After a few minutes, Katniss arrives. I don't think she even sees me – I'm just sitting on the ground, motionless. I'm in turmoil. He might rig the games! My name's already in there fifty times! What about my family! Ash can help them, but it'll be far harder without me. What if he's reaped too! I overthink all of the many possibilities like I have thought over them so many times. Ash and I intend to teach my brothers to set snares and shoot, but we've never had enough time between all of us. I'll ask Ash to show us all how to make the snares tonight. In the meantime, I'm petrified. I've watched almost all of the games. I know there's another District Twelve winner, but no one knows who she was, or is. Or even which games she won. It's extremely odd. Perhaps if I was reaped, I would find out. But I'd rather keep my head on its shoulders than find out – I've seen enough Hunger Games to know that it does happen. Now I'm dying to know what the Quarter Quell's twist is. It won't be double tributes – that was last Quarter Quell – and the districts won't choose the tributes – that was the first twist. Wait – what if it's both? I could hardly bear the thought.
By the time President Snow exits the house, there is a slightly wild look in my eye. I'm rather proud that I've been contained so far. Right now, I just need to get away as soon as possible. He sees my face and smiles at me, unpleasantly. "Shall we?" he says, as I climb to my feet. I curtsey again, and start walking. He starts talking to me again, but I keep my answers brief. I know that I've made an impression, and I don't think it's a good one. What did I do!? I'm sure that I'll be in the Games, that somehow, he will rig the Reaping. When we get to the hovercraft, he looks me in the eye and tells me, "I don't think I particularly like you, Miss Rivers." I freeze again, unable to look away from this person who may even now be deciding how to kill me. He pauses for a moment, and then asks me, "Can you swim?"
No, I can't. But now, I have to learn. My life depends on it. I give the slightest shake of my head. He nods curtly, and then ascends the ramp into the hovercraft, which I can see is very luxurious inside. One of the peacekeepers looks at me, and then shoves me into the ground that is thick with snow, I estimate about six inches, although I can't tell – it is nearly compacted into ice from everyone walking over it. My head hurts, even more so with the sound of the engine. The hovercraft takes off, leaving me lying on the ground.
I sit up and gingerly put my hand to where my head is throbbing. No blood. That's good. I stand up slowly and start walking home. My mother gasps as I walk in the door.
"Lark! You look like a ghost! Whatever happened?"
"I fell over in the snow." That's still true. I'll break the rest of the news later. In the meantime, I don't think I'll be waving Katniss and Peeta off on their tour.
"Go upstairs and lie down for a bit. You look dreadful!"
I obediently walk up the stairs and lie down on my bed. This is the thing about me. I always obey direct instructions, but I only obey those. So I don't necessarily obey the law. If I did, I would be dead, I expect. As soon as my head hits the pillow I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I wake up in the late afternoon. The next day. To the sight of Ash's face staring at me. He has black hair and dark hazel eyes. "You're finally awake. Wasn't sure if you'd ever wake up."
"How long was I asleep for?"
"Over a day."
"A day!?"
"Correct."
"Ash, we need to teach the others how to hunt and set snares. It's urgent."
"And why is that? Had a bad dream?" Usual, unsympathetic, sarcastic Ash comment. I roll my eyes.
"No. President Snow hates me. He's going to rig the Reaping and put me in the games!"
Ash laughs. "Good joke, Lark. Mother said you hit your head, and this is the proof."
"No, Ash, I'm serious." As I begin to recount the events of yesterday morning, his smirk deepens into a frown.
"Right. So you were serious. Should we tell Mother and Father?"
"I think we should keep it to ourselves. They already have enough going on, what with Rowan, and Robin's illnesses. We'll just teach the others how to set snares for rabbits, and shoot a little bit. Maybe one of them will be a climber!"
"Or a swimmer. From the sounds of it, you're going to need to learn to swim too." Ash replies. He found a large pond in the woods a while ago. He's learnt to swim in it, and he may as well come from District 4, he's so fast. However, I can climb, and he can't. He's stronger than I am, but more muscles mean that he's heavier. I can get to the very top branches, right up in the canopy, but he'd break them or fall. With just himself in the trees, he's more destructive than me with a machete!
"Yeah. Let's get the little ones all together after tea. Then you can show them how to set up a snare or two. Only explain if they ask. It'll just upset them if they know."
"Good idea."
I smile at Ash. He has a level head, and I can trust him. Just then, someone knocks on the door. I get out of bed and follow Ash down to see who it is. I'm pleased to see that my best friend, Helayne Cole, is at the door! We've been friends since the day we met, when we were both starting school.
"Helayne!"
"Hi Lark! Hi Ash! Lark, you missed Tour Day! Whatever happened!?"
"I hit my head. Fell over on the ice. Mother made me go to bed. I was asleep the whole time!"
"Ouch!"
"Want to come in?" Ash invites Helayne inside.
"Sure!"
Now that we're inside, I fill Helayne in on yesterday's events. She's horrified, and promises that she'll do her best to help if I get reaped. I'm very grateful; my kills make up a decent proportion of what we eat. Ash covers roughly the same amount, and our parents bring in some bread and a few vegetables. Martin and Swift sometimes tag along, collecting berries, roots, and some mint leaves. They know which ones are safe, far better than Ash or I do. Martin has an uncanny instinct for them. He saved my life once – I was about to eat a nightlock berry. He slapped it out of my hand and pointed out the dead squirrel not a metre away from the bush.
Helayne's family ends up coming round with some extra food, and we all eat together. She's an only child, so they have more food than we do, but not much. After tea, the grown-ups stay downstairs and talk. Rowan is fast asleep in his crib as we climb up the stairs. Helayne knows that we're not telling the littler ones what happened. We've decided that Ash will speak first.
"So, everyone, I've decided that I'm going to show you all how to make some simple snares, so that you can help us hunt in the woods, and – although this is unlikely – the Hunger Games. Let's start with an easy one."
Ash's fingers deftly set up a snare that we use for rabbits. He's going slowly, so that we can all follow the steps. He's spent many hours working on his snares, and he's proud of them. He's even designed a couple himself! When he finishes, he demonstrates how the snare works with a stone that he picked up earlier. We're all very impressed. Then Helayne has to go home and our parents tell us to go to bed. Tomorrow, I'll have a full day's work with Father. A roof caved in in the Seam, and we need to repair it, as well as the rest of the damage that it did. At least no one was home.