18

Rue's chipper tweet of a voice startled Prim so much she smashed her forehead against the rock's underside. "Rue!"

"Rue." Peeta sounded relieved.

Marvel rolled his eyes. "Great, another tender-hearted idiot."

Rue yanked a handmade wooden sling out of her pocket and shot a rock right into Marvel's thigh. It hit him with a bruising thwack! He grunted, but didn't say anything. A sling and a rock weren't much threat, but Prim was glad to see Rue defending herself against jibes. For some reason, she knew Rue wouldn't kill Marvel either. "Are you going to join us?"

Rue glanced at Peeta. He smiled. "Of course you're joining us. We were going to start searching for you tomorrow, anyway."

"I know." She bounced over to where Prim lay and crawled in as if it were her own bed. "I'll take second watch."

And that was that. Rue was with them. All of Prim's worries dissipated as she and her friend burrowed like little gophers getting comfortable. She could tell, just by Rue's actions and sleeping position, that she had a sister, too.

"My sister is Katniss. She's older than me."

"Is she the girl Peeta likes?"

Prim nodded, a twist in her gut reminding her of Peeta's promise and his nonexistent happy ending. "She's wonderful. I bet every boy likes her."

"But Peeta's really nice. Do you think she'd like him?"

Peeta plopped down by the opening, leaning his back up against the boulder. "I can hear you two."

They giggled into their hands.

"Go to sleep." The smile in his voice made Prim grin.

"Good-night, Peeta."

"Good-night girls."

It was good of him to take first watch, and especially kind of Rue. Prim hadn't thought to offer to take a watch. She'd relieve Rue in the morning. She was good at waking up early—that was always when she milked Lady.

Rue closed her dark eyes and practically blended into the dirt. The fact she revealed herself to them told Prim a lot about how trustworthy Peeta was. Rue wouldn't trust just 's how Prim and she were different. Rue was so cautious, hiding and observing. How long had she been following them before she decided to pop up?

Prim…well, Prim trusted so many people. Katniss used to tell her to be careful, especially when she'd give goat cheese to Peacekeepers. But everyone had good inside of them, and that seemed to be all Prim could see when she looked at a person. Even Marvel had good. She saw the terror in his eyes when they caught him making the net trap. At home he had a family, maybe even a little sister, maybe even a girlfriend who missed him.

Prim teared at the very thought.

She didn't want to be tough. She didn't want to stop caring about people. Helping Marvel and finding Rue reminded her how much she loved…life. And if she could give life to others during the Games, then the Reaping was worth it.

.

.

"I'm pretty good at finding edible food," Prim told Rue the next morning. Peeta let them go foraging together as long as they didn't-under-any-circumstances-wander-too-far-away-or-get-separated. She'd spent part of the morning tending to Marvel's wound. He didn't speak to or look at her the whole time.

"I'm really good at climbing." Rue knelt and picked up another rock to add to her slingshot stash. "Oh, and whistling."

Prim stopped at a berry patch, examined the light-purple fruit, and started picking. "I wish I could whistle."

"It took me a long time to learn." Rue sent up a soft three-note whistle. The mockingjays repeated it, harmonizing with each added bird-voice. Prim made a little bowl out of her jacket and filled it with berries. They both ate some here and there. Peeta wouldn't mind. "So what are we going to do?"

Prim wiped berry juice off her fingers onto her pants. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are we going to win? The Careers have been spending all their time at the Cornucopia. They're always protecting it and one boy keeps digging holes everywhere. I think they have a plan."

"Maybe they're burying the food." But why would they bury it? To keep Prim and the others from getting it? That didn't make sense. "Let's just get a lot of our own food right now. Then we'll talk to Peeta."

Once they had enough berries, they found some nuts, herbs, and honeysuckle. Prim's fingers were stained purple from the berries. She made sure not to spill a single one as they made their way back to the river. Peeta would be so proud.

They were halfway there when Rue pulled up short. Prim stopped too, accidentally spilling a handful of berries from her coat, but Rue's tense face and darting eyes alerted her. They stood stalk still for a full minute before Prim whispered, "What is it?"

Rue took a tentative step forward. "I…I think…someone's following us."

.

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To be continued...

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How would you live if you knew the day you'd die? Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government's crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall - her people's death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her clock is running out.