The Race to Freedom

Maria 2

"Why must you be following me?!" Maria whirled around lightning fast, catching sight of Salvo about a hundred meters away. It had been hours since their highly fascinating little word skirmish on the top of a cliff. Since then, Maria got back onto the complicated task of plain old survival. This new world of hers was different from surviving the passive aggressive smiles, bows, plots and occasional assassinations of Ludlow Castle, but the ultimate goal remained identical: keeping her alive. 

Her first goal had been water. The air was still close to boiling hot, and eventually began to sting her cheeks. But plants were present, and plants required the nourishment from water to survive. Hence, there had to be water somewhere. Underground? Possibly. No, there was a far superior way. She must find a river. In the meantime though, plants were good for water, but she dare not touch those spiky beasts. She would cringe in shock at their sheer proximity if she wasn't so deep into survival mode. 

Food was imperative too. She could already feel her stomach going through the typical meanderings of shooting dagger after dagger of pain, until eventually crawling into a nagging corner and slightly subsiding in its onslaught. She could hear the rustling scuffle of some animals in the sparse bushes that surrounded her. There were a few trees, bushy things with prickly leaves and twisted bark that looked like faces grinning at her. 

Eventually, she hit the golden carriage. Well, figuratively. She had arrived at a pond of sorts with three black-headed geese casually picking at the strands of grass surrounding the water's edge. Immediately, she crouched down, trying to think of every piece of advice about hunting Anton had spealed in his many ramblings. That fellow was like a walking printing press. He had made the hunt sound super easy, as if it were nothing more than skipping from one side of the room to the other. Surely this would be simple. 

She eyed their long curved necks that looked like pristine tubes and knew that must certainly be easy to break one of them, and then scare off the others with her frankly amazingly fearful composure. 

Crouching low, trying not to step on the cracking reeds on the ground nearby, nor disturbing any other small hungry animal in the vicinity, she crept forward like a human chasing a goose. Actually wait, that's exactly what she was. She almost felt excited. Castle living was soo dull. 

As the young woman leapt forward to grab at the nearest goose's neck, there was a piercing hiss and Maria saw the beating of wings that smacked hard across the face. Then a sharp bite at her shoulder which instinctively sent her lurching backward. There was a greater barrage of wings and she could hear tumultuous honking, like the sound of a piano being played far too aggressively. The angry eyes of a goose met hers and she could see it about to leap forward to peck at her face.

As the goose stung her neck, Maria grabbed it with a swinging arm and held it within her fist. Tight. Its wings beated furiously. She could feel the holes in her arms where the others had attacked, and she quickly began to sprint away, the neck of the goose she had caught still in her arms. The honking and bleating was louder than ever, and she knew she had some fearsome frustrated pursuants. But she didn't care, because she knew she was faster.

For a moment during her escape, she thought she could hear the sound of laughing. On reflection, it probably was! The scoundrel... even so, she had the goose, it was caught. There was nothing those pesky honkers could do about it now. 

Tying the carcass to a long stick she found, she hoisted it into the air and began to walk, unsure how to cook her findings. But she would find out. 

She felt satisfied, courageous, a survivor. She wasn't going to be stranded like a helpless damsel like in the stories some of the upper-class girls who so frequently were sent to be taught the manners of being a lady at Ludlow used to obsess over. Nope, she always sensed she could be more than that. And a confident smile crept over her lips at the opportunity to prove just that. 

It was just such a petty nuisance that she had not only the gooses strapped to her, but also another human being; this perverse man of the future times. 

"What do you even wish of me?" She shouted again.

Salvo, who indeed had been following her throughout, and was highly amused by her 'ultra survival tactics', shouted back "we can help each other survive".

"My thanks, but I do not require your assistance".

"No" he smiled, a long grin stretching across his tanned face. It was not a malevolent grin, more a happy sigh of relief, as if that one single sigh had pressed away a good portion of all his whirling fears and concerns. "But I think I am in request of yours".