Return of the Mockingjay

Chapter 51

"Cato!" I yell, hoping that for some reason he'd be somewhere nearby. I'm not even sure what condition he's in, he might of gone crazy from the poison for all I know. I look round the tunnel, looking for anything that might tell me where he went but apart from the missing meat and water bottle there's nothing. He might of gone back up the ladder to the arena but there's no way I can search up there, it's too dark.
We walk for short distance along the tunnel to see if I can see him but there's nothing, it's a waste of time searching, he could of gone anywhere.

"We'd better get some rest" I say sadly.

"What happened, where's Cato?" asks Kitt.

"I don't know, he's probably gone off for some reason, but he'll be back" I say trying to sound optimistic. I sit with my back against the tunnel wall and close my eyes. Kitt sits opposite me and I can hear her shuffling around trying to get comfortable but I keep my eyes closed, pretending to rest. It's not long until Kitt is sleeping soundly but I can't. I'm worried about Cato, he knew I'd have to go off and start preparing my plan so he should of figured out what I was doing. Why would he just leave without telling me where he was going or doing, to be honest I feel kinda lost without him. For weeks he'd looked out for me, kept me safe and seemed determined to get me out of the arena alive, that's why him leaving is so strange, why would he leave me so exposed?

*

The next morning we make our way back up to the arena. I need to be ready in case Peeta and the careers return to the meadow but Kitt still says that Peeta's searching the other end of the arena for me. The thing is I don't feel like I can trust what she says, not yet anyway. It could be because I've only just met her I guess but I can't afford to take a chance. If she's lying and they come back when I'm not ready then I'll lose my opportunity, and I've only got one chance to pull this off. And, come to think of it she could actually be part of his group, sent to befriend me before she delivers me to Peeta.

I make my final preparations. This involves taking four of my arrows and tying a clump of dried moss around the head. Then I build some small piles of dried leaves and wood in different locations around the perimeter of the meadow. I need to ensure they're placed correctly or the final part of my plan could fail.

"What are they for?" asks Kitt while looking at the small pile of leaves and wood.

"You'll see soon enough" I say guardedly. Not trying to give her too much information.

"You don't trust me do you?"

"Would you? After all this time you just show up and expect me to welcome you with open arms, you say you can help me, prove it"

"Okay, follow me and I'll show you" she says stomping off.

Kitt makes her way back through the forest picking up things from the forest floor and plucking leaves from the trees as she goes. By the time we reach the lake she's got a collection of different foliage from the forest.

"Sit here" she's orders, pointing to a log which sits just in the shadow of the trees. She heads off back into the forest, what for I don't know. Once again I'm shocked at the lake, the water level has dropped even more and the muddy shore stretches out for quite some way. I must remember to refill my water bottle before I head back to the meadow as I don't know how long it'll be before I get a chance to return, if I ever do return that is. Kitt returns from the forest with a long length of green lush vine weed and dumps it on the ground next to me. Then she fills her water bottle from the lake and finds a flat rock from the shallows. She returns to the lake once more to collect a handful of mud from the shore. I watch on fascinated as Kitt then takes the mud and some leaves from the forest, places them on the rock and using a large stone starts to grind them into a sticky paste. Then she pulls out a small knife and cuts a strand of vine weed and wrings out the sap from it onto the rock.