“You better get started with the food like the little slave dog you are. It’s the only thing you’re worthy of doing. Right, Hackett?”
He pushes Hackett, who nods in agreement. Stones and sand are clouding Puk’s vision and the more he rubs them the more his eyes hurt. The tears run down his cheeks and his nose is blocked. A moment ago he was happy and looking forward to cooking and celebrating the evening with the rest of the clan. Now he sits on the ground covered in dirt, feeling scared and unhappy. His sobbing becomes louder and louder and he can’t hold back his feelings. Fella has left, but Hackett’s still standing next to him with his hands planted firmly on his hips.
“You baby.”
He distorts his voice, trying to sound like a little child who’s crying. A feeling of desperation and humiliation grows in Puk’s stomach, and his despair turns into anger. Quickly he jumps from the ground and throws himself at Hackett. They land hard on the ground in a large cloud of dust, Puk on top of Hackett. In a messy bundle of arms and legs they’re fighting as if it was a matter of life and death, and they both scream in anger. Fella comes running back and throws himself into the fight to help Hackett, but he’s underestimated Puk’s anger and he can’t hold him down or avoid his punches. Soon all three are on the ground fighting each other. The anger inside Puk gives him the strength of two boys, and he throws just as many punches as the two of them together.
The noise attracts the attention of the others and soon they all come running to see what’s going on. Knox and Finch try to pull them apart from each other but don’t dare to step in between them for fear of getting hurt themselves. Dagwood also hears the shouting and runs toward the noise. He sees the fighting boys in the middle of the dust cloud and speeds up as he shouts to them: “What’s going on?”
He steps between them and gets a hold of Fella’s shirt and pulls him away. The other two keep fighting without noticing anything or anyone around them. With the help of Finch, Knox finally manages to stop the fight between the two. Dagwood looks worriedly at them and can tell that all three are in a state of serious anger. Their breathing is fast, and blood, dirt and sweat are all over their faces.
Dagwood barely opens his mouth and hisses angrily through his teeth: “What’s going on here! Tell me! NOW!”
None of them says anything to begin with. Puk’s nostrils move quickly in and out while he gives the others an evil look.
“Puk? Fella? Hackett? Who’ll go first?”
Dagwood looks at them in turn. He demands an answer. Fella tears himself out of his grip and starts talking.
“It was Puk who attacked us. Like a mad dog. Just look how much Hackett is bleeding …”
Puk runs to him and pushes him back so he falls to the ground while he shouts in his face: “You’re lying! He lies. They attacked me.”
He turns to Dagwood in even more desperation than before.
Fella continues as he lies on the ground: “Just look. He’s mad …”
Hackett joins in: “Mad like dog.”
Everyone is looking at Puk, and he starts crying again. Slowly he falls to his knees while he covers his eyes with his hands. Hackett is about to repeat what he said, but Dagwood cuts him off.
“Enough now. Be quiet everyone! And it’s important that you listen. All of us should be able to live here. Without fighting or hurting each other. We don’t all have to be close friends, but we need to be friends. Why else should we live together? If you disagree about something, feel unfairly treated or misunderstood, then we talk about it. Together. I won’t have it any other way.”
He looks around at the group and makes eye contact with every one of them.
“Is that understood?”
They start nodding as they acknowledge their support in low voices.
“And the three of you leave this fight as friends. No one turns his back on the others with a heart full of hate …”
He walks over to Puk and helps him up as he gently pushes him towards the two others. Puk blows his nose with his shirt and sticks his hand out towards them. Hackett is the first to accept his hand, and with a bit more hesitation Fella follows.
For a moment Puk contemplates challenging them to an Honor Duel, but he’d rather forget the entire incident. And he doesn’t know who he’s most angry with or disappointed in: Fella for starting the whole vicious circle, or Hackett for being a coward who tries to win recognition by supporting a vicious bully. Fella and Hackett look knowingly at each other, and he can tell they’re thinking about doing the same thing. But he also knows that they’re cowards, so they’d never choose to settle their disagreements in a fair fight with the others as witnesses.
