Could these walls come crumbling down?
I want to feel my feet on the ground
And leave behind this prison we share
Step into the open air
Into the Open air- Julie Fowlis
Julianne is glad to find a seat in the first café they come across, resting her head on her folded arms and closing her eyes. The walk had been a long one and she feels dead on her feet at this point. She probably looks as bad as she feels if the glances people keep sending her are anything to go by.
"How does your back feel," Dustfinger asks, taking the seat beside her at the table.
"No worse than it was yesterday. A little better, I guess." She shrugs as well as she can, watching her feet as she swings them back and forth under the table. The boots are coming untied again and she dreads the moment she'll have to bend over completely to unlace them.
"Do you all know what you'd like to order, or do you need a few minutes," a chipper waitress asks, appearing at their table moments after Elinor returns from the restroom. The thought of food makes Julianne's stomach twist unpleasantly due to the pain despite how bad she's craving something sweet.
She excuses herself to go to the bathroom; it's a small room, but the door locks and it's clean enough that she doesn't have to worry about bad smells or the usual gunk that comes with public bathrooms. She gets water started in the sink to wash her face, drying it quickly with a couple of paper towels before staring at her reflection. Her healthy tan has faded to an ashy white, dark circles under her eyes making them look sunken, dark hair falling in awful tangles down her back. She runs her fingers through the thick mane a few times, getting out the worst of the knots before getting the courage to rejoin the others.
They're paying by the time she makes it back, Dustfinger and Farid nowhere to be seen. Mo turns to face her with a sad smile when she comes to stand next to them, her arms wrapped around herself in a hug.
"I'm going outside," she tells Mo, not waiting for a reply as she walks out of the café into the sunshine. It feels like she can't keep warm anymore, the fear that's been eating away at her keeping her cold and shaking.
"Julianne?" She looks up as Dustfinger walks over to her, the Arabic boy hot on his heels. "Why are you out here by yourself?"
"The café is too crowded for my liking." Julianne sits on the ledge of a fountain set in the middle of the square, Dustfinger sitting next to her with Farid sitting next to his feet. He's still looking at everything with wide eyes, like he expects it all to just disappear and send him freefalling again. "We're not actually safe, are we?"
"We'll never be safe as long as Capricorn's out there."
"I thought as much." She looks down at the ground, enjoying the sun's warmth and the faint breeze that carries the salty smell of the sea. It's a soothing combination and her shaking slowly stops. "You're leaving again." That much is obvious, Dustfinger hates staying in one place for more than a few days.
"Not for long, I hope." They fall into a silence that skirts the edge of comfortable, the type that crops up when you're still getting to know someone and you've run out of safe topics. "I have something for you…." Julianne glances over at him, finding Dustfinger dangling a necklace between them. It's a sterling silver hummingbird, its body filled in with small pale blue and green gems, suspended on a silver chain by its wing.
"Why'd you buy me something so nice?" The question seems to catch him off guard. "I mean, we didn't even like each other until recently…."
"I saw it in one of the shops and it made me think of you. I also made the mistake of mentioning that to Farid here, and he wouldn't let me leave the store until I bought it." Farid smiles up at Julianne, some of his long dark hair falling in his eyes and only serving to make him look like a little boy.
"Well, then thank you, Farid."
"You are welcome," he replies with a proud set to his jaw.
The rest of the group files out of the café, Mo holding a to-go container in his hands. Julianne turns to ask if the boys will be tagging along, but they've disappeared, and the necklace is lying on the stone next to her hand. Smiling a little, she picks up the necklace and follows the others towards a hotel near the sea. The hotel is big for a town like this and Elinor whips out her credit card to pay for two top-floor rooms that have a view of the water. Only the best for Auntie, she supposes.
Elinor and Julianne share a room, the older woman making her eat the food Mo had ordered before she's allowed to take a shower. The grilled cheese is welcome, enough to make her full without also making her feel sicker. After her shower, Julianne clasps the necklace in place with the bird settling in the hollow of her throat.
The rest of the night is spent trying to relax, though she notices that Elinor spends her time talking at Mo. It's obvious that he's still thinking about that damned book and it's obvious that Elinor is completely against him going back for it.
The next morning, after a doctor treats Mo and Julianne's wounds, Elinor forces the girls to go clothes shopping with her. It isn't bad and most of Julianne's clothes are bought in one store. She changes into some jeans and a tee with a jacket and scarf to keep her warm, the stolen clothes left behind. Elinor doesn't completely approve of the clothing choices, but she keeps her opinion to herself.
A few days later finds Julianne back in the hotel room, wrapped up in a fluffy white comforter and flipping through channels. Elinor enters the room with a small container of food, setting it down beside Julianne on the bed before throwing the things she had bought in a suitcase.
"I'm leaving today, Julianne," she says," and I want you to keep a close eye on your father. Don't let him do anything reckless, I don't care if you have to tie him to a chair. And I don't want you thinking of that matchstick-eater either, young lady."
"I love you too, Auntie," Julianne smiles. Elinor snaps the suitcase shut, staring at her for a few seconds before she seems to make up her mind about something and gives Julianne a tight hug.
"Now, you eat your food. I expect you'll be leaving soon with your father and sister. I gave him the information to find the author of Inkheart." And then Julianne is alone in the large room with nothing but a hot stack of chocolate chip waffles and Game of Thrones playing on the TV.