love just gets complicated

chapter 19

She woke up in cold sweat. She had had a dream about abigail again. She rolled over. She didn't want to let Thaddeus know she was awake. She observed him as he observed his friend. He was ripping grass out of the ground. They were both waiting for the same thing. For Joshua to wake up.

She sat up.

"Oh! I didn't know you were awake!" He said.

"Its OK. You can get some sleep. I'll take watch" she stood up.

He nodded and got up.

"You can use that bedroll if you want. Don't think it's mine anyways. I think its Joshua. It smelled like him anyway" she tried to sound casual but her face started to grow warm.

"Right" he said. He noticed she was going red in the face. Yes, there was much more to this that meets the eye. He crossed over to where Joshua was. He laid down and probed himself on one elbow. He pulled the blanket further on Joshua before laying down again.

He was asleep in seconds. He must of been tired. She sat there now glancing at the two men. She pulled out her locket and rubbed it with her thumb and forefinger. She breathed out. Where was Abigail? Was she hungry? Was she alright? Was she looking up at the same stars as she was now? She hugged her knees to herself and pulled her dress closer to herself, it was freezing. She leaned against the tree. Now she was leading them both to their death. She felt glum. She didn't know what to do.
Deer god, please help me to make the right decisions. I'm scared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She checked the time. It was 7am. Should she wake up Thaddeus? She crawled over towards the boys and shook Thaddeus awake.

"Time to wake up Thaddeus" she said.

He sat up and shielded his eyes from the sun so he could see clearly who had woken him up. He saw a mass of auburn hair and green eyes. Who was this again? Oh yeah, Madeline. He hadn't dreamed it. He had found Joshua. He glanced to his left. There was Joshua , still unconscious.

"Go and get some food if you want. I'll stay" she said softly.

He stood up. He walked towards his horse feeling Like his limbs weren't connected. He felt like a zombie. He pulled out something to eat.

She watched Joshua now. When would he wake up? It had been ages. She pulled towards her her book and started to read.

Where was he? Why did it hurt everywhere? He opened his eyes just a fraction. There was Madeline. He closed them again. He stayed like that for a while. He finally decided to let Madeline know she was awake.

"Madeline?"

She heard Joshua's voice , it sounded weak. Her head snapped up and her face broke into a grin.

"How you feeling?" She asked.

"Terrible" he replied. He raised himself into a sitting position. His head was pounding.

"Give me a minute" she stood up and walked towards their horses where Thaddeus was standing. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He's awake"

He whipped round. "Is he?"

"Yeah. He just woke up"

He walked past her and crossed to the part where they were staying, he paused by a tree and glanced round. He was sitting up. She was right. He was awake.

He didn't know what had happened. His whole body hurt so badly. He closed his eyes as dizziness threatened to overwhelm him. He turned round to see where Madeline was. He froze. Okay, now he must be going mad. He could have sworn he saw Thaddeus. He rubbed his eyes however he remained there.