Disclaimer: ditto
Rule #5: Don't take things that don't belong to you, and if you do, run far, far away.
Mush began to wonder if maybe Blink was wrong about the gypsy woman. He was truly on an adventure, and she had said he would have one, hadn't she?
They'd left town early the next morning, Mush making it very clear that they take the long way out so that they wouldn't have to pass the wooden horse store. Two days later, Mush could still hear the shopkeeper's laughter. What if he never found his family?
"The next town is another two day's journey, Mush," Blink said. "We're running really low on food. We should have filled up before we left Ruckton."
"Ruckton? What's that?"
"The town we were at."
"Oh." Mush was glad they hadn't stopped for supplies. That shopkeeper had probably blabbed to the entire town what had happened. He seemed like the type. Mush felt his face grow hot picturing the townspeople having a good laugh at his expense. If he ever went back there, which he hoped would be never, he would teach that kid a thing or two.
"You don't laugh at Mush," Mush mumbled.
"What?" Mush glanced up at Blink.
"Nothing. I was just…talking to myself."
"You sounded mad."
"So myself made me angry. We're both over it now. It's not good to bring up things that happened in the past so—"
"Whoa Mush." Blink laughed and held up his hand defensively. "I get it." They fell into a thoughtful silence then. Mush tried to match Blink's pace. He walked quickly with long strides, kept his back straight and looked almost…royal.
Around nightfall, Blink suggested they start looking for a place to set up their camp for the night. "We don't have anything to set up, Blink."
"Right…I meant, we should look for a place to sleep. On the ground. Without blankets or anything."
"I told you we should stop and get your things form your house," Mush said matter-of-factly.
"I wasn't complaining," said Blink. "I happen to like sleeping in the dirt."
They walked a little while longer until they heard angry shouting in the distance.
"What do you think that is?" Mush asked. They peered into the darkness around them, but the trees blocked out the moonlight making the forest almost pitch black.
"There," Mush said, pointing an unseen finger into the distance. "There's a light or something."
Blink followed his companion's outstretched arm with his eyes. "Lets go check it out. Someone could be in danger."
They ran toward the sound and found it's source huddled by the trunk of an especially large tree.
"Are you alright?" Mush asked, trying to get a glimpse of the person's face in the darkness.
"You can't have it! Back off both of you. This is my tree, got it?" The boy grasped the trunk tighter and hid his face.
"Yeah, we got it," said Blink.
Suddenly from behind them, there was the sound of crunching leaves and both Blink and Mush spun around to find another boy charging at them.
Blink stepped in front of Mush protectively, but the boy rushed past them and instead grabbed the boy at the tree hugging him tightly. "Skittery, I'm so glad I found you," the second boy said.
The one called Skittery hugged the second boy back. "You told me to hug a tree. I did and you found me," Skittery mumbled.
"I told you I would never lose you." The second boy looked up then and noticed Mush and Blink for the first time.
"Who are you?" he asked, releasing Skittery and stepping in front of him as Blink had done.
"Just wary travelers," said Blink. "We're looking for lodging and food."
"Well, you've come to just the place. Skittery and I were just out looking for firewood and we got separated." As if to prove his point, the boy motioned to a scattered pile of wood on the forest floor. "Help us gather this up and then join us for a meal."
Mush grinned and pushed Blink aside. "Of course we'll help. I'm Mush and this is my friend, Blink. We're looking for my family."
Skittery stepped forward to speak then. "Did you try hugging a tree? When I lose Snoddy, that's what I do. It always works for me."
Mush heard Blink snort behind him and knew his friend was trying very hard to stifle his laughter. He turned and glared at his one-eyed companion though the action probably went unheeded in the darkness. "Let's help them, Blink."
On the way back to wherever Snoddy and Skittery were leading them, Mush couldn't help but notice how incredibly strong Blink was. He was carrying twice the load that any of the others were, including Mush and Mush was very strong. He could carry a full cherry bucket one-handed, couldn't he? He silently told himself that he could carry more wood, there just wasn't any need for that much excess. He'd show Blink he was strong.
