CHAPTER 8: WOODLAND SURPRISE
"This looks pretty good." Rosa examined the large tree on the edge of the embankment. "I think a couple of the smaller kids can hide in-between those exposed roots. You've got some bushes around here and at the bottom. I think we've got plenty of hiding places in case anything happens tonight."
"Maybe nothing will." Kyon hugged herself in a way that had nothing to do with the chilly October air. "I mean, it's been, like, three weeks since we ran into that giant. Nothing's happened since. Maybe we'll be okay now."
Rosa shook her head. "We can't take that chance. I've said it before, we have to assume that giant told his buddies about us, and they told the Death Eaters."
Kyon tightened her lips and stared at her shoes.
"I know things have been quiet lately," Rosa continued. "But we can't simply hope it stays that way. As a famous auror used to say, 'Constant Vigilance.'"
Daedalus, who stood next to Kyon, furrowed his brow. "What auror said that?"
"Mad-Eye Moody. He's an auror I met over in England. Actually, he was Jimmy's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when he studied at Hogwarts. Well, not really. His teacher was actually a Death Eater impersonating Moody, but he did such a great job he had everyone convinced he was the real Moody."
Both Daedalus and Kyon gave her perplexed looks.
"Yeah, I know. It's confusing. Have Jimmy explain it to you one day."
Daedalus stared into the sky, as if contemplating something. "'Constant Vigilance.' I like that."
Rosa grinned. "That's why we've been doing this for the past few weeks. If we get attacked again, we can't afford to have you all running in different directions. We need to have one place where everyone can hide until we come get you. Since you two are the oldest, we're counting on you to lead everyone here if the worst happens."
Daedalus nodded. Kyon just lowered her head. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"Something the matter, Kyon?"
"I was just wondering. Um . . ." Her gaze fell back to the ground.
"Kyon. If anything's bothering you, you can tell me."
The corners of her mouth twitched. She spoke in barely a whisper. "What if something happens to you? All of you?"
Rosa gently grasped Kyon's shoulders. She opened her mouth, wanting to reassure her nothing would happen to her and her friends. The words refused to come out. After what happened to Artimus' brother, she knew better.
Kyon continued to stare at her, worry filling her eyes.
She took her other hand, placed it on Daedalus' shoulder, and squeezed. "If anything does happen to me and my friends, then it'll be up to you two to keep everyone safe."
Rosa felt Daedalus shudder. Kyon drew a ragged breath and said, "Us? But-But, we don't know spells like you guys do. We can't even use our wands because you said the Death Eaters probably took the spells from the Department of Magic they use to trace underage wizards who use magic. How do we defend ourselves? How do we get food and stuff?"
"You'll find ways. You'll have to in order to survive. You keep moving, you hide wherever you can, you use your heads and improvise, and you stay alive. If Harry Potter could kill a Basilisk when he was your age, then you can hide in the woods for a long time."
The Harry Potter reference seemed to take some of the worry off Kyon's face. Some. Daedalus, on the other hand, squared his shoulders and shot her a determined look. "We'll do it, Rosa."
Kyon backed him up with a less-than-enthusiastic nod.
"I know you will. C'mon. Let's get back to camp. It'll be dinner time soon. Toads and birds and squirrels. Yum."
Daedalus chuckled. Kyon tried, but only managed a flickering grin.
Dinner was ready fifteen minutes after they returned to the encampment. She had a couple chunks of bird meat before picking up her cooked toad. As always, she grimaced when she put it in her mouth. Merlin's beard, it was like eating unwashed sweatsocks.
It's either this or you starve. Some option. Sometimes she tried to imagine it as something else; roast beef or pork or those Buffalo wings Jimmy introduced her to a few years ago – she never could figure out why Muggles called them Buffalo wings when they were really made from chicken.
It never worked. How could she think of Buffalo wings or pork when the meat from a slimy amphibian rolled around her mouth?
After dinner, the quartet cast counterspells on the dishes and utensils, reverting them back to rocks and twigs. Before they could begin Apparating, a bright light flashed in the middle of the encampment, taking the form of a white ethereal kestrel. Mireet's patronus.
"It is me. I will be there in one minute."
Excitement bubbled inside Rosa. Mireet was coming, with more food, and likely news from the outside world. She closed her eyes and prayed she would soon hear stories of Death Eaters being defeated all over the world. Or, dare she hope, news that Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort and the war was over.
A crack echoed through the woods. Rosa spotted Mireet just outside the wards. Jimmy approached her, wand at the ready.
"What's the one language you could never master?" he demanded.
