Chapter two- the attempted escape
Yume had her head in her hands, 'How could I get myself into this mess! I was just taking my goat down to get some water, and I got dragged into this!' She remembered how she got kidnapped, and dragged off to this distant place. Yume cursed herself for being so foolish, helping the strangers get some water. 'But they had looked so lost and thirsty…' She felt tears sting her eyes as she thought of how worried her grandpa and grandma must be. Yume wiped those tears away, but more kept coming. She was blindfolded and led here, she had no idea where she was. Yume was startled when she felt a hand take one of hers. She looked up to see the boy had escaped from his cage and had opened hers.
"Come on… We have to get out of here. I don't even want to try and explain why they kidnap and sell girls for." Seto said as he helped her out of her cage. When they were standing on the ground, he noticed that she had tears in her eyes. With out thinking of what he was doing, he wiped one of the tears away with his free hand. The small girl was, tightly holding the other. "Don't worry. I'll protect you…" He couldn't stop looking at her blue eyes that looked as pure as an unfound oasis.
Yume looked up at Seto, she instantly trusted him. By the tone in his voice, she could tell that he wanted to help her. She held on tightly to his hand as he slipped out the door and navigated stealthily through the abandoned streets.
Hearing a yell in the background, Seto knew that their escape had been discovered. Soon, the guards would be hot on their trail. Seto bit his lower lip as he heard guards behind them. He knew all too well what the punishment for escaping, let alone helping someone escape. He couldn't let that happen to him… or Yume. He led the scared girl into the nearest building.
Yume covered her nose, "I can't go in there! I'm allergic to hay! I'll sneeze and we'll get caught!" She exclaimed as Seto dragged her towards the hay. Her protest was ignored as Seto dragged her into the stack of hay, and sat behind her.
"The tracks lead this way!" One of the guards yelled as they drew nearer.
'The tracks?' Seto thought as he looked down at Yume and just noticed that her leg was bleeding. He quickly tore his raggy clothes, and bandaged her wound. They needed to leave. "Yume, I need you to help me dig." He said pointing to the wall that was sitting on top of sand, making digging motions with his hand.
Yume instantly understanding what he meant, began digging as fast as her fatigued hands would allow. Her hands had been tied up for so long, they were heavy to move. Seto helped her dig, and when the hole was big enough for her to squeeze through, she escaped to the other side and made it bigger for Seto to fit through.
Seto smiled as soon as he was on the other side, "You're a skinny little thing…" He said pushing the sand into the hole. Yume smiled back as she helped, thinking that it was a thank you, and was helped to her feet. They ran deeper into the city, hoping to get away from the guards.
If only they could make it to the Nile, they could hide in the marsh until it was safe. Seto kept thinking of different paths in his mind, turning a corner as he looked back to see if Yume was all right. He bumped into someone. Yume and Seto looked up to see the slave merchant himself.
"…Well, well, well. Two escaped slaves. Pity, now we'll have to chain you up and give you whippings. That will lower the price on you… I'd have them kill you, but children are in such high demand right now…" The slave merchant said as the guards behind him grabbed Yume and Seto.
Yume kicked and yelled at them in her native tongue. Seto did the same. He didn't want Yume to get punished, he didn't want her to get sold to some disgusting man. He wanted her to be safe, he didn't know why, but he did.
Yume felt tears spring into her eyes once more as she was separated from Seto, "Seto!" She screamed as she reached out for him. He tried to grab her hand, but was taken away from her as well. They were dragged off to different chambers to be whipped.