The Hope Of The Three (Book 2 of the Hidden Trilogy)

Chapter Thirteen: Apples

Eliana Morane

My face aches as I pull my head up from the ground. Umair and Ali lay beside me, groaning in pain and the little girls looking down on us. She starts to giggle, her laughter ringing out like jingle bells.

"Hahaha so funny!" Umair says sarcastically. I pull myself to my feet, rubbing my cheek as I do so. My hand comes back slightly red, indicating that I have a gash on my cheek. Just what I needed today.
"Alright, tell your mother that we are in her debt," Ali begins, I decide to punch him in the arm, never tell a very hungry water being that you are in her debt. Ever. He seems to catch his own mistake and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for bringing us here, Adira, have a good day," Ali says as he starts to take a good look at our terrain, mapping out our course.
"Oh you didn't think I would go back to my mother did you?" I turn to see the little girl speaking. I hope with all my heart that she wasn't hoping to come along with us. She would slow us down, and as I said, I'm not the best with small children.

"No, no no no no...no...no," I can't say it enough times, that little girl is not coming with us. She has such tiny legs that we would have to drag her along behind us.
"Sorry short stuff, you're not coming," Umair agrees, he takes her shoulders and flips her around so she's looking in the opposite direction, he gives her a slight push and she gets shoved a few steps away, she turns to look at us. Umair gives her a slight wave, signaling to her that she has to leave. Yet the sassy little thing just crosses her arms and gives us a death glare.

"I'm. Not. Leaving," she stops her foot in insistence. Ali sighs and looks to me, he gives me a slight shrug, silently asking me what the harm in letting her come along would be. Well first she could be killed, and second, it would kill me to have to put up with her. I give him an angry glare, he glares back and for a moment it was like we were having a staring competition.
Umair clears his throat, breaking the tension. I looked away, Ali was being unreasonable and inconsiderate. I guess he was used to be around younger people, I, on the other hand, was not. I grew up around people who were always older and more mature than I was. To be honest, I have no idea how to act around little kids, the only thing I know is that they are small, annoying and that I can't stand them.

"Why do you want to come with us anyways," I argue. I truly don't understand it, she's lucky to have a...sweet...mother and a nice home. I would trade lives with her any day.
"My mom says I can't go explore the world because I'm too small, if I help you save the entire universe, she'll have to let me go! Plus my friends will think I'm super cool," the little girl rants, getting way too overly excited, even for me.
"Fine. You can come. But if you get yourself killed don't come complaining to me. Complain to Eliana," Ali says before walking away. His final sentence makes me jump in anger. Oh he was going to pay. He had no right said she could come along without my permission! I made my way over to him in a plume of anger, but before I could get any closer I felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around my waist. My feet leave the ground and I struggle against Umair. Trying to get to Ali to yell at him.
"Calm down Eli," he whispered In my ear with an undertone of amusement. I struggled more but after a few more moments of relentless struggle I give up and go slack in his arms. I smiled when I realized he had given me a nickname. I liked the way it rolled off his tongue.
"Ok little girl, magic us to Hondu!" Umair shouted turning to Adira. He still held me in his arms, I didn't blame him, I wouldn't trust myself with Ali around, I was still quite frustrated.
"Oh, I can't do that!" The little thing giggles.
"What do you mean you can't do that!" I yelled, my frustration reaching a peak. It's bad enough that she was joining us, but now, instead of getting us off a stranded planet, she got us stranded on a different planet!!!
" Mommy hasn't taught me to go any farther than this planet," I internally scream in frustration and Umair tightens his grip on me; wise.
"It wouldn't do us any good as it is," I turn to Ali, who finally finished his surveillance of the planet "The Sun woman did indeed occupy a planet near Hondu, however, that was decades ago, the information Adria gave us is useless,"
Rage boils through my veins, I'm sure my face red as a tomato but I can't seem to simmer the anger.
"You mean that we almost got eaten for nothing!" I struggle against Umair yet again, desperate to give Ali a piece of my mind. Ali looks at me, leaning away from my position, as though he is scared. Then again, he should be.
"Even if we did know where she is, there's still no way to get off this planet," Umair says in my ear, attempting to calm me down.