Chapter 3
Georgie sat in a chair outside the Headmistress's office, staring out the large window across from her. The rain beat upon the panes, blurring the view of the gray world outside. An hour ago I was happy. An hour ago I had a family. What am I to do now? Anger built inside her as she repeated these words to herself. She began to hate those who did this, who took her family from her. She began to hate her school that she had grown to love over the years for trapping her in its safe walls away from the war. She began to hate her parents for sending her here, never giving her a chance to know them as children should know their parents. With that final thought tears began sliding down her cheeks. She would never know her parents now. Her life was empty, void of everything that had filled it only an hour ago.
The need to get up and move overtook her and she stood, frantically looking for a place she could go. She wanted to be alone, and every place in the school would be full of other girls. Girls who still had their families, who were happy and alive.
Georgie glanced once more out the window. A flash of gold caught her eye, but was gone as soon as it had appeared. Deciding on where she would go, she ran to the door leading outside and pushed, letting her legs carry her as fast as they could.
Being uncoordinated tends to make running difficult. Adding a very wet ground to that, as well as hard nearly blinding rain, makes it near impossible. Georgie fell often, either from slipping on the muddy wet land or tripping over the uneven ground or her own feet, but managed to make it into the woods that bordered the western edge of the school. She ran deeper into the woods, more cautious now, dodging trees and getting snagged and scratched by renegade branches. Stopping next to a large tree, she leaned over, one hand on her knee, the other against the tree as if to hold herself from falling over. Tears continued to fall from her eyes and she wondered if they would ever cease to fall. Once she caught her breath, she slowly lowered herself next to the tree and leaned against it, willing her tears to stop but failing miserably. Judging from her growling stomach, she guessed it must be dinner time. She thought of how the girls at school would sit down at the long dining tables, with their plates of food, laughing and talking about the day's activities, gossiping about who had sneaked out to meet a boy from a nearby boys' school, and complaining about the amount of homework due. These simple things, which once held such meaning and enjoyment for her, seemed meaningless now. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Georgie leaned her head back against the tree and closed her eyes. Sleep set upon her soon after, as the rain continued to fall through the trees.
A warm breeze blew across Georgie's cheek, causing her to stir. The sound of a twig snapping caused her eyes to pop open. She glanced around, but saw nothing. She shivered from the chill of the early morning. It must have been a dream, she thought. Standing, she noticed her body ached everywhere. Her legs felt tight and sore and her neck had a definite crick in it. I guess that's what I get from running so hard. Where am I? Georgie looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was deeper in the woods than she had ever been, with no apparent trail marking a way to travel. She had often gone into the woods with her friends, enjoying the quietness of it, but had always stayed within a close distance to the school. I suppose I should just start walking. I'll at least end up somewhere if I do, rather than staying put and getting nowhere.
Georgie began walking, trying to ignore her grumbling stomach and the pain in her chest, the result of her newly broken heart. At least I am not crying, she thought as she grabbed onto a low branch to steady herself as she stepped over a large root sticking out of the ground. I wonder where I'll end up if I continue to walk this way. I hope it will be somewhere that I can get something to eat and send word to the school to let them know where I am.
After what felt like hours of walking, Georgie still had not gotten anywhere but deeper into the woods. Feeling as though continuing was pointless, she sat down against a tree and scowled. "Will these woods never end? I did not think they were this large!" she cried out to no one in particular. Her eyes began to well up with hot angry tears, which she wiped away with the back of her now dirty hand. She sat silently, willing herself to not start crying again. A very faint sound reached her ears, like the sound of rushing water. It was so faint that she almost believed it was her mind playing tricks on her. Or perhaps it was another sound altogether. She stood, hope renewed that maybe she was close to something other than the woods, and began walking slowly and quietly towards the sound. Several minutes passed and the sound became louder. It sounded like a stream at first, but as the noise grew louder, Georgie concluded that it must be larger, such as a small rushing river.
There was a large break in the woods and she could see the clear sunlight streaming through it. She rushed towards it and broke through the woods onto the bank of a river. She had never been so happy to see anything in her life and quickly made her way towards the water. Surely this will lead somewhere, she thought excitedly. Removing her shoes and tall socks, she stuck her toe in the water. The cool water sent shivers up her body, but at the same time felt exhilaratingly wonderful. The weather outside the woods was much warmer than it had been inside of them, so she removed her jacket as well and dipped her handkerchief in the water to bathe her face and limbs of the dirt and muck they were covered in.
Once she was cleaned and refreshed from the cool water, she put her socks and shoes back on and began walking along the river bank, a new hope in her heart. She had not gone more than a quarter of a kilometer when she heard voices from the other side of the river. After glancing across, however, she could not see anyone who could be the owners of the voices. She began to quicken her pace, hoping that she might pass them before they saw her.
Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past her face, barely missing her nose. She glanced up an saw a red feathered arrow embedded in a tree next to her.
"Stop there!" came a gruff voice. She turned and saw a small man across the river. He was very short, with a long whitish beard that nearly went to his knees. His clothing was funny, almost from a different time, thought Georgie. Most alarmingly though was that he was pointing an arrow straight at her.
"Please! I'm lost!" Georgie cried to him, her voice shaking in fear.
Behind her she heard rustling and twigs snapping. She slowly turned to see a large creature standing there, its top half a man and its bottom half that of a horse, holding a rather large sword raised to strike. Georgie screamed and fell to the ground, having fainted at the sight of the very large centaur standing before her.