Chapter Thirteen
Chimes rang out through the room.
A faded wooden clock hung up in the corner of the living room reminded them that there was a time limit on their fun. Their laughter and jokes, that rang between them, faded slowly. They all looked up at the clock, varying expressions flickered on their faces. Peeta looked and winced. Prim frowned at the clock in dismay. Their mother's eyes watered, but that always happened when she saw anything their father had made and left them. Katniss sighed, disappointment evident on her face.
Night had finally fallen, wrapping the day in dark chilly blanket, filling the ink soaked sky with specks of glittering light. The wafting breeze was cold and crisp. Smells of the forest and wet dirt drifted throughout the house dancing around scents of their leftovers. With a pinched smile, Peeta started saying his goodbyes once the party had finally wrapped up. Prim gave him an extra big hug, and their mother tucked a healing salve into his hands. He sheepishly nodded at their kindness, embarrassment starting to blossom onto his face.
Katniss walked him out of her house, damp cold grass bent under her as she walked along with him, "Thanks for helping out today." She steadily carried a bag with wrapped up leftovers, and his grocery bag from earlier. She held it out to him, an expectant look painted on her face. The wind traced her exposed skin, creating goose flesh in it's wake.
He let out a breath, condensation puffing out in front of his face for a moment. The light from her house, traced his features making his blue eyes darker. Rolling his eyes, he gingerly took the bags with a faint laugh. Peeta scratched at his cheek, a small grin graced his face, "Thanks. And you can count on me any time. I'll see you tomorrow?" He shifted his weight from one foot to another, trying to get a sturdier grasp on his bags.
"Definitely," taking a chance, she stepped into his personal space and gently hugged him around his neck.
His heart constricted, thudding in his ears. Doing the best he could with his hands occupied, he gathered Katniss into his chest. There would probably be a walloping in his near future, but these memories would definitely comfort him.
Katniss hoped he wouldn't find himself at the end of his mother's rolling pin for helping her with Prim's birthday. The odds, however, weren't in her favour. She was only really comforted with the fact that he'd be much safer with his amulet. Panic filled her belly as doubt crept onto the edges of her mind about it failing. She chomped down on her lower lip, causing pain to distract her for a moment.
Taking a deep breath, she silently wished in her head, 'Please, if anyone is listening. Let this amulet work. Please?'
As Peeta disappeared past the wards into the darkness of the Seam, Katniss stared hard, squinting into the night. With neither hide nor hair of Peeta in sight, she headed back into the house.
Locking the door firmly behind her, Katniss sighed. She crossed her arms and rubbed away the remnants of the cold night that clung to her skin. Her brows furrowed, 'Was it normal to worry this much?'
She turned around and couldn't help but snort out a laugh. The sight before her, made her worries dull. Prim sat on the floor in their bare living room. Her wide grin made her blue eyes sparkle. She happily petted and cooed at the animals that had gathered around her. Breathless giggles escaped her as her new pets lapped up food from her small hands.
Seeing Prim so happy, made the knot in Katniss's belly unwind. The sound of cabinets opening and closing made her wander further into the house.
She caught a glance at their mother gently putting away the leftovers, a surreal look painted on her face. It was a nice change from her previous blank stares, but Katniss faced a new worry. How well was her new mother really dealing with all this change? People normally didn't like change, and this would be more than enough to put people off of a person.
Katniss chewed on her lower lip as she continued staring at their mother. Slowly, she put away all of the leftover food, traces of awe still flitting across her face when she glanced at the appliances they now had. Appliances that seemed to only be reserved for the elite and the unfortunate few who won the games. Deciding that her mother wasn't going to get spooked, Katniss meandered into the kitchen.
Her mother looked up after putting away the last bit of food into their fridge, "Hello, Katniss. What's wrong?" She dusted off her pants and raised a brow at the frown that seemed cemented on her daughter's face.
"Nothing's wrong. I just feel a little bad since I didn't get to help clean up, and I think I may be giving us all a bit more work," Katniss bit her lower lip and kicked at the clean floor. Her frown still furrowed her forehead.
Her mother shook her head and gently rubbed her eldest's back, "It's no problem. That's what moms are for. And, what do you mean?" She seared for answers on Katniss's face.
"Well..." Katniss swayed from side to side before a resolute look replaced the frown on her face. Slowly she pulled out the grocery bags from her leather bag. Bramwell's Grocery was painted with a curling cursive on the grocery bags. A coffee tin stuck out from one the overflowing bags.
