Unfamiliar Territory [Book One]

Chapter Twenty-Five | Denial

I spent the next four months at Mr. Quincy's cabin. There was no word from Mutt, Mr. Mallard, Stallion, or any of the others. And with Kat gone most of the night and day, and Mr. Quincy becoming more and more distanced with me as the weeks dragged on, I found myself alone with my thoughts most of the time.

Well, when I wasn't with the kids, that is.

"Better run faster this time, fox, or I'm gonna whack you good!"

"Gust, stop."

It was rough for awhile. Though Gust had grown slightly more tolerable of me, and in turn becoming slightly more tolerable himself, he still made it a point to remind me that I was the enemy--the 'fox'.

"What's the big deal? He should be able to hit the dumb fox if he wants to."

"Yeah, if the fox is slacking off, Gust definitely gets to hit him!"

And whether it was due to their loyalty to their older brother or their own personal feelings, the twins weren't shy about their distaste of me either. Leaf, in particular, was quick to follow his brother's taunting with an insult or jab.

"Ooh, look, Leaf. Maple is giving us the ugly eye."

"Oh no! Not the ugly eye! Over here, Lilly, if we hide behind Meadow she'll forget we're here!"

Whatever connection Meadow and I had made never really amounted to more than the occasional brief conversation. She remained quiet when Gust and the twins got on my case, looked the other way when they got a little loud or rough. She was just a kid, so I couldn't blame her--but it still hurt.

"Guys, really, stop it. You're making her uncomfortable. And if anyone whacks Alex, I'm whacking them twice as hard."

The only one I could depend on was Maple.

Like her younger sister, Meadow, Maple wasn't like most other kids her age. I had some idea of her maturity from the moment I met her, but I would watch how she handled her younger brothers and sisters--helping to feed them, watch over them, settle disputes between them--with never a complaint or even appearing bothered by it, and I realized she was more of an adult than most of the adults I knew.

Only after the first few months did Gust, Leaf, and Lilly really start to give me some slack--to trust me--and I knew that it was all because of Maple. For whatever reason, she never saw me as the enemy.

I kept Kat's hat and her bunny with me every day.

...

"Okay, so the fox lifted that dead log yesterday. Leaf, Lilly, what should we get him to lift next?"

"A giant rock!"

"I don't know. I kinda want to see if he can lift that log higher than last time."

"Okay, fox, lift that log higher, then that rock. After that, you're gonna climb the tallest tree we can find, then Leaf and I are gonna fight ya, then you're gonna lift more of daddy's weights or--"

"Or you'll whack me?"

"Or I'll whack you good!"

It was almost unnatural how much I improved over the course of just a few months. The first month was rough--actually, it was downright hell. But every cup of tea I drank continued to fuel me with an unnatural amount of energy and I would eat every meal like it was my last.

Soon, the morning runs weren't enough. I had to climb trees, lift Mr. Quincy's weights, wrestle with his surprisingly strong kids, and generally keep my body active for hours at a time just to get the energy from the tea out of my system. The weak spells grew less and less frequent before they just stopped altogether.