The Fountain Girl

Chapter 10

It was Friday evening, and I had brought Anna to South Valley Park, where I had first met her and where I had saved her from the kidnapper. She glanced occasionally at my notebook and clapped inaudibly as I completed sketch after sketch. The usual cool evening breeze had been replaced by a little harsh icy wind sweeping through the plaza. Trees were almost barren as winter approached, and the pond and fountain water was chilly to the touch. Anna hid in my jacket for warmth, popping her head up just above my zip and snuggling closer to me for warmth.

She glanced briefly at the fountain and looked away. Did she still recall the kidnapping?

"Don't want," she said, shaking her head from side to side, pointing her finger in the direction of the marble fountain. "Don't want, don't want, don't want," she repeated over and over again.

"Okay, Anna, okay," she slid her arms around my waist under my jacket and hugged me, trusting me to keep her safe and sound.

"Safe," she said. She smiled at me and snuggled in closer. Eventually she started sleeping again, which I had noticed that she liked to do at some of the most inconvenient times. I decided to rest and relax in the park for a few more moments. Just as I was about to leave the bench, I felt a light tap on my right shoulder.

My head whipped around to my right instinctively, but no one was there. I swung my neck to the left and that was when I saw Katie, with a scarf around her neck and her nose pale white because of the chilly breeze, with a bag of warm pretzels from Pretzel Mania clutched in her hand. She was wearing a plain tank top and tight denim pants, nothing that would keep her at least relatively warm. Her teeth chattered and before she could say anything, I invited her to sit on the bench, and as she did so, I unzipped my jacket, put it around Katie and Anna and zipped it back up. Katie looked surprised that I had given my jacket up for her and Anna. They needed it more than I did anyway.

"Th...thth...thanks..." Katie muttered slowly, taking a while for her lips to get rid of the numbness.

She dug around her warm bag of pretzels and pulled out my favorite kind: Cinnamon salt. My mouth watered inwardly as I looked at the warm pretzel. She held it out for me and I took it, my eyes saying nothing but 'thank you'.

"I made sure to get you one," she said.

"That's so nice of you..." I said in between bites, the warmth slowly spreading down my throat and throughout my body.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, after gobbling down my pretzel and crunching the paper up.

"What are you doing here?" She asked back, her mouth dotted with crumbs.

"Here, let me get that for you..." I said softly, using my sleeve to wipe her mouth clean. "I'm just doing my sketches. You?"

"Saw you here half an hour ago. Thought I'd get you food."

I smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then she blushed and turned her head away, brushing her hair to one side.

"What was all of that in the classroom earlier?" I asked her.

"Just giving you some love advice, silly," she replied, punching my playfully in the shoulder.

"And you know about love?"

"More than you, obviously," Katie giggled.