"Oh my... Bramwell's still alive," her mother breathed out. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes before she hurriedly scrubbed them away. Her mother's eyes widened as Katniss pulled more and more groceries from her leather bag. Her stomach knotted. This was so much food and just general living supplies. She couldn't recall when they had more than just enough to live off of. And was that an actual tin of coffee? She hadn't had coffee since she was a newly wed.
"Yup. He sends his love to you and Prim, by the way. Annnd, that should be it. I went a supply run after trading some meat with Rooba. Surprise," Katniss continued to empty her bag of holding, not just of the groceries. It'd be good to keep the food and supplies she'd kept in the bag from before into their new home. That way everyone could have access to it all, just in case anyone got hungry.
"Bramwell is good people. I'm glad he got out alive," gently she traced the cursive writing on the grocery bags. Her mother stared out past the bags lost in her memories.
Katniss cleared her throat and winced, "More or less, he only has one leg now."
Her mother flinched and was shaken out of her memories. A morose expression framed her face, "God. I don't know what's worse. I'm glad he has his stand and a reliable supplier. Being without a job while you're disabled like that is usually a death sentence around here."
"Yeah. I guess he really is lucky in that respect," Katniss started to unload her bags of groceries, showing off their various goodies. Chocolate, coffee, and cereal came out first. Salt, sugar, spices, flour, oil, toiletries, a small sack of rice, canned meats, pasta noodles, canned sauces, along with fresh vegetables and fruits that they couldn't find in the woods followed after.
Primrose bounced over with Buttercup cradled in her arms, "Wow! What's all that? Ohhh. And that! What's that?" She swiveled her head this way and that trying to take everything laid out on the kitchen island with her eyes.
Katniss tilted her head and smiled down at her little sister. She picked up the large chocolate bar and a peach with gentle hands, "Well, that's chocolate little duck, and peaches. And a whole bunch of other things,"
"I've never seen fresh peaches before. They look just like they do on the cans," Prim gingerly put Buttercup down as she held up a peach to her nose and inhaled. A smile bloomed on her face as a sweet scent filled her nose, awe making her eyes sparkle.
After the last bit of food was stored away in the fridge, their mother let out relieved sigh. A small smile graced her face, making her eyes crinkle, "Alright. Now that, that's all put away. I say, we should all head to bed. Tomorrow is still a school day."
Katniss stretched out her back, "That's true. I could use some sleep." Today had been a rather long day.
Prim pouted, bouncing on her heels she shot her sister and mother a wide eyed frown, "Awww!"
A wane grin pulled at her mother's lips as she gathered her youngest daughter into her arms. Swaying, she cooed, "Come on now Primrose."
Shooting Prim an exasperated grin, Katniss snorted, "Goodnight little duck, good night mom."
Prim made a face before acquiescing. Giving both her sister and her mother a big hug, she hummed, "Well, okay. Goodnight Katniss! Night mama!"
Their mother nodded and slowly started herding Prim up the stairs, "Goodnight girls. I love you both. And Katniss? Thank you. This was wonderful. I know your father would've been proud of you."
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she watched her mother and little sister head up the stairs ahead of her. She scrubbed her eyes, and sniffed. Those words hit her harder than she expected. Slowly, she shook her head. A bath would probably help clear her head.
Katniss went up past the second floor up to the bathroom adjacent to her new attic bedroom. The shiny white room, faintly smelling of pine and mint, was a nice change. After a moment of patience, the tap she turned on filled the large porcelain tub with steaming hot water. With a flourish of her wrist, she added a small bag of dried flowers that perfumed the air with hints of lavender.
No one in the Seam was used to the luxury of turning on a tap and having a limitless supply of clean, let alone hot, water at their fingertips. It was a novelty, that she doubted would really wear off. In her last life, it'd been a human right before everything turned horrible. Here, people had little rights to even eating enough, so it wasn't that surprising. Before she'd changed their lives around, she could recall past Katniss resigning herself to only having cold grimy water at their shack in the Seam. A bath, from before the change, had meant boiling multiple pots over the fire.
She shook those thoughts away as she undressed and lowered herself into the silky clear water. Dried lavender floated in clusters here and there on the water's surface. Katniss ignored them as she slid further down into the water, letting it block out the quiet nighttime sounds that pierced through her bathroom window.
