Fern stomped around, until finally she kicked at the table and cursed at the pain in her foot from the move. Still cursing Oak in her head, she plunked herself down onto a rush seat, the grass giving under her weight but not breaking completely, although it tilted dangerously.
“So what!” she exclaimed, “If I have broken another seat, it is better than breaking his neck!”
She seemed to have a habit of breaking seats lately. She would take what was left of them to the task takers and Walnut would give a “tssk” as he looked at it. She had wondered why he’d chosen the name Walnut, it seemed silly but it suited him and somehow Fern knew that it was his sense of humour that made him pick such a name. She was sure it amused him that people raised their eyebrows when they said it.
He'd look at her studiously. “How is it Fern that boys weighing much more than you can sit in these chairs and never break one?”
He paused to make sure she was paying attention. “But you have brought me three damaged seats!” He raised a brown eyebrow at her as he ended the question and she looked back at his tanned face. He worked outside in the sun and his eyes were wrinkled from squinting, she realized Walnut was a good name for him.
She smiled apologetically and replied, “I don't know how I manage to break them? All I do is sit down and puff they fall apart!” Her hands splayed in animation as if she’d been demonstrating a small explosion.
“Are you saying my workmanship is shoddy?” he questioned giving her a serious, slanted look.
“No…no...I’m not saying that! It’s just that I sit and they fall apart.”
She stared at him upset that he thought she’d insulted him. Until, she saw the smile raise his lips and realized he was teasing her. Walnut was always teasing her.
He made and repaired everything that was needed for the clan’s comfort. One piece he’d made for Oak was a handsome desk and seat. Oak sat at it for hours writing and planning. Depicting all that had happened to them, the history of the camp over the years, why they were there. At this desk he made the rules that he and his defenders had agreed upon. He didn't like making the rules. It reminded him of his childhood and the many restrictions they’d lived by.
The desk was dark brown and yellow ochre; it was woven intricately into the most amazing pattern. Fern had no idea how Walnut had managed to do it, it was art, just like the lovely paintings there had once been before they were confiscated by the government for the surplus. She’d seen the pictures in art books in with the antiquities building. They were lucky to have found so many books.
In the past they’d been allowed to keep some books by the government but not all, even books could be deemed unfit by the Regime and had been confiscated. Unfit could mean anything from Huckleberry Finn to the Bible. Some people were lucky enough to keep their books. Other people were said to have ideas outside of the Regime and eventually all books were taken away from them, so that no further ideas could be instilled into anyone’s heads. Reading could evoke rebellion. In the end, books made it to the list as unsafe and all books were confiscated.
Oak read many books at his desk spending hours over them. He said his desk was something special to him; it was something of his own. It couldn’t be taken away and used to provide income for a crooked government. It was a thing of beauty and value to him because it symbolized the new treasures of the Woodlander clan.
She looked down at the rush seat she was sat on. Oak, Oak, Oak, why couldn’t he just step out of her thoughts forever and give her some peace? He was the one that drove her crazy. It was his entire fault but then, she knew she was partly to blame, she vexed him too much. It seemed to be in her makeup.
She wished she didn’t dislike Willow because she would be good to talk to and she needed someone to tell her feelings to. Willow understood and helped people with their problems giving them good advice. Fern had no one to talk to other than Abacus but even the big snake wrapping itself around her didn’t always make her feel better
Thinking about the huge snake made her wonder where he was. Probably out hunting, although, what he hunted she had no idea. She only knew that he would be gone for days and would return to her with a partially deflated lump a quarter of the way down his body. He would curl up and sleep for a long time taking up a large portion of her home. Not that his large presence inconvenienced her much, she was glad of the company. Once a month he would leave her to hunt, he’d been doing that for four years now.
She’d found Abacus whilst she wandering through the forest. He was the most colourful thing that she had ever seen. At that time he was only two feet long with an intricate pattern of diamond shapes and lines that were black edged filled with orange and bright red, and with a belly of bright yellow. He was another anomaly that didn’t fit in with their environment. Without thinking she’d picked him up and he’d spat at her angrily. She knew now that had he bitten her she would have died, his venom was deadly but he didn’t and after she’d sat talking to him he’d snuggled up to her and stayed.
She’d taken him back with her to the horror of everyone else, who had all wanted the creature out of their camp. She’d sobbed her heart out to Spruce their leader telling him that this snake was the only thing that she felt was really hers. That she felt a bond with it and because it hadn’t bitten her wasn’t that proof that it too wanted to be with her. It was young and needed her to protect it.
