Child of the Wild

Chapter Four

It's been a month and a half since Father and I left Hinto's village. I missed him greatly and I had felt as if a part of me was missing. Hinto was a great friend, though I felt as if something was gone.

Father and I had made it far enough west that we saw these mountains. They were giants. I've never seen anything so big. And there was snow at the top.

I loved snow, but it was too cold and snowstorms were terrible if someone didn't have a house. They were cold and the winds were. I much preferred the summer, when it was warm and the winds were gentle. Winter was harsh and summer was gentle.

I laid down on the ground, looking up at the sky. It was almost dusk, so the stars were coming out. I loved the stars so much. They were so beautiful. They filled me with so much curiosity.

The wild and the stars were such amazing things. They were so beautiful and vast. The forests went on forever. The stars haven't even been touched yet.

I woke up the next morning where I fell asleep. Father was cooking breakfast, a rabbit, over the fire. When Father saw I was awake, he smirked at me.

"Have fun sleeping on the ground?" Father asked, chuckling softly to himself.

I groaned and sat up. My clothes were dirty and a little damp. I felt my head. My hair was an absolute mess.

"I didn't mean to," I muttered.

"It's okay," Father reassured. "I kept an eye on you all night."

"Thanks," I murmured. "I'm going to get changed."

I grabbed my bag and walked off. I walked far enough that I knew Father couldn't see me. I changed rather quickly and joined Father again. The rabbit was ready by the time I got there.

We shared it as the sun rose. When I finished, I brushed out my hair and braided it. My hair was easy to take care of. It wasn't long and never got in the way.

I finished up and packed up my things. Father and I packed up our horses and headed off. It seemed to take forever to get to the afternoon. Father and I soon took shelter under a tree and we ate what little food we had. The Dakota had given us some food before we left, but after a month and a half, it had gone down. We weren't starving, but what we had wasn't going to last much longer. And we had to go over the mountains, which would take awhile.

Father has suggested gathering food before going up the mountains. It would be smart. We needed food and water to survive the trip. Water would be easy, but food, not so much.

"Father!" I called.

"Yes, darling?" Father called from farther away.

"When are we going to leave?" I asked.

"Soon, darling," Father replied. "There's no need to worry."

"Okay," I said quietly, anxious to get ready.

I sat there for a while longer before Father came back. He packed a few things before we headed off. We were slow traveling across the lands. I was nervous about getting over the mountains. I didn't want to go over them, but I was curious about what was over them. Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see what was over there.

We made it to the base of the giant mountains a few days. Over those days, we had been gathering food and supplies to use while going over. Luckily, it was spring, so the snow shouldn't be so bad, but it would still be bad.

Father and I camped at the base of the mountains. It was dark and cold with only the sounds being nature and the crackling of the fire. Father was off setting traps and looking for anything edible, but I doubted he would find anything in the growing darkness.

I yawned, suddenly growing tired. It was getting late and I had a long day. I entered my tent and dressed down. I crawled into my comfortable bed, sighing as I settled down.

There were crickets and rustling outside. It was calming to hear those noises. I never got tired of them. I fell asleep quickly and dreamed of a world with Hinto by my side.

I woke up, feeling rested. I looked around and saw light filtering in through the tent walls. I shot out bed and got into clothes as quick as possible.

I stepped outside and looked around. Father was gone, but his horse was still here. I looked around, starting to feel a bit panicked.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Father was probably checking the traps. I shouldn't panic. I could deal with this on my own. I wasn't a kid anymore.

I made myself some breakfast, trying to ease my anxiety with food. It worked for the most part. Father would take me to my aunt's house occasionally and she'd make the best cookies ever. They were soft and so good.

When I finished up the food, Father came up. He looked bedraggled and exhausted like he had stayed up all night.

I stood up, worry filling me. "Father? Are you alright?"

Father waved me as he slumped against a tree trunk, heaving. "I'm fine. Don't worry about your old man."

"I made food," I offered. "Are you hungry?"

Father shook his head, muttering, "I already ate."

"Father, are you alright?"

Father waved me off again. "Yes, yes, Elizabeth. Don't worry about me."

I was still worried but I sat down with my food and sat silently. Father drifted in and out of sleep, seemingly fitful and restless.

I took a deep breath and took things into my own hands. I found most of Father's traps. About half of them had caught small forest animals. I killed the alive ones swiftly and carried them back to the camp. It had taken a few hours and by the time I had gotten back, the sun was setting.

I placed a few of the animals in a sack and placed them by the other bags. Father was still in his spot, sleeping. I cooked a rabbit over the fire. I only ate about half of it before I woke up Father. He ate slowly and seemed distracted.

I cleaned up and made sure everything was all tidy before leaning back against a tree on the opposite side of Father. I needed to learn how to live on my own. There might be a time that Father wasn't with me. I had to do stuff on my own. I was my own independent woman. Father had taught me how to set traps, hunt, and make a fire. He taught me everything I needed to live on my own in the wild.

The sun was setting when Father finally got up and stumbled into his tent. I stayed up for longer so I could watch the stars. They were so beautiful. I could see the whole galaxy. It was truly amazing that I lived in this wonderful world of mine in this wonderful galaxy of mine.

Looking at space made me feel lonely, though. I never knew why. It just did. It felt like I had no one out there to be with and I was all by my lonesome. Of course, I had Father and I had Hinto, but it didn't feel like they were there for me.

Of course, Hinto wasn't here. He was with his tribe. Hinto was an amazing man. He was one of the only people I had formed a strong bond with.

Hinto was a great man. He was attractive and well built. I was surprised he didn't have a wife yet. He was funny and treated people equally. He was always cracking jokes with me and we got along great. Whenever I was with him, my heart fluttered and I had found it had to breathe.

I then realized I loved Hinto. He was handsome and had muscles. He was definitely my type of the guy. Hinto and I got along well. We joked around and had similar interests.

I remembered when I had to leave him. I regretted so much. I wanted to kiss him then and I wanted to do it know, but I couldn't. I would never see Hinto again. I realized that when Hinto said that he had me, he meant that he wanted me to be his wife. His companion. I loved him and he loved me. Oh, I wish things were different. I wanted to go back to see Hinto and tell him everything.

I sat there, crying, for a while after that. The more I thought about it, the more I believed in the fact that Hinto was my soulmate. And I had missed my chance to spend the rest of my life with him.