Avenging Death

I waited at the door, impatiently. The door opened, and an elderly woman peered out.
“Oh you’re here. Stay right here, I’ll be right back,” she hurried back inside the house.
The woman returned with a little girl no older than eight. The girl had green eyes, dark curly hair that reached down her waist, almond brown skin, and wore trousers with a light blue dress that was tattered on the edges.
“Here, these are her belongings,” The woman practically threw the bag at me and handed me a letter. “Once you reach the kingdom, give them this.”
She pushed the little girl toward me.
“She doesn’t talk much,” the elderly woman said. The elderly woman knelt in front of the little girl, and gently shook her so she was paying attention. “Listen Tronzey, this woman is to escort you to your new home, do not give her any trouble.”
The woman walked to the threshold of her door and said, “I hope all goes well,” and shut the door behind her.
The little girl just stood there on the porch, staring at me. I stood there too, thinking of how the elderly woman had hastily rid of the child and did not farewell the little girl with more emotion.
“”Tronzey, right?” I asked and she nodded her head, “like she said give me no trouble and I’ll give you none and have you safely taken to your destination, understand?”
She nodded her head, again.
“Now let’s go,” I hastily trotted to my horse outside the elderly’s woman’s fence. The little girl had to run to catch up.
As I hooked the bag to my saddle, the little girl just stood there staring at my black stallion.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of horses,” I said.
She frantically nodded her head.
Great, I thought.
“He won’t bit you,” I tried to assure the girl, “his very tame.”
She just stood there terrified and shook her head.
“Okay,” I said, annoyed, “either you can walk the whole distance which is going to take thirteen days while I wait for you to catch up with me and the horse or you can trust me and we’ll arrive at the kingdom in six days if we both ride the horse. So what do you want to do?”
She looked skeptical about the decision.
“Not to mention, there are scorpions, snakes and other vicious creatures that love to lurk on the ground and sneak up on little girls.
I jumped on the horse and waited for her response. Reluctantly, she ran toward me and held out her hands for me to grab.
I smiled. “Glad you decided to pick the reasonable choice.”
I bent over, picked up the little girl and sat her behind me.
“Hold on,” I said, “but not too tight so I can breathe.”
She held on to my waist tight, but not too tight where I couldn’t breathe so I didn’t say anything. I kicked the horse to a stride and the little girl hugged me so tight, she almost squeezed the life out of me.
I snapped and yelled at the little girl. “What the hell, what are you trying to do? Kill me?”
The little girl’s eyes bubble up with tears and began to cry.
Oh no, I thought, not tears, I couldn’t deal with weeping.
“Okay, okay, just don’t cry and we’ll forget it ever happened.”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
“The horse is going to move again so this time be careful not to grab me so tight.”
I kicked the horse again, but this time the little girl didn’t squeeze so tight.
After about four hours, I could hear the little girl’s stomach rumble. I was starting to get hungry also so I decided we should stop and set up camp since it was starting to get dark.
“Damn it,” I cursed out loud when I realized the food had spoiled.
The little girl stared at me shocked and worried. There had been a river we passed by nearby, where I could go fishing.
“Stay here,” I told the little girl, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get us some food.”
She look at me with uncertainty. I wasn’t afraid to leave her at the camp since it was well concealed by the trees. I also decided to leave the horse since the river wasn’t far off.

I plunge my dagger into water, spearing one fish in the center as the others frantically scatter. It took me about thirty-five minute just to catch one. Brail was better at this, he could catch eight in fifteen minutes. I had tried to learn from him but I guess I was just too impatient. I never understood how he could be so patient.
As I headed to the camp it was quiet. I didn’t even here the shuffling of the little girl’s feet. When I arrived at the campsite, she was gone. I searched around and I found the little girl on her back. Her eye were closed and red berries spilled from her hands. I rushed toward her and put her head on my lap. It took me a couple of minutes to remember her name was.
I shook her. “Tronzey, Tronzey!” Of course she didn’t wake up. Realization had me hard, the north had many brushes that produced poisonous berries. I should have never left her.
I froze. I heard the trampling of a horse. I grabbed my dagger ready for the-could-be intruder or crook. A man on a horse shot out from behind the trees.