Far from the Sea

The Plan

The day of their departure was chosen carefully. A Sunday, when everyone in their village was sure to turn in early in preparation for the week ahead.

Liesel looked forward to it for days, but when it finally came, she was a mess of trepidation, nerves, and sadness.

She waited until her family was sleeping. With boots in hand and a bag she'd packed in secret, she crept through her quiet house and took painstaking measures to open the door soundlessly. The hinges cried out in a painful groan, and she froze in place, certain that she'd be caught. A panicked moment ticked by. Then another. But nothing happened. After she'd stepped through and closed the door behind her, she paused to whisper a silent goodbye to her family and the life she'd known with them. A single tear escaped her eye and ran the length of her cheek. She didn't bother pushing it away. The emotion it represented deserved reverence.

Kai waited for her under the boughs of the ash behind the church. There, they made their way to the cliffs. They'd travel a path around the edge of the villages that dotted the shore. It was the only way to avoid being seen. Liesel clung tightly to Kai's arm. It gave her strength to keep going as each step led her farther out into the world than she'd ever been before.

Kai stopped for a moment and studied the sea, his mouth drawn into a hard line.

"What? What do you see?" She was unable to suppress the worry that bubbled up in her voice.

He waited before answering. A flash of light illuminated the water's surface. "There," he pointed. "A storm. It'll be on us soon. Let's keep moving."

The wind soon began to gather. Its power increased, pushing against them with mad insistence. Liesel's skirts flew about her legs, leaping back up when she pushed them down. Sparse rain droplets pattered down. "It's getting worse," Kai said. He pointed to the beach below. "It won't be so bad down there. We'll find somewhere to wait it out." The coast was littered with caves. They'd be safer inside one than trying to battle the storm head on.

Kai found a path descending the hill and helped Liesel down. The winds weren't as forceful below. A few more moments of walking and they came upon an indentation in the rock. They hurried toward it, hope abounding that it would be large enough to shelter them. Their hopes were fulfilled. Past a narrow opening that could fit only one body at a time, the cave opened to a space as wide as her family's home.

Outside, the storm raged, but the pair were safe beyond its reach. Kai built a fire near the entrance while Liesel tamed her hair. "We should get out of these clothes so that we don't catch our death," she said.

Kai stood and stripped off his shirt and trousers, pulling a dry set from his bag. He draped the wet ones near the fire and regarded Liesel's hesitance with a devilish grin. "There's no need to be shy. We'll be married soon."

"Yes, but we're not married yet, are we?" She shooed him with a wave of her hand. "Turn around." He laughed but did as she asked.

She stepped away, slipping into a corridor that branched off the main room of the cave. Light was sparse, but it allowed her privacy to remove her clothes. As she was doing up the last buttons, she glanced at the rocky wall and saw a strange blotch. A shadow? She moved closer for inspection. No, a painting. She glanced down the wall and found more dark forms. "Kai?"

"Aye?"

"Come and see. And bring a light."

He approached with a crude torch. Liesel pointed to the wall. "Here."