Excerpt: Mishmash

From there, she could wiggle down the hedge to her neighbour's back yard, and from there to the forest behind. She kept low, and made her way to the meeting place. Her parents would be waiting there, with hot chocolate and warm blankets, and hugs and congratulations for doing it so well. It was only a mile, and if she did it right, it would take her an hour to get there.

She wanted to cut corners, to get up and run, but she knew that if she was too fast, they would know she had cheated. And they might be following her anyway. So she did it properly, conscientiously, keeping to cover, looking all around her, and wrapping her arms against the cold and the wet.

There was a rustle to one side, and she stifled a gasp, dropping behind a tree-root. But it was just a fox. She grinned in relief, but her pleasure was doused a little when a plant by the tree dumped a large leaf-ful of water down her back. She stifled a sob, and wiped herself down, before checking again for anything else that might be following her.

She moved on, roots tripping her up, branches and thorns clawing and scratching at her. She heard her nightdress rip as she fell in the mud for the third time, and she lay there, sobbing quietly to herself. This wasn't FAIR! They hadn't tested Timmy like this! But she knew it made sense - she was the older one, if anything were to happen, she was the one who'd need to look after Timmy.

She felt guilty - maybe she should have waited longer to see if he'd managed to get to the vent? would they tell her off? No, they didn't do that. But they might be disappointed in her, and that was much, much worse.

The rain was getting worse, and the darkness made her afraid of losing her way, or stumbling by accident into her pursuers, if there were any, so she slowed even further, the cold and wet making her shivver and sapping her strength.

She was tempted to find a bush to shelter under, but even in the bushes, is was soaking - the drops were just collected together into bigger drops, and streams and rivulets from the leaves. She needed to get to the cave. couldn't be far now. At least the mud would make her harder to see.

Her footing gave away on a slope, and she slid down to the stream at the bottom, bashing into rocks and roots before the icy water claimed her and bowled her over. She fought for footing, and clawed herself out. That was silly! She shouldn't rush so much! But it was so cooold.

She realised she couldn't see any landmarks, and had no idea if she was even going in the right direction. Was the stream meant to go from right to left, or left to right? She couldn't remember. She scrambled to the next tree and felt around the trunk. Dad had marked all the trees between the house and the cave, and quite a bit around. There it was! Four notches, near the bottom, pointing away from the stream. She was going the right way, and it wasn't far now. Four hundred yards.

She scrambled on. The leaves were slick, and she was more careful of her footing, but in the darkness it was hard to be careful of everything. A branch snapped as she walked into it, and she walked into the broken end, stabbing into her chest. She cried out,

and looked down at it. In the darkness, it was sticking out of her skin. She wasn't sure how deep it was. It seemed quite thick, where it entered her, so maybe it went in deep.

Maybe she should cry out? Maybe they'd come and help her? Wasn't this a good enough end? She'd done enough! She'd shown there was a flaw in their preparations, that they needed to cut the branches so she could walk under them...

then they'd know she'd been walking upright. "Keep down!" they'd told her. And what if the drill was not a... well, what if there were real soldiers out in the dark, too? Or bears?

Maybe she could get it out of her. She held onto the branch and leaned back from it, crying. It hurt! It hurt so much! She couldn't do it! It was pulling on her too much! She tried to lean forward again, into the branch to stop the pain, but it snapped in her hand.

that sort of solved her problem, she supposed. the end of it was still sticking in her, but now she could get to the cave and then dad could fix it.

She snapped the end of it off, so only a couple of inches were sticking out, and carried on going. It was hard now. The cave must be near, but where? Surely she'd passed it already?

She knelt, painfully, by the next tree. She was going in the wrong direction, it was to the right. Just a short notch. Less than a hundred yards, then. She could make it.

But she couldn't stand. Her arms didn't have the strength to pull her up. She pushed with them, but they just shook, they wouldn't straighten. She leant against the tree, breathing in deep sobs, trying to gather her energy. With a grunt she managed to get her legs under herself, and push herself upright. The pain in her chest was agonising, but she embraced it as something to keep her going, keep her focused. She staggered forward into a clearing. Why couldn't she see the cave? There should be a small cliff rising up, with a bush in front of it, covering the little cave. But there was nothing, just the rain, the black wall of rain. She looked up, peering at the sky, trying to see the cliff ahead of her in the darkness.

Her feet found it before her eyes did - she teetered on the edge for a second, then fell, slipping and bouncing off the rocks.

===

Everything hurt. She cried out as she woke, not knowing where she was. The echoes that came back brought her to reality: she was in the cave. She could smell woodsmoke. She had made it! and now she seemed to be in a bed, covered by a thick, warm blanket. She could still feel the outside cold on her face, but her body was warm, even though it hurt everywhere.

"Hello, there, child. I see you made it here safely. Drink this, it'll help." It was an unfamiliar voice. She looked blearily towards it.

An old man, dressed in black. Not a soldier, not a parent. But he must be a friend or he wouldn't be in the cave. And he had crinkly, smiling eyes. A friend, then.

"Drink it." He took her hand and wrapped it around a large mug, big like the one Daddy drank out of.

She tried to sit up, but the stabbing pain in her chest made her gasp and nearly drop the drink. The man's hand steadied the cup, and lifted her upright, draping her blanket around her shoulders. She looked at it. Not a blanket, but rather a thick fur.

she sniffed it. It smelt like soup. It was too hot to drink, but the warmth in her hands was good, so she blew on it and sipped a tiny bit. It was tasty. chicken soup. Mot mom's chicken soup though, she made it different. this wasn't as good.

"Where's my mom?"

He looked at her, his smile dropping a little. "You already know."

She shook her head, puzzled.

He reached out and cupped her head. "In war, there are deaths. You practiced for a reason."

She shook her head again, denying it. "No! It's just another test! They'll be here!"

More than anything else, it was his faint look of contempt at her rejection of the truth that drove it home to her. Mom, daddy, brother, were all gone.