After dinner, we set up camp. 'Camp' was usually a tall, branched out tree, or even an abandoned eagle nest. Tonight, though, Mase and Theris took an newly fallen tree and covered it with palm leaves. They tied the leaves together with some of our precious twine. The tallest part was big enough to squat under, and it made an excellent tent.
Right before the little ones fell into sleep, we did out ritual. Basically, we go around and say one thing that made us happy or a complement about another flock member (this started after Grettah and Gabe got into an argument, and refused to speak to each other for weeks).
"I liked the fruit Ange got," said little Grettah, her strawberry blonde curls glowing in the fire. Almost immediately, she stuck her thumb into her mouth and closed her eyes.
" I like that Theris and Mason made us this tent," said Ange, already half asleep on Mason. By the time Gabe opened his mouth, she was already asleep.
" I loved how nice the warm wind felt today," said Gabe." It was warm and nice." I would have to help him think of new adjectives soon. He leaned against the trunk of the tree and began to snore.
" I…uh… liked the way Fran smelled?" Theris said. Francine laughed and punched him in the arm. He always had trouble coming up with things to say. He giggled and snuggled between Ange and Grettah. In seconds, his mouth opened slightly.
" I'm glad we finally get some sleep," Francine said, already curling up into a ball, and covering up with a worn blanket. She, too, started to relax, and soon, Mase and I were the only ones awake.
"Your hair looks nice today," Mason said, laughing and ruffling my golden hair. I laughed and hit him on the arm. My hair never looked nice. It was always blown from the wind, or tangled with mud or blood.
"Right back atcha," I said gesturing toward his shaggy mane. His hair was blown straight back, and it was tangled at the top. "I guess we all need a bath. Good thing I saw a spring near the mountains," I said.
Mason and I went through the routine of taking the many old blankets out of people's packs and placing them on the kids. We had some from just about everywhere. One from Montana had embroidered horses running. One from Kansas had a picture of Golden Wheat. Another, from San Diego, had pictures of zoo animals. The orange one from Florida had waves in blue and white.
After everyone else was wrapped up, we settled onto the hard ground. I had a blanket from Georgia on me, and I wrapped part of it around a sleeping Gabe.
Mason and I slept back to back, so even in sleep we had each other there.