Chapter 11
Nathan was on pins and needles all morning, waiting anxiously for the bell to ring for recess so that he could see Arya. He was still a little concerned about his conversation with his mother the night before, and he hadn't felt like talking much on the way to school. Cersei said little and left him alone to his thoughts, for which he was grateful.
The bell finally announced temporary freedom, and Nathan darted out into the hallway, heading for the playground. Once outside, he took a deep breathe of the crisp air and looked around. Other students were still filing out, so he decided to sit on the swings and wait for Arya. She spotted him after a couple minutes and walked over to him. "Hey," she said, plopping down on a swing next to him. A couple kids stepped forward towards the swings, but Arya growled at them, "Get lost!" They backed away quickly. "Uh…hey," Nathan answered. "So…did you read it?" The girl fixed her dark eyes on him and nodded. "I did. And….I believe you, Nathan." Nathan's heart pounded. "You do?" "Yes. There's way too much coincidence, and you yourself are evidence of this…spell. Or curse, whatever it is." She kicked off the ground and swung a little. "It's strange….it makes sense now, but at the same time…it doesn't." Arya turned to him, jerking her swing to a stop. "I know what you mean," Nathan said with a sigh. "I still have lots of questions myself." "Well then!" Arya beamed. "It's time to start gathering the evidence! If everyone is under a curse, then they have every right to know, and every right to break it." Nathan grinned at her. He couldn't believe it! She was actually going to help him!
"But where do we start?" he wondered, gazing across the playground. "We have to keep this a secret, first of all, until we have enough proof," Arya whispered. "Definitly. I tried talking to my mom about magic last night, and she flipped. Who knows how other people in the town will react," Nathan agreed. "We should come up with a code name, so no one will figure it out. We can't just talk about magic and spells and curses out in the open." Arya kicked a pinecone in the air. "How about….Operation Cobra?" Nathan suggested. Arya laughed. "What? It sounds military," he grumbled. "I like it. Operation Cobra commences!" Arya winked at him and held out her hand to shake. Nathan took it; her palm was brown and sweaty, but warm. "I don't work until later this evening, so we can meet after school," she said, starting to swing again. "Sounds good."
They swung in silence for a few minutes. Arya suddenly chuckled. "Thanks for marking that chapter in the book, by the way. That tome was some seriously rough reading. I doubt I would have made it there on my own." Nathan gave her a puzzled look. "I didn't mark the chapter." Slowly they both stopped swinging and stared at each-other. "You must have," Arya insisted. "It was just a piece of paper torn off and stuffed in the pages." Wide-eyed, Nathan shook his head. "I never marked it. And there was no paper in it when I checked it out from the library."
Sansa woke up in a good mood. Today was her day off, and she could do anything she wanted to do. Stretching her arms above her head, she made her way to the window of the hotel room and looked outside. The weather promised to be cool, but clear. She smiled as her eyes caught the ring of dark pine trees that circled the town. "I'll go hiking today," she decided, and hurried to get dressed. She threw on a pair of worn jeans, a blue and yellow plaid button-up, and a thick brown coat. She dug her hiking boots out of the closet and laced them on. Lastly, she donned a comfy, grey woolen beanie, curling her naturally wavy hair around her fingers. Then she grabbed a bag filled it with bottled water, mittens, and a map. She would stop by the diner on her way and order a sandwich to bring.
Slowly turning the doorknob of their room, Sansa peeked out into the hall, pleased to see that no one else seemed to be up and moving around just yet. Petyr had a few other clients living in the hotel, but the girls avoided them. And right now Sansa especially wanted to avoid running into Petyr. Not only did he give her the shivers, but their rent was also due. Turning stealth mode on, Sansa crept down the stairs, careful to not step on the creakiest parts of the floorboards. Reaching the last step, she peered around the corner at the front desk, and sighed in relief when she saw that Petyr was not there. She quickly moved through the entryway and out the front door. "Success!" she breathed to the cool air that brushed against her face. She couldn't help but giggle a little as she thought about her effort to sneak past Petyr. There was a sort of sick pleasure that came with avoiding the rent.
Sansa briskly walked down the few streets to the diner and ordered a sandwich. The girl that helped Catelyn on Sansa's days off was a nice girl, but very shy and jumpy. She reminded Sansa of a scared animal most of the time. The girl brought the sandwich in a paper bag and Sansa stuffed it in her back-pack. "Thank you, Jeyne," she said kindly. The waitress nodded but didn't say much in return. Sansa felt a little wistful. It would be nice if she and Jeyne could be friends, but the girl was so tongue-tied!
The woods weren't far from the diner, and Sansa chose a path that was slightly unused. She smiled and gazed at the trees around her. It had been so long since she last went hiking! Sansa loved the forest; it was quiet and peaceful, and a welcome escape from the busy town and especially from the diner. She loved to hear birds chirping and see little foxes in their holes. She loved passing by a particularly bubbling stream. The forest was so…alive. And Sansa relished in it. Here, she didn't have to be courteous or polite and take orders. Here she could just be herself.
