Chapter 12
Sansa sat on the rough bench, gazing around the clearing that was part of Sandor's property. The old truck was off to the side, a worn path cause by its wheels leading away into the trees. To her left was the shed and some kind of garage or warehouse; she wondered what could possibly be in there. But since Sandor was a hunter, it probably had a bunch of guns and stuff in it.
She turned to look at Sandor, who was gazing at her, his face a mixture of uncertainty and something else Sansa couldn't put her finger on. She smiled at him. "This is a great place." He grunted and, to her surprise, sat down next to her, stretching his long legs out. Wolf came up the steps, wagging her tail (Sansa learned that Wolf was a she), but instead of going to her master's side she went to Sansa and placed her large head on her lap. The girl ran her fingers through the dog's thick fur. "She likes you," Sandor said, throwing Sansa a puzzled look. "She normally hates everyone we come around." Sansa felt oddly special. "I've always wanted a dog," she said wistfully. "How long have you had her?" "A long time, I guess. She's a good hunting dog." Sandor snapped his fingers and Wolf immediately left Sansa's lap to give attention to her master. "She must be a good companion, too," Sansa said softly. Sandor glanced at her, his dark grey eyes piercing her. She suppressed a shiver. How does he do that? "Aye…that she is." He rubbed one of Wolf's ears.
After their encounter in the woods, Sandor had offered her to come to his place so she could take a shorter path home. Sansa accepted, curious to see how he lived and learn more about them. Ever since he had rescued her, she thought that maybe they could be friends. Sansa didn't really have anyone besides Arya, and while she loved the younger girl like a sister, part of her craved friendship with someone older and a bit more mature. She sometimes hung out with Margaery, who taught at the school, but most of the time they were both too busy to see each other. Come to think of it, Sansa realized that with her work hours, it was a wonder that she didn't have time to make friends. Pretty much everyone in town knew her to an extent, and most seemed to like her, but Sansa never was able to get close to any of them. With Arya in school and only able to work short shifts, Sansa had to put more hours on to make sure they could pay rent and get food in their bellies.
"What's wrong?" Sandor's voice cut through her musings. She looked up at him startled, and realized that she must have had a sad look on her face. She quickly stuffed down her feelings and smiled. "Nothing. I was just thinking." He didn't look like he believed her, but didn't ask again. Instead he turned in his seat so he was facing her more and studied her. Sansa felt a flush creep up her neck, but she remained calm. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done so already, she thought. He's had plenty of time to take me off somewhere and bury me alive. She almost chuckled at so ridiculous a thought. "So…hiking…" Sandor was saying, arching an eyebrow. "The diner girl likes to hike, does she?" Sansa straightened her shoulders. "Yes, I do. I don't get the opportunity to very much…but today is my day off, so I decided to go." She shrugged. "I see." His grey eyes kept studying her. "Kind of dangerous to be going off all alone." "I can take care of myself," Sansa said, feeling a bit irritated. He was treating her like a child! "Is that so?" he asked leaning forward slightly. "You got a gun in that back-pack of yours then?" Sansa's eyes widened. "N-no…I've never shot a gun, much less own one." "A knife, then?" She shook her head, starting to feel more foolish. "So technically, out here in the woods, if a wild animal found you, you would be helpless. Helpless as a baby bird." He smirked at her. Sansa glared at him. "Running is always an option." He threw his head back and laughed. It sounded like a bark. "Ever tried to out-run one of the wolves on this island? Or a bear?" he chuckled, running a hand through his dark messy hair.
"Of course not," Sansa answered, then sighed. "I guess you're right…" She stood up. "I guess I'll go now." She started to move away when a strong hand took hold of her wrist and held her back. "I'm only teasing you, Sansa." The Hunter stood up, still clutching her wrist. Sansa tilted her head back to look up at him. They were standing closer than ever had, even when he had rescued her and brought her home. Her blue eyes searched his grey ones, wondering what he was going to do. He was so close, she could smell his scent: a mixture of pine trees and firewood. His flannel shirt was open, with a grey t-shirt underneath. They looked worn, but smelled clean. Even with the layers she could tell that he was very muscular. Sansa wondered if he was really strong enough to carry a bear on his back, like some people in town said.
Her eyes trailed back up to his, where she noticed a glint of amusement in their depths. He slowly let go of her wrist, but didn't move away. "Are you afraid of me, girl?" he asked. Sansa thought about it. Was she afraid of him? She wasn't sure. "I don't know," she answered slowly. "Should I be?" He chuckled. " say I'm a dangerous man." Sansa stared up at him with her big round blue eyes. "You won't hurt me, will you?" Sandor stared back down at her, and blinked. "No, girl, I won't hurt you."
Dany drove down the familiar road towards home. A worn sign loomed up ahead, reading in faded, carved letters "Horse Ranch". The large property on the other side of town held stables and fields for about fifty horses, and Dany was in charge of them all. Many of the kids on town liked to horseback ride, and she had done well to take care of her animals. One of her managers, Jorah Stevens, had helped her greatly with funding for the ranch and encouraging customers to come enjoy horseback rides through marked trails around the island.
She pulled up by the small house she lived in on the property, not too far from the paddocks, and hopped out. She enjoyed her little jeep, but she still preferred riding a horse. Across the yard she could see many of the horses grazing in the fields. Smiling, she headed off towards a small building that they had deemed "The Office". Visiting Jon in the hospital had been just what she needed to get through the rest of the week. Things could get very busy on the ranch, with so many horses to care for, and Dany had little free time. But visiting the strange young man was something she insisted on.
