helosther:
     Sarah shrugs, chewing. She couldnât place the flavor or texture of the meat, but⊠man, if Esme couldnât make one of her least favorite foods almost enjoyable.Â
      âI guess. They all work hard tâ keep it safe,â she says, doing her very best not to stuff her mouth despite how hungry she was. She was beginning to trust David moreâdidnât have much choice not toâbut divulging information about the fort, about the ragtag bunch sheâd come to think of as family? It didnât feel right.Â
     To give herself an excuse no to talk, Sarah finally gives in to the growling of her belly. Forkfuls go into her mouth as quickly as she can and soon the ache goes away. For the first time in what felt like ages, Sarah felt warm, content, and full. The combination made her feel utterly exhausted.
     âThat was good.â Sarah wiped at her mouth with her sleeve, sheepish. âI guess I was hungrierân I thought. Tell Esme I liked it. Iâve never liked deer. But that was good.â
     With nothing left to do, the room felt awkward again. Instead of waiting for David to start another conversation, Sarah braced herself against the table and stood up.Â
      âW-well, uh⊠gotta get an early start in the morninâ, soâŠâ
âAh, yes yes, of course of course. Here, Iâll take your plate black.â He gets up to take the plate but before he could walk away, David holds out an index finger as if he had just forgotten something. âYou know what, I forgot to tell James to prepare you a room, and weâre pretty packed here already, so how about you take mine?â
Of course, he was prepared for any excuse or skepticism youâll have with his offer so he follows it up, âI have the night watch anyway so I wonât be needing it tonight.â And for once heâs telling the truth. âWeâll bring you back first thing in the morninâ. So donât you worry too much, alright?â And there goes that streak.
Thereâs a pause, âLook, I gotta get moving. If you make up your mind just yell out for James, heâll help you.âAs he starts to walk out, David stops to turn his head to her, âWeâll look after you.â Thereâs a sudden change in his tone, and the message sounded a little ominous.Â
