Life was hard here, but it wasn't anything she'd not been through before. Although... It was distressing to note how resigned a lot of people were in this world. Numb to the pains and pangs of starvation in the faces of the people around them, and the outright abject poverty. No class within District 12 was spared, unless you were directly working for the Capitol in the Justice building, but even then... They too, would fall into starvation and end up doing whatever they had to. It stunned her that no one had tried to pull some sort of coup or revolution again. Most places put under this type of stress tended to fall into that...
She made a face under the water before shaking away those dangerous thoughts. Those were thoughts that could get a person killed. Still though... It didn't make sense, and that bothered her.
Breaching the surface with a gasp of air, she slicked down her long hair. Everything faintly smelt of lavender, making her tense muscles relax. With a frown she hummed, "I kind of wish the tub would expand so I could go swimming. That seems silly though. Oh well. I always have the lake..." Shrugging that unrealistic want away, she leaned back to soak in the tub before actually washing up.
Rubbing her hair dry with a towel, she pulled on a thin nightgown and climbed into bed. They'd definitely need more supplies to make their lives even better than her last one. Although, it might fall short because of the whole dictatorship that seemed to govern all of Panem. Pushing those thoughts aside, she let her eyes flutter closed. Snuggling into her comforter, she deeply breathed in and out. In and out.
An hour passed, but still, sleep alluded her. Katniss stubbornly snuggled further into her new bed. Two hours pass by and her eyelids refuse to get heavy. Anxiety weighs in her chest making her toss and turn. Again. And again. Finally, her eyes open to glare at the ceiling. With an angry huff, she slips out of her new bed and started pacing the floor. Her heart thudded in her ears, her breath felt short as the anxiety of tomorrow rose.
Round and round she walked around her new room biting her thumb nail. After wandering around for the 20th time, she slumped onto her bead with a deep sigh. Letting her head loll to the side she spotted her carving tools and some soap stones on her nightstand. She blinked once. Twice. An idea flashed across her sleep deprived mind.
Reaching over, she plucked her tools and a small piece of soap stone. Sitting up, she crossed her legs and began carving. As she carved bit by bit, her heart and anxiety slowly receded until it was just a lingering shadow at the back of her mind.
Minutes raced by as she carved away at the soap stone. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, she held up a mockingjay amulet against the ceiling light. The dark blue stone glinted in the dull light as she held it this way and that. Finding that it was good enough, she deftly carved a hole into it before stringing it onto her gold chain.
Gently pulling on her necklace, she felt the cool stone warm against her skin. Taking a deep sigh, she peeked out of her window. The sky was still an inky blanket. Maybe she could get some sleep still.
Gingerly laying down under her covers, she closed her eyes and waited. And waited. Eventually, heaviness infused her whole body, as if there was liquid lead slowly being poured into her veins. Her eyelids relax, as drowsiness consumes her.
Sometimes when things feel particularly bad, or she got too anxious, her brain would give her a happy dream. As Katniss faded in and out of consciousness, she smiled, 'Maybe in this body I'll get a visit with my father in the woods. Or maybe an hour of sunlight and delicious cakes with Prim.'
Moving to sleep on her side, her thoughts continued to drift, 'Prim will undoubtedly sleep with my mother tonight. Having a new room will be nice, but she'll probably need comfort in this new spacious environment.' The thought of that scruffy kitten, Buttercup, posting himself on the bed to watch over Prim comforted her. If Prim cries out, he could nose his way into her arms and curl up there until she calms down and falls back asleep.
And with that, Morpheus engulfed her into the darkness.
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Above the tangerine mountains, kissed the heady blush of the sun. Clouds moved in blustering herds. And so, the sky was equal parts a blooming blue and a chorus of white, streaked with coppers and golds. The tops of the fluff balls were cast in crimson, bathed in a rosy glow. Mellow blues and pinks blurred together to create a gorgeous scene as the sun slowly rose past the tops of tall swaying trees.
Before Katniss has managed to fully awaken, she desperately tried to hold onto the remnants of her fading dream.
The dream was of this body's father, him laughing with sparkling eyes in the sunlight as they fished by the lake, but it quickly slips away the more she grasps for it. Maybe he's happier in wherever he is. Hopefully he isn't stuck in an endless cycle of lives. That thought makes her sleepily smile. For several moments, she remain motionless, with only her chest rising and falling with each deep breath. The haze of sleep still loomed over her.
