Rebel Children

Rose had so much on her mind it was a wonder her head didn’t burst, but sitting at a little corner table of the pub with Eli calmed her perpetually frazzled nerves. He seemed a little embarrassed about the encounter with the man in the market, looking at her a little sheepishly.

“I didn’t mean to act so rough,” he said. “I just didn’t think anyone should talk to you like that.”

“Which is why I’m not offended,” Rose said mildly. “You know, Eli. I’ve spent the last several years in the woods killing monsters. My sensibilities aren’t as delicate as you might think.” She nudged him lightly with her foot. “Besides, I thought it was kind of gallant of you.”

Eli flushed, looking down at the tabletop. He glanced back up again as a man that Rose assumed must be Leon approached them. He cast a curious glance at Rose, who smiled politely back.

“Potato soup for you and your…friend?” Leon asked Eli. Eli cleared his throat.

“Yes, please. Thanks Leon.”

Rose kept up a pleasant stream of chatter as they waited, trying to put Eli at ease so he’d realize she really wasn’t upset with him. By the time Leon brought the soup he seemed to have loosened up a bit, and he cracked a smile when she took a bite of the soup and her face lit up.

“I told you it was good,” he said.

“I feel like I haven’t had potatoes in ages,” Rose said. “We generally ate whatever we could forage and the woods aren’t exactly overflowing with potatoes.”

She nibbled at the soup, trying not to eat it too fast. Partly because it really was tasty and she wanted to savor it; and partly because she liked spending time with Eli without everyone else around. She realized Tobias was right; she could feel her eyes get “big and twinkly” when she was talking to Eli. She didn’t like the idea of leaving him here in Brimsey and possibly never seeing him again. She was dwelling on it as they walked home, until a loud commotion from the direction of the town gate and outer market startled them both. Rose heard a few screams before she heard the vicious growling. Her blood turned to ice.

“One of the creatures from the woods,” she said, turning to Eli in alarm. He went pale.

“Charlie and his friends hang out over there sometimes,” he said.

They both ran that way, and Rose yanked her bow out of her cloak. Tobias’s paranoia could be a pain sometimes but at least he’d taught her never to go anywhere totally unarmed. Another storm was rolling in and so thankfully the outer market area wasn’t very crowded, but there was still chaos as the thing from the woods tore right for it. It was like a massive hairless wolf, with a jaw that was way too long and filled with wicked looking teeth. It snarled and tore cobblestones loose with its giant clawed feet as it ran.

Eli frantically looked around and Rose caught his arm.

“There,” she said, pointing. She quickly strung an arrow on her bow to try and distract the monster. Rose fired an arrow that struck the creature’s shoulder and it swung its head around to look at her.

“Oh, good. I pissed it off,” she muttered. The wolf crouched low to the ground and began stalking toward her.

“Go get Charlie,” she said. “I can lead it back toward the woods so it doesn’t make it all the way into town.”

Assuming she didn’t get ripped to pieces first. She didn’t wait for a reply from Eli before she readied another arrow and moved away from him. The wolf watched her and she fired at it again, striking it in the chest. It growled and lunged for her. Rose darted up the path, running back toward the woods, and heard it chasing her.

“Shitshitshit,” she muttered as she ran and tried to nock another arrow at the same time. She felt it come up right behind her and dropped to the ground, twisting as she fell. The wolf leaped over her and she shot it in the stomach. It still didn’t go down, and she cursed again as she scrambled to her feet. She wasn’t quite fast enough and a large paw sent her flying. She winced as she hit the ground, but she wasn’t seriously hurt. The wolf came at her again, its growling so loud she felt it vibrating in her bones. Rose was getting ready to fire again when something else hit the wolf in the side and it flinched, whipping its head around. Eli had apparently followed her and thrown a knife at the wolf.

“Are you insane?” he called to her. Rose fired an arrow into the wolf’s neck while it was looking at Eli. It shook its head and actually stepped back a few steps, seemingly trying to dislodge the arrow.

