Hunted

Time To Get Back To Work

Something painful was stabbing itself into my blissful sleep. I stirred and winced. Ow. My back hurt. Along with every other part of my body. Something strong pulled on my shirt, stopping me from stretching. I paused, looking down to see Jessie sleeping peacefully next to me on the wall. She had a fistful of my shirt in her hands and had practically molded herself to my side. I moved carefully so I could see my watch. It read 3am. Both of us were going to be pretty sore if we spent the rest of the night like this. I hesitated before I gently pried Jessie off of me. Her fingers held me tightly and she held me like I was her last hope. After a couple minutes of gently moving around I was standing up and looking at the sleeping form of Jessie, who still looked peaceful leaning against the wall. I winced as I stretched. It wasn't comfortable. She sure as hell wasn't comfortable then.
I paused awkwardly before I bent down and carefully picked Jessie up. She muttered something softly and curled into my chest, grabbing my shirt once again with her fists. I walked over to her bed and stood there regretfully as I stared down at her. I was having a sudden urge to never put her down. I wanted to hold her in my arms all the time, protect her, never let her get hurt. I sighed before I gently set her down and pulled the covers up to her chin. I stroked her hair for a moment and stared at her peaceful face, feeling the confusion and turmoil building up in my stomach. Then I returned to my couch and finished my night sleep.
***
"Rise and shine, City Boy!"
I blinked sleepily and looked up at Kent who was grinning at me from the other end of the couch.
"Morning." I muttered as I rubbed my eyes. "Welcome home."
Kent scrunched up his nose. "I've never liked town." He told me. "Too many people. Lucy seemed to enjoy all her outings, so I guess that makes up for my misery."
I glanced at my watch. It was 7am. "You let me sleep in." I told him, surprised.
Kent shrugged. "We got here about six this morning, so I just quick did the animals. I figured since you did all the work yesterday you could have a break."
I yawned and sat up, grabbing the shirt beside me and pulling it over my head. The smell of fresh pancakes reached my nostrils and my mouth began watering. A few minutes later the four of us were sitting around the table eating hot pancakes.
"So were there any problems yesterday?" Kent asked us a few minutes in.
Jessie and I both shook our heads. "Well, we lost power during the storm for a few hours." I informed him. "but we just lit some candles and ate some sandwiches and waited it out. By the time we went to bed it was back on."
"In your separate beds?" Lucy asked us suspiciously.
Jessie coughed suddenly on her pancakes and my face got very hot and uncomfortable. What was with these people? "Of course, ma'am." I assured her.
Lucy's cheeks grew pink. "Of course." She told us kindly. "Would you like some more pancakes?"
***
I threw the millionth bale of hay to the side where Jessie was organizing them and packing them tightly together. Kent was outside of the barn on the wagon, throwing bale after bale onto the track where it traveled up and fell down into the hay loft. Jessie may be small, but she was strong and fast. She kept up with me and Kent and our killer pace. In just under three hours the three of us had moved over a thousand bales. The bales stopped falling and I took a sigh of relief, plopping down on a bale of hay and wiping my sweat with my bandana that had been around my neck and protecting my mouth from hay getting in it. We probably had a good ten minutes before Kent came by with another wagon.
Jessie walked over to me and handed me my water bottle, which I accepted eagerly and gushed it into my dry mouth. "Thanks." I panted to her.
Jessie nodded to me and sat down on another bale that was a couple feet in front of mine. Her brows were furrowed together like she was thinking deeply. I frowned. Jessie was quiet. That was pretty rare. I waited a full minute before I gave in.
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked her.
Jessie looked up. "Oh, sorry, it's nothing." She explained hastily.
I raised an eyebrow and prodded her knee with my finger. "Shortcake," I asked her seriously. "What's bothering you?"
Jessie sighed reluctantly. "Hunter, it's been three weeks." She told me.
I shrugged. "And?"
"We've been here for three weeks and we haven't even been solving the problem!" Jessie argued with me.
I rubbed my forehead. "Shorty, there's nothing we can do." I tried to explain to her. "If we go out there, we're just going to be pursued again and again."
"So, we're going to be in hiding the rest of our lives? What am I supposed to do? I can never become a police officer? Go to college? Have a family?" Jessie's expression was pained and my heart twisted painfully. I couldn't do that to her. She deserved to come out of hiding.
I shook my head quickly. "No, I'll figure something out." I told her hastily. "I'll get us out of this mess."
"I want to help you though." Jessie's expression was hard now. "I'm in this mess. I want to help us get out of it."
I hesitated. "I'll let you know if I need help." I assured her.
A hay bale landed with a thud a few feet away form our resting place. I stood up quickly and held out my hand to help her up. "Looks like our time is up Shortcake, time to get back to work."

So I'm sorry this is so short. (Haha get it, short! Shorty, shortcake, you know what, Nevermind, it wasn't even punny.) I've been busy and have had writers block, but now I'm back!! And spring break is around the corner so that should help!! Please don't leave!! Please please please :) please vote and comment! I know I say this everytime, but I'm serious! I love it when people tell me what they think! So, DONT BE A SILENT READER AND LET YOUR ACTIONS REFLECT YOUR THOUGHTS. In other words, PUSH THAT LITTLE STAR.
Ok, thanks :) im gonna update soon, I promise.
Bye bye :)
Kara