Of The Sea : John Murphy

You'll Go Nuts For These Prices

"Finally, you're back." Thore greeted the twins, catching the reins of their horses.

They jumped down, puffed and red in the face.

"How much did you get?" I wondered, assessing their flustered faces. "Was there trouble?"

They looked at each other and smiled, shaking their heads. They heaved and revealed two large woven sacks filled to the brim with greenish nuts. "Chief, you have no clue how fast we were working."

"Is this all you have?" I asked, impressed none the less by how much they had gathered.

Smiling, they shook their heads, pointing to the horses who carried almost doubled the amount they were holding.

"I must say..." I scoffed, not believing my eyes. "Well done."

They both fist pumped enthusiastically then bumped chests to celebrate their victory.

"Okay now everyone grab a bag each, and make sure the horses are secure, we don't want them running off." I instructed, pointing here and there. "Come on, while we still have the light on our side."

Onwards we marched as a group, using what was left of the daylight to find our way to the camp.

At a safe distance, we perched our selfs behind logs and trees to spot any watchers.

"They usually leave the back of the drop ship unguarded, you could probably sneak in through there." Murphy whispered without me having to ask him in the first place. "The food is around the front of the ship, you'll probably need some clothes so that even if they see the back of you they won't recognise you."

I nodded thankfully to the information and signalled for him to lead the way.

"We're trusting him on his word?" Leo whispered behind me.

"Yeah, we are." I heard Adrian answer.

I smiled at his acceptance but kept trudging on.

Murphy's voice was now an even lower whisper. "I can't go in there cause they'll notice me but they might not recognise you, if anyone asks who you are, just say your name is Sarah Lancaster." He told me. "Whatever happens, stick to a story, say that you're seventeen and was put in the sky box about three months ago for theft. Or at least something similar but keep your age under eighteen."

I blinked, stunned at the amount of information I had to process. "Sarah? What a strange name." I pondered. "I have never met a Sarah before... Adrian shall come with me, he looks enough like one of yours."

Adrian nodded eagerly, keen to get his hands dirty.

Murphy nodded, "Yeah I think so too. Find an empty tent, there should be some clothes in there. And put your hair up, the girls here seem to do that."

Adrian and I nodded before turning our backs and wedging a loose fence post aside for us to squeeze through.

"Oh, wait, Thea." He breathed, careful to keep his voice down. "Try to talk like I do, they'll think something's up with your accent."

I furrowed my brows, trying to process his voice in my head before nodding.

I had never thought of his accent being different although it was blatantly obvious. I guess my accent or any other accent for that matter never would have suited him.

I crawled through then grabbed bag after bag handed to me and rested them along the wooden fence.

We left them there while we scavenged for clothing, needing to blend in before we could make any moves.