Chapter 79: Heroics
Peeta decides he needs to go to the bakery. He has to get out of the house and out of his head for a while so he tells Katniss he wants to see how business is doing and says he won't be long. She understands. Peeta informs the Peacekeeper at the door who arranges for someone to accompany him to the store. At no time are Peeta or Katniss to be left alone and to their own devices. These are the orders the Peacekeepers have been given.
Katniss wonders how she will get word to Gale. She wants to know what is happening in the Capitol and Gale is the only person she can trust there. Haymitch would be the perfect foil for making contact with Gale, but she has to get to him without the Peacekeepers knowing what she is doing. Katniss tries to come up with a plan while she waits for Peeta to return from the bakery.
Lorcan has almost finished fashioning his spear when he senses movement to his left. From the corner of his eye he can see a figure rushing from the trees and instantly gets to his feet, spear in hand. Verity sees her at the same time. Ottilia races towards the stream oblivious to both of them. The sky had darkened considerably just before Ottilia made her rush for water and now heavy rain is beginning to fall. Hailstones, too. It is blinding and the hailstones beat down painfully on the tributes as the wind begins to roar. Lorcan knows what this is. The Gamemaker has unleashed a tornado in their arena and someone is going to die.
She still hasn't seen him, but Lorcan rushes towards Ottilia and shouts her name. Ottilia looks in Lorcan's direction and sees him running towards her with a spear in his hand. She stands frozen as the trees around her begin to bend and break in the force of the wind. Her survival instincts kick in, Ottilia takes off in the opposite direction and foolishly into the eye of the storm. Fear has driven her into the arms of the oncoming tornado and Lorcan has to save her. Faster and stronger than Ottilia, Lorcan races after her and grabs Ottilia from behind before beginning to lash her to the nearest tree. He had kept the rope over his shoulder and now it was going to save someone's life instead of take it.
As Lorcan shouts at Ottilia, to make himself heard over the roar of the wind, his words are ones of reassurance, telling her he is trying to save her and not to be afraid. Finally, he binds himself to the tree as well, just as Verity decides to break from the undergrowth and put an end to the self-imposed captives. She hasn't factored in the speed or ferocity of the tornado as it effortlessly takes her in its grip and drags her into its swirling vortex, preparing to dump her where ever the Gamemaker sees fit.
The tornado ends as quickly as it had begun and the silence after its demise is deafening. Ottilia is in shock, crying and shaking all over. She is having trouble comprehending what has just happened. Lorcan is dazed and attempting to take in the devastation all around them. The tornado has woven a path of destruction through the forest, evidenced by the broken trees and branches strewn all across the ground. It has become a barren landscape, at least the parts that were touched, and Lorcan can't believe they had survived.
He slowly begins to untie the rope and is thankful now for its discovery. He can't help but think of Ramsay and how this rope had been the death of him. Now, it had saved two lives, his and Ottilia's. What about Verity? Lorcan wonders where she might have ended up, but doubts she could have survived. Right now, he and Ottilia need to regain their composure, gather up their supplies and find a place to rest and rehydrate. Lorcan knows that Ottilia must have been desperate for water, judging by the way she had rushed out of the trees and towards the stream. She hadn't even seen him. She hadn't been looking.
Ebony is making the climb as quickly as she possibly can and is finding it treacherous. The mountain face is slippery and keeping her grip requires much greater effort. She has no rope to stabilize or secure her so, if she loses her grip, the fall from this height will most likely kill her. Ebony doesn't want to die. She is only thirteen years old. She wants to live. Thoughts of living, not dying, push her on as the ominous darkness and impending snowfall cause an adrenalin rush. She has to get to the top before the snow begins to fall.
Driven to survive, Ebony maintains her focus and gets her pick into the final shelf at the top of the mountain just as the wind whips up and the snow begins to fall. She is exhausted, but can't stop here. Ebony isn't the only one trying to make it to the top. Her eyes take in the surroundings and fall on a rocky outcrop where she thinks she might be able to find some shelter. She is going to need it. This storm will be ferocious and there is no time to lose. Weakened from lack of food and the energy required to make the climb, Ebony's movements are slow and she falls several times trying to reach her goal. Each time it is harder to get back up, but Ebony is determined. She is not going to die on the top of this mountain.
Peeta calls over to the Peacekeeper watching him and offers to give him some of the freshly baked bread and buns to share with his fellow officers. The Peacekeeper is tempted, of course. He had been forced to endure the mouth watering smells in the bakery for about an hour now, so Peeta encourages him to help himself and lays a tray in front of him. He tells the Peacekeeper to take whatever he wants. While the man is distracted making his choices, Peeta secretes a note into another loaf which he tucks under his arm to bring home for Katniss and the children. Well, actually, there are two loaves. One is for Haymitch and this is the one containing the note.
As the Peacekeeper leads Peeta back to the house in the Victor's Village they begin a conversation about the bread. The Peacekeeper is already eating some of his selection and complements Peeta on his skills. Peeta thanks him and tells the Peacekeeper that the bakery had been in his family for a couple of generations, so if they weren't any good they wouldn't still be in business. The Peacekeeper laughs at this and offers to bring Peeta whenever he needs to go to the bakery, as long as Peeta promises to let him sample more of his excellent goods. Peeta agrees. As they reach the Village, Peeta asks the Peacekeeper if he can leave a loaf with Haymitch. He says that's what he would normally do each day on his way home and Haymitch is a man with a drinking problem that needs someone to look in on him. Haymitch's reputation had spread far and wide over the years, so the Peacekeeper agrees.
But he won't agree to Peeta just wandering over to Haymitch to give him the bread, so he says he will accompany him while he delivers it. Peeta knocks loudly on the door and gets no answer. He knocks again and Haymitch calls out "What do you want?"
"Haymitch, it's Peeta!" Peeta shouts back.
They hear the clunking of glasses and bottles as Haymitch hurries to open the door.
"What's going on?" demands Haymitch.
"I came to bring you your bread" Peeta says. "Katniss asked me to make sure you got it".
Haymitch is not used to having bread delivered to his door, although he does think this would be good idea to bring up with Peeta in the future! The delivery lets Haymitch know that is no ordinary loaf of bread and he won't know what it contains until he gets the Peacekeeper away from his door.
"Well, tell Katniss thank you for me and I'm glad you haven't forgotten how much I always enjoyed your baking, Peeta" says Haymitch.
"OK, Haymitch. I will try to get a loaf down to you every day if I can. This helpful Peacekeeper seems to enjoy our products, too" Peeta remarks.
"It's delicious" comments the Peacekeeper just before they head back to the house.
Prim is up and rushes to meet Peeta as he comes through the door.
"Daddy, did you bring a treat?" she asks, jumping up and down waiting to see what Peeta has brought her.
"Of course" Peeta tells her as he brings two cupcakes out from his pocket. "One for you and one for Pik, OK?"
"OK!" says Prim as she dances off to find her brother.
Katniss walks out of the kitchen to see Peeta coming towards her with a loaf of bread under his arm. It smells good. He holds it out to her and, as she takes the bread, she takes Peeta in her arms as well. Katniss holds him tightly. She wants to kiss him, but won't do that in front of the Peacekeepers. She will save her kisses for later, when the two of them are alone and the children are asleep. Peeta whispers in her ear, "I gave Haymitch a loaf, too". Katniss knows this means Peeta has orchestrated a way for a message to be sent to the Capitol, to Gale, and she hugs him even tighter. Peeta always knew what to do.