Friendship And Family (Currently undergoing a rewrite. Do Not Read.)

CHAPTER 5. Chase

                  Maria's POV

The farther we went, the farther we were away from civilization until we arrived at the farm, or forest...

I scoffed. "Are we supposed to go in there?" A rusted sign was mounted beside the land, with a white bold font that read: ST JOHN FARM, KEEP OFF.

"I can't believe you guys talked me into this," Francis complained.

"We've come too far to go back now," Andrew said as he put an arm around Agnes' shoulders in a playful manner.

"Stop it..." She shrugged his arm off her.

"Jeez! Loosen up," he widened his eyes. "You're not even on your period yet."

She glared at him, Mathias muffled a laugh, Francis shook his head and I stayed neutral. She had the worse period mood swings, and could go tae-kwon-do on anyone who tries to make those days another living hell for her. But with feelings... I'm learning a new attitude of hers that could be worst.

"So are we going in, or are we going to just stand here and mope," Andrew said as he led the way.

Mathias followed suit, and Agnes joined the daring queue, the jealousy  pumping into her veins a kind of bravery I knew she didn't quite have. Francis and I glanced at each other before joining them in the semi forest.

"This place is creepy," I muttered, after a while of looking around as we carefully walked through dark paths, pushing leaves and plants out of our faces. It seemed like evenfall, if not for the streaks of sunlight shining through the many tiny holes that the thick trees above our heads had created.

There were quite a number of mango, banana, plantain and pawpaw trees, including a corn farm, beans, groundnuts and many other plant based foods, most of which were ready for harvest. They reminded me of the fresh bananas, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, oranges, lemons, mangoes, grapes, potatoes and tomatoes I see in the supermarket when I and my siblings went with Mum for grocery shopping. Contrary to what I'd thought, not all the groceries were transported from town.

The ground was covered in weeds, making it difficult to tell what was going on beneath one's feet. God forbid either one of us should step on the tail of a rattle snake. But the possibility of that happening was as high as the grasses feeling my legs in an annoying way.

"I guess the church abandoned her farm," Andrew said. We all stopped and focused on Francis.

He chuckled. "What? That I live in the monastery and offer agric doesn't mean I know everything."

We averted our gazes in different directions, literally feeding our eyes.

"How about a little grocery shopping?"

We all turned in the direction of Andrew's voice as he made to pluck out a corn.

"Hey, that's stealing!" I yelled.

He released the crop and laughed. "I'm just kidding, what do you take me for?"

"A corn thief?" Mathias said, and we all laughed, except Andrew who shot him a faux glare.

We heard the sound of flowing water and decided to trace it, our shoes getting more muddy with every step.

"Be careful where you step on," Mathias said as we moved cautiously on the wet ground, which had thicker weeds.

The light sound of the water got heavier, an indication that we were getting closer. And the deeper we went, the brighter the atmosphere got until we strolled out of a narrow opening, overlooking the blinding sun and the clear blue sky. It was light at the end of a bushy tunnel.