Dinner tastes better than usual, and everyone gets two portions. Skye’s proud and happy that it’s because of her that the others look happy and full. She eats slowly and needs to take several breaks in the process. Her stomach hasn’t gotten used to this amount of food and she feels more than full already. Dagwood sits next to her and notices how little she’s eaten.
“You’re not eating a lot. Don’t you like the food?”
He sounds worried. Skye looks up at him and answers: “Yes, it tastes really good, but I feel full already. Do you want the rest of my food?”
She pushes the plate towards him, but he stops it with his hand and pushes it back to her.
“No, it’s nice of you, but it’s important that you eat it yourself. You need to gain your strength back. And get some more meat on your body so you aren’t so …”
He stops himself and is suddenly aware of what he’s said. She mustn’t think that he’s been looking at her body. At least not in that way, which it might sound like. Normally he’s never short for words, but suddenly he doesn’t know how to finish the sentence. All of a sudden it feels more important than anything else that she doesn’t misunderstand him. That she thinks he’s clever and sensible and that he worries about her.
“My brother also said that I needed to eat more. He thought my arms were too thin. You remind me of him.”
Skye smiles at him and pulls the plate back again. She doesn’t feel like talking anymore about how skinny she looks. And she doesn’t want to attract any attention to her hollow face, even though everybody must’ve seen what she looks like. Dagwood too. The blood streams through her head and she feels her cheeks blushing. Quickly she turns her gaze towards the food on her lap and she’s happy that the flames from the fire make most people’s faces blush. A feeling that everyone is looking at her skeleton–like face and is disgusted by her look fills her body, and she feels like hiding. Like running away from the judgmental eyes of the others and their pitying looks. The sound of her mother’s voice echoes loudly in her head. She’s angry with her because Skye’s dirty and unattractive to look at. Her body curls up and the shame of her terrible looks is about to explode inside her.
Dagwood gently puts his arm around her and gives her a small hug. She looks up carefully. No one’s looking. Not Salomon either. They’re all talking, laughing and having a good time. She’s relieved. That was just some stupid thought in her head.
It’s far into the night and they’re still sitting around the fire, helping each other to keep it alive. They take turns telling stories about the world before it changed – but only the good and funny stories. Tonight, none of them remembers the sad things they would all rather forget. Hackett teaches them a funny song that The Slaveborns used to sing before sleeping. The wording is hard for the others to understand, but tonight that doesn’t mean anything. On the contrary, the strange sentences and peculiar words make the song even funnier.
Skye leaves the campfire and walks over to the dog with the puppies. It’s licking the plate clean to get to the last pieces of food. Once in a while the dogs get some leftovers, but normally they catch their own food during the day. Mostly they hunt the scaled animals that sit and warm themselves in the sun, or sometimes they’re lucky to c
atch a small rodent. Puk has taught them to stay away from the domesticated birds, but they’ll steal an egg if they find it first.
When she returns to the fire, Flo has taken her seat, and Skye walks to the other side of the fire. The seat next to Puk is free and he smiles up at her. His face is still marked by the episode earlier. The scratches on his cheeks and the swollen eyes tell the story of a physical fight, but Skye can also see sadness in his eyes.
“Come, sit with me!”
He puts his hand on the large trunk that acts as a bench around the fire. Skye wants to sit next to Puk, but she still feels safer when it’s Dagwood who’s sitting by her side. Especially after the episode with Salomon in the forest earlier today. She’s been trying to avoid him most of the day and night, and luckily it hasn’t been a problem. It seems as if he’s avoiding her too. She shouldn’t really care, or rather she should be relieved, but she can’t help worrying about where he is and what he’s doing.
