The Little Scout
Chapter Fifteen
Ben's POV
When Ben woke up the next morning, Melisa was asleep beside him and Tessa. She looked so little and fragile. Ben smiled at her and laid still. If he turned one way he'd crush Melisa and if he turned the other he would flatten Tessa. Both were a very bad idea. Faded sunlight washed over Ben, heating his head. Hal was on duty now and his Dad was still asleep with Matt. What was he going to do with Melisa? He and Tessa could hardly look after themselves, let alone a five year old. But he'd developed a certain attachment to this five year old, and so had Tessa. When she had found about her scars something showed in her face, she wanted to go and kill Jumbo. She'd never met him but she wanted to kill him. That was something he'd never seen Tessa feel. Her face was scary. But he'd felt the exact same way, he should've shot Jumbo. He wished he had. He wished he'd never lost Tessa and Sophie.
Sophie was gone. Because of him. She was wandering right now, in a forest all alone. Tessa was right; they shouldn't have come back to camp. They should've gone after her. Ben just wanted to smash something, his body shook with anger. Tessa had been right. Tessa turned over and her eyes fluttered open. "Ben?" She asked. He stayed silent. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. Tessa looked somehow prettier in the morning. Her hair was a little frizzy but that was it. The sunlight highlighted her face and, believe it or not, it shone.
"Have they gone to find Sophie?" She wiped her mouth.
"I don't know." Tessa swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat there for a while.
"I'm going to find out."
"Tessa, wait. You were right; we should've gone to find her. For all we know she could be harnessed right now." Tessa gulped and stared at Ben.
"Let's not think like that." She told him.
Ben sat up and looked over her shoulder, Melisa still slept. He sighed and saw his Dad had woken up too. "Hey, Ben." He said.
"Morning Dad."
"So who's the little girl?"
"Melisa, I found her last night, she was alone and it wasn't safe." His Dad just nodded.
"So what are you going to do with her?"
"Look after her, it can't be that hard." His Dad laughed.
"That's what I thought, you see this grey?" He pointed to his hair. "That's just from Tessa. I've only known her a month."
"Yeah, but that's Tessa. I think I'm going grey from her."
"You can keep her safe Ben, that's what your good at. Where is Tessa anyways?"
"She just left, we lost Sophie last night."
"And she's gone to see if there are patrols for her?" Ben nodded. "You know Tessa is a nice girl, but she does a lot of stupid things."
"I know."
"But so do you, so your both even." Melisa stirred and shot up, she screamed.
"Melisa!" Ben shouted. "It's okay, shush, its okay. It was just a bad dream." Melisa choked on her own sobs, just like when they had met. "What happened?"
"Jumbo...he...came..."
"Shush, that's not going to happen, not while we're here. He's not going to go anywhere near you." Ben smoothed down her hair and held her close. She was shivering.
"I...know..." She sobbed.
"Shush, c'mon, we'll get you something to eat. Then I'll take you around to meet everyone." Melisa nodded, her hair bobbed up and down. Ben took her hand and together they walked out of the tent.