The Nature of the Beast

Chapter 20

After a few weeks of poor treatment from the other students, Enid stopped going to school altogether. She just couldn't bear it. Instead, she would wander through the park, roaming the city streets killing time until she could rush back to the fortress and hide. She loved walking through the Knez Mihail with its stone walkways and shops full of beautiful clothing and housewares. She enjoyed looking in the windows, pretending to be a patron. The ladies in their fine dresses and fancy packages would come out after shopping and look at her with disdain, knowing she was no more there to shop than they were to beg.

Enid thought often of the bag of money and jewels Nikola left with her. It would be so easy to take a few coins out, sell a few gems. She could buy new clothes for both herself and M, she thought, as her toes ached with every step. With just a few pieces of jewellery, the beasts would always be fed without the scrounging and scavenging every evening for scraps and leftovers. Enid walked listless though the streets, knowing she would never touch the bounty Nikola left her with.

To do so would destroy what pride remained inside her. She didn't need him or his money. If it meant she walked farther, hurt more, tried harder, she would. Damn him for not returning for her. Thinking of him made her feel foolish and childish. But the more time passed, the more distance she was able to put between them. She began to realise she wasn't special to him. Perhaps he seduced many girls before her. He was charming and made her feel important but that was his gift. Maybe she was one among many, not anything at all.

She should spend every cent of that money just to spite him. She clenched her fists in anger as she stormed back to the fortress. She barged into her room and threw herself onto her bed where she wept, overcome with self-pity and loneliness. She wept until she was dry and then slept. M came to check on her in the evening when she didn't come down to help with the evening chores. She even left a bowl of soup on her dresser but Enid was too drained to rise and eat. She felt guilty for not getting up to go into town and gather food for the animals, leaving M to do it instead. Her guilt sent her into tears again but she was unable to get up. Overcome with despair, loneliness and guilt, she wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. She hated herself, her life and everyone in it. Except perhaps M and the animals. They were her only reason for continuing on now.

A few days later M found her cleaning the cage of the tree kangaroo. He was perched on the log strung from one end of the room to the other, not moving. He was a quiet creature, only active when Enid was not inside his cage. He was happiest in the outdoor portion of his enclosure where he could sit in the sun, his copper fur glowing in the warmth where he would watch the other animals running around. She never heard him utter a sound, which she thought unusual as the majority of the animals were quite noisy most of the time. Enid reached up to scratch behind his ears and he backed away from her touch and ran outside.

Enid frowned, disappointed he wasn't interested in her attention.

"He doesn't like to be touched," M said, startling Enid.

"Why not? Is it all tree kangaroos?" she asked grabbing the rake and finishing her cleaning of the stall. The waste was all mucked out, she just needed to distribute new hay around for comfort and warmth.

"I don't know. He's my first. But I think it may have to do with how I found him. A group of travellers, you know. They pulled into the park with their caravans and trumpets blaring, scaring the hell out of me and my beasts," she leaned back against the cold wall, eyes intent on Enid.

"I found him in a cage, built much smaller than he was. His body was stuffed inside, his flesh rubbed raw against the metal of the cage. He was starved and full of scabs and open sores, his skin had begun to heal in areas, around the metal cage. He hissed and growled whenever anyone walked by, they poked him with sticks and laughed."