Existence

Chapter 11

True to Alfred's words, a group of women dropped by to give her food and restock the kitchen supply. After a satisfying meal of corn chowder and pumpkin pie, Sarah ventured outside in search of the village entrance.

Following a narrow dirt path, she ended up in what must've been the village square. Stalls of all sorts lined the perimeter, selling fresh fruit, sacks of grains, clothes, and a wide variety of interesting bits and bobs. Children were playing in the middle of the square, around a stone statue of a man holding a scythe. Sarah could recognize a few of the kids from earlier at the village entrance and contemplated asking them for directions.

"Mew."

Sarah glanced down as a black cat with a familiar striped tail weaved back and forth around her legs.

"You again," Sarah said, crouching down to rub its head. "What are you doing here? Are you following me, little guy?"

The cat only purred, enjoying the attention she was giving it. Sarah wondered for a moment if it could be a Shifter in disguise, but she discarded it as a silly idea. Surely a Shifter couldn't act this cat-like. And she'd been alone with it the last few times. If it had been a Shifter, wouldn't she have been attacked or kidnapped by now?

"Sammy!"

Myrtle ran over, her playmates trailing behind her. Sarah smiled as they got closer and shuffled back a bit to let Myrtle scoop the cat up in her arms.

"Where'd you find him, Sarah?" Myrtle asked.

"Actually, he found me," Sarah replied. "Is he yours? How long has he been missing?"

"He's ours," Mallory's twin brother, Tallor said, gesturing to all the kids present.

"The village cat, mommy calls him," Myrtle said, handing said cat to the other girls for them to cuddle. "He loves to play hide and seek and he's very good at it."

"You're good at it too, huh?" Sally told Sarah, clinging onto her arm. "You found Sammy so soon. It usually takes us forever to find him."

"Once, we found him napping in Mr. Albrecht's wheat field," a little boy said.

"Ooh, do you wanna play hide and seek with us, Sarah?" Sally looked up at her with bright hazel eyes.

"Yes, yes, play with us!" Another girl exclaimed.

"Play with us, Sarah!"

"Come on!"

Sarah forced herself to look away from their pleading expressions. She had an appointment to keep. Who knew how long Phoebus would wait by the village entrance? "I'm sorry, guys. I... I have somewhere to be right now. Maybe next time."

"Aww," the kids chorused.

"Sammy can play with you," Sarah said, ruffling the cat's head before he jumped out of Mallory's arms. "Maybe he can help one of you seek. He seems to know all the good hiding places."

"Good idea!" Tallor exclaimed, picking Sammy up. "I'm it! I'm it!"

Tallor ran back over to the statue with Sammy in his arms, face pressed against the stone as he began to count. The other kids scrambled to find a hiding spot, giggling as they ran away from Tallor. Sarah chuckled and shook her head as she watched one boy try to hide behind a wheelbarrow before an old man hauled it away, leaving him completely exposed.

"Sarah!"

Sarah turned around to see Casey jogging over to her. Looking over his shoulder, she could just spot Byron striding in the other direction.