I crouched lower in the bushes, pressing my body into the red soil. I watched the men working on the other side of the bank and smiled deviously at their stupidity. I could hide amongst them, possible even stand and walk along the rivers bank, and I doubted highly that they would notice me. I really wanted to stir some trouble but I decided against it, as everyone in a 20 mile radius already knew my name and I didn't wish to further that distance. Washing all expression off my face, I parted the grass and evaluated the situation. Three to seven men were on the opposite bank, working as they usually would. I Parted the grass further and slid my slender body through the gap I had created. Now I was practically submerged in the water, slick mud was sticking to my arms and chest, not that I minded much, I mean all I am wearing is some ripped hide that I had since last summer, meaning they were pretty much worthless, barely covering my body. Which, other than to find water, was the reason I had come today. The river did run further into the bush, passing close to my camp, but for whatever reason the animals prefer to drink further up towards the workers. This proved to be an issue, but I had pretty well overcome it by only coming in as far as I needed to, to where the river forked. It came out in a rough 'Y' shape, and the convicts, being as frightened of fast flowing water as they were, avoided having to cross the bank. The furthest I have ever seen one venture was ankle deep and that had only been as his cup that he was using to transport the water, had floated down stream. I peered through the grass in front of me again, and began to wait.
I had just filed up my water canister and began sipping slowly, still waiting for any animal to emerge from the bushes, when one of the workers stopped. I wouldn't have noticed but the man in charge had called out a warning and was advancing threateningly with his whip. My gaze flicked to the man that had stopped. I sized him up mentally, he was about my age maybe a little older, brown hair, fair skin. But what stopped me was his eyes. Deep blue like the sea, and framed by the most beautiful eyelashes. I mean they were seriously spectacular. If it hadn't been in the bush, I could have mistaken him for a high class man, pimped in cosmetics. He was also staring at me. I would have stayed like that, staring into his deep blue eyes, when movement caught my eyes. A roo was drinking on the opposite bank. Time to go to action. I scanned the bank for any workers, finding it free I tensed my muscles, hoping to reach the opposite bank running and startle the men, figuring that would give me enough time to grab the carcass and dive back into the water. I mentally counted down.
3
2... As I reached one, a shout on the opposite bank startled me. For a shocked moment I imagined the man with amazing eyes had actually seen me, but that was silly, there was absolutely no way he could have seen me. Right? I swiveled my head to look at the convicts. The man I had seen before had been forced to his knees, head bowed, to anyone else he would look defeated, but I knew he was just biding his time. I noticed he hadn't bowed without a fight, from the cuts along his chest and shoulders he had made it a tense, hard fight. I sensed that had not been the source of the of the noise, so I continued searching. I finally spotted the source, a man on the opposite bank had spotted the roo. His shout had alerted many of the other men, and also the kangaroo. Cautiously the roo lifted her head. The men didn't notice the joey she was carrying or the growl she let out in warning. My advice to the convicts? Grab a bayonet, you'll need it. Of course they didn't actually grab a gun, instead they blundered up, sounding a lot like an angry bear who's had her cubs disrupted, and circled the roo. I momentarily felt sorry for them and the beating they were sure to endure. I mean I could understand why they would go after a hopeless kill, after all I lived that life, but it still seemed ludicrous. The convicts spread out and began surrounding the roo. Inwardly I prayed that my day would not end with me wiping a strangers blood off myself.
The first man approached the beast head on, not bothering with surprise, he lunged, thrashing about with a small fish gutting knife he probably stole. As he did so he let out a battle cry, of course that was cut short as the kangaroo chose that moment to bring its back legs crashing down on his nose. I heard a thunk and and a small crunch and instinctively knew his nose was broken. I sighed defeatedly as another man flung himself at the defensive roo, and I knew that I would be wiping a strangers blood off myself tonight. I tensed my muscles again and flung myself without thinking at the pissed off kangaroo. I was caught mid flight around the waist and brought to the ground, I looked up at the boy above me, a little more than startled that I hadn't heard him. His face remained stoic, so I left mine blank as well. His thighs pinned me down and rendered movement impossible. I sighed a little at the fact his face hadn't moved and he was still staring at me. From the glimpses I had I the river, I figured I was reasonably pretty, with my flowing golden hair, that was the most unique color, almost looking like spun gold in the sun and my flawless pale skin, I suppose I would be something to look at but I didn't deserve the stare he giving me. Slowly I moved my hand into a key position. A thunk as the second man hit the ground startled him out of the trance. "Your friends in a bit of trouble mate."