Beams of sunlight slip into her room past her makeshift curtains. The sun burns off the last bits of her sleepy haze as it warms her eyelids. It almost immediately blinds her as she opens her eyes, and she can tell that today will be hotter than usual. The sun persists in rising, so with a squinting glare, she makes herself slowly get up. All her joints complain, while her arms tingle in pain. It takes several minutes of pacing to bring the feeling back into her arms.
Katniss makes a face, her worries from last night rushed back into the forefront of her mind. With dragging feet, she forces herself to take a shower drowning out her worries.
As she trots down the stairs, movements in the kitchen perk her ears up. She paused, 'Mother and Prim must be up.'
Ducking off of the stairs, she peered into the kitchen. Her mother stood at their new stove, the smell of frying eggs gave away what she was making. Wandering further into the kitchen she spied a wooden tray by her mother. A cracked teapot, cream, sugar, and dishes of some hot freshly sliced bread, along with a choice of butter, jam, and thick slices of roast grooslings for toppings covered the tray.
Prim sat in the corner of the kitchen, sitting on an upturned bucket. With deft hands and her tongue sticking out, she quietly milked her goat before switching over to her miniature cow.
Feeling a little useless, Katniss poured a small bowl of feed for the chickens before grabbing a bowl of entrails for their cat. Settling them onto the ground, she let out a low whistle. Chickens scrambled into the kitchen with Buttercup nipping at their feet. They slipped as they piled face first into the their food. Buttercup shot the chickens a smug grin as he swaggered to his bowl, tail flicking this way and that.
Prim snorted out a laugh as she let the goat and mini cow out before putting away the milk. Katniss shrugged and slipped into a nearby seat. Their mother giggled as she set their table up for breakfast.
Hopping into a chair, Prim greedily drank in the breakfast that they had in front of them with her eyes. Her hands twitched in anticipation. Her mother smiled as she waved her hand in encouragement, "Go ahead. Good morning girls."
With gusto, Prim served herself a large plate of breakfast, "Thank you, mama. Morning!"
Buttering a slice of bread, their mother tilted her head at Katniss, "Thank you for feeding the animals, Katniss."
Katniss shrugged and smiled, "Not a problem." Loading up her plate, she sucked in a savory breath and happily hummed.
As they ate, the clinking of cutlery on their plates rang out their bare home. Slumping slightly back into her chair with a satisfied grin, their mother sighed, "I'm glad we can have breakfast this way. You know, your father and I wanted better lives for you girls. Something like this, even if was a pot shot. I feel bad that your father couldn't enjoy this too."
Prim paused in biting her jam covered bread, her throat suddenly dry. With a pained gulp, she slowly nodded. It was hard to not enjoy their new prosperity, but the reality of her daddy never being their certainly soured her joy.
Katniss bit her inner cheek, "Yeah."
An awkward silence permeated the air between them for a moment before their mother pulled on a strained smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Anyways. You girls have school, and I have a bunch of patients to deal with. The other healers are too busy with this influx of patients with fevers and measles. It'd help if we had actual medicine, but what can you do. I might be late coming home, so you girls don't have to wait to have dinner with me. I'll be fine."
With that, they finished their breakfast in silence before their mother planted kisses onto their temples. Gently handing them both identical looking paper bags, their mother waved at them before they all headed off to their respective destinations.
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Mr. Malloy droned on about today's lesson, which was the same as yesterday; the basics and anything coal-related. The only interesting thing Katniss managed to learn today was that the Capitol was built in a place once called the Rockies. And that District 12 was in a region known as the Appalachia. Along with the fact that hundreds of years ago, they mined coal here. That was probably why the miners had to dig so deep presently.
He then went on another lecture on the history of Panem. Today was different, however. Today, he showed a propaganda video from the Capitol. One that they apparently only showed once a year.
The video was a reminder that life couldn't thrive when a country is at war with itself, and that there were consequence. Flashes of reminders of working together to keep a mysterious external enemy from enslaving them all, was layered under everything. Reminders that this was the true enemy. The real reason as to why the world had turned into the current shit hole that they found themselves in. She didn't figure it was true though. It made her bullshit detector ring.
Poking around the building, Katniss found something else rather strange. There wasn't a school nurse or any basic medicine available to anyone that wasn't dying. Not one bit advil or tylenol to be found.
She pulled at what gumption she had and asked a nearby teacher that looked genial enough, "Mrs. Howe?"