"Here it is," Snoddy said as they approached a small hut. "Home sweet home."
Skittery, reaching the shack first, dropped his pile beside the rickety steps and then pushed the front door open. The others did the same.
Inside, the hut looked larger and more spacious. The main room had a wooden table in the center; four wooden chairs sat around the four edges. Two doors led off into other rooms, Mush supposed. Snoddy put a few things into a pot. Skittery went around the room, securing the locks on the door, boarding up the windows and then lighting a fire in the fireplace. When the fire was lit, the only real light in the room, Snoddy hung the pot of whatever it was he was cooking over the fire, and then motioned for the others to join him around the table.
"Get many robbers out here?" Blink asked as Skittery sat down to join them. Snoddy looked at him oddly for a second and then replied, "oh! You mean all the locking door stuff. Nah. Skittery's just paranoid."
"I have a right to be," Skittery snapped defensively. "There are people after me."
"People after you?" Mush asked, embarrassed at how frightened he sounded. He'd never had to deal with robbers or anything like them before, and now, sitting in a dark hut in the middle of the forest, who knew what could happen?
Blink seemed to sense his fear and put a hand on Mush's shoulder.
"Yeah. Been chasing me since the day I was born for all I know," Skittery said.
"But…why?" Mush asked.
"I have something they all want."
"What is it?" Mush felt something. A spark of hope maybe? Did Skittery have the wooden horse? Of course, there wouldn't be any reason for anyone else to want it so badly they would chase someone all over the country, would there? Mush had stared at the half horse enough to know it's every detail. But maybe he'd missed something. Maybe the inside was filled with gold! And the men chasing Skittery were treasure hunters! That of course, would make Mush a target as well. If they found out about his half of the horse…
Mush shuddered.
Skittery had been talking the entire time that Mush had been thinking and was now staring at him expectantly. Mush glanced over at Blink, who raised his visible eyebrow, a slight hint of a smile on his face.
"Okay, Skittery," Snoddy said, interrupting the awkward silence. "I think its time that you head off to bed now. I'll make sure our new friends are fed properly."
"I'm not tired, Snoddy," Skittery protested.
"I don't care. You need your sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, remember?"
"Oh…yeah." Skittery stood up also, and then turned to Mush and Blink. "It was really nice meeting you both. I hope you find your family."
"I hope so too," said Mush. He and Blink sat in silence for a few moments while Snoddy and Skittery disappeared from the room.
"What was he talking about?" Mush whispered.
"I've been asking myself that same question," Blink replied, chuckling quietly. "He's the strangest fellow I've ever met, that's for sure."
Snoddy returned then and went to the fire to check on whatever he was cooking. "Just about done," he mumbled, stirring it with a large wooden ladle. He came back to the table then and sat down. "Sorry about him. His parents were killed right in front of him when he was seven. He thinks the killer is out to get him as well."
"That's terrible," Mush said. He'd never witnessed a murder, but he knew what it was like to be an orphan. He and Skittery had one thing in common…maybe more.
"You said the two of you had a big day tomorrow," Blink said, interrupting Mush's thoughts.
"Oh! The festival." Snoddy said it as though they should know what he was talking about.
Mush didn't.
But Blink did. "The Carnivore festival?"
"Yes," Snoddy smiled, perhaps glad that Blink knew what he was talking about.
The more Mush learned about Blink, the more he wondered. How did Blink know so much about everything? He couldn't possibly have learned it all from business trips with his father.
"…been raising him since he was just a piglet. He's humungous now, I'd say at least six feet long."
"The festival…it's in Oxenville, right?"
"Where else would it be?" Snoddy laughed. He excused himself then as the pot on the fire began to hiss. Dinner was ready.
