The Fenrir Saga - Part I

Chapter 13

--- Hild ---

I didn't know how long I slept, and I only woke up when I felt someone stir next to me. For a moment, I was confused until I remembered: the girl!

I turned, facing her in what I hoped was a reassuring and comforting way. The sun was high in the sky, casting a warm glow on our faces, indicating that we had both been sleeping for a long time. 

"Hi. My name is Hild. We met yesterday; I don't know if you remember. You have been out for more than 24 hours. How are you feeling?"

She flickered her eyes as if trying to remember how she got here, who I was, and god knows what else. Her eyes were clear blue, and I guessed she was pretty under all those bruises and bandages—brave, little girl. I took her hand.

"Are you hurting?"

She swallowed, and it looked like she was doing some damage control. She looked at me again.

"My leg a little, and the arm, the shoulder a little, and my head," she said and dropped my hand to touch her forehead. Feeling the bandage there, she looked at me with a worried face.

"It will be fine. Shall we go to the kitchen and get some breakfast? I can make scrambled eggs if you want."

She looked at me with new life in her eyes, and I almost heard her stomach rumble. I helped her up to a sitting position, and by doing so, I realised I was in no better shape. It hurt from my torso, my head, and basically everywhere. 

Broken, we helped each other up to standing positions, and slowly, like we were little old ladies, we walked out into the kitchen area, just outside the bedroom.

A low growl made us stop in our steps. Right! Harry, the grump, was still inside, and even though I thought it changed yesterday, he still disliked me. Walking towards him, however, I noticed he was not growling at me. It was the girl. The growl intensified, and he bared his teeth in a very "do not come closer"- kind of way. I crouched down in front of him and patted him on the head.

"Harry."

I was surprised he stopped his antics and looked me dead in the eye, making me pause for a second, slightly taken aback by his undogly behaviour. He waited. I continued.

"Harry. This is a friend to me. To us. She helped us yesterday, and she is a friend. F. R. I. E. N. D." I spelt it out, just in case dogs knew how to spell, and my slow talking would help him understand.

I don't know if he understood me, but he gave me some sort of look and stopped growling.

"Good boy."

He seemed to huff in annoyance at the mere thought of him being a good boy, but I didn't care. At that moment, he was the best boy I knew. Literally.

The girl slowly walked up to us and sat down next to Harry. His upper lip trembled as if he still wasn't convinced that she was not a threat, but she carefully patted his head. After a while, he sighed, put his head back on his big front paws, and either ignored her or pretended to. 

I opened the door to the small patio to let him out, and he jumped off the sofa and ran out. I could see through the window that he did his business at the small gate surrounding the tiny garden that belonged to the cabin. Then he left the garden and circled our area, peeing on all corner posts as if to literally mark his territory. Dogs.

I turned back to the girl and smiled.

"Breakfast?"

She smiled back and nodded eagerly, and I started scrambling the eggs.

She got up from the sofa and moved to the kitchen table, closer to me.

"My name is Beonnie," she said and smiled at a happy memory. "My friends call me B."