"Stop it, Crow," La mumbled, waving her hand vaguely in front of her face. She was tired. She wanted to stay asleep. Couldn't he leave her alone for just five more minutes? Crow poked her in the nose again -- and then loudly squawked right into her ear. Her eyes flew open and she found herself face to face with a very curious chicken, probably wondering how she had gotten into its loft and, most importantly, if she was going to feed it.
Right. She wasn't at the circus anymore.
The night before, she and Snow had walked for hours in the rain until both of their feet ached and they were shivering so hard they could barely keep going. Luck had been with them, though, and she had found this small barn before the sun came up and they'd burrowed themselves in hay up in the loft. Even Snow's curiosity had failed him then, so tired were they, but now she looked over to him and he was already awake, staring at the chicken with intense interest. She sensed a lot of questions were on the way.
She was right. Before she even had a chance to say good morning, he opened his mouth and started to speak. "What is that? Where are we? It's very bright, the sun must be up. Can we go see it? I'm hungry."
La pushed her body up further to peer over the bales of hay to look outside. The door hadn't been shut when they found the place. It was probably sometime in the late afternoon or evening, she guessed, so the sun wasn't so bright now as it would have been earlier in the day. But for Snow, it would seem as if it was the brightest thing on earth.
"This is a chicken," she said, only half paying attention to it as it pecked around her fingers. Crazy bird. "We're in someone's barn but I don't know where exactly... Anyway, I'll check first to be sure it's safe, and then yes, we can go out and find something to eat."
She would have preferred to wait until night fell to go anywhere but she was hungry, too, and it was harder for her to figure out where they were if everything was dark. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally go in the wrong direction and wander straight back to the circus.
"They can't have gone much further, surely."
La's heart sank in her chest. That hadn't been Snow speaking, nor her. No, someone was outside the barn -- multiple someones, by the sound of approaching footsteps. She sank back down behind the haybales and met Snow's panicked gaze with one of her own, though he knew better than to make a sound. She pointed at the pile of hay they'd slept in and made a motion with her hands like she was throwing it over him. He understood. Quickly he crawled back into the hay and she began frantically covering him with it, concealing every scrap of skin and cloth and praying he wouldn't sneeze as the voices outside grew ever closer. There was no time to make sure he was completely concealed. La dove into the next pile of hay and tried to cover herself the best she could, too, but she couldn't even see how well she'd done. All she could do was hope that there was no scrap of skirt or hair or skin sticking out somewhere that she couldn't see.
Underneath the hay, the voices outside became muffled though she kept trying to listen to what was going on. Were they inside yet? Was Snow okay? She couldn't feel him moving. Most of all, now that she was separated from the one person distracting her from thinking too much, she began to feel afraid. Afraid they'd find her. Kill her. Make Snow watch, even, and then drag him back to the Master.
"Bawk?" said the chicken questioningly, picking at the hay in front of her face and uncovering her eye. "Bawk bawk?"
Voices then, and not of the chicken. Voices in the barn -- they had to have been, because they suddenly got a whole lot louder and she was able to pick out what they were saying. Unable to risk moving, La gave the unfortunate bird a glare that said 'if I get out of this alive I'm going to wring your neck and eat you for dinner.'
YOU ARE READING
Shadow in the Snow
Fantasy[Formerly called 'The Story of Snow'] To live in a circus, to run away to one; this is the dream of many. The shining lights and the music and the cheering of the crowds are appealing to some. How little they know! This is the story of two...
