Seeking

Feud (chapter 5)

(I hope you enjoy this chapter!)

Feud

They silently followed. Were they in trouble for making a mess in the kitchen? Rebecca looked around the clearing trying to remember where everything was so if they had to escape they could.

The man stopped at the door of the building in the middle and knocked lightly. “Come in,” they heard from inside. They walked into a small office. It had a desk in the middle of the room with almost nothing else in the room. A lady with bright red hair and blue eyes sat at the desk. “Well. We have visitors. I guess you gave them kitchen duty by the looks of it.” Her eyes scanned the kids’ soaking wet shirts. “The only place they can stay is cabin 54.”

“That is my cabin!” the man, who they started to call Bird behind his back, said. He didn’t look like one who wanted to share a cabin with anyone.

“Ok, then you can clean a cabin for them to stay in, or you can stay in the kitchen. You could sleep on the ground, too,” the red head said sarcastically. She smiled, knowing she would get her way. “Ignore him. He is a grump.” Her eyes were laughing at her.

Bird stared at the girl. “You stink,” was all he said before he pushed, more like shoved, the friends out the door. He whispered something to the girl and followed them out. “You three are very lucky.”

“Why would that be? Is it because you’re not in charge?” Justin said. Justin seemed to recognize Bird from somewhere. It was like a bad rut in his memory. Rebecca kicked him in the shin and glared at him with a look that said shut up. He glared back but listened to his friend.

Bird looked down at Justin. “You do not want to get into a fight with me little boy,” he said. “Come on. I just remembered that cabin 43 is clean. Keep up if you can.” He turned into a blackbird and flew off.

Justin was the last one to change. They did have a hard time keeping up. Luckily, it was not a long way to the cabins. It was obvious Justin and Bird were about to start fighting.

Lennae walked into the cabin, pulling Justin along. “You’d better calm down,” she whispered to him. She overheard Rebecca thanking Bird for showing them where to stay and then came into the cabin.

“Let’s get some sleep. We have to head back tomorrow. We don’t want two people to start fighting,” Rebecca said, glaring at Justin who just shrugged. They all climbed into a bunk bed. The girls slept on one side, Rebecca on top and Lennae on the bottom bunk. Justin slept on the other side on the top bunk.

Justin was the only one who didn’t go to sleep. He got out of bed and quietly tip-toed to the door. He opened it just enough so he could get out and then closed it gently. Then he was off, running through the forest, looking for Bird.

“I thought you would come find me,” Bird said, coming out of the shadows. There was a snap of a twig that caught Bird’s attention. He was distracted for a second and that was a second too long. Justin had knocked him over.

“You thought right,” Justin growled. “You were a horrible coach and an even worse foster brother!” He slashed out a paw and left a scratch on Bird’s arm. Then got off and changed into a human. Bird kicked Justin in the shin, hard. When Justin went down he pulled down Bird with him. They started rolling on the ground, kicking, scratching, punching, and biting.

They finally stopped ten minutes later. They were both sitting on the ground, less than 3 feet away from each other, panting. Justin’s arm was bleeding; his legs would be covered in bruises, and had a bloody nose. Bird on the other hand had a black eye and a sore arm.

“You put up a good fight for an eleven year old,” Bird said. He got up. “Come back again if you ever want get your butt kicked.” Bird turned and walked away. He sensed that this was a good fight in which neither side would be willing to give in.

“I will be back,” was all Justin murmured. He stiffly got to his feet. He returned to the cabin, limping. How will I explain this in the morning? he thought. It was going to be a long day.

He headed back to the cabin so he could at least get a little sleep.