Meggie awoke from her slumber in a very different position than she had started in. She was half lying on top of Farid, her head on his chest and his arm around her waist. It wasn't that Meggie was uncomfortable, which she was, but it was that all her muscles were stiff and starting to ache. She needed to stretch. Meggie slowly tried to reach around in order to not wake up Farid, but as she touched his hand his eyes slowly opened. Farid blushed bright red when he looked at his arm, which was still wrapped around her torso.
"Good morning," Meggie said shyly. Farid nodded at her and used the hand that was once around her to rub the back of his neck nervously. Meggie did not like the silence.
It's too early for awkward situations. She thought.
"Um..." Meggie tried to finish the statement but just as last night she came up blank. She watched Farid as he stood up and rocked back and fourth on his heels.
"Do you want to go on a walk?" Farid asked her sheepishly.
"A walk sounds great right now," Meggie responded, thinking of her sore muscles. Farid held the tent flap up for her and took her hand as she stepped out. That's when her thoughts took over in her mind.
I have to get out of this story, but how? Maybe I could somehow read myself out, but I don't even know if have the power to do that. It would be so cool if I did have the power, though. Someone else will have to read me out. Mo will. Won't he? I mean, he never stopped trying with my mom. It didn't work though. Maybe it'll work for me. These were thoughts that consumed Meggie's mind as they walked through the camp.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meggie looked liked she was contemplating something and Farid noted how she slowly chewed on her lip as she thought. Farid took to Meggie's example as he thought about last night. It still truck him a little odd that Dariad hadn't come up with a punishment for the girl yet.
Something isn't right, He thought.
Farid always knew when something was wrong; it was an instinct he had obtained throughout all of the years he'd served the thieves. He looked around in search for anything that stuck out or even someone that was up this early. Farid quickly noticed that Dariad was coming around the corner, muttering to himself. Farid grabbed Meggie's wrist and pulled her in between two tents, noticing how close this put them. Farid put a finger to his lips telling Meggie to be quiet. She nodded her head in response. Soon after they could hear Dariad's impatient muttering.
"Where are those two filthy little children?" Dariad growled. "I was so looking forward to that girl's punishment."
He fingered the whip attached to his belt as he cursed to himself once again. Farid looked at Meggie and saw the fear in her eyes as her hand covered her mouth. Tears were again falling down Meggie's face as Farid protectively wrapped his arms around her as Dariad passed by.
The word punishment and carrying a whip can only mean bad things for me, She thought.
She looked up at Farid, who reached out to wipe the tears. He pulled his hand back and looked away
"We have to get away from here." He spoke up. Meggie nodded, but her thoughts were telling her, I have nowhere to go to.
"I'm sorry." He added, not looking at Meggie.
"It isn't your fault." Meggie whispered. "Don't blame yourself for this."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Elinor couldn't sleep; all she could do was watch as Mo grieved. It pained her to see Mo suffering. She could only imagine what he was going through after losing two people who meant the world to him. Plus Elinor actually missed the girl and her sucking up. Meggie had made her feel more alive and less like she was an old book-collecting stump. Elinor suddenly heard a noise outside the cell she and Mo were being held in. She jumped to her feet as Dustfinger entered the cell, making sure no one had seen him.
How charming; lying scar-face has come to save us. She thought bitterly.
Elinor stepped back from the door and watched as Dustfinger entered. He knelt in front of Mo, who looked up at the fire-dancer.
"Listen to me he." He said to Mo. "Out there somewhere might be a way for you to get your daughter back, but it sure as hell isn't here."
"What do you have in mind?" Mo asked, speaking for the first time since the incident.
"First of all, we need to get out of here before we do anything." Dustfinger replied. "It's not exactly best place to tell you my plans."
"I hate to say this, but I agree with Dustfinger." Elinor sighed.
"Then it's settled." Dustfinger said with a triumphant grin. "There's a town not too far from here and we'll be able to converse there."
"Well let's go before anyone else finds out what's going on." Mo sighed and the three slipped out of the cell.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meggie looked up to find Farid studying her with what looked like fascination. She gazed back at him suddenly wishing she could know what he was thinking.
"What are you thinking about?" She blurted out, not stopping to think before asking her question. Farid chuckled a bit.
"What?" Meggie asked a little startled; this wasn't really an appropriate time to be laughing.
"Nothing," He said. "I was just about to ask you the same thing."
"Oh…" Meggie muttered. She looked away, embarrassed by her own words.
"Okay." Farid began. "We're going to go into town and get you some clothes Then we'll be able to-"
"Why do I need new clothes?" Meggie interrupted.
"No offense, but you're not exactly going to fit in. We need to get you some new clothes," Farid said.
