The Woodlands

It must have been at least four times the size of a man. It turned in our direction and sniffed. A fuzzy face presented itself, with a squashed muzzle and a big, black nose. I became as still as a statue, not daring to breathe. Slowly but deliberately, Joseph moved his body between me and the great beast. Still unmoving, I hissed at him, “You’re not wrestling a bear for me, you idiot!” He let out a stifled laugh, swallowing the noise as it escaped his lips. We both backed away slowly. It wasn’t interested in us. It turned its attention to something else and lumbered through the brush.

Leaving a good distance between himself and the bear, Joseph followed. He told me to stay, so of course, I followed them both.

We followed for about fifty meters and were rewarded for our bravery, or stupidity. The bear had stopped and was taking a drink from a wide stream. Dotted along both banks were the purple flowers of the Siberian Iris. Their long green stems extending from the bank, looking like beckoning arms. The soft purple and yellow petals reminded me of a woman’s mouth parted and ready to speak.

We sat and waited, giving the huge creature a wide berth. Joseph was distracted, tracing patterns in the dirt with his finger. I kept my eye on the bear. It finished drinking and padded off in a different direction to where we had come from.

“You know, if I’m part wolf, I think you might be part bear,” I said cheekily.

“Why’s that? Are you saying I’m big and hairy?” Joseph said, looking up from his dirt tracing, his eyes sparkling. An old feeling resurfaced.

I roughed up his hair. “Ha! Maybe. Well, big anyway.” I swayed from side to side, grumbling. “It’s the way you move; you’re not the quietest person in the world.”

He gri

After a while, we decided to venture towards the stream. Thirst ran hot sandpaper across our tongues. I ran to the water and plunged my head in. I took off my stinky boot and threw it into the water downstream. Joseph drank and then scooped the water up in his hands, washing his face and ru

Before he could speak, I said, “We’d better fetch the others.” He shook his head and got up. I suspect he found my behavior frustrating. I did too.

We didn’t need to get up. We could hear them crashing through the trees, not even trying to be quiet. Deshi burst through first, looking at us like he had caught us doing something inappropriate. I gave him a scowl for his insinuation.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

They all looked panicked and breathless. Clara stumbled up behind them, lagging. I was a

The craft hovered temporarily, sitting in the air like a giant dragonfly, but after a few minutes, it veered northeast. I breathed a sigh of relief—we all did. At least it was heading away from where we were going.

That was the first day we saw the choppers. From then on, they were our constant companions.

The choppers were unrelenting. Always drawn to our position, like flies to rotting carrion. There was no pattern to follow. Sometimes one would come in the morning and that would be it. Other times, three or four would come at different intervals throughout the day. We decided we would walk alongside the tracks, rather than on them, so that we had time to hide when we heard them coming. What I was unsure of was whether they were looking for us. They never hovered over one place for very long. They always veered off to the northeast eventually. As far as Alexei knew, there was no settlement out that way.

We all developed our own methods for hiding. Clara dropped and rolled under a bush. I always pulled something over me. Alexei and Apella always wasted time looking for a place big enough to hide them both. Joseph and Deshi went for whatever was closest. We started to get into a rhythm, warning each other when one of us heard them coming. It slowed us down a lot though.

Water was no longer a problem either. We knew what to look for, and once we did, we found there were bountiful streams meandering through the woods. They cut through the land, like shards of a shattered mirror, beautiful and strange water plants poking out around the banks. Alexei even managed to catch us some fish. He squatted over the water, watchful, eyes darting impossibly fast. The fish zipped in, out, and under rocks, like they knew. Poised, he waited for his moment and snapped, quick as a whip, pulling a fish out with his bare, shaking hands. Joseph and Deshi had a try. It was hilarious to watch them. Most of the time they both ended up in the water, laughing and pushing each other over. I tried too but my balance was so off I couldn’t squat over the water for very long. It just irritated me, so I gave up.

It was also nice to be able to wash. I don’t know why it made such a difference, but I felt so much better after I had bathed. Clara and I would walk down to a stream before di

She pestered me about Joseph constantly. Pulling my hair back with her thin fingers, she asked, “So what are you going to do about him?”

“About who?”

“Really, Rosa?” I could sense her eyes rolling at me behind my back.

She pulled my hair back sharply. “Ouch! Not so hard”

“You’re not being very fair to him. Have you even thanked him for rescuing us?” she said in that motherly tone.

“Save your mothering for that little monster you’re carrying,” I snapped.

“Hold still.”

“Ouch!” Clara’s fingernails were digging into my scalp.

“Oops, sorry,” she giggled, returning to her girlish self.

That night I returned to the campfire and Joseph and Deshi fell backwards off their seats with laughter. Apparently, I looked remarkably similar to an octopus. I touched my head, eight chunky plaits protruding from it at different angles.