The path wasn't a difficult one, and Sansa walked deeper and deeper into the woods. She knew wild animals lived on Crimson Island, but they usually kept to the other coast. The only animals one would see were deer and rabbits, so Sansa felt perfectly safe exploring on her own. She would be back before Arya got home from school.
She followed the trail for a long time before stopping to eat lunch by a small brook. Sitting on a fallen log, she nibbled the sandwich and looked around. The sun came through the trees, washing her surroundings in a golden glow. Sansa raised her face to bask it in. The days had been so dreary lately, and she enjoyed the sunlight's warm fingers on her face. A twig snapped to her right, causing her to jerk out of her revere and glance towards the sound. She saw nothing. "Probably just a rabbit," she assured herself. Packing up the food, she pulled out the map and studied it, trying to figure out where she was. Placing her finger on the trail, where it started in town, she followed the line, only to discover that the trail abruptly left off. Her brow furrowed. Why was the trail incomplete on the map? She was standing right on it.
A rustling to her right alerted Sansa again, and this time she slowly backed away, furtively searching for the cause of the noise. "It's just a fox, or a deer," she whispered, not wanting to break the stillness. Suddenly a grey shape darted out from between a group of ferns and jumped towards her. With a startled yelp, Sansa fell backwards, landing on the forest floor. She was so frightened that it took her a moment to realize something was licking her face and nuzzling her arm. She blinked and stared in surprise at the large dog. It had thick grey fur and fierce yellow eyes, but it did not seem interested in eating her at the moment. It licked her face again and she couldn't help but giggle in relief.
"Wolf!" A man's voice penetrated the through the trees. Sansa sat up as the dog bounded away from her a few feet, looking torn between going back to its master or investigating the human girl. Sansa cocked her head as the man called again. Something sounded familiar about it…. "Wolf! Where are you, you damn…" a figure pushed through the ferns, and his sentence died away as he stared at the red haired girl sprawled on the forest floor. The dog barked excitedly, racing from its master back to Sansa, where it began sniffing her pack curiously.
Sansa offered the Hunter a small smile. "Hi…" realizing she was still sitting, she stood up and nervously brushed the pine needles off her backside. The dog sat, its eyes never leaving her. "What are you doing here?" the Hunter asked. He didn't sound upset, but rather surprised. "I-I was hiking," Sansa explained. The map was still clutched in her hand, and she glanced at again. "Do you know why only part of this trail is marked? Why would someone not finish it?" The Hunter regarded her with his dark eyes and took a couple steps towards her. "Because this is my land."
The girl took a deep breath as she walked through the hospital doors. In her hands she clutched a bouquet of flowers and a book. She moved to the front desk, feeling a little self-conscious as her cowboy boots clicked on the spotless tile. The nurse at the desk glanced up and smiled when she saw her. "I'll grab your visitor's tag," she said and delved into a drawer, bringing out a piece of plastic with a clip attached. She entered something in the computer then handed the girl a clip-board. "You know the drill." The girl nodded and signed her name by the designated time, then handed the board back. The nurse handed her the tag and winked. "Good luck." The girl smiled softly and turned to walk down the long corridor, attaching the name tag. A few other nurses recognized her and nodded hello as they went about their duties.
She stopped before Room 42 and pushed the door open, closing it softly behind her. She arranged the flowers in the glass vase that she made sure was kept on the small table next to the bed, then sat down in the visitor's chair. Her purple eyes scanned the patient lying in the bed. He was young and handsome, in a ruggish sort of way. His dark hair fell in slight waves around his face, which was covered by a dark scruff. The nurses usually made sure that his hair was trimmed; otherwise he'd probably look like Rip Van Winkle by now. And, as always, his eyes were closed. There was no sound in the room except for the beep of the monitor. He was still in a coma.
"Hello, Jon," Dany said softly. She had no idea of his real name, but Jon Doe was what they gave to unidentified persons, so she called him Jon. It seemed to fit him somehow, but maybe that was because she had been calling him that for…well, a very long time. Dany visited the coma patient in the hospital a couple of days a week, to talk to him and read to him. Tyrion, the dwarf who ran the library, had told her that sometimes coma patients could actually hear someone talking to them, even if they couldn't respond. Dany had taken up these visits as a sort of project. She felt bad for this boy, who couldn't be much older than she. Here he was, all alone in the world, and stuck in a coma. No one had ever come to claim him, but the hospital kept him on life-support, according the mayor's orders.
"I brought you a great book today, Jon. Its title is The Call of the Wild. Tyrion recommended it. I've told you about him before…he works at the library. He's really nice." Only the monitor answered her. With a wishful sigh, Dany opened the book and began to read from the first chapter.
A/N: I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. I will be bringing in more characters now, so the chapters will start to get longer. I'm excited for all the things I have planned. Thank you for reading, and please review! ^_^