"Italian. And that fact has always irritated me. Now, what was the worst trade the Boston Red Sox ever made?"
"Giving away Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson. We get an aging, middle reliever, Houston gets an All-Star first baseman. That worked out well."
Mireet beamed. She strode over to Jimmy, embraced him and kissed both his cheeks. Their hug lasted longer than the typical friendly embrace.
Rosa sighed. She wondered if those two would ever confess how they felt about each other.
I'll probably have to force the issue one day.
Mireet walked into the encampment, greeting everyone. Many of the older boys gave her a very enthusiastic, "Hi, Mireet." Ten-year-old Gibson Reynolds shot her an enormous grin, as did Madson Yarroway. Daedalus followed the French witch with an admiring gaze . . . until he caught Rosa's eye. He stiffened and lowered his head.
Rosa chuckled to herself. It amused her how some of these boys reacted whenever Mireet showed up. It reminded her of the way Jared, Artimus and Ron Weasley acted around that half-veela Fleur Delacour. And Mireet didn't even have a drop of veela blood in her! Plus she was a hell of a lot nicer than that snotty twit.
The quartet helped Mireet unload the food. Same old, same old. Canned fruit, vegetables, soup and pasta, along with a few boxes of crackers. Rosa wished for a little more variety, like a nice roast duck and a chocolate cake. But all she had to do was remember eating that toad, remember they were in the woods, and she stifled any complaints.
"I also brought this with me." Mireet pulled a newspaper from beneath her thick robes.
"The All-Seeing Eye?" Jared frowned. "I thought the Death Eaters controlled this now, turned it into their own little propaganda rag."
"They have." Mireet nodded. "But your mother wanted me to give that to you. She . . ." She bit her lower lip for a few moments. "She said you know the girl on the front page."
Rosa and Jared looked to one another, then to Jimmy and Artimus. A dark mass of foreboding gathered within her. A girl they knew. Did Mireet mean someone from their school? And if she was on the front page . . .
She forced herself to walk over to her cousin, joining Jimmy and Artimus. Jared unfolded the newspaper. Rosa held her breath and looked down.
Merlin's beard.
Mouth hanging open, she read the article.
ENRAGED PUREBLOODS KILL MUGGLE-BORN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The body of 18-year-old Cynthia Walker was found in a wooded area outside the town of Errol early Wednesday morning by two passersby. An investigation has determined she was killed by a group of purebloods who had discovered that Walker, a Muggle-born, used as-yet undetermined means to steal magic from the Wizarding World and use it for her own gain. The group, justifiably enraged, pursued Walker into the woods. The Muggle-born attempted to attack the group, who had no choice but to defend themselves. The resulting exchange of spells resulted in Walker's death. No purebloods were hurt.
Walker graduated from the Salem Witches Institute in Massachusetts less than a year-and-a-half ago as class valedictorian. It is obvious her academic success is solely due to her thievery of magic from true witches and wizards.
"What a bunch of crap!" Jared crumpled the edges of the newspaper. "And look at that!" He nodded to the black-and-white photograph in the center, which depicted a short, rather overweight girl lying crumpled in a ditch. "Just dumping her there like she was a pile of garbage."
Jimmy's face twisted in rage. A sorrowful look fell over Artimus' face.
Rosa just gaped at the photo. It just didn't seem real. Cindy Walker. Dead. Murdered. A year-and-a-half ago she was delivering a speech at their graduation. Now . . .
"You knew her?" Mireet asked.
Rosa nodded. "Yeah. She was in the same year as us. I mean, we weren't really that close with her. But we got along all right."
"She helped me with Potions," Jimmy said. "I may not have had the grades to go to Hogwarts if it wasn't for her."
"She gave me some pointers in Arithmancy our Fourth Year." Jared mentioned. "She was one smart witch."
"Yeah. Which is why those bastards killed her." Fury burned in Jimmy's eyes.
"I just . . . I just don't believe it." Rosa shook her head. Her throat tightened when she realized she had no special memories of Cindy Walker that stuck out in her head. They said hello whenever they passed one another at Salem. They talked sometimes at meals or in the Blazenrowe Hall parlor about . . . stuff.
Rosa lowered her head. Jeez, what did she really know about Cindy? Nothing much, to be honest. It wasn't like she harbored any prejudices toward her. They just didn't have much in common. She had an adventurous streak, while Cindy was the studious type.
Tears stung her eyes. Merlin, how could she get so emotional over a girl she hadn't known very well?
Maybe I should have tried to know her better, not take her for granted as someone I'd expect to see every day.
