| Subject: Okay, here's Chapter 3. |
Author:
Demora
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Date Posted: 22:42:25 09/20/02 Fri
In reply to:
Demora
's message, "Chapters 1 and 2. (One's a little short.)" on 22:40:47 09/20/02 Fri
Chapter 3
Kiyum could not bury her friends and family the next day because it was still raining. The squirrel maid gazed sadly at the small bundle she held. She had wrapped the body of Mayl in a sheet last night, and now she laid him next to the body of her mother. Kiyum had dragged the bodys into a well-arranged pile since she couldn't bury them yet. She wiped her eyes and went about the campsite, fixing it up. It took her half the day, and when she was finished the sun was out. Kiyum began digging a hole with her paws and a dagger she had found.
She couldn't dig a hole big enough to fit all the bodies, so she just set them in the shallow grave and covered them with dirt, weeping the whole time. Once she was done, Kiyum stood before the mound of earth that marked her family's grave. She found a dandelion puff and blew the seeds on the mound, then threw flower after flower upon it. Kiyum stood dry-eyed before the grave, not saying a word. With one swift, flowing movement, she stuck the dagger's handle at the top.
Kiyum suddenly felt that she had to leave this place, had to get away. She packed a haversack with the dagger her mother gave her and the little food she had left plus some she had foraged from the woods around her. She gazed at the grave one last time, then turned and walked swiftly away with one last parting word. "Good-bye."
The squirrel maid traveled on for many days. She hardly met anybeast on her way, good or bad. When she did, she barely spoke at all. Kiyum wandered where she willed, living off the land as she went. She slept out in the open often enough, and on rainy nights she could always find somewhere to keep dry. The squirrel maid cried herself to sleep each night. Kiyum had no plans at all; she never thought about anything. She was only a shadow of her old self, a hollow shell of a squirrel maid.
Kiyum was 14 seasons old when all this came to an end. She was trudging up a leaf-covered path in the woods. It seemed worn and well used. The squirrel maid tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground and went sprawling. She righted herself and rested against a tree trunk. "It may be too bally late old gel, but I must warn y'about that big old tree root, wot!" Kiyum jumped up startled, losing her balance as she landed. The squirrel amid fell hard on her bottom, staring at the hare standing in the path.
The lanky creature helped Kiyum up, chuckling. "Don't worry now, I've tripped over that one many a time meself, wot wot." Kiyum nodded slowly as she brushed herself off. "Not too talkative, are you? Well, I jolly well suppose that's a virtue in some creatures. Let me introduce myself first, wot. I'm Derry Tuwater Chermain Thelsaly Tetimar, Derry or just jolly old Der f'short. And you?" The squirrel maid picked up her haversack and put it on. "I'm Kiyum."
Derry raised her eyebrows. "Just Kiyum then? Nothin' else, like Kiyum th' Traveler, Kiyum th' Killer, Kiyu- Wait, I've got it! Kiyum the mum, wot!" "Just Kiyum." The squirrel maid answered. She started on her way again. Derry cupped her paws 'round her mouth, shouting after her. "I say, where are you goin' old gel? Can't you come in for a spot of lunch first, wotwot?" Kiyum turned. "I really can't, thank you." Derry bounded up to Kiyum, turned her around, and started pushing her the other way. "Nonsense, not without a bally good meal in ya."
Kiyum was led down a small side path that led to a snug little cave in a hillside. The squirrel maid entered reluctantly to find an otter and two voles inside. The otter sat in an old armchair near the fire which sat at the back of the cave. One of the voles was cooking something over the fire whilst the other vole set out wooden dishes on a table. Everybeast turned and looked at Kiyum when she came in. Then Derry stepped up behind Kiyum and began making introductions. "Hiya chaps, look what I found in the jolly old woods t'day. Kiyum, meet Vernan, Oren, an' Pecan."
The otter, Oren, gave a whiskery grin. He was a bit on the old side, but still very strong. His face, paws, and the tip of his tail were gray with age. "Nice t'meet ye missy. My, I've not seen one so young an' pretty as you in seasons. Does my ole eyes a lot o' good, so it does. Heheheh!" Pecan was the vole who had been cooking. She smiled kindly; she took Kiyum's paw in her two floury ones. "A pleasure to meet you Kiyum. You'll be joining us for lunch I hope?" Without waiting for an answer, Pecan went on. "Of course you will pretty one. Honey scones, apple pie, woodland trifle an' strawberry cordial, they'll do you good." The other vole, Vernan, sniffed the air. "Not if'n you burn it!"
Pecan clapped her paws to her face, turning her cheeks white with flour as a result. "Oh, my pore scones!" She ran over to the fire to attend her baking. Vernan shook his head. "Oh, that sister o' mine. Now Kiyum, you sit y'self down right 'ere." He nodded to a big wooden chair near the wall. The squirrel maid went and sat wordlessly. Derry winked at Vernan. "The gel's a bit on the shy side. No matter, we'll just have to jolly well cheer her up!"
The food was delicious, and Kiyum ate almost as much as Derry. The squirrel maid had never seen a hare eat before. "It was like throwing stones into an endless pit. No matter how many you throw in, it's never full." She said later. Kiyum was persuaded to stay for the rest of the day by her friendly hosts. When night fell, nobeast wanted Kiyum to go out in the cold and dark, so she reluctantly succumbed to their pleas and stayed the night.
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