16: The McGregor Menace

Ji-Ji was off. Again. With that sketchy “Casper.” Nobody liked Casper (besides Ji-Ji), but Logan knew they had no way to restrain her. He stabbed the ground with his stick. It snapped. He picked up another one. It snapped too.

Saraha got up and mumbled, “I’m leaving.” It was around noon, the sun was high in the sky, and the snow had melted. Though it was still winter, the feeling of spring had come prematurely. Saraha went off through the bushes, and was immediately lost from sight.

Flo P and Logan were left alone at camp. Logan felt nervous and his hands felt clammy. He wanted to do something nice, but he didn’t know what. After some hard thinking, he awkwardly jumped to his feet.

“Hey, Flo P… Do you, uh, wanna go for a walk together?”

She looked at him like she didn’t understand. “Alone? With you?”

“Yes, just, um, u-us,” Logan stuttered feebly. His Macho Logan-ness had all gone down the drain by now. Flo P looked a little embarrassed and sad.

“No thanks, Logan. Someone needs to take care of the camp. Why don’t you go, if you wanna stretch your legs?” she suggested.

Logan nodded, and walked off in the opposite direction of Saraha. He could feel tears of shame stinging his eyes. Flo P didn’t feel the same as he did! She had obviously just snubbed him – and worse, tried to turn his affections into something they were not. He didn’t want to “stretch his legs”; he’d wanted to go on a long and romantic walk through the forest.

Logan sat down on a bench and watched a damp drop fall from his eye and spread across his jeans. He rubbed it and it faded. Logan stood up. What used to be a warm afternoon was fading into twilight, and Logan supposed he’d better get back to camp to help prepare for dinner.

As he walked back, Logan furiously kicked an innocent shrub. He would not give up! He would persevere! He entered the clearing as Saraha did, obviously annoyed.

“What’s gotten your panties in a knot?” asked Flo P, looking up from the fire she’d been fixing.

“I don’t have my panties in a knot,” scoffed Saraha. “I just don’t think it’s fair that Ji-Ji gets to traverse the town, while we’re stuck in these filthy woods!” She plopped down next to the not-yet-made fire.

Suddenly, they heard a crash in the distance. It was followed by cursing in rough, harsh voice – obviously a man’s. Everyone’s grouchiness and grumpiness faded, as Flo P looked at them with wide eyes.

Logan froze. Both girls turned to him, waiting for him to answer. Logan didn’t know what to do. It was like when he’d met Commander Brack for the first time; the blood was pumping in his ears, and his limbs felt too light. He never wanted to move again.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Flo P hissed, coming to her senses. She was looking disappointedly at Logan. “RUN!”

Logan, Saraha, and Flo P jumped and grabbed their supplies. The crunching and crashing of someone in the woods was coming closer. Saraha tried kicking some dirt over the fire, but it was packed too firmly. They sprinted to the nearby bushes.

Soon after, a man stumbled into the clearing. He was not very tall, but his physique exuded the aura that he’d been working in manual labour most of his life. Logan gauged his age to be are 55. He was slightly balding, with small, mean, mousey eyes.

“Who’s in my woods?” he cried. “What’s this fire doing here? I’ll get you… you… YOU RASCALS!”

Logan, Saraha and Flo P ambushed Ji-Ji and Casper near the edge of the woods. Casper looked surprised to see them, but all three ignored him. “Ji-Ji, someone’s pillaging our camp! We got all the supplies out… but still!” Logan gasped.

“What…?” Ji-Ji said.

“He’s this ugly little rat of a man,” added Flo P viciously.

“He called us RASCALS. Do I look like a RASCAL to you?” sneered Saraha.

Carter shook his head, as if he understood. “In his mid-fifties? Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. That’s McGregor – he owns a farm on the other side of the forest. McGregor’s an ass; he thinks the woods are his or something, because by the end of the week he’s been prowling about searching for anyone who’s in there.”

Flo P grumbled, “No one asked you,” under her breath, but Ji-Ji interrupted:

“Yes, if so – then, what should we do?”

Casper shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do. I suppose move your location if McGregor already knows you are there… Unless you want to leave altogether, which I doubt is an option.” Ji-Ji tried to hide the glowing look she gave him.

“Pathetic,” muttered Saraha. “Absolutely disgusting.”

Logan inwardly giggled. He wished Flo P would respond to him like Ji-Ji did to Casper. That would make things a lot easier. Logan felt funny. Like he was a roiling pot of stew, ready to overflow the cauldron. He didn’t know whether he could contain this peculiar feeling much longer.

READ NEXT WEEK IN “I WILL BE ME, BUT WHO WILL YOU BE?”

15: Ahoy, Snuggle Boy!

I know someone who has SNOOPED and already hates this chapter. To that person: trust me, I’m not trying to ruin your life. And yes, I am aware that I have skipped last week’s chapter… I was too lazy Dx

As Ji-Ji and Logan returned from collecting firewood, Saraha and Flo P’s heads split apart. They put on looks of innocence, which made them look the opposite. “Great wood collecting,” said Saraha sarcastically. “I see you came back with ARMSFULS for us. That’ll definitely last the night.”

Ji-Ji rolled her eyes. “You try looking. We’ve exhausted most of it in the nearby area, and it’s difficult to go beyond our imaginary perimeters.”