Spruce had sighed and declared that the snake would stay as long as it was of no danger to anyone else in the camp. Everyone had been too scared to ever go near the snake, so much so that they wouldn’t even visit Fern but she didn’t mind that, some of them were annoying anyway.
She never had needed to protect Abacus, he turned out to be very good at taking care of himself and would slither off to find himself food, return and snuggle under her bed in a pile of grass alms and seeds that she’d placed there for him. She’d looked through the books in the antiquities building but never found a snake anything like him, her conclusion was that he escaped from the laboratory with the other creatures and was man-made just like them.
Within two years he was full grown. Now he was twenty feet long and a thickness of two feet wide. His colours were still brilliant red, orange, black and yellow but in addition he now had a dark blue that wove through the squares and lines too. The first time he’d been about to shed his skin she’d noticed how opaque his eyes were and thought he was ill, she’d worried at what she should do.
Then, when he finally shed and she found the skin on the floor of her home, she’d been horrified thinking that he’d disintegrated and searched for him blindly with tears streaming down her face. When she found the lovely new Abacus glistening with vibrant colours beneath her bed she’d been taken aback and gazed at him in awe. She’d been filled with pride that this lovely creature chose to stay with her and be her friend.
Giving a little sniff she thought of her fondness for the snake that the whole camp ran away from. She knew it amused Abacus, she could tell by the look in his eyes. Others would think she was silly if she told them that but the bond between her and Abacus was strong and they did communicate, it was just a different communication. He knew her and she knew her snake.
Getting up from her seat she strode through the large room that was all her home was composed of. It contained two main pieces of furniture; a woven bed at one side with rush leaves upon it and a table with two chair at the opposite side of the room. The bed sat below one of four windows; the sun was shining through it warming the room and the bed. The leaves upon the bed would stay warm through the night when the temperature dropped and she would snuggle under their warmth like a chinchilla burying itself in the ground at night in the dessert.
In one corner was a pot bellied stove that stood upon a cut piece of rock, a pipe erupting upwards through the roof. Cofrin tree sap lined the roof to fill the gaps between it and the pipe. It had accidentally been discovered that the sap wouldn’t burn when they’d tried to burn the wood from the tree for a fire. As was usual for the Woodlanders, there was always a use for everything.
The building had a window on each wall, the windows of the north and south wall were diagonal to one another as in the centre of those walls was a door opposite each other. The breeze was gusting lightly from the north door through to the south door; it brought a welcome coolness to the already warm room. Across from the bed was a table pushed against the wall and two seats, the one she’d been sitting upon and one for a guest (she needed no more than two since her only guests were Oak or Willow and Elm, no one else visited because of Abacus).
On the table was fruit from the camp grove and vegetable garden where most of the girls worked. A pear was already starting to become soft because it had sat there for a few days but she liked them that way. She would go to the meals and bring her food back and eat alone.
Sometimes Oak would follow her, asking if he was intruding but immediately settling into the chair beside her and not waiting for her reply. Whilst tucking into his meal with relish and giving it an appreciative look he’d say, “What do you think of the meal Fern?” She’d then have to take a bite herself, reply that it was good and then finish the meal until her plate was empty. After which she’d remember that she was originally going to ask him to leave. He would lean back contentedly in his chair and smile, knowing full well he had the advantage over her yet again as she would compress her lips together in frustration and let it go, yet again.
Rising she decided she was not going to let these occasions of him getting the better of her go on. Walking back and forth she started to formulate a plan. In agitation she went over Oak's words and her own, and then tried to figure out what she should do. She thought her head would collapse at the pressure of everything weighing down on her. It was during this time that Elm quietly walked in. She almost walked into him in her trance as he studied her.
She was so surprised that he took her hand in his and led her aside out of the way of the open doors and windows into a shadowed area of her home.
“Why are you so distressed Fern?” he gently moved a strand of hair from her face and she almost fell back in revulsion. He grabbed at her waist as she stumbled and she had to steady herself by laying her hand upon his chest. His eyes immediately dropped down to it and she hastily pulled it away. Worst of all was the look in his eyes. Fern knew that Elm had affection for her and she constantly tried to ignore it. She wasn’t comfortable with the thought of desire and it was evident in his eyes at this moment as they turned from hazel to a yellow glow.
She was still unable to say anything and felt distressed at her sudden lack in ability to speak. He was staring at her intently and she was very aware of his hands tight around her waist, the feeling of entrapment was intense and she felt a rise of panic until quick words burst forth.
“I’m distressed at the Citans being in our forest!”
“But Fern, they are no-where near the camp. You’ve nothing to fear, everyone is safe here.”
“How can you possibly be sure? How can anyone other than they know what they are up to?”
