Two Taken

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-the theft

Where are we going?

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Lemon awoke bleary-eyed and confused, wondering why he kept hitting his head on his rock-hard pillow.

Wait a minute.

He didn't have a rock-hard pillow! He tried to sit up, but found that he couldn't. He felt..gross, and a musty aroma filled his nostrils as he lay uncomfortably. A tart taste formed on his tongue. From his point of view on the hard surface he was on, he could see the sky with trees moving to the left, all quite fast for trees. Wait..trees couldn't move. With great effort, he managed to sit up and rest himself against the short walls of the place he was sitting in. Lemon realized that he was in a grey-brown wagon, and looking down he found that it was thumping along a bumpy dirt road. He rubbed his tired eyes and found that his whole face was covered with mud. What insolence! He felt like a pig. Luckily, he noticed a heavy-looking quilt in the corner of the wagon, used the corner of it to wipe some of it off his pale face, then busied himself with scanning his surroundings, trying to find out where he was. No luck. Lemon only saw trees and green and trees and green...the ugly brown wagon seemed like a sore among the beautiful endless rows of forest.

He shivered. Wherever he was, he was getting pretty far from the Heart Fire. He decided to use the quilt for warmth while he sat and thought about what to do. Lemon struggled to lift the blanket, and wiggled his feet into the warmth.

"Oof!"

A muffled sound underneath the blanket groaned as his feet shot into a wall-like thing. His foot bent and he squealed in pain.

He drew back, stunned. What was in there? How could he not have noticed that the quilt was unnaturally lumpy? After what seemed like forever, the lump slowly sat up and detached the quilt from herself, the colourful quilt falling like a waterfall.

It was a girl?

The air was immediately overwhelmed with a soured smell, and his eyes stung as he took in the smelly person in front of him. The girl was around Lemon's age, and had a tattered look to her with bags under her small brown eyes. She had close-cropped brown hair and would have been quite pretty with her spread of freckles had she not had scratches and bruises everywhere under a layer of dirt. She wore an unbuttoned black hooded cloak, overtop a modest tunic with brown leggings. The faded black scraped boots clung to her surprisingly large feet as she took a step over, rattling the wagon. Her clothing seemed to hang off of her frail body, and she looked mal-nourished. Her eyes filled with panic as she realized her surroundings and she glared down at Lemon, still on the ground.

Lemon struggled to find his voice, but her eyes widened in surprise as she seemed to recognize him.

"...Lemon? Lemon Valentine? The son of Oak Valentine?" She stared at him in puzzlement. "What are you doing here? And why do you have some mud on your face?"

This time Lemon managed to squeak, "I.. don't know. I woke up here."

She suddenly looked very angry. "A man kidnapped me! He probably kidnapped you too...and used mud to disguise you! He grabbed me and sprinkled something on my eyes, and then the next thing I know I'm being kicked."

Lemon's face flushed from embarrassment. "Sorry.."

"Don't be. It's not like this is your fault, anyway." Her words, in thought, sounded nice, but the girl said it with an edge to her voice.

Lemon stood, his twisted foot raised off the ground, and watched as the girl moved around, likely trying to find something useful, and ignoring him all the while.