The next morning all four companions woke early. Seth had been the first to wake, and he waited patiently, watching Sara sleep, for the rest to wake as well. Garret was up next, and seeing that his brother was also awake, motioned for Seth to join him a slight distance away from the others. Seth rose and walked the short distance to where Garret waited, looking at him questioningly.
“So what’s the deal?” Garret asked.
“The deal with what?” Responded Seth unsure of what his twin wanted.
“Sara.” Garret stated. “Are you two a couple or what? Can I refer to her as my sister yet?” He added jokingly.
“I don’t really know bro.” Seth replied. “I mean, sure I like her, and I think she likes me, but until I’m absolutely sure, I really don’t know what to do or say.”
Garret nodded solemnly, his face bunching up in thought, and then he smiled.
“What is it?” Seth asked already expecting the worst from his brother.
“If you’re not sure how she feels, why don’t you go crawl into that blanket with her and make a man out of yourself.” Garret stated trying to contain a laugh.
“I don’t think that’s what she wants from me.” Seth replied, giving his brother a slug to the shoulder. “At least not yet in any case.” He quickly added winking to his twin.
They walked back to where Ashton and Sara slept, Garret was rubbing his shoulder, and Seth approached the sleeping girl. He knelt down beside her peaceful angelic face, and carefully pushed her hair back from her face with his fingertips. Kneeling closer, he whispered in her ear.
“Wake up beautiful.” Seth said the word as softly as he could manage, half hoping she wouldn’t hear him.
Sara did hear him however and her eyes opened slightly, peering up at him, she smiled. Seth stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, returning her smile.
“Am I still dreaming?” Sara asked him
Seth shook his head smiling still, realizing that if she thought she was still dreaming, then she had dreamed of him. He bent down, slowly, carefully, and pressed his lips against her forehead. Pulling back from the kiss he again whispered to her.
“I’m sorry, but you need to get up, we have a long day ahead of us.” Seth found himself lost in her deep amber eyes, and smiled again.
Sara nodded her understanding to him, and rolled to her back and sat up. She ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to untangle it, and losing the battle, decided again to tie it behind her head with the strap. Seth simply watched her. She moved like liquid, always graceful, always precise. Sara moved as if to stand, and Seth held his hand out to her to assist her. She gladly took it, smiling at him in thanks. He lifted her gingerly from the ground, and watched her as she smoothed out her clothing. As Sara stretched her muscles, and sat again on the nearby root to put her boots on, Seth rolled up the blanket he had given her and returned it to his pack. Ashton was awake now as well, following a playful kick to his ribs from Garret. The four of them broke down their little camp, and sat to eat a quick breakfast before heading out. They decided to ration their food a bit, knowing the trip would take a little longer than originally anticipated. This came as a surprise to Sara, though she knew too well the reason behind the miscalculation. She vowed to herself that today she would keep up.
Gone now were the rocky hills surrounding Stone haven, replaced by gently rolling fields of tall weeds and wild flowers still struggling to bloom in the oncoming chill of fall. bees and other flying insects buzzed around the fields and from time to time a flock of birds would rise up from some undisclosed location in the distance just to float lazily on the wind a while before settling back down in the fields.
Sara did in fact do much better their second day of travel. She tried her best to keep pace with the boys, who only had to slow a little for her today. Also they only stopped a hand full of times to let her rest, each time she assured them she was ready to continue. About mid day, during one of their rest stops, Sara removed her boots and asked Ashton to heal the blisters that formed again on her feet. They were not nearly as bad this day as they had been the previous day. Her boots were finally starting to break in. The end of the day came quickly with all four of them talking and telling stories. Sara spoke the least, not having much to tell, and wanting to learn all she could about Seth. As the sun began to set, they foraged around for a good place to make camp. Sara was the first to notice a small stand of young trees a short way off the trail, and pointing it out, the group changed direction angling towards the trees. It was a small stand of birches, in a rough circle with a decent opening at their heart. In the opening, at the very center there lay a ring of stones encompassing a pile of charred wood and ash, marking this as a place someone else had made camp recently. The rest of the night went much the same as the last, with Seth declining Sara’s silent invitation and instead covering her with the remainder of the blanket.
This night the air was much colder, and Seth found himself waking at regular intervals to stretch his cold muscles, and calm his chattering teeth. Each time he woke, Seth checked on Sara, being sure that she slept peacefully, and often he carefully pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, tucking it around her small body to be sure she stayed warm. Each time he awoke, after checking on Sara he quickly lie back down to try and salvage what was left of the night.