24
"What gives you the right to decide if I can drink from spring? I know what it'll do to me; why is it any of your business if I choose to drink from it already knowing the effect it'll have?" Jesse asked his tone fierce and demanding, this was a side of him that Winnie had not glimpsed before. She'd never seen him so in control.
The old man glowered at Jesse and raised his rifle as if he were considering shooting them with it. "Get out. This is private property." He growled. "That's my right. Get off my land."
Winnie and Jesse exchanged a glance. What could they do if he was going to kick them off?
Rex and Roland were also exchanging a rather surreptitious glance. "Grandpa let me take them to the edge of the property. Roland will stay here to make sure no one else messes with the spring. You can go back to the house. We'll be fine."
The old man's beady eyes rested on each of his grandchildren for a moment, as if he were suspicious of their intentions, before he gave a loud harrumph sound, turned and stumpily marched away into the forest. "See that you do!" His grizzled voice reverberated through the trees back at them.
Rex smiled apologetically at them. "Sorry about that, grandpa can be a bit severe."
Winnie raised a slightly skeptical eyebrow, this coming from the girl who had tackled Jesse to stop him from drinking from the spring? Shooting a shotgun into the air and growling at them, seemed fairly tame by comparison. "Does this mean you'll let us drink from the spring?" Winnie asked cautiously.
Rex laughed. "My argument still stands. My grandpa's order still stands. I just thought you didn't need him menacing you to get the point across."
Winnie smiled tightly. Figures. This family is quite the unrelenting bunch.
"Now, let's get you guys off my property." Rex suggested.
Winnie and Jesse sighed in unison but acquiesced to her request and began to make their way back through the forest the way they had come. Rex remained a few steps behind them, her steps crunching softly over the fallen leaves.
There was a soft chitter of birds overhead as they made their otherwise silent trek back through the forest.
Winnie and Jesse exchanged glances, trying to communicate silently about what their next move would be. Jesse could tell from the tightness of Winnie's grip that she was terrified that they weren't going to find a way to get water from the spring. Which simply made Jesse more determined. He was not going to upset her further with this. He was going to find a way for them to drink from the spring again.
Rex stopped tailing them once they had reached Jesse's truck. "Please don't come back." She said in an informative tone. "There's no need to raise this sort of fuss again, is there?"
Winnie glared at the girl. She hated that their choice of choosing to drink had been stolen from them, they already knew the effects of the spring, it should have been their right to choose if they drank from it again. "I wish I could say it was nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances, I don't think that's quite appropriate."
Rex grinned tightly, spun on her heel and marched back into the trees.
Jesse saw Winnie's glare and felt more resolved than ever to get them another drink from the spring. Even if they only managed something for her and him, even if Tuck ended up dying, he would find a way to drink from the spring, so he and would Winnie would never have to be separated.