We spent the next few weeks watching the television, to see the tributes parade through the Capitol [as usual, District 12 were in baggy coal miners outfits. At least it was better than the years the stylists put us naked apart from coat dust all over us], then the Games themselves. Mead and Saffron didn't do too badly with their scores either, each getting a 7. That meant the Careers wouldn't be focusing too much on them, but it was still a decent enough score to not be seen as one of the weaker ones. The night before the games, Caesar Flickerman was on again, interviewing this years tributes. His hair and skin a deep crimson, making him look as though he was covered in blood. Not a good look, even for someone from the Capitol. Some of the tributes looked petrified, some were confident (the Careers as usual) and some of them looked as though it still hadn't sunk in yet, that there was a high chance they would be dead in two weeks. Saffron was pretty calm, all things considered, whereas Mead resembled a deer looking down the barrel of a gun. But they both got through the interviews okay. In fact Caesar had this amazing ability to make you feel at ease wherever you were, even if you were about to walk headfirst into your own arena of death.
I watched alot of the Games coverage with Nova, but sometimes Gale would be over to see Jasper, so they would watch with me, while Nova helped mum out in the kitchen. Gray was usually out at work. He was a blaster, helping to create new mines, so worked pretty long hours at times. Dad would have preferred him to follow in his footsteps and help out more at the butchers, but understood that he needed to make his own way in this world and if that meant working in the mines, then so be it. At the weekends, Peeta would usually be over. His family didn't like him to take the fresh bread and cakes meant for customers. Understandable. Even though we were better off than those families in the Seam, we still couldn't afford to take out of our own profits. So to make sure we had a fresh cake to munch on while he was over, I went out early each Saturday morning and bought one with my own money, which I earned from helping clean at the local tavern after school a few times a week. They weren't much, but even the small ones tasted amazing, and were usually decorated by Peeta during the week, after school. Saffron and Mead thankfully survived the bloodbath at the Cornicopia, but Mead gained a slash down the side of his leg from trying to escape the male tribute from District 2. Each got away with a backpack, and Saffron managed to secure a knife before getting away. Unfortunately, Mead died from too much blood loss by the end of the first night, but Saffron held on. Only another 4 days, but she held longer than her brother. I was curled up in Peeta's arms when it happened. We were chatting to Jasper, who was on his way out to see some friends when we heard a scream. My first thought was Nova, then I realised she was safe in her room, reading. No, this came from the television and was as if it had come out of the deepest bowels of hell itself. I snapped my head round and all three of us had our eyes trained on the screen. Saffron was running through the trees, panting, tripping over everything in her path. Poor girl looked as though she hadn't slept for a month. That was when we heard it. A scurrying, a squeaking, then they came out. Muttation flesh-eating rats. It was over in a matter of seconds, but I had to bury my face in Peeta's chest, while I sobbed, and he stroked my hair. In a way it was worse, because we knew her. She was only a few months younger than me. It took me half an hour to fully calm down, during which Peeta patiently held me, whispering that it was ok and stroking my hair. The rest of the day was hard. I couldn't even begin to imagine what their mum must be going through right now though. I know she had an obviously hard time when Mead went. But I'm pretty sure she would end up at Mrs Everdeen's kitchen later tonight. Katniss's mum was amazing. She ran the apothecary in town, knew just how to heal people from depression to whiplashes. Anyone from the Seam who needed help, went to her. Later that afternoon, Peeta ran home to ask if it was ok to have tea at our's that night. Thankfully his mum wasn't there, so his dad said it wasn't a problem. I was extremely grateful for Peeta being there tonight, I don't know how I would have gotten through dinner without him chatting away. I really wish I hadn't had to watch it, but that's the thing. Everyone in the Districts has to watch, the Capitol demands it.
After dinner, and once Nova had started to settle in for the night, I walked Peeta home. The stars looked pretty, and I could see a smiling face in the sky. I knew from school that was called Orion, and there, across from it, was a large saucepan, known in the old days as The Big Dipper. As we walked past the couple of back gardens that separated our homes, Peeta turned to me.
"You know, Solly, I don't know what I'd do if I went into the arena. There's not much I'm good at," he sighed.
"You'd be fine Peep," I say, smiling. "You are strong, you can make friends easy, so allies wouldn't be a problem and if you needed to frost a cake, you'd win hands down," I teased. He ruffled my hair, telling me to shut it, but smiled at the same time.
"Ok, well thank your mum for dinner tonight," he says, sighing, as we reached his back door. His own mum opened the door to throw away some rubbish, and glared at us as we stood in the path.
"I will do, Peep," I replied, giving him a hug.
"Will you be ok tonight?" He looked worried
"Yeah, I'll be ok. I'm more worried about Mrs Holt."
"She has plenty of people worrying about her tonight, I'm worried about you."
"I'll be fine, Peep, honest." I reached up and kiss his forehead, still under the glare of Mrs Mellark. That woman wouldn't know what a smile was if it jumped up and smacked her in the face!
"Night, Solly," Peeta says, before turning round and walking into the back of the bakery. On my way back home, I bumped into Jasper. He had been helping Gale out with something and had missed dinner.
"Oooh mum's gonna be so mad," I teased him, as he shoved me.
"Well if we are in the mood for teasing," he started, "I know something you don't know." He laughed as I rolled my eyes at him. He used to play this when we were kids, so it was no wonder I didn't believe him. He tried to convince me it was really good, but I told him it wouldn't work. "Ah little sis, you are no fun tonight," he teased. As we walked back into the kitchen, mum and dad looked at us, completely ashen. It took us a while, but we managed to get out of them that while I had been walking Peeta home tonight, someone had come round to let us know that Mrs Holt had passed away from what Mrs Everdeen suspected was a heart attack. In a way, it was a mild blessing. Yes it was sad, but she had no living family around anymore. I saw it as a way she could be back with her children again. At least she wasn't suffering anymore, I thought as I crawled into bed later that night. Unfortunately I did, as I spent the whole night tossing and turning, occasionally waking up screaming from nightmares about my own body being eaten alive by those damn rats. By morning I was so worn out, that even school was looking like a better option than home! That morning, we held a special assembly for Mead, Saffron and their mum. It wasn't much, but it was the best send off District 12 could have given them.
