I wake up to the sound of a bird crowing in the distance. The sun is bright and beating down on the field, heating me to the core. I reach up to take off the tog that had been over me as I slept, but my hand touches something other than the tog. It is now that I realize that Ralph is sleeping with me in his arms, and the heat I feel is coming from him. Mortified, I attempt to escape from his grasp before he wakes up, but it is no use. He makes signs of waking up, as he lets out a groan and adjusts himself, but this only tightens his grip on me further. My cheeks and ears are hot with embarrassment and I hope to myself that no one stumbles upon us spooning in the hut.
I hesitate to wake him, but the longer I sit and wait for him to let me go, the more nervous I become. My heart races at both his proximity and the possibility of us being found. It is then when I hear the laughter and screams of a few littleuns nearby, which finally pushes me to wake Ralph up.
"Ralph—," I try, gently calling his name.
He shows no signs of waking up, and so I try again.
"Ralph wake up—," I say a bit louder.
He makes a groan of slight acknowledgement but does not move.
I wiggle in his grasp and attempt to break free again. "Ralph! Let me go—,"
"Annie?" he finally awakens, and speaks groggily. He loosens his grip on me, I slip out of his grasp, and sit up.
He stretches and yawns, before rubbing his eyes to attempt waking up. I look around, watching for any signs of people that might be around. Bill lays on the log, still asleep in the beating sun.
"That's the best I've slept in a long time," he mumbles groggily, "I felt… safe for once."
I look at him, red-cheeked and still embarrassed. He looks innocent laying there with no worries on his face. My heart beat slows as I realize he is not aware of our— compromising position.
He realizes how close he is after a few moments, and he looks momentarily panicked.
"Oh, Annie I didn't—," he smooths back his hair, and attempts to prove his innocence.
"It's late in the day," I interrupt, trying to change the subject, "we ought to get up before the littleuns start looking for us.
Ralph clears his throat, and nods before getting up and dusting the dirt off from sleeping on the ground of the hut. He reaches down for my hand in order to help me up, and I accept it tentatively. Our hands connect, and my heart squeezes in my chest.
I stand up and stretch, my hands reaching towards the sun filled sky. A colourful bird flies through the spaces in between my fingers, letting out a cry and then diving for the forest below.
"Annie—," Ralph begins, I let my arms down and turn to face him.
"Let me go!" a voice yells from the distance. Our attention shoots to this person in distress, and all thought of whatever Ralph wanted to ask me dissipates.
Ralph immediately begins jogging towards the voice, and I struggle to keep up behind him.
There is another voice, deeper and more threatening, which echoes through the forest.
"— if you ever try to do that again I'll—,"
"Let him go now—," Ralph booms, interrupting the round of threats.
There is a space in-between where the other boy realizes who is confronting him, and forms a response.
"Or what golden boy?" the voice taunts, and as I eventually catch up I put the voice to a face. Roger glowers menacingly, pinning a small boy to a tall tree with only the tip of his spear.
Roger looks over to us, his dirty black hair covering parts of his face to darken his expression further. His face lights up for a moment as he looks at me, and I take a step closer to Ralph.
"How 'bout a deal? I'll give you the boy in exchange for little Annie here."
"I'm only going to ask you once more, give me the boy."
"I'd much prefer that pretty little thing, she'd probably even put up a fight and I could have a little fun with her too," he smirks as he says this, a wild look in his eye.
Ralph gives a look of disgust, and reaches for something in the waist of his pants. The object glints and points sharply towards Roger, who's expression only wavers for a moment.
"Where'd you get that?" Roger angrily inquires.
"Let him go," Ralph demands, booming through the vast forest.
Roger gets a look of excitement, removes the spear from the neck of the boy, and turns his attention to his new opponent.
The small boy sinks to the ground, and the expression of terror is soon replaced by one of relief. My attention turns back to the two older boys, as they move closer together and ready to fight at any moment.
"Move away Annie," Ralph commands, putting his right hand out as if to push me away.
I take a few steps back, but as the boys begin to circle around each other, I follow in suit attempting to reach the boy by the tree.
"Annie," the boy whispers out a cry, and I reach down to bring him standing up.
I realize this is the boy is one of the littleuns that always plays by the rocks and who cut a huge scar into his arm by doing so. George? No, it was Johnny.
I stand away from the two boys, watching them plan and plot their attack, laying in wait for the other to make the first move. Eventually it is Roger who makes the first advance, and Ralph looks like he knew just what to do. Ralph ducks away from the poorly jabbed spear, and moves a step closer to the other boy, putting him within dagger's reach. Instead of stabbing him though, Ralph uses his arm to push the spear towards the ground, almost causing Roger to drop it. Instead, Roger swings it around, attempting to hit Ralph on the side of the head. Ralph almost expects this though, and takes another step forward, causing Roger to fall back. This in turn distracts him and lets Ralph hit Roger's arm with the blunt end of the dagger hard enough to cause him to drop his spear on the ground. Roger yells in pain, but Ralph wastes no time in continuing his attack.
"Give up yet?" Ralph taunts at the unarmed boy.
"In your dreams," he snarls, moving to grab the spear once again.
Ralph sees this move, and kicks the spear away, leaving Roger nowhere to go. Ralph then does something that surprises me; he puts his dagger away. Roger's face twists in confusion, but as Ralph takes another step forward he realizes what is about to happen.
Though Roger is slightly taller, he is also lanky and not as strong as Ralph in many ways. It only takes five seconds before Roger is on the forest floor, blood pouring out of his nose. He attempts to fight back, getting in one punch to the cheek. It is no help though, as Ralph is now beating on top of him, punch after punch, with no signs of stopping.
"Ralph stop," I coax, realizing Roger is no longer fighting back, as he is covered in his own blood.
He punches the limp boy again, and a groan escapes him, barely getting out the words, "no more."
"Ralph! It's done!" I cry, worrying Ralph is going to kill the other boy.
My voice seems to bring him out of his rage induced trance, and he stops at once. He stands up robotically, and looks over the groaning boy on the ground. He then looks at me and Johnny, remembering that we were watching the entire scene unfold before us.
"Annie, I—,"
He takes a step forward, coming closer to us. My heart catches, and Johnny moves behind me, holding onto my skirt. I realize that I am scared of Ralph, as I just watched him beat someone without mercy. If I wasn't here, how far would Ralph had gone?
Ralph realizes that we are afraid, and a look of sadness crosses his face stopping him from coming any closer.
I swallow my fear, as I realize it is irrational. Ralph was only protecting us, and there is no reason to be afraid. I take Johnny's hand and step towards Ralph.
"Let's get you cleaned up," I notice the blood on his hands and face, which I know most of which isn't his.
He looks up, and his expression softens.
"Thank you," I start, looking sincerely at Ralph.
"For what?" he looks puzzled at this statement.
"For protecting us."
He smiles lightly, and looks down to Roger once more before walking back towards the huts.