Becoming Ambellina

Chapter 12

I woke suddenly in my now partly lit hiding spot, feeling disoriented and groggy. Sunlight streamed  between the trees and through the hole that I had come in, and when a face popped up I nearly screamed.

“Lark?”

“Sorry dearie it’s just the brother,” the dark silhouette said, almost snidely.

“Grab my hands,” he barked,  shoving his arms down into the narrow opening.

I grimaced and stood quickly, adjusting my now completely strange wardrobe and reaching up towards Teague’s arms. I took a deep breath.

Relax. It’s just Teague.

My heart rate accelerated as I exhaled my anxiety and grasped his arms firmly. He wrapped his hands around my wiry arms and hoisted me up in one quick motion. His gloved hands were strong on my arms and I was sure I’d have small brown bruises later from his grip. I bruise like a banana.

“Come on, we haven’t much time,” He urged, reaching for my elbow to help guide me back down the root ball.

I slid past his grasp and stepped down carefully; my sore body protesting the entire time. My mouth was still dry and I was beginning to feel dehydrated.

“Where’s Lark?”

“Clearly he’s not here. Drink” he said, handing me a canteen full of water.

I furrowed my brow briefly before taking it and the whole thing.

“Thirsty?” He smirked.

I wiped the water off my chin and handed him back the container, holding in my smart-ass remark and just smiling lightly at him, enjoying his sarcasm. His eyes widened briefly at that, I guess there hasn’t been much reason for me to smile. I’ve been told that everything about me changes when I smile. But I suppose that’s something that they might say to a quiet girl with downturned lips.

Teague had set a quick pace through the woods ahead, and as we went, he kept shooting glances over his shoulder. He didn’t look nervous, but I wondered if either of them ever did. As I hurried to keep up, I decided to prod him a little.

“Was Lark planning on coming back for me?” I blurted.

“He was, he just got held up.” He said without even turning around.

“What happened?”

“Well his plan was to distract the enforcers that are on our tail, and it worked a little too well I reckon.”

“What do you mean? Is he alright?”

Teague paused momentarily and let me catch up to him.

“You know, I think I like you better when you’re quiet.” He said, giving me an intimidating glare. His dark hair fell over his brown eyes and he tossed it back into place before setting off at a brisk walk.

Was that supposed to scare me?

I fell in step behind him, my muscles starting to warm up.

“He’ll be fine.” He continued after a while.

“What do you think is holding him up?” I asked, feeling more and more brave every second. I was surprised when he answered.

“I’d wager he led ‘em back over the mountain and tried to lose ‘em at the river.” He said between breaths, picking his way over a fallen log.

“When do you suppose we’ll see him?” I asked innocently.

“He’ll catch up by nightfall I’d say.” He answered easily, blind to the corner I was backing him up into.

“How on earth is he going to catch up with us by then?”

The words spilled out of my mouth without me even really getting the final say.

Teague stopped and spun to face me, a knowing glare in his brown eyes. He raised one finger slightly.

“Listen girl,” He spat. “First of all, you might not want to call it Earth around here, you hear? There are many, many things that you have left to learn about this place and it’s kind, Lena.” He started walking again.

“Lark doesn’t want to tell you too much. He thinks the less you know the better.”

I let the conversation drop at that. I knew I’d have a better chance of getting information out of them if I had them both together. I’d bring it up with them when I had them both cornered, and demand answers. The thought made me smile slightly. Where was the shy unspeaking Lena I’d been my whole life?

After trekking through the unforgiving forest for hours and only stopping to eat a few snacks, the sun started to get lower and the temperature started to drop slowly. Night crawled towards us and I wondered if we’d have to spend another night in the woods.

Teague’s steps crunched to a stop and he glanced around himself, trying not to look lost.  I had begun to notice a few of the same purple flowers that I had seen on my first night in Camborne and I studied them hanging off the deep green thorny vines that crawled up the huge trees around us. On the ancient tree that stood directly next to me I began to notice a patch of bark underneath a patch of purple flowers that almost looked like it were moving.

“Teague?” I asked, moving closer to the tree.

The tiny purple flowers began to writhe and squirm and separate until they formed a small circle of bark.

“Here we are,” he said, stepping up behind me and removing his glove to place his left hand in the center of the circle.

I’m sure I was in no control over the muscles in my face as I watched the bark begin to ripple and form to his hand.  I forced myself to take a deep breath. If I wanted answers, I was going to need to at least look ready to hear them.

The bark on the tree finished moving and Teague pulled his hand out to guide me around the tree  where it was completely covered in vines and flowers. He plunged his gloveless hand into the vines and twisted, opening a door to a cozy living room complete with squishy chairs, the smell of food cooking, and a hand woven rug atop beautiful hardwood floors.

Just when I thought I’d seen it all.