A graying petite Seam colored woman startled, before smiling at the sight of Katniss, "Oh. Hello, Miss. Everdeen. What can I do for you?"
Fidgeting and twisting her fingers, Katniss sheepishly murmured, "I had a question for the school nurse, but I can't find her."
Wrinkling her nose, she let out an airy laugh, "Ah. Those are one of those new age jokes the kids say now. Right?"
Katniss frowned as she slowly shook her head, "What do you mean?"
Mrs. Howe blinked before realization dawned on her. Lowering her voice, she looked this way and that before cautiously whispering, "Oh sweet child. It isn't just the doctors that aren't quite...umm...allowed to treat- all of us. Even any nurses in this district are only- Umm... Allowed to bring in the hopelessly mangled, or women stuck in labor. No one should really talk to them. Everyone just has to take a chance with death. These rules were placed on our district after the 50th Hunger Games. No one quite knows why. I'm sorry."
A sad resigned expression washed onto Mrs. Howe's face. It was the same one her mother and Prim wore when dealing with unavoidable hardship when it came to their patients.
Katniss had the sudden urge to run away into the woods. The urge to hide in the trees until the thoughts of innocent dying people were long gone was overwhelming. Hide until the knowledge that in another part of the Seam, hammers kept making more coffins, had faded. She pulled on a fake smile and nodded. Mrs. Howe gently patted her head before sending her on her way as the bell rang.
The more she found out about this place, the more her heart grew heavy.
Moving along with the crowd of children and teenagers, she caught a glimpse of Peeta in the hallway again. He shot her a small secretive smile as they passed by one another.
With an inward sigh, Katniss tried to make the best of her situation. At the very least, she had bright spots to contend with her shitty situation. Or rather, her shitty location.
Sliding into an empty table with Madge at her heels, she unpacked her paper bag. There was cold fish stew in a glass bottle and the berries for lunch today. With each day, her mother wore away the bitterness she had towards her. The consistency was helping.
Madge and her ate lunch together quietly. It looked like it was going to be typical lunch time fair, until something different happened.
Delly Cartwright appeared with Peeta in tow. She smiled brilliantly at the two of them, "Hey! Can Peeta and me sit here?"
Katniss gulped down the last bit of her soup before wiping her mouth with her sleeve, "Umm...Sure?" She glanced over at Madge.
Madge shrugged swallowing down a bite of her sandwich, "I'm okay with it."
With a cheery bounce in her step, she pushed Peeta into sitting beside Katniss as she took a seat by Madge, "Thanks! My cousin, Daisy, was being atrocious today, and you guys always seemed nice."
Katniss almost drew back from that and instead reigned in her surprise. She didn't think she seemed that nice. Quiet sure, and even surly sometimes, but nice?
Peeta shot her a small smile as he nibbled on some stale cheese bread.
Her lips lifted up slightly as she nodded back at him. She was glad he looked more or less okay. Well physically at least.
As Delly chatted away with Madge, Katniss took in this new person.
Delly was slightly pasty-faced, kind of lumpy with yellowish hair, and deep dimples. Listening in on the conversation that washed over her, she found that Delly wasn't much like the pretty butterflies that gathered in the meadow, but instead was kind of like a ladybug. Unassuming. Cute. Crushable.
She might also have been the friendliest person in all of District 12. Well, that Katniss had ever encountered so far. Her smiles were constantly beamed at everybody in school, even Katniss. And she knew that she didn't really deserve them. Not when Katniss tended to keep to herself, with her family and a select few as an exception.
Lunch tick tocked on, and Delly talked to everyone as if she'd met them at a family barbecue. In mere moments she delved into a kind of exchange that was kind and emotionally generous. It was strange and although Katniss appreciated it, she didn't know how to deal with Delly's genuine kindness.
Blessedly, that was the only surprise in her day so far. Once the bell rang to let them out, Katniss dashed out. Collecting Prim from the Primary side of the school, Katniss caught sight of Peeta waiting by the chain link fence.
Prim caught sight of his blond head and grinned. Mischief sparkled in her eyes as she looped her arm around Katniss's, "I'm gonna head home first. I wanna play with the animals. Okay?"
Frowning slightly, Katniss shrugged, "Alright, little duck. Just be careful."
With a happy whoop, she jogged away, smiling over her shoulder, "Aren't I always?"
Peeta meandered over to Katniss, hands slung deep in his pockets, "Wanna walk together?" A flush brushed his cheeks, hesitation clear on his face.
