Natures Daughter

Chapter 3

Erin
The day ends quicker than I anticipated, and it's only noon. Even the hike is over quick. So I ask Andre if I can explore. He's hesitant at first. "I don't know if I want you out by yourself," he says.
"You're not even the eldest," I say. So I turn to my seventeen year old brothers, Arthur and Martin.
"I don't see why she shouldn't," Arthur says to Martin. "She's only a year younger than Andre, and look what we let him do."
"A year can make all the difference," Martin says. Then he looks at me. "But you have a point. All right Erin, you can go. Be back before dark."
"Take this," Andre says, handing me a sword he found years ago. He smiles and says, "maybe you'll find an adventure of your own." I nod and rush out the door, eager to be on my way. As I go, I hear Andre say, "our little Erin's finally growing up."
About twenty minutes later, I hear a eagle screech above my head. Then, it's replaced with the voice of a boy. "Hi there."
My head shoots upward. Up in a pine tree is a boy with green eyes and sandy hair. He looks clean, so he must be from the town nearby. "You're not from here," I say. He gives me a questioning look.
"Well yeah," he says. "No human lives in these woods."
"I do."
"Your parents must be crazy."
Oh how I want to smack him. "I never knew my parents," I say. "I'm an orphan." His eyes bulge.
Suddenly, he jumps from the tree and lands in front of me. He holds out his hand and says, "I'm Duncan, what's your name?"
"Erin," I say, backing away from him. I've never met an actual human. I don't know what he'll do to me. My brothers have always told me to stay away from my own kind. As Duncan approaches again, I draw Andres sword.
"Woah calm down!," he says.
"Please leave," I say. "Humans aren't welcome here."
"Honey you say that like you AREN'T human."
"Oh I am," I say. "Just. . .not." Before he can say anything else, I race back home to my brothers.