Enchanted Hearts

Chapter 3

Delilah

The Misfits campsite was smaller than I thought. It was only about 100 metres from The River. There were two proper tents and three makeshift tents: one was made with a blue tarp and rope, another, which looked more like a box, was made with metal sheeting and timber and the third was just a bunch of giant sticks and wood build around a tree like a tepee. In the centre of the tents was a large fire. There were two girls sitting around the fire. One with long straight black hair and the other had mousy brown hair. They both looked around my age.  

I didn't have to get too close for them to notice me. The girl with the mousy brown hair instantly reached for her bow and arrow and started to take aim.

"Who are you?!" She yelled at me from a safe distance away. The other girl stayed where she was by the fire, looking all innocent.

"Please, I mean you no harm. I am an Outcast." I really hoped she didn't shoot me.  

"So, you want to join our group?" 

"Yeah, I guess so." No, I really did not want to join their group, but I knew I had to.

"Well then you will have to stay over there until our leader gets back. She will decide your fate."

"Skylar! Don't be so rude. Tara doesn't get back until tomorrow. She can't sleep out here all night." The dark haired girl said to Skylar.

"Tara won't approve. We don't even know who she is. She's a stranger."

"What's your name?" The girl asked me.

"Delilah."

"See, now we know who she is. She's Delilah." She turned back to me, "I'm Mahogany and this is Skylar."

I just smiled. My social skills really needed improvement. All that time isolated from other humans has really taken its toll on me. I went and sat down by the fire across from the two girls. Mahogany kept on firing all these questions at me. Where is your camp? What happened to your family? How long did it take you to get here? Have you met a Moxie before? She was curious, naturally. At first, Skylar was cautious, but she soon warmed up to me. Thank God because I needed all the friends I could get. I found out that Skylar's mother died when she was little and her father was killed by the Virago only 18 months ago. Mahogany left both her parents when she turned twelve, as they never really cared for her and she hardly saw them anyway. Then they came across Tara and she took them in. Then their group just got bigger. 

As the sky got darker, a girl with thick, black hair came walking towards the camp with a bag of fish from the river in her hand. As she came nearer, I realised who is was. Abigail. 

"Delilah?" she said with surprise. 

"Yeah, it's me. I might be joining your group." 

"How do you guys know each other?" Skylar asked. 

"Arrrrrre... It's a long story." Abigail mustn't have told them about our encounter in the forest and I didn't want to tell them anything she didn't want them knowing. 

"We just came across each other on my trip the other day," Abigail said. "Well, I'm glad you made it safely. Anyway, I brought us all some fish. Here." She passed a few fish to Skylar who put them on a tray and the tray over the fire where the flames were low. She didn't plan on telling them how we met.

After we'd all finished eating, I asked, "Where should I sleep?"

"You can sleep in our tent if you want." Mahogany offered. I looked at Skylar and she nodded. 

Abigail looked worried, but didn't say anything. She just walked over to the stick tent on the far side of the camp. She always seemed to be worrying about something. Like she's always scared of something or someone. 

Their tent was the smaller of the proper ones. It was only just big enough for us all. I slept right in between the two. We for ages before going to sleep, even though I was really tired. It felt like I had known them my whole life. I really did like Skylar and Mahogany, they made me forget that my mother was dead and that it was up to me to unite the Virago and Moxie, all without getting myself killed.  

When I opened my eyes, Skylar and Mahogany were already up. I unzipped the tent flap and saw seven ladies gathered around the fire. I recognised Abigail, Mahogany and Skylar, but the other four I didn't know. One of them had to be Tara. As I walked towards them, they all stopped talking, except for one. I guessed it was Tara. She had short, blonde, tousled hair and cold blue eyes. She was tall and muscly with a good tan, but she still looked very young, 18 or 19 maybe. 

"So, I hear you want to join my group," she said. Then in a rougher tone, "Why?"

"Well, I have no where else to go. Both my parents are dead." Well I wasn't certain that my father was dead, but she didn't need to know that. I added just for good measure, "I want to join the fight against the Moxie. I want to help you."

"We could use the help Tara," another said to her. She also had the same blonde hair though it was even shorter than Tara's. She was smaller and younger than Tara. Tara flung her head around to the girl, though her eyes softened.

"Stay out of this Sophie," Tara said sternly. She looked back to me, a quizzical look on her face. She was deciding what to do with me. "I'll make a deal with you, Delilah. If you want to be accepted into the group, first you must prove that we can trust you. You shall go on the next trip to the Moxie camp, which is tomorrow. If you come back alive and have gathered sufficient and useful information, you are welcome to join this group. So, what do you say?" She smiled wickedly as if expecting me to say no deal.

"It's a deal." We shook hands. Tara went into her tent, which was the biggest of them all. Everyone was staring at me, like I'd just signed my death warrant. What had I gotten myself into...