Foxheart

Part Two: Chapter Nineteen

The open-backed truck trundled down the lumpy road, making Esme bounce on her set of hay. She was clutching her knees, watching the golden world go by. The sounds of sheep and goats bleating away mingled with the song of birds and broken now and then by the roar of a car zooming by.

She was tired. Fox and Esme had spent the best part of two hours by the roadside, trying to thumb a lift with anyone going towards Clockton. The farmer has been kind enough to give them lift after several failed attempts and now the borders of the Everwood had grown thin and distant. It tugged at her heart to see and made her become a little frightened. The Everwood was thick and plentiful, spreading out for miles and miles around Lakeside and Tranquil, covering the low mountain here like moss. And back in the Everwood were her only powerful allies. The God of the Everwood and the Spirits that lived there. Out here, it was just herself, her faithful Spirits, a begrudging thief and the unknown. The Everwood failed to reach out any further. Its safety was gone and it made her feel small and vulnerable.

She glanced at Fox who lay sprawled out beside her to take her mind away from the dwindling Spirit forest. He appeared content with his hat pulled down over his eyes so he could doze in the afternoon sun. She scowled softly at him. She wanted to sleep to but she was terrified that one of the cars that trailed lazily after the truck was filled with Hunters or police and she'd be shot where she sat. So she remained wide awake, watching the farms and field roll by behind old waist high walls and the trying to make out the faces of the people shielded by the car's windows and the glaring.

The truck lurched as it rumbled over the narrow bridge, forcing Esme to steady herself as she was nearly thrown into Fox and grabbed the bag before it fell off onto the road. Absolon squeaked behind her in sleepy surprise.

'It's okay Absolon.' She said softly.

He settled back down and fell back to sleep. She sighed as the truck shook over the cobbled road, shaking with every inch it took, and pulled her into the clustered and tiny Clockton. The place wasn't too big nor was it very tall. Hundreds of old, bunched buildings, adorned with flowers and white window shutters, rose and fell with the groves of the valley. The truck would stop and start as children played in the street and shoppers and villages not having much of a care of the cars sluggishly trying to drive by. Esme watched the people as she was driven by, noting that people here were far less rich than in Lakeside but, so far, didn't live in squalor like Fox did either.

As the truck pulled into the centre of town where market stands where set up and shop stood with their doors flung open, letting in and out a stream of customers, Fox woke. A couple of cars were honking madly and dogs were barking. The noise finally got to him in his dreamworld.

'We there?' He asked as he sat up sharply.

Esme nodded as the driver pulled open the back window.

'Get out. As far as I need to take you lot.' The farmer bellowed from his seat.

Esme hurriedly nudged Absolon, pushing him into the air from his nest, and slipped off the truck. She wobbled a little when her boots hit the cobbled floor but swiftly woke up as she hurried to the pavement and out of the way of the car behind, who was honking furiously. Esme stood there waiting as Fox left the truck without an ounce of urgency she felt. He dragged the bag onto his back and vanished as he went to go tip the driver. As he languidly walked towards her, Absolon drifted down aimlessly from the air and the truck creaked into gear and drove off, allowing the traffic to finally start moving once again.

Esme gazed at her new surroundings. The market square smelled strongly of baked goods, sugar and raw meat. It was alive with as much activity a village of three hundred could muster and every face was a blur. She recognised no one here and nothing. It was new to her and it hammered further that she was in the unknown and far from Lakeside.