’t fat, but he wasn’t as skinny and fit as her.
Those piercing yellow eyes looked at him and seemed to see his soul. He felt exposed, and couldn’t help looking at all the aspects of her face.
Her slightly rosy cheeks contrasted with her pale skin. She had a birthmark on her cheek that looked like a deformed circle.
When she pinned him against the tree, his heart started racing. She was close, so close. Why was he being so difficult around her?
Luke broke him out of his thoughts. “Look, enough fighting. We have a real problem here. We just fought Dueglesteiners in Bellona. They shouldn’t be there.”
“Yeah,” agreed Peter, “How could nobody notice that there are Dueglesteiners in Bellona. The treaty they made years ago makes it so this shouldn’t happen.”
“Well, I guess they’re just bad at following treaties,” Skylar said as she cracked her knuckles.
“Whatever it is, we have to keep going,” Alice added, “the sooner we finish this quest, the sooner they get out of here.”
“But that’s the problem,” Richard complained, “we don’t even know what our quest is about.” After he made this statement, everyone looked at him in shock. He was addressing the problem like they were a team. Accepting his fate. And he made a point, too.
Peter then looked at Richard like he had an idea. “I know a guy.”
〜
As they headed in the direction of whoever Peter was leading them, Richard got distracted by Helen who was picking flowers. She hummed a tune as she skipped along, picking up daisies, lilacs, poppies, and even weeds with little flowers on them.
When they’d stopped for a break, Richard watched as Helen braided the assortment of flowers into a crown and put it on her head.
They continued on, the flower crown bouncing on Helen’s head as she skipped. How could she be so happy? You’d think life on the road with barely anything would make you a hardened, filthy, criminal like Richard’s father had brought him up to believe.
And sure, Helen followed the filthy part, her feet especially because she had no shoes. But her face seemed generally clean, showing the innocent beauty beneath. But she wasn’t hardened like Richard’s father made him believe.
And he supposed now that they all were criminals, at least in the eyes of the Dueglesteiners.
Helen skipped along and picked a blue cornflower. She studied it for a moment, then approached Richard.
Richard was confused and backed away a bit, but she held up the flower to his face, standing on her very tiptoes.
“Want a flower?” she asked, her dark blue eyes gleaming with happiness.
“U-um…” Richard stuttered. Why was he so nervous?
“Hmm,” Helen mused, “it’d look good with your suit.”
She had a point. His navy blue military-style outfit would match perfectly with the indigo flower.
As he studied his outfit, Helen reached up and put the cornflower in his left breast pocket, right by his heart.
“There,” she said, satisfied, “it does look good.”241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZbtaBJbu8
Richard looked at it with curiosity, surprised by how she’d placed it there so quickly and surprised he’d let her do it.
Luke, who’d been behind Richard and Helen, walked by Richard and bumped his shoulder.
“You’re blushing,” he said, smiling.
But it wasn’t a sly smile.
It was more of an understanding one…
ns 15.158.61.6da2
