Sparrow's Flight

Chapter 3- To The Woods

Panic coursed through her blood. Where could they be? This had happened before, Callie remembered. The day her parents vanished. She and Forest had searched for hours, and this type of panic had come. Callie didn't want to lose her friends, not now, when they thought they were safe. Silently, Caroline slid down the wall of the house, hoping that this was all a dream, even though she knew this always happened and was a very stereotypical to think in situations like these. But right now, she didn't care about that. In fact, Callie, at this moment, didn't care about anything but finding her lost comrades. She'd even forgot about the midnight meeting.

Eventually, after what had seemed like, and actually was, hours, she unfurled herself from the wall and crept towards the door like she feared something would be waiting for her. And something was. It was only a piece of paper, but pieces of paper can matter in times like these. Callie removed the red pin holding it against the worn purple door, but did not read it straight away. For a while she just looked at the handwriting scrawled hastily across it. This was not that of Hazel, Esther, Isaac or Grace. And it was addressed to Sparrow. Someone had known she would come here, and all the clues pointed to it being Jay. The Reys couldn't be that long gone. Finally Callie manged to pluck up the courage to read the mysterious note from the mysterious boy. It said:

Dear Sparrow,

Your friends are safe. I have checked. Rescue planned for midnight. Remember.

Your Protector.

Now he was leaving her messages! This was absurd. Everything had become so strange all of a sudden. Callie trudged home, deciding not to mention any of this ordeal to Forest, or the usual affair would occur. They would be off again, to find somewhere safer to reside, and she had resolved to stay here. For once, she actually liked the town, and would rather not be yanked out of this pleasant situation to move to another, probably lonely, existence. Over the years Cal had developed some enviable acting skills, so disguising this from her brother wouldn't be too hard. Sneaking out at midnight however, would be a totally different matter...

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By the time she had reached The Barn, the light was starting to fade in a stunning sunset- a cacophony of red, orange and purple filling the sky with colour. Forest was leaning against the large wooden doors watching the almost magical sky. He smiled as Callie approached. "Hey Cal, little one." He was in a quiet mood, she could tell. His eyes were studious but gentle, and his expressions were soft. Luckily, he wouldn't ask questions like this. They would read side by side, both emerged in their own world, and both perfectly fine with the arrangement. A cold breeze was nipping at their cheek. Almost completely in sync, they turned and heading inside. It was moments like these where she felt the most guilty about hiding things from Forest, but she didn't want to hurt him. Sometimes, Callie felt she should be the older one.

Together they bedded down for the night, with shoulders touching. As it grew late, Forest fell asleep, but Cal remained awake, checking the clock every few minutes. At last, when she couldn't wait any longer, Callie pulled on her brother's thick coat and shimmied out the doors and into the darkness of night beyond.

Once outside, she found an old rusted gas lantern, and ignited it using the matches always tucked away in Forest's coat pockets alongside other emergency supplies. It didn't produce much of a light, but it would suffice for now. It bathed everything in a small circle around it in a yellowy glow. Callie had to admit, it was quite a beautiful sight. And so it happened that Cal ended up heading to the woods completely alone to meet a bizarre boy at midnight with only a lamp and the contents of Forest's jacket pockets to protect her.