She looks around the fire and sees that he’s sitting in the furthest place on the trunk on the opposite side to her. He’s carving a piece of wood. His eyes are glued to it and he doesn’t look at her once. Somehow that bothers her, but she doesn’t know why. She tries to think of something else and turns her focus to Puk.
“Why are Fella and Hackett picking on you? He seems very angry with you. Fella.”
Puk shrugs his shoulders and answers: “I don’t know. I haven’t done anything to him. He thinks that I’m weak and unworthy. Once Hackett and I were good friends, but now he’s turned against me … like Fella.”
His voice is sad and he seems disheartened. Quietly he turns his eyes towards Skye. She feels like hugging him and looking after him. The little boy she sees in his eyes seems lost, and she recognizes her own frailty in him. Like when a small child feels vulnerable and helpless.
“I think my sensitive mind frightens him. I react physically to what I feel inside. He doesn’t have that side in him and he sees it as a sign of weakness. And he despises weak people. Unfortunately, he learned that from his father. Even though he’s not here to guide him anymore he still managed to affect the way he thinks before … you know … before everything changed.”
He takes a sip of water and continues: “But maybe he’s also felt my resentment towards him. He’s always known that I could see his dark side and intentions, and maybe he’s reacting to that. I’ve sensed that part of him ever since the first time I met him.”
Skye looks at him, surprised, and asks: “What do you mean, ‘you can sense his dark sides?’”
Puk thinks a bit before he goes on: “I can’t really explain it, but I sense people’s moods without them saying anything. Dagwood says it’s my special talent, but sometimes it only gives me more trouble. It’s exhausting to feel for more than one person. Feel other people’s sorrow, fear and inner conflicts. Particularly if it’s someone I care about.”
Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by Flo’s loud laughter, and Skye shifts her gaze to her and Dagwood. Her hand is on his leg as she listens intensely to what he tells her. Puk also looks at Dagwood and Flo.
He pushes Skye a bit and whispers: “She’s really nice, but you’re nicer … and prettier. You can’t help noticing it. Not even Dagwood.”
Skye feels her cheeks blushing again, and she doesn’t quite know how to react to Puk’s remark. She’s both shy and happy as she replies: “Do you really think I’m pretty?”
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looks back at her.
“Mmmm, very. Your freckles are particularly cute. You look like my little sister …”
He sticks his finger in the ashes from the fire and draws some dots in his face supposed to resemble freckles. They both start laughing and from the corner of her eye Skye sees that Dagwood is keeping an eye on them through the flames, but she doesn’t look back at him. A satisfying feeling spreads through her, and she laughs a little bit louder.
CHAPTER 27
The hut is warm and Puk finds it hard to fall asleep. He sweats, and the many dogs are lying awkwardly across his body, squashing him. It’s still dark outside and he carefully sneaks out of the hut, not waking the others. The moon shines brightly and he easily spots the trip wires tied around the hut. Actually, they’ve never needed them. Only the dogs set the alarm off occasionally or when one of them goes for a wee in the night still half asleep. But it does create a feeling of security among them knowing that no one could sneak up on them, neither wild animals nor people, without being detected.
He walks to Twice’s enclosure and for a moment he looks at the leather string he’s made for his friend, which is now hanging on a pole. The string’s decorated with small feathers and bones that he’s found on his trips with Twice, and it symbolizes their friendship. Maybe it will even bring them fortune and protection. At least that’s what he tells himself.
He makes sure the string is tied firmly to the pole before he crawls into the enclosure to Twice. The little roundsnout is sound asleep in a small deepening that Puk has lined with dried grass and moss. Twice is happy to see him but is too tired to get up. Still half asleep, it lifts its head and grunts quietly. He lies down next to him and curls up in the small nest. It feels nice to lie next to a warm body even though its coat isn’t as soft as the dogs.
