I have two words for you: Writer's Block. Yeah, it sucks, but, sadly, that is reality. So here it is.

Chapter Five

Felix's POV

I watched from ground level as the girl took several large, deep breaths. There was well hidden panic in her eyes, the kind you saw in an animal that often found its self cornered. The child on her back was unnaturally still and the baby was oddly quiet in the sling on her front. Her dress, if you call it that, was in taters. I could see where it had been patched up many times over with neat stitches as well as the new tares that split the bottom of the skirt into uneven sections.

Rohm, the leader of the border patrol, walked forward on silent hooves. I knew he had at least glimpsed the look in her eyes when he hesitated just out of arms reach before stretching out a hand. The girl- Genevieve as she had introduced herself- jerked back a pace on reflex. When Rohm stepped forward into range again, she took another step back, quickly following it up with a second for good measure.

Bumping into a centaur that had been standing behind her, she flinched away and pivoted to face him. As she turned she must have noticed just how close the others had become when she had been so focused on the leader.

Genevieve was now surrounded.

I couldn't help staring in fascination at her face as horror flitted lightning fast across it before being replaced by fear. Shaking to the point of collapse, she glanced around wildly for an escape route.

I knew exactly when she realized there was none, for she seamed to shrink in on herself and her chest heaved up and down. I could hear her breathing pick up as she started to hyperventilate and her eyes became unfocused. The child on her back screamed as the woman's eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed the rest of the way.

Tavies, the centaur she had bumped into, caught her before she hit the ground.

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I watched over the girl as she slept fitfully, twitching and whimpering occasionally. We had made good time getting back to camp after she had collapsed. Rohm had carried her awkwardly in his arms as we ran since she seamed terrified by the close contact even in her state of unconsciousness.

The little girl on the other hand had not made a sound since the woman had given way, not even objecting to being removed from her carrier. She had ridden on Tavies all the way back with a look of one born into down-trodden acceptance. It looked completely out of place on her four-year-old face and seamed to have bothered the patrol just as much as it had me.

The girl refused to speak to anyone Not even the most persuasive female centaurs could sway her. She was now lying at the woman's side, awake and staring into space. Her silence was unnerving and had everyone on edge. So much so that no one had bothered to check on them since they had been placed here nearly four hours ago.

The baby lay curled up on a large cushion, tiny fingers buried in my fur. I honestly have not idea how I had ended up in this position. No, really. When he was first put down to continue his nap, he squirmed and squalled, obviously unhappy. Call me a pushover, but I couldn't leave the little one like that.

I was an orphan too, once.

So I joined him on his bed, cuddling up to him. My tail wrapped around, hemming him in with fur. He quieted down quickly after that and here I still lay, watchful as ever like a faithful hound dog.

I chuckled at the thought. The comparison was ironic because most foxes would have been offended to be compared to one of the canine species, but I had been raised by one and found it a very accurate description.

A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I looked over at the bed.

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Genevieve's POV

I rolled over and opened my eyes. I blink up at the cloth ceiling and frowned.

Am I in a tent? I wondered, then why am in a tent?

A noise from my left caught my attention. It sounded like someone was choking. Slowly sitting up, I turned my head towards the source and got pushed back down on the bed, hard. The breath got knocked out of me by the little girl that landed on my stomach, hugging me for all she was worth.

"A-aunty G-gena, I thought you'd n-n-never wake up!" she sobbed.

I automatically started stroking her hair, saying, "It's all right, it's all right," in a soothing voice.

I pushed myself into an upright position again and placed her securely on my lap where she burrowed down into me. My head felt kind of fuzzy and random thoughts kept popping up out of nowhere and floating lazily across my awareness like tumbleweeds.

The sheets and blankets were made of a soft, silky material.

Leah's hair was gleaming, someone had given her –and her cloths, for those were also clean- a bath.

The tent was a faded green color that reminded me of meadow grass and was obviously made from good quality canvas. Not a hole or tare anywhere.

The fog that seamed to cloud my head was probably the reason why I didn't notice my company, for all my looking around, until he cleared his throat. Startled, I whipped my head around to see that on the other side of the tent and slightly to my right sat a fox. He was curled around something on a pillow that looked suspiciously like a baby.

Jeremiah? I wondered, holding my breath.

The fox shifted to reveal the baby's face. It was him. The breath came out as a loud sigh of relief that had the Fox raising an eyebrow. I blushed slightly but didn't look away.

"Felix?" I asked uncertainly, hoping it was him.

"The one and same," he said, sound amused.

He opened his mouth to say something else but closed it again, shooting a look at the door that clearly said someone was coming. Leah scrambled under the blanket, as if to hide, just before the flap was thrown open and in strode the leading centaur from earlier.

"Good, you're awake," he stated. "Are you alright? You gave us quite a scare this morning."

I could say the same thing to you," I retorted, then flinched, my eyes blinking closed for a second in anticipation of the expected slap.

It never came. I looked back up at him and, daring to meet his eyes, saw him staring down at me with a troubled expression.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said after a minute, his troubled look changing to sadness and understanding. "No one here is going to hurt you. No one anywhere is going to hurt you ever again."

He sounded and looked so sincere and I could feel that little seed of hope sprouting up. Even so, I was surprised to find my lips trembling and the almost foreign feeling of tears sliding down my face.

"Promise?" I pleaded.

I felt like my entire existence, and Leah's and Jeremiah's too, depended on his answer.

"I promise." He replied solemnly as he lowered himself to the ground and pulled me (and in the process Leah since she was still on my lap) to him as I cried like I hadn't done so in years.

In the first time since I could ever remember, I was hugged by a man as I cried and I was not afraid. In stead, I felt bursting with hope.

I was never again going to be beaten for speaking out of turn or burning food. Leah had the chance to grow up like a normal little girl. Jeremiah would never truly know what it meant to be worked to the bone.

Finally, after years of dreaming about this day, we were free.

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You guys probably hate me right now don't you? I would hate me too in your shoes. That is, if anyone's even bothering to read this after, what? Three months of no updates? Something like that. I sincerely hope someone is reading this and will review. I have decided my dead line is every three weeks so if I don't update after three weeks tops, BUG THE CRAP OUT OF ME! I'm serious; it would help motivate me immensely. Thanks.

~feathers~