The Moth and the Bear by Grace O'Hare

Author:Grace O'Hare [O'Hare, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grace O'Hare
Published: 2016-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13 – Choice

Unluckily for Kaelin, she wasn’t in the frame of mind to overhear conversations in other rooms, even those concerning her. Her mind was such a churning storm that she could barely remember how to breath properly, let alone make out the rumbling voices of the Beis. She stayed curled up under her worktable, where there was barely enough room for her to sit up straight.

Somehow she got lulled into a sense that she would have a few hours to herself. That was not going to be the case.

She immediately silenced herself when she saw a pair of massive, clawed hands come walking into the workroom. They were dark, rather unfamiliar, and nearly twice as large as Ruyak’s, which was reason enough to fill her with terror, even if their owner’s voice hadn’t rung with outrage when he spoke.

“Naturally,” Liruk roared, making the wood slab above Kaelin’s head tremble dangerously, “she’s gone. Get in here, Ruyak!”

“She’s just hiding,” came Ruyak’s mumbled reply, “stop yelling.”

Ruyak’s feet appeared next to his father’s. He was tense, stepping cautiously.

“Well, I don’t suppose you know where she is?”

Kaelin didn’t see or hear any communication pass between the two Beis for a long moment, then with a deliberate stiffness, Ruyak stepped toward her hiding place under the table. Kaelin’s heart began to pound as Ruyak lowered himself to the floor, as she could sense something was quite wrong with the situation, which was confirmed the moment she saw his face. His eyebrows were pulled together in what Kaelin would have once called an irked frown, but which she now knew to be a painfully nervous one.

“Come out,” he commanded sharply. His tone reminded her of when he’d caught up with her in the river, hiding under a washed-out tree, only this time the fragile courage Kaelin had built up was shattered. She only flinched further back into the darkness.

“What’s she doing under there?”

“Renge scared her earlier.”

There was a muffled objection from outside the room, which everyone ignored.

“This is ridiculous,” Liruk groaned, “just get her out, already.”

Ruyak cleared his throat and set his jaw, then flashed Kaelin a look of urgency that quickly vanished into one of threatening frustration, “Ka- er... come out. Now.”

“You really think that’s going to work?” Came a scathing voice from the doorway. Kaelin felt her stomach lurch as she realized the whole family was watching the episode play out.

“Just pick up the table,” said another voice, Ruyak’s mother.

Kaelin clutched her arms around her knees and scooted as far back as she could. She wished there was enough room for her to squeeze into the crevasse behind her, but one of the stones propping up the table was blocking it. She was quite cornered.

She shook her head desperately at Ruyak, but it was obvious he had no other options. With his entire family watching, there was no more room for patience. He gave her an apologetic grimace, then sat up. Kaelin waited for a moment, and sure enough, Ruyak’s massive claws appeared at the edges of the wooden slab, and Kaelin immediately covered her head.

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