The day was getting away from them fast. It was almost midday, yet they had barely delivered half the goods they had to before sunset. Eli whipped the mules to increase their speed, then joined June in the cart.
Five years had gone by since she and Fred had found him by the side of the road. Fred had taken him in and brought him up just as he had done her after her parents had died. A few weeks afterward, he had started assisting him in his trading activities just like June did and got to make a few shillings for himself. He thought of going to The Forest a few times over the years, but there was never enough time in his hands. Recently there had been rumors of beasts terrorizing the villages neighboring The Forest, and for a while, people hadn’t believed them until one of the villages was ravaged in a night. The King had announced that there would be hunting competitions in search of a team that would take upon themselves the task of hunting down the beasts that were causing chaos in the kingdom for a handsome reward. Eli had been considering joining the competitions but wasn’t sure how to approach the subject with June and Fred; they had come to rely heavily on him, yet time was running out.
Eli sat opposite June in the cart; she was sorting the produce. He stared at her for a minute, wondering if it was a good time to bring up the subject. He cleared his throat, and she looked up. Their gaze held for a minute before he shied away. "What is it? Are you going to profess your love for me?" June asked teasingly. "Since my boobs became the size of mangoes, everyone seems to be.”
“No. Of course not.” Eli recoiled.
“Are you saying I’m ugly?” June stopped sorting and stared at him fiercely.
“You are beautiful June, you know that.”
“I just like hearing it, what about my boobs what do you think of them?”
“We are not talking about your boobs. I wanted to tell you that I want to join the hunting competition!” Eli blurted out. No matter how much bigger than her he got, she always intimidated him.
"Now, was that so hard to say?" June said, smiling.
“Are you saying you knew?” Eli looked at her in disbelief.
“Of course, I did. We have been together practically every day for the past five years Eli, I pick up on things.”
“How do you think Fred is going to take it?”
“He is going to try and convince us to stay, we are his only family slash employees, but he had to know we were going to leave at some point.”
“We? Are you leaving too?”
“I’m not a child anymore, I have to get a life of my own. I’ve been wanting to do something different for a while, I might as well do it now. Besides, if you leave and I remain, I will be swamped which will make it even harder to leave.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m still weighing my options.”
“We could join the hunting competition as a team.” June eyed him and laughed sarcastically. She had never shot an arrow in her life. The only blade she was accustomed to was the knife she used to peel fruits. Eli knew that. "Hunting is not that hard, and you'll have me as a teacher; you never know, you might be a natural. When we win, you can use your share to help you weigh your options. I bet you'll have more options then." June had seen Eli practice with a bow and arrows he bought with his first salary, and she did like their chances.
“Someone likes me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, hunting can be a nightmare alone.”
“Keep telling yourself that. You do know they have an age limit; you have to be at least seventeen to enter the competition.”
“You insult me. I am bigger than most seventeen-year-olds, I could tell them I’m eighteen and they would believe it.” June didn’t argue.
Over supper that night, they informed Fred of their decisions. As expected, he wasn't thrilled. First, he tried to guilt them into staying, which didn’t work. That was followed by raising their pay which didn’t work either. When he realized nothing would make them stay, he called them ungrateful and stormed out. Later he returned with their replacements and rubbed it in their faces.