The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Four

The sun wasn't even up when Hailey decided to head towards the spring. I was awoken with her eager voice and forced myself to roll off of the small blanket pallet we shared. As we walked, forcing myself to stop yawning, Hailey skipped beside me and hummed some type of tune I was pretty sure she made up. I was relieved something as simple as this could make her happy, since I wasn't able to give her much of anything else. The forest offered beautiful scenery if you knew where to look, but other than that, it was like walking in Hell. Heading to the spring was a mini vacation for me, since I knew when we got back it'd be rough with the break of new Hunters coming out. I yawned again and slumped my shoulders a bit. I was completely exhausted; I was unable to sleep again. I cursed my nightmares, of how real they still felt. I felt the stings on my body, and I shivered at the thought. However, I had to make sure I was alert. Something was nagging at the back of my brain telling me something would go wrong, which was our luck. I looked from left to right and saw nothing. The only sound was the humming coming from Hailey's song, which was starting to get on my nerves.

"How long can we stay at the spring?" I glanced over at Hailey to see her eyes beaming at me. I gave her snort as I rolled my eyes. Seriously, how could one person be so happy when you lived a life like this?

"Not too long. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention. That's the last thing we need."

"Long enough for a quick bath?" I couldn't help but snort again, this time coming out as a laugh.

"If you jump in and jump out, I guess that would be okay." A rustling sound came from behind us. Animal-like instinct took over me as I whirled around, knife in one hand while my other hand grabbed Hailey and forced her behind me. Nothing. I scanned the tree line looking for any sign of life. Were my nerves getting the best of me? Hailey gently tugged on my cloak and I looked down at her anxious face. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew she must think I was slowly losing my mind. Which would be an accurate assumption, I might add. I sighed before returning my knife to its handmade sheath and we continued walking. Hailey wasn't on edge as much as I was. But then again, she had no reason to be. That's why I was there.

Once we reached the spring, Hailey ran and jumped in, splashing the clear water in every direction. She came up shivering and her teeth were chattering. "It's c-cold!!" She spluttered, before diving again into the spring, blowing bubbles out of her nose.

I smiled to myself and watched as she started to play in the water. I took a seat near the bank, so I was out of sight from other humans or wild animals that might be passing by. I put my hands down into the water and brought it to my lips. The cold liquid slithered down my throat, and dribbled down my chin. I felt refreshed after a couple drinks and I took some water and rubbed it on my arms, hoping to get some of the dirt and muck off. I glanced up to check on Hailey and something caught my eye. I tilted my head to the side, staring at it for a second longer before I realized what it was. My eyes widened, and my muscles tenses up again. A net made with metal workings was hidden in the far corner of the spring and Hailey was heading directly into it, oblivious to any danger. Without hesitating, my knife flew from my hands, deactivating the trap Hailey would've gotten caught in. The net snapped upwards up on the other side of the bank, sending a loud echoing noise throughout the stillness of the forest. Hailey froze, her eyes wide with terror as she realized what could've happened. She swiped her eyes over at me, guilt clouding over them as I plunged into the spring, the cold water inching up my legs.

"We're leaving now," I snapped as I retrieved my knife. Hailey took off towards the bank as I wiggled my knife out of the trap. I heard a scream and the ground shook from an impact, knocking me down. I caught myself in the mud and launched myself back up, spinning around to see Hailey in a small iron cage being lifted into the trees, spring water running down the side of the cage. Not having time to think, I launched myself upward, barely grabbing the end of the cage. My hands were slippery with water and mud and I could feel my fingers slipping. Gritting my teeth together, I ended up hauling myself upwards, grabbing onto the metal poles to steady myself. I surprise myself from where my strength comes from. I climbed clumsily to the top of the cage, knife in my mouth, and positioned myself around the chain. I sawed at the chain connected to the cage, grunting with the effort. However, sawing through metal was easy; I had done it many times before. Through the noise of my sawing I heard distant voices, and I cursed under my breath. I looked down to see about four men running through the trees, pointing upwards at us. My heart stopped. I had seen those men before in the marketplace. Behind that arrogant cocky Hunter. Lloyd. Panic and anger swept through me. I was too careless. I had to think fast. I could hear Hailey screaming and crying, and I knew she was in panic mode. I made the decision to keep sawing away at the chain, until it broke halfway through. I stood up, wobbling with the cage until I finally had the balance I needed, and struck the chain with my foot. The chain snapped, us plummeting down to the ground with immense speed. The men below had scattered seeing the cage coming down on top of them. The cage broke on contact with the ground and I was thrown a couple feet. I landed heavily on the ground and felt pain shot through my body as I rolled through the grass. Grunting with effort, I got to my feet and sprinted over to the cage to get Hailey. Hailey had a deep cut on her arm, and it was bleeding horribly. Cursing again, I grabbed the bottom of my cloak and tore off a piece. Wrapping the cloak around Hailey's arm, I yanked her up and made her face me. I looked around and saw the men were almost upon us, recovering from the shock they received from the cage. I looked her square in the eyes, keeping my face as expressionless as I could.