Chapter Nine

I keep playing with my fingers praying in my heart that Elsa will be pardoned by the Leaders or she will be given a very subtle punishment, but looking at the options, I don't think it will be anything but subtle.

The door finally opens and Elsa walks out while Bellman gives me a look that sends chills down my spine before pulling it closed.

I clear the tears from eyes, and quickly walk to Elsa, Samuel following closely behind me.

"What did he say? What is the punishment?"

"He said I have to go for a solo mission tomorrow," she responds without even stopping.

"What! Why?!" I don't even recognise the highly panicked voice as my own.

"They can't do that. Right? Samuel, they can't do that right?"

Elsa pulls me to a corner on the road and locks eyes with me.

"Eden listen to me, whatever happens you will be fine, you understand me? Stop panicking it won't help right now. Okay?" I nod in response feeling too exhausted to even speak anymore, my brain running every horrible scenario at once.

She was right. I need to remain calm so I can help her, panicking won't solve this.

"I am sure whatever they will throw at you will be a piece of cake," Samuel says, reminding us that he was even still here.

"What gives you that much assurance Sam?" Elsa throws at him.

Samuel doesn't respond but doesn't leave us either.

We walk on in silence passing the berry bush. A few children were still hovering around it trying to get more of the fruits. I catch a little smile on Elsa's face as she sees them and despite all the problems we faced today, that little smile reminded me that she was with me and will always be.

I don't know what I would have done without Elsa in my life.

A few minutes later we get to our front steps and Elsa turns around to stare at Samuel.

"You should go back now."

"But I want -"

"This isn't about what you want or do not want. I do not want you to get in trouble for hanging around us. Please go home," she pleads with him.

"When is the mission?" he asks.

"Tomorrow," Elsa replies.

"I will be here before you leave." He nods at me and turns back the way we came, to go to his own district.

As soon as we get inside, Elsa goes to the kitchen to make us dinner, something she only did whenever she was worried about something. Most of the time, it was my duty to make dinner.

"El you can talk to me, what is it?" I ask walking into the kitchen and resting my back on the wall watching her rinse vegetables and tomatoes.

"Its nothing we can't handle," she says, slicing the tomatoes like it was an assassin on a failed mission.

"El what is the mission?" She drops the knife on the kitchen table and her shoulders follow her action.

"I don't know E, and that is the problem. I don't know what they will ask me to find. Bellman assured me that I was going to fail. In fact they all want me to fail." She hugs herself fiercely, while her eyes focuses on everything in the kitchen but me.

I move closer and turn her so she faces me.

"This is about those foragers you rescued, isn't?" She looks at me with angry tears in her eyes. I have never seen my Elsa so helpless. My heart breaks and the pain sends a river down my face.

"Eden please don't cry." She wipes my tears with the back of her hands.

"What should I do? Elsa these people are evil and they won't stop until they have your head. And I am scared. I don't- I don't want to lose you El. You are the only thing I have left."

She hugs me and speaks into my hair, "I am scared too E. But we will think of something. I will think of something. We were raised in the forest, we can live in the forest."

"I didn't say anything about going with you did?" I ask, trying to ease the emotions swirling in the room.

"I am not leaving you behind. You understand me?"

"I am not going to stay here without you, even if you ask me to. Where ever you go, I'll follow."

After our little moment, we eat our dinner in silence after she finished cooking it and I had calmed myself down making little sun flowers grow in the empty flower pot on our window seal.

After eating, we go to bed with hope of a better tomorrow.

*************

"PETRAN! I am glad to see you." Bellman's voice greets us as we reach the Compound gates.

He stands with about five guards excluding the two on duty at the gate, one will think Elsa was a criminal.

Did they really need so many guards?

"I see your friends are loyal. Impressive. But I am afraid their loyalty will have to end within these gates until you accomplish your mission."

"What is my mission sir?" Elsa says with confidence in her voice.

I stand close, worried for her safety while Samuel stands a few feet from us.

"Wonderful! I was just getting to that. Since you have showed unbelievable talent that has helped us tremendously not just compound one but every compound in Amazon, we want you to end our problem entirely."

"End-- end your problem? How? What do you mean?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Elsa takes a hold of my hand to calm me down while Samuel just looks on seeming calm. Too calm.

"My dear, you and your friends brought us water and that solved one problem but you see, our lands have not been the same since the war fifty years ago. I am sure you at least know the history," he says to me, "I can't go into more details now, we need Elsa to use her promising talent to fix the land." He then returns his attention back to Elsa.

"Your mission is to go into that forest and find a good patch of land. Say a hectare, that is healthy enough for our farmers to cultivate on. If you do that, you will be forgiven and allowed back in here. If not I am sorry the gates won't be opened for you."

"But that's absolutely crazy!" I shout, "she can't possibly find that! At least not on her own!"

"I am afraid that's the final verdict," he says with finality in his voice.