Sometimes it was easier to be with Twice. Or the dogs. They don’t expect anything from him and they don’t upset him. Once in a while he thought about packing his things and wandering into the forest with Twice and the dogs. Usually only when something like the incident with Fella and Hackett happened and he felt misunderstood. Maybe he would be able to make it on his own in the forest for a while, but at some stage he’d start missing the others. Especially Dagwood, even if he felt let down and misunderstood by him earlier today. Did he expect too much of him? Was Fella right when he said he couldn’t make it without his protection?
Suddenly he hears a sound behind him and he quickly looks up. He sees two figures in the dark but he can’t make out who they are. A disturbing feeling that someone from the outside has entered the camp runs through him, and his heart starts beating faster.
Twice starts moving while he utters grunting noises, and Puk tries to keep him quiet. The little roundsnout slowly settles down again and he tries to orientate himself in the dark. They must’ve heard the noise because he sees the two dark figures moving towards the small enclosure. Silently he makes himself flat against the ground, but at the same time he prepares to jump up and run if they discover him.
They quickly come closer and he tries to control his breathing as much as he can. Suddenly they stop. He hears whispering voices but no real words or sentences, only a low mumbling. Carefully, he lifts his head up and looks toward the strangers. He can’t believe his own eyes. It’s Fella and Hackett! What are they doing out here so late? A terrifying feeling gets hold of his thoughts and sends shivers down his back. Are they out to get him again? Do they want to punish him for yesterday’s incident in the middle of the night, when he least expects it? And when no one else can see it.
He feels like jumping out of his hiding place and starting to scream at the top of his lungs. To wake up the others and tell them how mean they are. Aren’t they directly disobeying Dagwood’s orders that he expressly gave them earlier? Wasn’t his precise words that they all should be friends without hate in their hearts? But it doesn’t surprise him that they’ve chosen to come for him in the middle of the night.
He’s about to stand up and confront them when they turn their backs on him and walk to the back of the hut. They’ve not seen him! He frowns, surprised, and then gets another unpleasant thought. If they’re not out to get him, then what are they doing behind the hut?
Puk crawls quietly away from Twice without waking him. He sneaks after Fella and Hackett and sees that they’re bending over the supply box. Fella lifts something up and hands it to Hackett who then stashes it
in his bundle. They’re stealing food!
“Filthy thieves, that’s what you are!”
Puk can barely contain his own thoughts. But he keeps quiet even though he’s almost bursting with rage. They turn away from the box and start walking towards the forest. Puk follows them from a safe distance. At some stage they stop by some small bushes and bend down, but he can’t see what they are doing. Shortly after, they continue and soon they’ve reached the edge of the forest.
Hackett runs to a fallen tree and Fella quickly follows. He looks around and Puk ducks to avoid being discovered. But he’s curious and he soon leans out of his hiding place. His eyes have almost adapted to the darkness and the two thieves in the moonshine with their hands full of food stand out clearly. Hackett kneels and starts crawling into the tree. It must be hollow and rotten, and Puk can no longer see him. He leans forward a bit more, but that makes the branch he’s holding onto snap. Fella quickly turns towards the sound. They’ve seen him!
Puk doesn’t look back once as he runs as quickly as he can, away from Fella and Hackett who are right behind him. Branches and twigs break on his way, and several times he steps on something sharp with his bare feet. But he hasn’t got time to think about it or stop. The road back seems longer than ever before and he’s running out of air. A painful and stinging feeling stabs his right side and he feels like screaming out in pain. Nevertheless, he mustn’t slow down. They mustn’t catch him before he reaches the camp.
Finally he sees the hut and he tries to shout Dagwood’s name, but nothing but a squeaking sound comes out of his mouth. The dogs wake up at the sound of running feet and start barking. Their loud barking gives Puk renewed strength. He storms on clumsily, breaking the tripwires and releasing all the alarms in front of the hut. With his last strength he reaches the door opening and runs right into Dagwood who’s standing half asleep in front of him.
The Dawn of Skye (The Someday Children Book 1) Page 17