"Oh," Meggie said. "Alright."
Stupid, Meggie, stupid! Meggie thought to herself.
"Just follow me." He whispered.
Farid motioned for Meggie to stay there and he peered out of the tents to make sure it was clear. Once he was sure everything was okay, he motioned for Meggie to follow him and together they quickly made their way to the edge of camp.
This is too easy, He thought.
Farid pulled Meggie into an empty tent nearby and looked out the flap. He watched as Dariad rounded the corner, still mumbling to himself. Once Dariad was out of sight, Farid pulled Meggie out of the tent and toward town. Beside him Farid heard Meggie let out a sigh of relief as they entered town.
"Come on," He said as he pulled some clothes off a line. As he stole the clothes he hoped that they would fit Meggie, that way they wouldn't have to try and get other clothes.
Farid lead Meggie through the maze that was the town. Farid moved at a fairly quick pace until he reached his destination. It was a house in the middle of town. He knew it was vacant because the robbers had sent him to scout for easy targets and he'd found out that they'd be leaving for a little bit. Farid opened the door and lead Meggie inside, closing it behind them quickly
"Why are we here?" She asked.
"The owners of the house went away for a while to visit a few of their friends, so we should be okay here for a couple more days." He answered. He looked over and found Meggie studying him.
"You might want to change." He added.
"Sure." Meggie mumbled, breaking out of her trance. Farid handed her the clothes he took then turned around in respect for her privacy. He heard the quiet rustling of clothes and then felt a tap on his shoulder.
"You can look now." Farid turned to find Meggie in a black dancer's outfit which consisted of puffy pants, shirt with sleeves that only covered most of her stomach and a lace piece that was put over her hair and covered her face from nose down.
Wow, He thought. She looks really pretty.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mo, Elinor, and Dustfinger had all escaped Capricorn's fortress. However, it was only because Dustfinger had fed the dogs cheese. Even Elinor had to admit that he was clever for doing so. They were at a small village on the coast discussing what to do.
"I think we should make Meggie our first priority," Elinor said.
"No, we should make Capricorn our first priority." Dustfinger argued. Mo thought for a bit, but realized that if he ever got Meggie back, he would want her to be safe.
"I agree with Dustfinger." Mo said.
"What?!" Elinor hissed.
"If I…if I get Meggie back, I want her to be in a safe world." Mo explained. Dustfinger looked grateful while Elinor looked unconvinced, but then she changed.
"Well then I guess we should talk to the author of the book," Elinor said.
"Why can't we just kill Capricorn on our own?" Dustfinger snapped.
"Would you rather have Capricorn send Basta after you?" Elinor remarked. "I don't know about you, but I don't want that knife of his anywhere near me from now on."
"Then what do you plan we do?" Dustfinger growled.
"I say we go visit the author of the book. Maybe he has an extra copy of the book and we could destroy Capricorn and his men." Elinor replied.
"Then once we finish them off, we could try and read Meggie back." Mo added.
"Well if you're both so keen on going to see the author, who is he and where does he live?" Dustfinger questioned.
"His name is Fenoglio and he only lives a few hours from here." Elinor replied matter-of-factly.
"I take it where going to go visit this Fenoglio then." Dustfinger muttered.
"I think that's the best way to deal with this right now." Mo sighed.
Maybe Fenoglio will have some way of destroying Capricorn, thought Mo. For the first time since he read Meggie away, he felt hopeful.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So what do you think?" Meggie asked as she stood in front of Farid.
"You look amazing," He said quietly, his cheeks growing red.
"Really? I think it's a little too tight, but it'll have to do for now." She sighed.
Farid sat down on a chair and Meggie looked around for something to sit on, but there was only a bed made out of blankets a few feet away. In the end, she sat on Farid's lap awkwardly and he put his arms around her to keep her from falling onto the floor. When her stomach began to grumble, Farid started to search the house for food.
"Farid, I don't think they would leave any food." She sighed, but Farid found an apple in the tiny kitchen and tossed it to her.
"I'll go steal some food, but this should fill you up until I get back." He explained.
"You're going to steal?" She gasped. "But what if you get caught?"
"I've been hanging around those dirty thieves since I could remember and I've picked up a few things from them." He chuckled. "I won't get caught."
"Well promise me that you'll try to be careful." She said, trying to hide the worry in her voice.
"I promise." He whispered and gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. As he left the small house, Meggie felt a pinch of fear.
What if the thieves are in town looking for us? I don't want Farid to get hurt because of me, She thought.
All Meggie could do at the moment, much to her displeasure, was wait for Farid to return with food and more importantly, in one piece.