Chapter 5 - Chapter 5

Just as the sun was coming up, the Syari masters came from boy to boy, dumping water on their heads. The yelps quickly woke Rory. Alas, they were 5 seconds to late. Icy water was dumped unceremoniously, on her head. She shot up, right away wishing she hadn't. The muscles in her calves were tight and sore. She winced as she stretched her legs out. Slowly the pain dulled to an aching throb. Rory noticed Syari Master after Syari Master with determined expressions, walking to and fro from a mat with buckets after buckets of water. She tried to suppress her amusement when she realized that the tousled, wet head belonged to none other than George. Seeming oblivious, George slept on. Finally, the problem was solved. A small yet nimble boy captured a squirrel and let it loose in George's blankets while the Syari Masters where preoccupied. With a yell, George abandoned the warmth and comfort of his blankets.



Seeing George again she grinned. He was muttering about the injustice of it all. She slid into the empty space next to him, just as Chance started to walk toward her. Rory had been avoiding Chance for the whole morning walk. “Sleep well?” she asked innocently. George glared and all of a sudden grinned. Splat. Rory tripped over his outstretched foot and landed in a large bank of snow. “Hey!” she gasped out. Laughing George reached out a hand to help her up. Taking his hand, she tugged, hard. With a thud, he fell into the space next to her. “Blimey! It's cold!!”

“You did it first.” Sticking out her tongue, Rory stood up and brushed off her clothes. A hand spun her around. “Hey there.” It was Chance. Rory looked at him and forced a smile, not knowing what to expect. Fortunately- “You had to drag poor squirrel boy with you?”

Rory grinned. “He did it first.”

“And now I bet he dearly regrets it.”

“Exactly.”

She fell into stride next to him. “Poor squirrel boy. This morning, then this.” Chance chuckled. Rory laughed and opened her mouth to reply. “All of you keep walking! Silence!” The rest of the walk was a quiet one. Rory was bored. And her muscles in her legs still ached from yesterday. Well I suppose that's what I get for staying inside and trying to cook all the time. My legs aren't used to this. After it was late in the evening and it was getting dark out and they still hadn't stopped. Rory was walking, but she was half-sleeping too. She stumbled for what must have been the hundredth time that day and kept going. Suddenly she felt warm hands pick her up. “Hey!”

“Shhh. It's too dark for anyone to notice and you will bang into a tree one of these minutes.” Chance whispered. “But everyone else is walking I can too.”

“Too bad you can't say that and then look in front of you and see all the receding backs of everyone.” Chance laughed. “Wha?” Rory looked ahead. “Oh geez. They're far ahead.”

“Yes, exactly why I point out. You are tired and I truly believe are going to take out a tree one of these stumbles.” Rory scowled “I can do it.” No way would Oliver beat her. Speeding up her pace, she soon caught up with the other boys. Many of them looked like she felt. Many of them were stumbling. Looking around, Rory almost laughed out loud. Oliver was being carried. Looked like he twisted his ankle. Glad to know, she wasn't doing worse than him, she smiled contentedly and settled into the pace of everyone around her. Soon, though not nearly soon enough in Rory's opinion they stopped. She was exhausted. And, they still had to build a fire and eat. Like zombies, all the boys went into the surrounding woods to look for firewood. Sooner than she expected, they had enough firewood and built the fire. They ate quickly and then it was time to go to sleep. All the boys were only too happy to comply. Everyone fell onto their mats and were out instantly. Rory was no different.

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