His hands slid slightly up and down her sides and she shuddered, his eyes became warmer as he misinterpreted her reaction for pleasure.
“The defenders will watch them until they’re gone. They’ll have no opportunity to double back or try to deceive us in any way.”
His head came down to her level, she staggered backwards until she hit the wall. Elm didn’t let go but followed her, his hands encompassing her more as he was pushed into her by the force.
“Well then, thank you Elm for visiting and apprising me of the situation, I feel calmer now.” She hoped he would let her go but he didn't.
“Won't Oak let you go with us Fern?” he was once more moving her hair back from her face and she could feel her jaw become rigid at his touch, making it difficult to answer.
“No, he won’t.”
“But you want to go, don't you Fern? You want to be a defender?”
“Yes, I do.”
“If the other defenders want you to be with us, then what can Oak say? He can no longer refuse you.”
Her eyes widened at his last words. Was he saying what she thought, that he’d help her to become a defender, or was this a trick against Oak?
“I don’t need to be a defender.”
Elm tilted his head as he studied her. “I don’t believe you Fern.”
“He’s promised me a job, so you needn’t worry that I’m being treated unfairly.”
“But I always worry about whether you are treated fairly. I’ve become attached to you. I admire your effervescent nature.”
Fern became sullen. Really, she thought, effervescent? She knew he meant explosive but he was trying to be charming about it.
“All will be okay. Upon your return, that is yourself, Oak and the defenders, I’ll be given a job that fits my skills.”
“You have a great many skills Fern,” he was leaning into her and she could almost hear the unsaid words “you raise my blood pressure,” she looked at his glowing eyes, felt the immovable close proximity of his body.
“Why Elm, how rude of me not to offer you a chair,” she exclaimed, hoping the distraction would work. It didn’t, he simply cocked his head to one side and smiled even more.
“I’m very comfortable here. In fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt so comfortable.”
She almost wanted to shriek at him and wondered why she didn’t. She wasn’t sure if she’d become comfortable in the grasp of his arms and hypnotized by the yellow in his eyes. His face she realized was not unattractive. Was it that she liked the fact that he desired her? That couldn’t possibly be it. Or was she really that desperately lonely that any attention was good attention? She reflected that the latter was more likely.
“Why do you visit me Elm? There must be more of a reason than just to assure me that the camp is safe from the Citans?”
His face became softer and his lips parted slightly as he stared at her. She was suddenly fearful that perhaps she’d asked the wrong question. Afraid that she might have brought forth a secret that she would rather was kept hidden. In the past she’d had the feeling many times when he visited her that he was in love with her.
“Can I offer you a pear Elm? The one on the table is ripe and quite delicious.” She was scrambling but she knew no other way to get out of what she’d started. She must distract him from taking this further, she couldn’t handle refusing him and gaining him as an enemy, when he was one of her few visitors.
Did she really value his visits? Most of the time she just thought him an arrogant, self absorbed oaf but she knew he was not an oaf, he was clever when it suited him. Their conversations had covered many topics and she found he was well read in many subjects. They argued about things but unlike Oak, Elm took enjoyment in their clash of beliefs and he would always listen to her without interruption. Once she was quiet he would present his point of view. She would desperately try to hold her tongue and listen but words would burst out and he’d laugh at her, telling her she could speak in due time but for now it was his turn on the podium.
In the end with both points of view aired they’d come to an agreement, which would always surprise her and leave her feeling good about their conversation. It was then with her guard down that she’d wonder if he was merely manipulating her, trying to gain an advantage by raising her opinion of him. Was he working her like a marionette waiting for a time to use her against Oak? Anger would take over and once more she’d drop her thoughts of him to the level of deceiving and conniving.
His face was gentle and disconcerting as he looked down at her, his eyes were unsure as he was about to speak. She knew what words he wanted to say and fear of them drove her on.
“Oak and I had an argument!” she exclaimed, trying to be as dramatic as she possibly could, which was not difficult for Fern because her whole life was a drama. “He says we can no longer have a bond with one another.”
The words tumbled out before she realized just how much more she’d placed herself at risk and her mind reeled trying to find another approach as she watched the smugness and then hope enter his eyes.
“He is going to assign me a defender to protect me as he says he can no longer be my protector.” She stumbled on her words. What was she doing? She may as well be asking Elm to take the job.
“However, if I have a partner he won’t need to assign anyone.” She was exasperated at the hash she was making of the conversation and watched as Elm's eyebrows raised.
“You have someone in mind?”
“Yes,” she watched his facial expression change becoming more curious and hopeful.
“May I ask who it is?”
