22. Berries
The following day, Charlie awoke early and roused the others. The cold morning dew and frost had settled on their packs and their sleeping bags, and they all wrapped the oversized waterproofs around them tightly, once they had managed to force themselves out of the warmth of their sleeping bags. They set off, heading North, after glancing at the compasses which hung from their packs.
The ache in their legs from their excursions the day before was all they could think about, and so they had to take it slow at first then build up the pace a bit at a time. They had reached the foot of the small mountain range and started the climb by lunchtime. They were still well under the cover of the trees, as they hadn't broken past the tree line yet, but the ground had begun to slope steeply.
“I wish we had fruit or something.” sighed Peter, chewing on the stale bread and dried fruit. “Y’know, not dried fruit, real fruit.”
“Dried fruit is real fruit.” said Emma, rolling her eyes.
“You know what I mean.”
“Well, we could easily run out in the next day or two. We might seem to have lots of food, but we have five mouths to feed. We could do with some more.” said Phoenix.
“Why don't me and Emma go and see if we can find anything while the others sort out water?” suggested Peter.
“Good idea.” said Charlie, glad of a chance to rest a little longer.
“I’m still eating – can we go in a moment?” said Emma. Peter looked disappointed.
“Why don’t I go? We shouldn’t waste any more time than we have to.” Phoenix got to her feet, visible wincing from the ache in her legs.
Phoenix and Peter disappeared off, while Jason and Charlie filled the bottles for Emma to treat. Once it was done, they sat back and wrapped their coats more tightly around them.
“I could do with a fur coat.” Emma's voice was audible from within the swathes of her waterproof.
It wasn't long before Phoenix and Peter returned, bickering loudly.
“They could be poisonous. I'm not eating those.” Phoenix was eyeing the contents of Peter's palm with suspicion.
“Fine. Starve. They'll be fine, I bet.” retorted Peter.
“Do you know what kind of berries they are?”
“No but-”
“See!” exclaimed Phoenix. “They could be the most dangerous berries in the forest, for all you know.”
“Well, I'm happy to take that risk.” said Peter.
“That's because you're an idiot.” Phoenix rolled her eyes.
They entered the clearing where Jason, Charlie and Emma were sitting. In his cupped hands, Peter held some innocent looking round, pinkish berries, about the size of marbles. Charlie had a feeling he had heard of them before.
“What did you find?” Emma peered apprehensively into Peter's hands.
“Nothing but these berries and some manky looking mushrooms. I doubt they're edible, but Peter thinks otherwise.” Phoenix scowled him.
“They don't look poisonous.” admitted Emma. “And they smell ok.”
“You're not going to eat those are you?” Jason gazed at the berries with mistrust.