Saraha muttered something about the laziness of youths, but Ji-Ji eagerly piped up: “I can go to the Thorn Village and get some kindling there.”

Flo P raised her eyebrows. “Ooooooh, totally NOT suspicious.”

“Fine,” said Ji-Ji, miffed at their complaining. “You get some yourself, then.”

Flo P and Logan stomped off into the woods together. Logan thought he had an inkling of a clue on how Saraha and Flo P were sceptical of Ji-Ji. He and Flo P walked farther and farther away from camp, as dusk gathered. The sky tinged pink.

“Flo?” Logan asked. She turned to look at him.

“Yes?”

“What is it that you and Saraha talk so much about?”

She sighed. “I guess I’ll let you know. We’re not ‘ganging up’ or her or anything – honest! But I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but hasn’t Ji-Ji been acting funny?”

Logan nodded. “Go on.”

“Happy – ” Flo P explained “ – and oddly so. She always wants to go to the village. Look at you and me and Saraha. Are we bursting with cheeriness? No, I think we’re more sombre and depressing if anything. She’s like – like a splatter of red paint across a black canvas.”

~

Logan crept from behind some bushes. He heard laughing in the distance, but it was farther away and the trees and undergrowth of Thorn Valley covered him. He scampered away, like a frightened doe, not stopping till he reached the camp. Saraha and Flo P sat by the ashy, un-lit fire, looking bored and agitated.

“Well?” Saraha jumped up. “What’s happened? How did it go?”

Logan shook his head, panting. He was tired from running and his lungs seared. Neither Saraha nor Flo P had wanted to trail Ji-Ji when she enthusiastically volunteered to go into the village. It was mutually agreed (meaning the two girls had overpowered Logan) that Logan was better at blending into the background.

When he finally could speak, Logan coughed out: “Nothing happened until she reached the square. She started talking to a boy. He’s tall, he has dark hair, and definitely from around these parts. She walked with him and got food, and now – now she’s bringing him here!”

Flo P’s mouth dropped open. She stared at Logan as if she didn’t believe him and he was making the entire thing up for a laugh. “Bloody hell,” said Saraha.

After that, they waited in silence. It was en edgy silence. Soon, the crunching of two pairs of feet upon snow was heard. Upon each crunch, the three companions visibly flinched. Logan kept thinking, ‘Why did she have to bring him? Has she no idea what this whole thing means? Does she WANT to get us killed?’

Finally, Ji-Ji burst into the clearing. She appeared startled that they were all sitting there like Easter Island statues. Ji-Ji cleared her throat. “Hi… This is, er, Carter.”

Carter was tall. He had a tuft of black hair and milky skin. He was wearing a pair of worn running shoes and a maroon hoodie with the words “MONSTERS” across it. He was quite handsome, but this didn’t sway Flo P, Logan, or Saraha one bit.

Instead of Saraha making a big to-do, Flo P marched up to Ji-Ji and thrust her index finger straight between her collarbones. “WHO is he and WHAT is he doing here?”

For probably the first time in her life, Ji-Ji looked bashful. “I met him in town,” she explained. “He’s cool; he’s not going to run to Commander Brack or anything…”

“You probably haven’t know this guy for two weeks!” cried Saraha. “How much have you told him? Everything?”

Ji-Ji’s silence confirmed this.

“Great!” screeched Saraha. “Just fantastic! Please, someone just chop off my head and be done with it.” She retreated into the farthest corner of camp, and let Flo P shout herself hoarse. Meanwhile, Logan glared at Carter.

The truth was, Logan didn’t hate Carter. He looked like a good, reliable sort of person who wouldn’t blab. On the other hand, did he know this person at all? What irked him most was that Ji-Ji would throw safety into the wind and bring him here… It wasn’t like S.K.A.T., where they were cooperating with people who were in danger from the Government, too.

Carter stood, both confused and slightly amused. Finally, when Flo P had stopped, her face red, and Ji-Ji looking extremely guilty, he said, “I’m in that much trouble?”

Though it was a joke, Flo P turned to him and gave him a look so venomous that he flinched.

Logan stepped up, attempting to be diplomatic. “Promise us you’ll never return, and tell no one of our existence,” he said to Carter straightforwardly. Carter looked surprised.

“Stay away from us and never come near Ji-Ji again.”

“You can’t do that!” exclaimed Ji-Ji.

Saraha turned with a look on her face so withering, Ji-Ji bit back her words. “Oh, you watch us try you – you little Hyena Grandfather of Trickery! Take – take your SNUGGLE BOY and get out of here!”

Carter still looked puzzled, but did not argue. “G’bye, I suppose,” he said, and tactfully strode out of the clearing.

“What an arse!” said Saraha.

“HE IS NOT AN ARSE,” Ji-Ji said, on the warpath after being warpathed herself. “And you would do well to remember it! Who do you think you are, controlling me, telling me what to do? You liked Alec, remember?”

Saraha blanched, then impersonated a tomato. “No… I never… I didn’t…!”

“Whatever, but you need to trust me in this!” said Ji-Ji.

“How?” asked Logan grimly. “We may not have been too mad if you’d told us before – but you totally went behind our backs!”

“Forget it. There’s no use thinking about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED. You can try, Ji-Ji, to bust us if you want; we have no power over you,” said Flo P, plopping down in her sleeping bag. “Now, GOODNIGHT.”

The sun dipped behind the horizon, and was lost.