The Secret War

Chapter 5- Lily

~Lily~

We take off and start our free fall down.

"These devices will deactivate as soon as you hit the water. If you want to contact us, you'll hace to send a telegram using the device in Lily's bag. You can't have anything too advanced there!" Peeta warns us.

"Pilot chute!" Katniss cries through the system. I grab the cord and pull. I feel a little tug and am lifted up as the main one deploys. Hope fumbles, but manages just before 2000 feet. Phew.

"Happy 'Hunger Games'!!" Peeta teases as the grey-blue water approaches faster. I hear Hope laugh and scream with an adrenaline rush.

"It's gonna be cold!" Katniss cheers. I curse under my breath.

"May the odds-" Peeta starts to say.

FWOOSH!!!!!!!

The initial shock of the cold water nearly makes me black out. Black rims my vision, but I shake it out. The wetsuit clings to me and I stroke to shore, checking to see Hope is close first.

Wait, where is she?

"Hope!" I shout, my heart rising to my throat. "HOPE!"

"Lily!" I see her blonde hair float up to the surface. "The coldness got to me and it was hard to swim up with all this gear." she explains while l hug her.

"I thought you had drowned or had- had landed somewhere else!" I choke. I thought my best friend was dead!

"It's okay, get a grip girl!" she laughs and I let a shaky one out.

"I'm fine. Let's get to shore." I say firmly and start to paddle to the empty, dull beach.

- - - - - - -

"Are you Elísa and Nada?" a plump, short woman with kind, light blue eyes and wispy mousy hair asks us.

"Yes." we respond.

"Come in then. You can call me Osu Dalla. That means Misses Dalla in Finnish." she gestures us into the nearly empty first-floor pub of the inn. Only a drunk and a stern-looking bartender are in sight. It had taken us an hour and some broken English to get us here.

"Who are they?" the bartender with a ruddy complexion questions harshly.

"Guests." Osu Dalla replies simply. "þeir eru hér til að hjálpa*." he nods and hastily wipes a glass.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" he says more nicely, and I can see his hazel eyes through a layer of dull blond hair.

"Can I have some hot apple cider?" I request. Hope seconds.

"Sure. You can call me Herra Robertsson. I'm Dalla's husband." he explains while heating up the fragrant drink. He sprinkles some cinnamon into the mugs and I inhale the drink.

"Thank you!" Hope sips the crisp cider.

"No problem. Enjoy your stay." he smiles warmly as I put some coins down on the counter.

- - - - - - -

I take a hot bath with soap that smells like a pine forest. I finally get out and dry myself off with a coarse towel and comb my wet, black hair. I put on a loose, pea green shirt, a gray trench coat, tight, black pants, and gray rain boots. I fishtail braid my hair and walk out to find Hope dressed in a purple sweater and denim pants. Her wavy, damp hair hangs loose on her shoulders.

"Dalla said supper is going to be served at seven." she reports.

"Sounds good. I can do something with your hair." I offer. She recoils. "Oh come on." I start to braid her hair when she relents, lacing a purple ribbon into it, around her head like a Saranan girl does. I pin it in place.