Chapter 19
I burst through the clearing and watch an arrow almost shoot through me. I jump back.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to be here, not running around the woods." Katniss yells.
"I found some berries down my the stream," I say, confused and terrified.
"I whistled. Why didn't you whistle back?" she asks.
"I didn't hear. The water's too loud. I guess." I say. I put my hands on Katniss's shoulders.
"I thought Cato killed you!" Katniss shouts.
"No, I'm fine." I wrap my arms around her. "Katniss,"
She pushes away. "If two people agree on a signal, they stay in range. Because if one of them doesn't answer, they're in trouble, all right?" she says.
I nod. "All right."
"All right. Because that's what happened with Rue, and I watched her die!" says Katniss, turning away from me.
Katniss digs through the backpack. "And you ate without me!" she says.
"What? No I didn't!" I say confused.
"Oh, and I suppose the apples ate the cheese," she says sarcastically.
I'm starting to get angry. "I don't know what ate the cheese, but it wasn't me. I've been down by the stream collecting berries. Would you care for some." I say.
Katniss looks at them, her back still facing me. I watch her roll a few between her fingers.
Just then a cannon fires. Katniss whips around, as if she expects to find me dead on the floor. I raise my eyebrows. A hovercraft appears and lifts Foxface out of the arena. Cato must have killed her, which means he'll be coming after us.
I grab Katniss's arm and pull her toward a tree. "Climb. He'll be here in a second. We'll stand a better chance fighting him from above." I say.
Katniss stops me, she seems calm. "No, Peeta, she's your kill not Cato's." she says.
"What? I haven't even seen her since the first day. How could I have killed her?" I ask confused.
Katniss holds out the berries. She explains to me how Foxface would steal from others just enough to keep her alive, but not enough for anyone to notice. She must have not questioned the safety of the berries because I was going to eat them.
"I wonder how she found us. My fault, I guess, if I'm as loud as you say."
"And she's very clever, Peeta. Well, she was. Until you outfoxed her." Katniss says.
"Not on purpose. Doesn't seem fair somehow. I mean, we would have both been dead, too, if she hadn't eaten the berries first." I say. "No, of course, we wouldn't. You recognized them, didn't you?"
Katniss nods. "We call them nightlock."
"Even the name sounds deadly. I'm sorry, Katniss. I really thought they were the same ones you'd gathered." I say.
Katniss shakes her head. "Don't apologize. It just means we're one step closer to home right?"
I nod. "I'll get rid of the rest," I go to throw them into the woods.
"Wait." she says, she takes out a pouch and fills it with handfuls of the berries. "If they fooled Foxface, maybe they can fool Cato as well. If he's chasing us or something, we can act like we accidentally drop the pouch and if he eats them-" says Katniss.
I grin. "Then hello District Twelve,"
"That's it." says Katniss as she secures the pouch to her belt.
"He'll know where we are now. If he was anywhere nearby and saw that hovercraft, he'll know we killed her and come after us." I say.
"Let's make a fire. Right now." she says and starts to gather branches.
"Are you ready to face him?" I ask.
"I'm ready to eat. Better to cook our food while we have the chance. If he knows we're here, he knows. But he also knows there's two of us and probably assumes we were hunting Foxface. That means you're recovered. And the fire means we're not hiding, we're inviting him here Would you show up?" Katniss asks.
"Maybe not." I say.
I make a fire out of the damp wood, and soon we have our meat roasting. We take turns watching for Cato, but he doesn't show up. Once the food is cooked, Katniss packs it up but leaves us both a rabbit leg to eat while we walk. "Come on lets go deeper into the woods and find a tree." she says.
I stop Katniss. "I can't climb like you, Katniss, especially with my leg. And I don't think I could ever fall asleep fifty feet above the ground."
"It's not safe to stay in the open, Peeta." she says.
"Can't we go back to the cave? It's near water and easy to defend." I say. I have become quite fond of the cave. It almost feels like I'm not in The Hunger Games, like we are both safe. But I know things are different now. I have a feeling the Games will be ending very soon. And hopefully Katniss and I will both come home.
Katniss kisses me. "Sure. Let's go back to the cave."
I grin. "Well, that was easy."
Katniss packs up, we toss some wood on the fire and head back to the cave. Once we reach the stream, I notice the water has dropped. Katniss suggests we walk in it. I agree because I'm sure I'll walk quieter.
Once we get to the cave, we fills our water bottles and enter the cave. Katniss tells me to get into the sleeping bag and once I do I fall asleep.