Half an hour later, I was in a place I'd always used as a secret hiding spot when I'd needed to escape. Being the honorary big sister of the whole clan gave me plenty of reasons to have such a spot, and I knew its location by heart. There was a river about three kilometers from the house, and near it was a river-cave. It was such an undignified place for a girl of my background to be that no one had ever thought to look for me there. Mum knew where it was, as nine-year-old me had had the good sense to clue her in, but she always pretended not to know unless she really needed to find me. If nothing else, I'd get to cry and be alone in peace.
No luck, I realized as I neared the spot. I'd developed a practice of looking around me before I entered the river-cave, to make sure no one had followed me, and this practice saved me. Between looking in the cave and noticing a swarm of bats and looking behind me and seeing a person of some sort, I figured I needed to find a new hiding place - that is, if I was still young enough for such a spot. I didn't quite know about that, having never really spent time with people the age that I now was, but it was probably not brilliant.
"Haven't I given you enough reason to leave me alone?" I yelled to the person who was approaching me. Given the silhouette I saw, it was probably Teddy - AGAIN. It wasn't like I suddenly disliked him - that was so clearly NOT the case - but I just wanted to be alone, to be able to cry in peace.
"Nothing you could do could make me leave you like this," Teddy said, getting closer to me. He was about fifteen paces away now. I could try to run - it was a tempting idea - but I hadn't yet thought to ditch the horrible shoes. By the time I got those pain-inducing things off, he'd be able to catch up to me in no time at all.
Unfortunantely for me, my instinct to shed the shoes and run like hell won out. By the time he was ten paces from me, the shoes were off and, for good measure, thrown in the river. Mum would probably kill me over it later - I was never into fashion, but I could see how pricey those things were - but at least I had an explanation for it.
So I ran. I was faster than I remembered being, and I'd been pretty good at age 12, so I created quite a distance before Teddy realized what I was doing. I wasn't proud of this, but the need to be as alone as I could get was overpowering, driving me away from people I wanted to be with as much as I could. After running straight along the river for five minutes or so, I decided the best thing I could do would be to head back home. I'd never been what you'd call an endurance runner - more than ten minutes had been impossible - but this weird instinct/feeling/whatever it was had taken control. All I had to do was follow.
About fifteen minutes later, I crashed into the party, looking every bit as terrified as I felt. "Your SHOES!" Domi shrieked, catching that before Mum even noticed what was going on. "Those were MINE! Aunt Gabrielle gave them to me for my last birthday, and she assured me they weren't cheap."
"If you want them back," I said nonchalantly, "feel free to search in the river for them." This was probably not the best explanation I could give, but it was a true one, and I didn't think I had time to do better.
"What happened to you?" That was Roxie, the only person who noticed the general aura of terror I seemed to have.
"If you weren't my cousin, and if you weren't the only person I know who's willing to give me straight answers, I'd hurt you," I said, hoping none of this would be mistaken for insanity by the people who were watching. "First you send Teddy after me..."
"I didn't send him after you!" Roxie interrupted. "He asked where you were, and I told him. I thought you'd WANT to talk to him! What, is there some kind of problem with that?"
"YES! Anyways, after I take off the first time, he follows me, nearly to the grotto. I tell him to get lost, and he says that nothing I can do will keep him away from me - something like that, at least. So I yank off my shoes, throw them in the river, and start running like hell. Does no one get that I need to be alone?"
"Stop running from people!" Roxie yelled at me. "Can't you just accept that people care enough about you that they don't want you to do anything stupid? I mean, the thing with Holly was a public service and besides that I told you to do it, but you're not okay and your judgement really does need to be questioned. I, for one, think that being alone is the last thing you need, and for once I think people agree with me!"
"You have a point," I said warily. "But still, would it really kill you guys to let me sort out how I feel in peace?"
I didn't say anything after that - not like anyone would've heard me if I had, though. The relatives started a lively discussion - and lively by our standards is downright mental by anyone else's. There was a lot of yelling, three people who wouldn't take no for an answer and were all against each other, and a general aura of panic.
It was in the middle of this mayhem that Teddy finally turned up, looking so certain about whatever it was that he was about to do that I nearly slipped under a table...
---
A/N: The ending is in sight! I've worked out the final two chapters, which should be up soon-ish (as in when I get time to write them - school's getting steadily more time-consuming).
