Serpentine

Chapter 2

The blazing afternoon sun lit up a clearing amidst a lush forest humming with activity. In the centre of the clearing sat a small wooden hut surrounded by fences and bare patches of the ground.

Kara leaned on the fence, her back warmed by the sun-heated wood. It was a nice day - no clouds to block the sun, only small fluffy ones like sheep dotting a blue meadow.

"Kara!" Liam called. "Be helpin' me with this bucket, will you?" He was hunched over the edge of a well - half in, half out.

She scoffed. There was not one time where Liam did not ask for help to lift out the bucket.

"Standin' there ain't helpin'"

She ran over, her feet flattening the ground, and helped to pull the bucket of water

"Really, Liam?" She looked at her adopted brother.

He shrugged. "Good to get those muscles going." He nodded at Kara's arms.

Kara rolled her eyes and looked at him. His eyes, like his hair, are a deep, earthly brown; so unlike her emerald eyes and hay-coloured hair. It's not hard to mistake them as real-born siblings.

They entered the hut and set the metal bucket just above the fireplace. Liam hastily dusted himself down and picked up a bow along with a quiver of arrows. "Let's get dinner before sunfall."

With night just a few hours away, they treaded through the clearing and into the treeline, their footsteps creating crunching noises that could alert any potential game. Luckily, the forest was too noisy with buzzing and birdsong and the occasional hoot of a waking owl.

Suddenly, Liam stopped dead in his tracks and stretched his arm out to block Kara. He bent down and ran his hand over a patch of bare dirt, lightly touching what looked like a minor impression on the ground. He grinned. "We'll be sleeping with a full belly," he commented

"What is it?" Kara asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Deer tracks. Fresh," he observed, shifting his gaze to a clump of half-chewed grass.

Somewhere, a creature grunted and Kara jerked her gaze from the print. She held her breath.

"I think it's close." Slowly, Liam rose to his feet, not wanting to make a single noise and... There it was. From behind a birch tree appeared a brown head.

Immediately, Liam fixed an arrow onto the bow. He drew back the string and sucked in a deep breath. A sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead as his brow creased with consentration.

ZIP!

A tiny spurt of blood and the deer dropped dead on the ground, an arrow buried in its neck.

Liam handed the bow to Kara and picked his way over the tangle of roots to where the carcass lay. With a grunt of effort, he hauled the deer and draped it across his shoulders.

"Come on, Kara," he said through gritted teeth and took the bow from her.

She followed her brother as they picked their way out of the forest and into the clearing under the star-speckled evening.