“Maybe a little,” Rose called back. The wolf had turned its attention back to her, glaring at her with hateful red eyes. It lunged for her with its jaws open and Rose jumped out of the way. The wolf growled as Eli threw something else at it, and she was able to scramble away from its snapping teeth. She made a reckless leap and landed on the wolf’s back. It jerked and whipped its head around, trying to bite her. Rose sat up, trying to keep her legs out of reach. She fired an arrow into the back of the wolf’s head before it managed to buck her off. She sailed through the air and landed on the ground again with the wind knocked out of her.

The wolf loomed above her, snarling and jerking crazily with the half a dozen arrows and two knives sticking out of it. It opened its jaws to bite her in half and Rose fired her last arrow through the top of its jaw. She rolled out from under it as it flailed back, and heard a dull thud. She looked over to see the wolf’s eyes finally go dark. Eli stood next to it, a heavy ax in his hand and a wide eyed expression. The ax hadn’t quite severed the wolf’s head but it had apparently done enough to finally kill the stupid thing. It slumped to the ground and Eli hurried over to Rose as she climbed to her feet.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She was a little shaky and clung to his arm for a few moments.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m not hurt. Is Charlie okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. You know that thing could’ve killed you, right?”

“Apparently not with you around,” Rose replied. “We should probably go home, before everyone comes back and sees us and wants to ask a million questions.”

“Right.” Eli nodded and they hurried back to the house. Tobias was just bursting out onto the porch when they arrived; it seemed Charlie had told him what happened.

“Rose,” he exclaimed, yanking her into a hug that almost snapped her spine. “Are you alright? What happened? Charlie said a monster came into town and you were there and-“

“I can explain better if you let me breathe,” Rose squeaked. He let her go but continued to grasp her shoulders, scanning her for injury.

“I’m okay, Tobias. I’m not hurt and Eli killed the monster.”

Eli turned red as a tomato when Tobias glanced at him.

“Is that so?” Tobias asked.

“It was a joint effort,” Eli mumbled. Despite her insistence that she was fine, Tobias still made Maria check her for injuries. All she’d sustained were a couple of bruises on her shoulder and side, which she could heal just fine on her own.

“You should be more careful,” Tobias scolded, but he didn’t sound angry. He just looked worried and Rose felt a little bad.

“I couldn’t just let the thing go on a rampage through town,” she said. “I know how to fight these creatures, we’ve been doing it for years.”

“We don’t fight them alone.”

“I wasn’t technically alone,” she said, glancing toward where Eli was sitting across the room with Charlie. Tobias followed her gaze warily and just made a grunting noise. Rose rolled her eyes.

“We’re meeting Reeves tomorrow, like I told you,” he said. “And then we’ll be moving on.”

He gave her a pointed look but Rose ignored it. She knew he didn’t want her getting mixed up with Eli but she thought it might be a little too late for that. She caught Eli’s arm on the stairs that evening.

“I need to talk to you,” she said quietly. He followed her up to the third floor and into his room, reluctantly. Rose nudged the door shut.

“You should come with us,” she blurted.

“What, tomorrow evening? I kind of have to, I guess, but-“

“No, I mean you should come with us when we leave.”

He stared at her. “What?”

“You and Charlie. You should leave Brimsey with us in a couple of days.”

“I don’t think Tobias would like that,” he mumbled.

“Tobias will get over it,” Rose replied. “I’ll deal with him.” She hesitantly stepped closer to Eli. “It’s up to you, of course. But I think you should come with us.”

“Oh.”

“It’s just, it might not be safe here anyway if more of those creatures come in from the woods. And you’ve been such a help to us, we should really find a way to make it up to you. And I…would like you to come with us,” she added, blushing slightly and looking up at him shyly. “I’ll miss you if you stay.”

“You will?” He looked a little dazed. Rose edged even closer to him, trying to think of what she could say to elaborate. Instead she just caught the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.