The Fear You Know

20. The Stalk

 Eli knelt on the cold earth examining the frozen dirt clumped below the bows of a tree not too distant from their camp.

A cold wind blew past him, biting into his cheeks and ruffling the fur of his hat as he followed up with his eyes to where the tracks led out into the snow.

There had been a mild winter storm the night before, and the tracks had been partially covered by a light dusting of powder in the early morning, but that was still enough to recognize them as human footprints. He leaned back on his heels and stared off into the woods, listening to the quiet of the snowy landscape.

He was looking for movement, any sign that they were being watched, but the trees around him were cold and silent, oppressive like the weight of fog before it's burned off by the sun.

"Eli?"

He jerked upright, nearly falling back into the snow as he turned using the tree to rest his hand at the last moment.

Behind him, Peter stood with his hands up, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Camp is packed up."

Eli nodded, turning his eyes back down towards the ground, "How'd you sleep."

Peter paused and then grimaced slightly, "Well, it was cold and plus." he glowered down at Eli's satchel, "Little scab crawled into my shirt halfway through the night."

A baleful eyeball blinked at them from inside the bag.

"It was either that or freeze into a Wink shaped Brick. Believe you me, cuddling up to your odor wasn't exactly pleasant either."

"Why me?" Peter grouced, "I mean Eli would have been fine. You've known him longer anyway."

Wink snorted, which seemed like a feat in itself considering he didn't have any visible nostrils, "Eli, horrible idea, I've never met a human who ran as cold as he does. It's like cuddling a slab of ice."

Peter laughed, though his laugh was cut short when he realized Eli wasn't paying attention.

He moved a little closer to kneel next to Eli, eyes scanning across the ground just as he did.

"What are you looking for?"

Eli took a deep breath. He hadn't slept well the night before: could have been due to the cold, or thoughts about his father's involvement with the order of hope, either way his temper was beginning to show.

He had no desire to speak, but forced himself to be polite and cordial like he should. He pointed to the dirt below his fingers and then up to where the trail vanished into the snow, "Someone was here last night."

Peter grew stiff, voice halting and hesitant, "I.... are you sure?"

Eli stood and glanced back towards the forest, "Pretty sure... pretty sure we have been being followed for the last week now."

Peter's eyes widened even as his lips turned down in a frown, "Followed!, why didn't you tell me!"

Eli shrugged, "I wasn't sure until now, and I saw no reason to bother you with concerns that might have been unfounded."

"I feel like it should be my decision what I do with information. You should have told me."

Eli met Peter's eyes, and the two of them glowered at each other.

He didn't know if it was the cold, or something more, but the two of them had been on a short fuse with each other this past week. Eli bet that it was most likely do with the cold and the lack of sleep, or at least that is what he told himself.