Heavy Burdens 《Completed》- -

Chapter 14

The night wasn't as cold as she would have expected. Even when she woke because the sun was slowly rising over the treetops and making Liz squint her eyes, she felt the warmth of the flames tickling her cheeks.

The blanket she'd been sleeping on was cold and wet, she noticed. But the fur she's wearing keeps it from soaking through her and Liz goes to sit up while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. When glancing around, she didn't see Declan nor Sokanon around. It was obvious one of the two made sure the fire kept burning through the night, but there was no trace from neither of them.

Standing up and stretching her tired limbs, hearing her elbows make a dry cracking sound, while her eyes scan the ground. Footsteps were seen in the mud close by the fire, leading towards the snow a bit further and to the forest on her left side.

Elizabeth contemplated what to do; she could stay here and wait for their return or go explore while following the footsteps. She bit her bottom lip, uncertain what to do. If she stayed around the campsite, Liz decides there's little harm in walking around for a bit. Maye she'd stumble upon Harp or Sokanon. Maye even Michael, because who knew where that boy was?

She poked the fire first before making her way into the forest. Her eyes are scanning the ground every now and then to follow the largest print of the footsteps. The prints seemed to belong to someone who took large strides because for every step they seem to take, Liz needed to take two.

When Elizabeth noticed the footprints separated, she quickly chose to follow the large ones. The smaller ones must belong to Sokanon, or maybe even Michael. The boy wasn't as tall as Declan and Sokanon her prints didn't leave as deep of a mark as those of the tall man.

Elizabeth can't help but grin, her mind taking her back to fond memories of her childhood in England. She grew in the countryside as the youngest of three, and the only girl. Her two older brothers loved playing in the gardens and the nearby forest. They had taught her how to track prints of animals. When they grew up, they became hunters and Liz didn't need her tracking skills anymore when she was forced into a loveless marriage.

But tracking these footprints made her happy again, feeling like a child who saw snow for the first time and running through it. She didn't even feel the cold anymore, nor the stiffness in her limbs from sleeping on the cold ground.

Liz didn't see the branch until it cracked under her left foot. The sound is loud, even in her own ears and when she pulls her foot back, she hears rummaging from behind her. She keeps silent for a few seconds before glancing over her shoulder. Seeing an angry Sokanon emerge, who's carrying a bow, with Declan behind her.

"You scared away the deer," the woman almost shouted at her.

Liz holds her hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I had no idea you were hunting..."

"It doesn't matter. You scared it away, now I've gotta track it again!"

Turning around on her heels, Sokanon disappears between the low growth of the forest again. Making Liz stare at Declan whose scratching his cheek while looking at her. "I really didn't mean to..."

"How did you find us?"

"What?"

He moved closer to her while taking in his surroundings. "How did you find us? You almost stumbled upon us if you hadn't stepped on that twig."

He points with one of his daggers to the broken twig at her foot and Liz looks at it for a moment.

"Tracking," she murmurs, before taking a large step to the side just to be sure she doesn't step on it again. "I tracked your footprints. But I thought Sokanon went the other way back at the fork."

Declan grinned when she looked back at him. "You tracked us?"

"Well, you," she replied, "yes."

"You're saying an English lady like yourself, can track my footprints in the middle of nowhere?"

She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and shifted from her left to her right foot. "... yes..."

"The reason why you thought Sokanon went the other way, was because Michael was with us for the first mile or two," Declan replied while he nodded his head for her to follow.

Liz followed and frowned. "But there were only two sets of footprints?"

"Yes, Sokanon followed me closely, staying on one line with me. Leaving no prints of her own because she stepped into mine."

"Oh."

"It's a diversion that's used often by the native people here."