Katniss rolled her eyes at him, a grin lifting her lips as she bumped his shoulder with hers, "Of course."
His shoulders relaxed as they matched strides, walking down a familiar path. The wind blew warm air through her braid as they languidly walked under the branches of tall trees towards the Seam. With her hands drawn to her back, she took large and small steps now and again, before broaching the topic that had been bothering her since last night.
Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she cleared her throat, "Uhm... Ah.. So, how'd it go last night when you got home?"
Startled slightly from Katniss breaking the comfortable silence between them, Peeta tilted his head and paused his strides for a second before catching back up to Katniss, "Oh. It went okay. I was honestly expecting my mom to beat me with her rolling pin again, but when she caught sight of what I brought home... She got strangely quiet. After that she only shot me a a remark before leaving my dad and brothers to help put everything away."
"Oh. I'm glad. What'd she say."
A dark look shadowed his face for a second, before Peeta sullenly muttered, "Girl probably did all the work. At least you're good for something. Made a useful friend. Trash as she might be. End quote."
Katniss took a deep calming breath. Her hand darted out to catch his, forcing him to stop, "That's not true. You know that right. And you can do so much. And what do I care if she called me trash? ...You okay?"
Inwardly, she flinched. Did his mother really say that about her? Did she really rate Katniss over her own son? The pain that shone in Peeta's eyes, as much as he tried to hide it, proved that he wasn't lying.
Gently prying Katniss's hand off of his, he pulled on a strained smile, "No, but I'll bounce back. She's always doing stuff thing like this."
A frown scrunched her face, "Doesn't make it okay." It looked like the amulet worked against any physical danger, but it didn't cover everything else.
Slowly, they started walking again. Peeta shoved his hands into his pockets again, "Yeah. I know."
A beat of silence passed between them. Sunlight streamed through the canopy of leaves they passed by as they took the well trodden dirt path through the Seam. Katniss breathed in the air and hummed, "So, how do you know Delly Cartwright?"
Peeta glanced at Katniss, tilting his head, before pursing his lips, "Oh. I've known Delly for forever. My dad and her dad were childhood friends and our families just stuck together after that. She's kind of like the little sister I wished I had. Mom behaves when she's at the bakery, so... That's a plus with knowing her." He shrugged, not really wanting to elaborate more.
Katniss's face folded into a grin, but before she could say anything someone bumped into her. Both Katniss and the lady that bumped into her stumbled. Catching herself before she fell, she whirled at the culprit. Before, she could yell something insulting, she recognized who it was.
Her aunt Hazelle gingerly pulled herself up and gathered her laundry pail. Faded tear tracks stained her cheeks, her grey eyes bloodshot, "Oh! I'm sorry Katniss. I- I haven't been able to think quite straight lately."
Concern colored her face, "No. It's okay. I'm okay. Are you okay, aunt Hazelle?"
At Katniss acknowledging their family relation, Hazelle's lips trembled and her voice began to break as her woe spilled out, "Oh. No. No, no, no. Not at all. Posy's sick. I don't know if it's just a fever, or maybe measles? The spots aren't there, but her fever's so hot. Ah. I can't watch her right now because of a client, and it's not like I can't take time off. Just leaving her with Vick... God. I'm sorry. I'll- We'll be fine. Visit soon, okay?"
Her aunt hurried away before she could reply, tears gathered in her eyes as she tried to suppress her despair. A child getting ill like that in the Seam, usually meant death. It wasn't a surprise that her aunt couldn't think of anything else.
Katniss stared after her fading form, a frown scrunching her forehead. Was there anything she could do? Her heart constricted. She didn't want to loose any more family in this life. How could she help fix this?
Peeta interrupted her brooding as he pulled her back along the path towards her house, "Is- Is everything okay?"
"Ah...Probably not," she bit her thumb, almost causing her to bleed. Staring at the ground, she spotted a good bunch of sticks. Trying to squash away her worry, she squatted down, "Hey, you wanna help me gather these branches?"
He stared down at her with a quirked brow. Shrugging he copied her position, "You know what? Sure. Can I ask why?"
Katniss chuckled, "You can always ask me whatever. I wanna gather fallen branches so I can make a chicken coop and a place for the goat and the mini cow that Prim has now."
