River Stone by Rachel Hennessy

Author:Rachel Hennessy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MidnightSun Publishing
Published: 2019-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

That evening I splashed water on my face down at the river’s edge – Bayat had skilfully chosen a spot near a ford which, in the morning, would allow us all to have a proper bath – and scrubbed at the layer of dirt which had begun to accumulate behind my ears. How disgusted my mother would be, to see the muck coming away under my fingernails. She had always been so diligent about my cleaning habits, almost obsessive.

Thinking of her, I searched amongst the stones for a piece of charcoal. I had one in my bag but the effort of going back to find it was too much.

‘Have you lost something, Babbler?’

I glanced up. Oyan stood a few feet behind me. I hadn’t heard him approach, I guess he wasn’t as bad a hunter as I’d thought.

‘My name is Pan.’

I tried not to show my nerves. I turned my back on him, picking up a small black fragment and rubbing it over my teeth. The dryness of the charcoal made my lips shrivel up.

‘I wonder what my brother sees in you.’

He had moved closer. As I stood, I realised he was just behind me.

‘We’ve always been very different.’ He was breathing on my neck. ‘But maybe we can share something ...’

I smelt blood, it must’ve been coming from him, the faint remnant of past hunts. Something about this reminded me of the cougar and her strong, shining eyes. I spun around and kneed him hard, right between the legs.

He cried out in pain, doubling over.

The others came running, probably expecting another encounter with a wild animal.

‘What’s going on?’ Bayat asked, putting his arm around his twin’s shoulder. I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me to see him go immediately to his brother’s side, rather than to me. ‘Pandora?’

‘What happened?’ Matthew asked, although he didn’t come close.

I spat the charcoal into the water. I squatted down and rinsed out my mouth. A moment before, it had seemed the best thing to do, to hurt Oyan before he hurt me. Now, I was shaky, trying to avoid Bayat’s accusing eyes.

‘I wasn’t doing anything …’ Oyan whined.

‘He … hurt himself,’ I said to Bayat and strode away, back to the fire.

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