Chapter VI - Part II

Andrew was already sitting by the fire by the time Andy got there. He was regretting he had even mentioned Eliana. Maybe if he had stayed quiet, Andy wouldn't have started thinking she could save the world. She was just a naive fifteen-year-old girl with no experience in anything.

Grandpa coughed to get everybody's attention. "Any special requests tonight?"

Andrew didn't have any requests, he never did. It was always Andy who wanted stories about adventures or romance but even she stayed quiet tonight. Grandpa looked at her a bit worriedly. It wasn't like her to keep her thoughts to herself.

"Well, maybe we just skip the story tonight and go off to bed earlier. I guess we are all a bit tired and tomorrow's the day off," suggested Grandpa. Andrew was a bit surprised but it suited him. He really was tired and the thought of bed made him yawn even harder. As they were walking back, he was already making plans for the next day. Madden, Margaret, and Rhyn decided to play cards and invited him to join but he refused. His mother and Grandpa went straight to bed. Andrew laid for a little while and figured he should speak to Andy again, talk some sense into her. But Andy wasn't in her bed or anywhere else in the room.

Andy knew she wouldn't be able to get out of the city so she just walked between the houses. The streets there were narrow and dirty. Only the main roads to the gates and central square were kept clean. No one cared in what conditions the prisoners lived. She kicked a little rock further and followed it kicking it again. The sound echoed in the darkness soothing her. She was mad at herself. She had tried so hard to make Andrew understand but she had failed. She was no leader, no warrior.

She tried to stay away from the watchtowers. A lonely little girl walking around in the dark wasn't just suspicious, it was also dangerous for her. Restricting her path meant she could only stay within her quarter of the town but she wanted to go further. So she peeked around the corner of one house right by the main road. Fortunately, many of the guards were also celebrating the end of the work week and not paying that much attention to random passers. She could see that the closest watchtower was nearly empty. Only two men were on the second floor drinking something that made them do funny faces. She ran as fast as she could to the other side of the street and hid behind the closest house. As soon as she caught her breath she realized how wrong of a decision she had made. She was in the guards' quarter. The houses here were bigger and the streets cleaner. She could see lights in the windows and people eating, drinking and laughing. A sight she had never seen at home. She prepared to cross the street again when she noticed him, the spy.  He was alone in one of the first floor rooms. The room was full of shelves and thousands of books. She couldn't believe her eyes. Andy stepped a bit closer to the open window trying to stay unnoticed. Each book had a strange pattern on its back. She tried to remember what had the letters on Grandpa's box looked like. And she thought she could see the M-s and E-s on some of the books. It was the closest to reading she had ever come. The room smelled so nice. She couldn't identify the source but she liked it.

Samuel saw her from the corner of his eyes but tried hard not to give it away. Why had she come? Did she know about the drawing? He couldn't concentrate on his book anymore. He wanted to take a closer look but knew she would run away immediately. The girl seemed focused on something the desk near the window.

The book, he realized. She had wished for a book for her sencurium but was denied. He stood up as quietly as he could and grabbed a few random books from the shelf. Maybe he could gain her trust that way. Maybe she would allow him to paint him properly.

"Where are you going, boy?" His father was standing in the doorway. He was obviously drunk. His eyes were glistening and cheek red. Alcohol had always been his weakness. Samuel looked at his father wishing he would never become like that.

"Took some light reading," Samuel answered.

His father looked at him amused. "Light reading. I have never understood who you got your hobbies from. Definitely not me!"

Samuel passed his father and stepped outside. He had grown worried. The girl had to be careful if she didn't want to be caught. The night wasn't friendly for her kind. He turned around the corner expecting to find the blue haired girl still gazing at the book but instead there was no one. The window was still open and the book on the table gone.

Andy ran as fast as she could. It had been far too easy. She had grabbed the book as soon as the spy had left the room and now she had it. It was all hers. She just had to hide it well enough. And in the morning Grandpa could start teaching her. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time. She had something to look forward to. Everyone was asleep when she got home. She tucked the book under her mattress and smiled. Change was on the way.