A brilliant grin surges onto his face, his eyes dance, "Oh. That's neat. I'd love to help. How much do you think we need?" He was always happy to try to make Prim's day better. She was more of what he thought a little sister should be, in Peeta's opinion.
She looks left and right at the various branches scattered on the ground, "I dunno. A couple dozen? Probably a couple dozen."
Bonelessly shrugging, Peeta started gathering up branches in his arms, "Okay."
Katniss scratches at her head, sheepishly looking at him, "Don't worry it won't take long."
Peeta leaned down, judging whether or not this branch was good enough. Gently placing the branch in his arms, he shook his head, "Nah. I'm not worried. The bakery can function without me for a little bit. Rye's been really helpful with covering for me."
Katniss gathered branches with no rhyme or reason, "Yeah?"
He picked up another rather long branch to put into his bundle, "Mhmm."
Biting her lip, she paused in her ministrations, "Hey, do you think Rye would cover for you if you became my hunting, gathering and trading partner? If you- Yah know... Want to that is..."
Peeta blinked repeatedly before shaking himself out of his stupor. A wide grin pulled at his lips, dimple his cheeks, "Uhh- I'd love to be your partner. Don't know if he'd cover for me every day though..."
Katniss tapped her cheek with her fore finger, a thoughtful look awash on her face, "Well, we could always just do it on Sunday?"
Happily, Peeta nodded, "Yeah. That should work. Hey Katniss?"
She found a rather nice branch, distractedly she hummed, "Mhmm?"
He laughed, his head tilting back before he shook his head, "I'm glad we're friends."
Katniss brought her attention back to Peeta, "Me too... Me too, Peeta. Hey Peeta?"
"Yeah?" Peeta paused mid grab of a rather large branch by his feet.
She eyed his feet, squinting against the afternoon light, "Your shoelace is untied."
He glanced down at his shoe and scowled, "Dang it. I thought I double knotted both of them. Here. I gathered a bunch, just give me a second to tie my shoe." Gingerly handing Katniss over his bundle, Peeta squatted down to deal with his misbehaving shoe laces.
Katniss's eyes traced the branches in her arms while she silently counted them up, "Sure. And you know what? I think these should be enough. You gonna head all the way to my house with me or are we parting at the half way mark?"
He raised a brow at her, "Psh. If you'll have me. I'd like to walk with you till the end. It's not like it's that far from my house."
Katniss bit back a grin as she stowed the branches into her leather satchel, "Mmkay. Thanks."
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Days blurred by and Sunday came around again. Another day off. We decided between us that we would devote all of Sunday to stocking up for the week. Rising early, hunting and gathering, then trading at the Hob and at the Merchant Market. Having a partner again, eased Katniss's heart. It certainly also lightened the load, making the arduous task of filling her family's table enjoyable.
However, hunting wasn't as peaceful as she had hoped it would be.
As they visited familiar snares and made their way through the thickets of the forest, Peeta and Katniss encountered a dead rabbit. It was hanging by its neck on a thin wire a foot above their heads. And about fifteen yards away was another. And then another. Katniss peered at the snares and frowned. She recognized the twitch-up snares because her father had used them often enough. When prey was caught, it's got yanked into the air out of the reach of other hungry animals. Only one other person could know this.
She turned and spotted his dark scruffy head of hair. It was her cousin Gale.
Katniss was less than a yard behind him when she heard Gale say, "So the townie thinks he's a hunter now?" The mocking tone didn't go unnoticed by the two children.
Peeta starts but didn't turn back towards the Meadow. His fits clenched and relaxed. Clenched and relaxed. Katniss saw him give his head a slight shake before a firm grimace formed onto his face, "No. I'm just me and everyone needs food in the districts. We're all starving and there's no divide in that."
Gale gave Peeta a once over, a strange look passed over his face before he shrugged, "Huh. More like a baby deer in the woods then. Still learning to pull your weight? In any case. Good luck, hunting should be good today. See you Catnip. See yah fawn." With expert hands, he loosens his loot before tramping further into the forest.
Katniss quietly strode up to stand beside him. Peeta's subtly shaking, struggling to keep his temper in check. His jaw is clenched as he mutters, "I'm not helpless here. I can pull my own weight, right?"
"I mean... Maybe only a little bit in the woods. No offense, but who cares, you're still new at this. You'll get better with practice. You've shown that you can," Katniss gingerly pated his shoulder.
Peeta sags and grunts, "I still care about that though. I mean, when so many people keep saying it..." He locked stormy blue eyes onto Katniss, hurt and anger shining brightly.