…
"Don't you see, Mush? People from everywhere will be there. All over the kingdom."
"Maybe my family will come too."
"Precisely!"
It was early when Blink had grabbed Mush by the shoulders and shook him violently to wake him up. Mush had thought he was being attacked by robbers and punched Blink incredibly hard in the chest for it.
Mush had asked why they were leaving so early. Blink wanted to sneak out before the other two woke up. "I don't want to be anymore of a hassle," he explained. "They might want to feed us breakfast or something."
When they were well away from the hut, Blink explained the real reason they'd left so early. "I may have borrowed a few things."
"You mean stolen, don't you?"
"No! I have every intention of returning everything when our journey is complete."
"What did you steal?"
"I borrowed some food and a map. I swear that's all Mush. I'll pay them back."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Now they were approaching the festival grounds which were already swarming with people. Mush was excited. He'd never been to a festival. He'd never been anywhere.
Blink pulled him forward.
Mush felt like he was back in the village. People were everywhere, talking, laughing, dancing. He couldn't help but smile.
"Shall we?" Blink asked, removing the horse from their potato sack.
Mush grinned and nodded.
…
They'd searched all day and hadn't found a thing, or person. But for some reason, Mush couldn't be sad about it. They'd had such an exciting day. Mush had especially loved the ox contest. He'd seen the large beasts on farms back home, but never up so close. The winner was an ox named Shelby who'd been taught to walk through flaming hoops.
Mush had been on the edge of his seat during the performance. "She's not going to catch on fire, is she?" he had asked Blink.
Blink only laughed and watched Shelby finish her trick with perfection. She didn't catch on fire, which relieved Mush, and when she received her ribbon, Mush had clapped the loudest.
Then of course, there had been the food. Meat from all over the kingdom, some that was so familiar to him, and some he'd never even heard of. He'd tried one slice of bacon and spit it out immediately. "I could do better," he said.
Sometimes, he was having so much fun, he would forget to look for his family. Luckily, Blink had been there to remind him. "Why don't you ask her?"
Blink had pointed at an old woman sitting behind a display of the most delicious smelling roast beef. Mush decided his mother would have to be a great cook or he'd never accept her.
He approached the woman cautiously, holding the half-horse behind his back. "Excuse me, ma'am?"
The woman looked up, smile pleasantly and then offered Mush a sample.
It was heavenly.
"I don't mean to bother you," he said when he'd finished chewing. "But I have this horse and I was wondering…have you seen the other half?"
After the shopkeeper had laughed him out of town, Mush and Blink had worked up a new ploy. If they looked for the other half of the horse, asking about it instead of Mush's family, wouldn't be so awkward.
The woman's face fell. "I'm sorry, lad. I haven't the slightest idea where it could be."
Mush smiled and thanked her politely grabbing a few more samples of her beef for the road. "It's not her," Mush said. He handed some beef to Blink.
They stood, eating in silence, enjoying the smells all around them when there was a roar of laughter from somewhere behind them. They grinned at each other and then hurried toward the crowd. In the center was a flock of chickens, dancing. Well, their owner called it dancing. They bobbed their heads in time with the old man's flute, and stopped moving completely when he stopped playing.
"That's the strangest thing I've ever seen," Mush said. He continued to watch, entranced by the dance. He laughed out loud when one particular chicken started to hop over the others. Blink laughed out loud as well. Blink had a nice laugh, Mush noted.
When night fell, the festival was still very much alive. Mush and Blink found shelter in the tent of the kind old woman from earlier that day. She'd filled them up with beef and then handed them some blankets and told them to make use of the haystacks she had in the back of her tent.
They did.
Mush fell asleep immediately and decided; he didn't care if he ever returned home again.
Because it wasn't his home. Not really.
A/N: Whoo! That's honestly one of the longest chapters I've ever written!
Thank you: madmbutterfly713, mushsgrl13, kid blink's dreamer, and Queenie90!