“No, I can’t tell. Not now, not until the Citans are gone, and I’ve been given my new job. Only then can I tell you who it is.”
His head had moved back to upright and he was frowning slightly, unsure whether this was going to be good or bad for him.
“Fern I’ve always held you in high regard.”
Her pulse raced once more, was he going to ask her anyway? Would he not wait? Her eyes darted from one side of the room to the other and she tried with difficulty to come up with another way to stop the conversation.
“We’ve been friends for many years.” he continued. She’d never thought of him as a friend. “I’ve watched you grow into who you are. Strong, forthright, kind, lovely...” his voice trailed here for effect and she could hear herself screaming in her head, move away, move away.
He was leaning down toward her once more his lips dangerously close to hers. She could feel his breath upon her skin, could feel the sweat peaking out of the pores in her arms, face, all over her body.
“You’re special Fern.” His face held sincerity as if he believed what he was saying.
How practiced he was! How many times had he gone over this conversation?
“I will always treat you well.”
“I am not special,” she blurted, “I need nothing. I don't require platitudes. I don't need anyone to attempt to placate me because they think I am different.” Her eyes flashed wildly at him, he slowly leaned back readying himself to take control of the conversation once more.
“My apologies if you think I’m being detrimental. I was only meaning that you have so much more to offer than most intellectually.”
She felt some sense of relief; at least they were talking about her mind rather than her body. Her body that was becoming traitorous in the way it was feeling. As hard as she tried she couldn’t stop the hairs rising on her neck and the feeling of exhilaration.
Elm recognized the excitement within her, could feel her body craving for what nature had created it for. She felt her strength caving; her emotions had already peaked that day with Oak. They needed release and the warm hand that was once more sweeping her hair away from her face as she moved her tormented head in desperation for escape, was encouraging her to succumb.
The jolt of Elm's body as he was prized away from her brought her back to her senses. She heard him curse as he stumbled back and looked down to where his attention had forcefully been pulled to. Abacus, his thick long body sliding between them curled around Elm rising high in intimidation. His hiss and rattle of his tail could be mistaken for nothing other than a warning. Elm was trying to move backwards to get away but couldn't as his heel hit the huge snakes body behind him. He stared at the vibrating tongue and flattened head that was pointing ominously at him.
“Why do you still have this thing around?” he yelled, all the softness and gentleness gone from his face as he looked at the snake in absolute fear and fury.
“He’s my friend. He’ll always be here.”
“Not if I’m around.” Then realizing his mistake quickly added, “for I would want some alone time with you, Fern.”
Her eyes were cold as she stared at him and he could see he’d lost all the ground that he‘d made. He looked as though he wanted to kick something, as though he wanted to kick Abacus. It was never a good idea to aggravate a viper. Abacus dropped to the ground where he continued to swirl himself in circles around her, once again rising up even higher, his tongue vibrating once more.
She could tell that Elm knew there was nothing more to be said, so he bowed to her in acceptance of defeat by the snake.
“I would kiss your hand but I fear that the snake would take off my head!” He cocked his head to the side to give her a clownish look and a forced smile.
She laughed at his quick change to humour, unable to stop her admiration of his quick wit and self-control. “You may be right.”
She saw a look of relief and satisfaction. He knew he’d redeemed himself slightly. His smile was half hearted as he moved to the door. “Take care Fern. Keep safe.”
“Goodbye Elm. Good luck to all of you on your journey.”
With a fleeting look back at her, a look that surprised her at its sadness, he left her home and vanished as he ran to attend to being a defender once more.
Fern placed a grateful hand upon Abacus, sliding it down his beautiful body of scales. “Thank you Abacus!” Her shoulders drooped as she said the words, the last of her resolve gone for the day. “I will be leaving for a few days Abacus or even longer, however long it takes.” She continued to stroke the huge snake beside her, enjoying the calmness it gave her.
“There are Citans in our forest and I need to find out why. Please don’t follow me Abacus; I want to know that you are safe; I want to come back to you. Don’t try to protect me; I’ll keep myself safe, you understand.”
The snake gave nothing back in reply but lowered his head a little and she took that as an acknowledgement. At the moment she was tired, mentally and physically, she felt the need to rest. She’d leave tomorrow.
“I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so don’t worry if you can’t find me here for a few days. I’ll be in the forest tracking the Citans.”
Abacus gave a wiggle of his tongue feeling the air, as if he could sense her emotions upon it and dropped to the ground, sliding over to the bed. Exhaustion took the last of her energy and she too stumbled toward her bed. Flopping down onto it she closed her eyes and shut out the world for that day, welcoming oblivion and nothingness.