Katniss took a small step back, a frown made her lips pucker like a duck, "I don't say that. And don't mind my jerk of a cousin. He's just talking out of his ass." Irritation colored her voice.
His expression deflated like a defective balloon, "I- I'm sorry." Air escaped past his teeth in a hiss. He stared up at the canopy above them. Sunlight made patches of shadows splash above them here and there. Peeta took in a calming breath. He hated it when he got mad like this.
She stared at his frustrated face and pulled on an encouraging expression. Well, she tried to anyways. With a gentle grin she prodded his shoulder, "You know what? Why don't we fish at the river? We can leave our poles there, reset some traps, and go gathering in the meadow. Have something nice for tonight."
Peeta glanced up at her, his eyes still shrouded by his hair. Blowing his hair away from his face, he slowly nodded, "Yeah. That sounds like a good plan."
The rest of their trip in the woods went well. The large predators that roamed the area largely ignored them. Today seemed like there were easier, tastier prey was abound. Birds chirped, and the sounds of rustling wild life surrounded them.
It didn't take them long to gather quite a bit of wild fruits and vegetables from the meadow. They stowed away bags and bags of greens and, best of all, a gallon of strawberries. Katniss's dad found the patch a few years ago, and tied string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals. Peeta even stumbled across a small grove of cherry trees. All in all, gathering today had been rather fruitful.
Winding back into the woods, they found that they'd managed to get a good haul from the traps. They managed to catch eight fat rabbits, six grooslings, two squirrels, a small wild boar, along with a beaver that swam into a wire contraption Katniss's dad designed himself. They'd be eating well this week.
As they gently plucked the prey and reset the traps, her mind wandered. When her father had been alive, he'd been something of a whiz with gathering food. Snares were one of his specialties. He'd rig them to bent saplings so they'd pull the kill out of the reach of predators, balanced logs on delicate stick triggers, and even wove inescapable baskets to capture fish.
Some of the snares are still there, very much in tact. However, the fish baskets were long worn away and Katniss didn't quite have the hang of weaving to repair them. Inwardly, she knew she could never quite replicate his eye for balance, or his instinct for where prey would cross the path. She swore it was more than experience. It must have been a natural gift. Like the way she could just shoot at an animal in almost complete darkness and still take it down with one arrow.
She was glad that she at least had his notes on it, just in case any of the snares broke. Taking a glance at a concentrating Peeta, she chewed on her lower lip. Katniss idly considered showing Peeta her father's notes. He had a steady hand and had proven to have been capable at making delicate things. Maybe snares wouldn't be too different?
Swinging by back to the river, she'd found that there were fish abound in the river today. After an hour, between the two children, a dozen fish were safely stowed away in her bag. With the sun still bleeding heat into the sky despite the waning time, they both decided that they still had time to do a bit of trading at the Hob and Merchant Market before going home.
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AN: Thank you to everyone that stuck with this and read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story. And to those that reviewed, a quintuple thank you to the people that left reviews. You guys really help me get the motivation to keep writing this. If anyone has any questions or comments, drop a review and I'll answer it in the next chapter.
Luthien Faye: Thank you so much! I'm glad you loved it so far. The real reasons as to why his uncle is gone will be revealed later on in the story. Oh, he's certainly crossed off more than one ever since gaining Katniss as a friend.
His current bucket list at age 12 is, in order of importance,:
Marry Katniss Everdeen
Have children
Have a bakery
Cook in a beautiful kitchen
Bake whatever he wants for an entire day
Paint and draw with real art supplies
Visit the ocean
Go to bed without being hungry
Visit a different district
TwinK21: I'm happy that you enjoyed the last chapter. c: Her mom is ever so slowly coming around, but the magic is kind of startling to see. His mom will get karmaed, but it'll take a little while. We'll definitely get to see more of his dad and brothers soon. The possibility of Mrs. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark of becoming friends again is pretty high considering how close Katniss and Peeta are getting.
8goose8: Thank you! c:
Guest A: Thank you! c:
SpellSlaughterWithoutLaughter: I'm really happy that you like it. I don't plan on giving up on this story, so rest assured. c:
Guest B: Thank you! I'm glad you loved the previous chapter. I really hope you liked this one too. There will definitely be more updates for this story. I've already completed the outlines for the next couple chapters. So fingers crossed, my muse doesn't decide to leave me yet.