As she entered the office, Jorah looked up from behind the desk and smiled at her. "How was your visit?" "Fine. Same as always." Dany sat down in the plum leather chair they usually had for clients and propped her feet up on the desk like Jorah's. "Poor boy. I wonder if he'll ever wake up?" Jorah shrugged, fiddling with a pen. "Who knows? It's been a very long time. If the mayor hadn't insisted on keeping him on life support, they probably would have pulled the plug ages ago." Dany shook her head. "It's sad that he doesn't have anyone." "He has you…in a way," Jorah added. "I doubt anyone else comes to read to him every week." "I suppose." Dany shook er head again. "Any calls for me?" "No, but we do have a group wanting to ride tomorrow. Some kind of field trip. Teacher thought it would be good for the kids to go riding before the weather gets too cold." Dany nodded. "Good. We haven't booked anything in a while."
She leaned back and regarded the man sitting across from her as he scribbled some notes in the planner. He was tall, big man: not as big as the Hunter, but still very muscular. He was worn and tan, and had little wrinkles around his eyes that crinkled when he smiled. He had to be in his forties or fifties, but Dany had never asked him. He was always very kind to her, and she thought of him not only as a friend, but also as a father figure. Dany had no family, and being far away on the ranch, she didn't have many close friends in town.
Her other manager was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Barristan?" she asked. "He took the truck and went to town to get some feed and some other supplies. On of the saddles needed some repairing I believe," Jorah answered with a shrug. Barristan was even older than Jorah. He had short white hair and kept a neatly trimmed beard. He wasn't a big man, like Jorah, but Dany knew he was not someone to trifle with. She had seen him best a few of the men in town who bothered her to go on dates. If Jorah was her father figure, then Barristan was definitely the grandfather. He was very wise, and Dany had complete trust in his judgement.
She shook her head a little and chuckled. "What's funny?" Jorah asked curiously. "I'm surrounded by horses and men all day. I need some girls in my life." Jorah blinked at her in surprise. "Who would you hang out with?" Dany shrugged, playing with a button on her jean jacket. "I'm not sure…that girl at works at the diner is nice…the red-haired one."
The school day was dragging by at an unbearably slow rate. Nathan had glanced at the clock at least a half dozen times in the last minute. Miss Margaery was droning on and on about the Mayflower, and he just wanted to get out and meet Arya again. He was so excited about having a trusted person in on his discovery, and he was ready to put Operation Cobra into action.
He couldn't help but wonder who had put the slip of paper in the book. Could it have been there already and he just hadn't noticed? Perhaps Tyrion, the librarian, would know. Nathan resolved to ask Arya if they could go to the library on their way to his tree-house.
At last the bell rang, and Nathan gathered up his books and fled out of the classroom and down the hallways to the front doors to meet her. His mother had called the school earlier to let him know that she couldn't pick him up today, and Nathan could barely believe his good luck.
Arya was waiting for him outside. She had her hands cupped around something and she held them out to him. "I caught a lizard. See?" She opened her fingers a little, and a lizard head looked out, flicking its tongue. "Arya, I think we should stop by the library before we go to the tree-house," Nathan said. "Why?" she asked, sticking the lizard in her coat pocket. "Because, I want to ask Tyrion who checked the book out last. Maybe they put the paper in it, and I just never noticed." She shrugged. "Could work, I guess." They left the school yard and walked across town towards the library. "Did Sansa see the book?" "Yea, but I just told her it was something for school. And she's gullible enough to believe me," Arya said cheerfully. "We have nothing to worry about." Nathan nodded. "Would she believe us? About the curse?" "Hmmm…."Arya pulled on her back-pack straps. "It's hard to say, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't. Sansa likes fairytales, but if she knew what we were doing, she would probably tell us we were being childish."
They crossed another street and approached the library. "It's always dead in there," Arya said as they opened the door. "People should read more." They entered the dim building and Nathan led the way to the front desk. "Tyrion?" he called out quietly. A shuffling was heard down a few aisles, and a fat young man appeared, carrying three huge books. "Hello," he greeted them with a smile. His cheeks were red, like he had been doing something strenuous. "Tyrion is out right now and I'm watching the library for him. Do you need help?" "Oh…uh…yes," Nathan said slowly. "We wanted to know who checked this book out before me." Arya pulled the book out of her bag and handed it to the boy. He placed the other books on the desk, read the title, then took the card out of the front cover and walked to the large filing cabinet. He flipped through some folders. "Hmmm…let's see…according to the card…the last person to check the book out was…Mr. Steel." He said the name in awe, and Nathan and Arya looked at each other in surprise. "Imagine that!" the boy said with a nervous laugh as he closed the filing cabinet. "Mr. Steel, reading about magic. It is fascinating stuff though. Can't really blame him. Always wanted to be a wizard myself." Arya snorted at that, but Nathan smiled and took the book back. "Thank you….what was your name?" "Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Samwell Foster, but you can call me Sam." "It was nice to meet you," Nathan said as he and Arya headed for the door.
Once outside, Arya whirled to look at Nathan. "Did you hear that? Mr. Steel? What the heck would he want with an old book on magic?" "I don't know," Nathan said, at a loss. "Maybe we should go ask him." Arya had a mischievous glint in her eye. "Arya, it could just be a coincidence." "Oh, come on, Nathan. No one just checks out a book of magic for a bit of light reading," she scoffed. "He checked it out for a reason. And, as part of Operation Cobra, we need to find out why." Nathan sighed. "Yea, I guess you're right." "Great! On to the antique shop!"
A/N: I realize that this story has a lot of SanSan in it, but I can't help it! Sorry if no one else really cares for their interactions, but the things that happen with them will be important later on. Also, if anyone wants to draw some fanart of this fic, I would love to see what you come up with!
By the way, if any of you live in around the Tampa, Florida area, there is a comic-con that is being held there in August, and Rory McCann, who plays the Hound, and Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, are going to be special guests there! I'm volunteering there as well, so I hope I get to see and even talk with them!