Temple's Pursuit

chapter 6

re-written

Chapter 6

Temple held the bottom of her dress up and her hair waved in the wind, as she sprinted along the sidewalk.  Her heart was racing hard and she knew it was not all from running. She had no intentions of talking to this, Killean!  She didn't feel comfortable with the way he was looking at her and wondered why she stopped breathing when she thought about him.

She finally reached the safety of her home, but Temple wasn't quite ready to give up her independence, so she plopped down on the front step.  "I am not going to let everyone see how out of breath I am cause they will ask me a million questions and" she gulped "what is the matter with me? Why am I letting this, "person", affect me like this?  Who did he think he was, smiling at me and thinking he is "all that"?  Temple wanted to figure this out by herself. but knew she didn't have the experience. " Perhaps I should talk to my brothers since they have experience with the opposite sex." It was certainly something to think about.  She forced herself to calm down and just enjoy the warm afternoon sun.  Slowly she relaxed, leaned her head back  and  closed her eyes .

Her mind automatically went back to Killean no matter how hard she tried to avoid him.  She continued to focus on his deep dimples and beautiful mouth, when she felt a slight shove.  Temple chose to ignore it, thinking it was her imagination, but when the familiar white light and nasty smell happened, she knew someone was trying to hurt her.

Temple's eyes flew open and found herself staring into the hard cold glare of Sioban.  "Well that is quite a change from yesterday" she sneered.  Sioban was a tiny young woman with short red hair, at least for now.  She had an exotic look with amber skin and yellow tinged eyes.  Some boys might think she's pretty most of the time, but right now, The scowl on her face, made Temple think Sioban was rather unattractive.  "Oh, hello Sioban, are you lost, or did you come around to sniff for something disgustingly familiar?" she chuckled.

The other woman's eyes burned with hatred, as she glared at Temple.  A noise that sounded somewhat like a hiss, slipped out of Sioban's mouth and said "I came to check YOU out!  I wonder why is it no one has heard about you, and I don't believe that story you gave yesterday!  I have very good senses about people and something is not right with you.   I'll bet you don't even have a boyfriend!" she hissed "If you do, than I must know who it is, cause I know almost everyone in the area.  So," she paused, "Who is this boyfriend?"

This time Temple did not back down, it seems that this little piece of magic she now owned, gave her extra strength to rebuff someone like Sioban. "I am sure you have never heard of him" she smirked   "Ok then tell me his name." demanded the nasty young woman.  Without thinking Temple blurted out, "his name is Killean."

Sioban's eyes went wide! " You were dating Killean Alard?" Sioban's face had a look of complete surprise.  By now, Temple had had enough of Sioban and wanted this discussion to come to an end. She  stood up, threw her hair behind her, then slowly looked down at the dumb founded girl and said "I think your good senses have gone a little green Sioban.  I don't owe you an explanation as to why you haven't seen me before, or who I have been dating."

She made a partial turn to go into the house but stopped and said, "now I will say goodbye, so I can go inside and see people I actually like."  Temple's heart was racing as she walked with a straight back through the coolness of the open door..

Temple kept what happened to her that day to herself.  Her family has had to endure so much for her already.  They have watched everything she did her whole life and had to give up their own interests, so that she was protected at all times.  It was tiring having to live with the fear that someone would find out about their "problem".  She didn't know what her future will be, but she was certain she would live no ordinary life.  Most girls at her age were already betrothed, and her brothers should have left home and made their way in the world by now.

Temple knew she had to do something soon. She could not continue like this for much longer, she  already had some unwanted attention.  Her mind raced thinking about all possible scenarios but nothing had the kind of ending she was hoping for.  The only possible solution was to leave.

 If she stayed, then her family would be in constant danger and her brothers would never be able to have a life of their own.  The next question she needed to answer was, when.  Her parents had given her money over the years, plus she had her "achievment awards" put away.  

These awards were given to the brightest students by the local government.  Since she was home schooled, she only needed to go to the public institution, once a year to write the exam.  Her results were consistently in the top 10%, which gave her a monetary scholarship.  She was financially well off, for someone her age.

Temple figured she had enough money to get her out of the city and into the low lying hills, several hundred miles away.  Very few people lived in that area because most perfered the safety of a large citiy.  There were rumours about "things" that lived just past those hills, but she chose to put them to the back of her mind.  By the time she went to bed she had formulated a plan.