Writing Prompt Response #3

Finally, the third of the three writing prompts I was given about a month ago. This is a bit late not only because I waited until I was finished with the other two before starting, but because it took me a while to get into the feel of the story. I'm still not completely satisfied - will probably be coming back to this sometime, but I'm happy with what I have for now. I didn't completely stick to the prompt, and I didn't really tell everything there was to tell, but I have a tendency to do that anyways.

The original prompt was "Three siblings or best friends, overcoming (or attempting to) something that would otherwise threaten to split them apart forever."

Eric shuffled quickly into the little hollow, tripping on the exposed tree roots and grabbing at the low branches to steady himself so he didn't fall into Andrea's back. Despite the night chill, beads of sweat clung to his forehead and neck; he didn't bother wiping them away.

"Are they still coming?" Andrea asked, pressing against one of the 'walls' to make room for her almost-brother in the little hollow. "Should we be stopping yet?"

"They haven't been following for some time," Matthew replied, still crouched at the entrance to their tiny hole. He had both feet secured on the sturdier parts of the slope and was busying himself with trying to erase the evidence of their passing, pulling up some nearby dead branches to cover the opening in the shrubbery.

Eric wanted to say something quick and witty, but he didn't have the breath. As it was, the only reason he wasn't doubled over with exhaustion was because there was no room.

"D'you need help?" Andrea sounded tired as well, not nearly so out of breath, and Eric wasn't surprised.

"No, just catch your breath." Andrea nodded and moved to sit against the 'wall' of the hollow. The dirt was slightly damp, to Eric's displeasure, and hard root ends stuck out everywhere, only softened occasionally by mounds of dead leaves in different stages of decomposition. It wouldn't have been Eric's first choice for lodgings, but under the circumstances, he hardly cared.

When his breath was finally back, Eric asked, "how long are we going to stay here? You say they're not following us now, but they will be soon, yes?"

"They must have given up the chase for the night. They'll be back on when the sun rises, but we're good to rest 'til then."

"Could be a trick," Andrea said, "wait until we stop to sleep, then sneak up on us. Right?" Eric wanted to point out that his brother, for all his confident talk, didn't actually know everything, but as usual he couldn't bring himself to be snide. Especially not tonight of all nights.

 Matthew just answered, "even rich people have to sleep."

By that point, Eric and Andrea had situated themselves into sitting positions on the mulch, their backs against the root-infested 'walls'; Andrea had her knees drawn up to her chin while Eric sat cross-legged. He noticed the roots snatching at the girl's long tangled hair, but she didn't seem to care. She looked almost feral now, he thought, cheap clothes torn, covered in dirt, with dead leaves in her wild hair. He imagined he must look quite the same.

"Stop fussing," Andrea said after a minute of quiet, "Sit down, Matt."

At her request, Matthew slid down into the hollow, kicking up dirt and taking a spot between his brother and the girl they'd all but adopted as their sister. Eric shifted to make room.

"One of us should keep watch," Matthew said as he settled, fidgeting a bit. This was, Eric understood, Matthew's way of telling them that he would be taking on the job.

"That should be me," Eric said, contradicting the unspoken claim. Before either of his companions could protest, he added "I woke up latest, did the least amount of work, and can easily keep myself from falling asleep. I'll watch while you two sleep."

"No, I'll keep watch," Matthew argued, but didn't add anything to back himself up. Andrea said nothing; she was still awake, but she'd closed her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Eric insisted, trying not to let his hesitance show in his voice. He wasn't used to telling his older brother what to do. "You need to sleep."

"You need to sleep. And I'm the oldest, I should be taking care of you two."

"Matt, shut up," Andrea finally spoke, eyes still shut. "Eric will do watch. Wake Matthew up after an hour or two, and he can do second watch. Matt, you can wake me up after another hour or two and I'll do third watch."

No one said anything in reply, but there was a silent agreement. Andrea, Eric knew, was the one who was secretly in charge. She could settle any argument between them before it had even started, and usually did so in a way that benefited her as well. Matthew wouldn't let himself sleep if it meant waking Andrea up to keep a third watch; she'd get to sleep the whole night.

After a long moment of silence, Eric couldn't help but ask, "what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Keep running," Matthew said with some hesitation. "The county border should only be another day's journey south of here."

No one pointed out that crossing the border would make no difference on their fugitive status. Eric could imagine the messages already being written, ready to be flown out at first light. Three runaway slaves, he thought dully, might not be worth a huge reward, but they'd be worth enough for anyone to want to turn in.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Eric said, trying to think of something that would comfort the little group, "we can make that."

Before he could say anything else, a loud howl ripped out in the distance. It was deep and guttural, like a hound's, and Andrea gave a yelp, eyes flying open in panic.

"What was that?" she asked, clutching her knees tight to her chest. The question wasn't directed at either of the boys, but it demanded a response.

"Nothing," Matthew hurriedly said, but he was half standing up now and trying to see past the screen of branches out of their hollow. "Couldn't have been anything."

"Just a wolf," Eric insisted, then mentally kicked himself. A wild hungry wolf wasn't any better to the imagination than a hunting hound.

"It's nothing," Matthew said again, shooting his brother a glare. "We're fine."

Eric shifted himself to move closer to Andrea, taking her hand as he did so. "Matt's right. We're too well hidden for anything to find us down here."

"I know, I'm not an idiot," Andrea mumbled quietly, but she was shivering slightly now and Eric hadn't noticed that before. He fixed his brother a return look until Matthew finally moved to take the girl's other side.

"I should have thought to bring blankets or something," he said when he felt the girl's quaking shoulder.

"I'm fine. We need to sleep now, right?"

Both brothers nodded, and looked across her knees at each other.

"I'm keeping watch," Eric reminded Matthew, unable to think of anything better to say. Matthew just nodded again.

"You wake me up, OK? Don't let me sleep in just because you want to. You wake me up."

Eric nodded. Andrea had closed her eyes again, attempting to fall sleep, but he could feel by the grip in her cold fingers that she was still awake.

There was some more shifting on the decaying leaves, each of the trio trying to find a better spot on the dead tree roots at their backs. They ended up huddled together as a light mist started to seep through the screen of branches. Eric watched, fighting the sleep that was starting to tempt him, and listened for the steady breathing that signaled sleep in his two companions.

There had been no answering howl, but the night was loud with the sounds of insects and amphibians, the occasionally owl joining in the strange chorus. The group had melted into the landscape, ignored by the nocturnal animal life around them. Eric hoped that was a good sign of things to come. He couldn't see the moon or stars, obscured by the leafy canopy above.