The Greatest Enigma

14. Sleeping Bag

It was dark by the time anyone suggested leaving Paddy's tent so he offered to let them stay the night. The tent had no floor but E had come prepared with sleeping bags. Unfortunaltly, they did not zip all the way up so Wolfsbane's hair got sand in it. Cypher and Roulette shared a sleeping bag, despite there being enough for one each and them being barely big enough for one person. They claimed it was too conserve body heat but she knew the real reason...

It was cold though. Without the heat of the mid-day sun, which had been high in the sky when they'd arrived, the sand which had once felt like fire was now ice against her bare skin. She shivered and burrowed even deeper into the sleeping bag. It was a navy blue and smelled...musty. Wolfsbane curled up and drifted to a dreamless sleep. That was new.

Wolfsbane awoke to find her head at the wrong end of the sleeping bag. She struggled to breath through the thick insulated material and wondered how she had ever managed to get to sleep like this. Wolfsbane struggled and tried to stand up but it was no use. Why wasn't anyone helping? They couldn't still be asleep. She could hear murmering voices. Were they just standing watching her suffocate? A tear formed in the corner of her eye and she tried one last time to get up. This time, the fabric of the bag ripped easily and she burst out tearing the fabric to shreds. It rained down around her, navy confette. Everyone was staring at her, eyes and mouths open wide. E held his hands up and moved slowly towards her.

"Stay calm" he told her. He said that a lot Wolfsbane thought as she took a step towards him. Everybody else flinched back. What? Her hair couldn't look that bad could it? She moved to her small pack that she had bought with her and got out a pocket mirror.

Wolfsbane dropped the mirror and staggered back. She hadn't seen herself inthe mirror. She had seen a giant, ferocious and hungry-looking wolf. Red eyes and black fur. No wonder everyone was scared. Wolfsbane was quite pleased with herself; proud that she could strike this amount of fear into people's hearts. She bowed her head and followed E. She glanced at her clothes, shredded along with the bag. That's a shame. She had quite liked that top. And those denim shorts had not been cheap. She followed E into the tent. He turned around and she looked at the floor, ashamed that she hadn't been able to keep herself under control. She stopped walking as her feet were no longer giant and hairy. They were small and human. Sure enough, E gasped and spun around again and called Lorelei to get Wolfsbane some clothes. Talk about bad timing. Wolfsbane gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around herself. She was looking forward to learning how to turn this wolf thing on and off at will. Maybe discovering how to be fully clothed afterwards? All three sirens came into the tent. Lorelei had a smirk on her face.

"I don't think our clothes will fit her" she gestured to Wolfsbane curled up in a feeble attempt to cover her naked body. Lorerlei spun on her heels and strutted out of the tent, but only one sister flanked her this time. Bethany crossed the tent and rummaged in a bag. Her delicate hands emerged with a plain white top and white denim shorts.

"These should fit", Bethany muttered as she passed them to Wolfsbane, "and reflect the sun"

"Thank you" Wolfsbane said.

"Keep them. She won't let me take them back" Bethany told her, refering of course to Lorelei.

Wolfsbane smiled at her as she hurried out after her sisters. Her luscious blonde hair flowed behind her. It must be like having your own personal sun. It was so bright Wolfsbane wouldn't be surprised if heat radiated from it.

She wandered outside, embarrassed beacuse of the whole wolf thing. Cypher and Roulette were deep in conversation but both stopped and looked up to smile at her. She scowled. They must have been talking about her.

"How are we supposed to get to Dagger anyway? He's miles away" Jack called to Paddy. Paddy smiled.