Her jaw quivered. Too late for that.
"Rosa?"
She lifted her head to see Artimus staring at her, a concerned look on his face.
"Um, you okay?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No, Art. Nothing's okay any more."
XXXXX
Rosa peered around a tree, her eyes darting in all directions, looking for animals, noting Jared's location, watching out for Death Eaters or giants.
Cindy Walker's face popped into her mind's eye.
She groaned and leaned against the tree. It had been nearly a week since Mireet gave them the copy of The All-Seeing Eye that reported Cindy's murder.
Why can't I get it out of my head?
As usually happened, remembering Cindy Walker made her think of other classmates at Salem, people she'd been much closer with. Rana Rollingsworth, the Seeker for their dorm's Quidditch team. They'd been pretty good friends, though that friendship turned frosty when Rana broke up with Jimmy. Still she worried about her, as she did her former boyfriend Gregory Lancemore. He may have acted like Merlin's gift to witches, but he did have his moments where he could be genuinely sweet. Dante Marshall, Ursa Oberlin – Merlin, she'd been best friends with Cindy - Evelyn McAllister – she was another Muggle-born. Please be safe – Eli Witting, Abigail Aguirre. Were they all okay? Were any of them dead?
Her spine chilled when she thought about her friends in Britain. Ginny Weasley. They'd become so close in such a short period of time. What must she be going through at a Hogwarts controlled by Death Eaters? Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Nobody knew where the hell they were. Nymphadora Tonks. She couldn't believe the young auror was pregnant. How the hell could anyone have a child with the world in chaos?
Then she thought of George Weasley.
Her throat constricted. Images flooded her mind. Their first kiss. Laughing at the dinner table. How he comforted her after the Diggorys' deaths. The night they made love.
She closed her eyes, wishing he could be here, his arms wrapped around her, his lips on hers, reassuring her he was still alive.
Please be careful, George.
"Rosa. Comin'?"
Her eyes snapped open. Jared stood a few feet away, impatience etched in his face.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, just . . . nevermind."
She walked past her cousin, studying his unsmiling face. Jared had been in a sullen mood ever since they learned about Cindy's death. A couple times she tried to get him to open up, but he responded with a curt, "I'm fine," and tried to get as far away from her as possible.
Maybe I'll try again tonight. Right now, they had to concentrate on finding food.
A half-an-hour went by, and they'd only managed to get a couple squirrels. Their lack of success, and her grumbling stomach, fueled her frustration. Fear scratched at the back of her mind. Winter would be here soon. Many of the animals they caught for food would be hibernating. They would have to depend on Mireet more than ever at that point.
And if anything happens to her . . .
"You hear that?" Jared stopped, raising a hand.
Rosa stood perfectly still. She held her breath, listening.
A faint, horn-like sound filtered through the woods. What the hell could that be?
She heard it again. Not just one. Multiple sounds. Almost like . . . grunting?
She and Jared moved forward, wands raised. The noises weaved through the trees. She raised an eyebrow. It didn't sound like grunting any more. It sounded more like squealing.
"Check that out." Jared pointed between a pair of trees.
Rosa spotted a row of wooden stakes carved from thick tree branches. The squealing came from behind them.
An animal pen? They cautiously walked toward it.
"Oh yeah." Jared's eyes lit up as he gazed over the stakes.
Rosa's stomach grumbled loudly. Her mouth watered at the sight before her.
Thirty pigs tromped around the pen, sticking their snouts in the dirt or slurping from a wooden water trough.
"Merlin's beard." Jared whispered in awe. "We've . . . we've got ourselves a feast. Hell, we've got ourselves a damn banquet!"
He grasped both of Rosa's shoulders and shook her in excitement. She nodded enthusiastically, thinking of gorging herself on the succulent meat before her. Judging from the size of some of these pigs, they'd probably have enough for leftovers.
She smiled wide, wondering who could have left these . . . pigs . . . here . . .
"Let's see." Jared looked over the pigs. "Which one looks the biggest and most delicious?"
"Jared, wait."
"Wait for what? We've got a damn meat market in front of us."
"Yeah. And how did it get here? Who would build a pig pen in the middle of the woods? What if it's a trap?"
"A trap? Oh jeez, will you quit thinking like an auror for two seconds? If we can eat pork tonight instead of birds and squirrels, then I say we do it."
"I don't like it." Rosa glared at the pen. "There's something suspicious about this."
"Then let's just grab one of these pigs before . . ."
Crack!
The cousins spun around.
A figure in a dark cloak stood six feet away.
TO BE CONTINUED
