Ruby sat in a nearby chair as Levera finished packing up the
last of her cabin, being careful to keep whatever emergency medical supplies on
top. One never knew what injuries or sickness would be encountered while on the
move. Ruby swung her small legs back and forth restlessly, wishing that she
could help the healer with the packing. Her own cabin had already been packed
up and taken down by Uncle Thomas, and few other buildings were still standing
when she glanced out the door. Very early this morning at breakfast it had been
explained to her that because they moved around a lot, the buildings were made
in such a way that they could be taken with them wherever the group traveled,
and then set up once they reached a place to stop for a few weeks. “Levy, why do we have to leave? It’s so
pretty here with all of the trees. It’s like being home….” Ruby’s voice
trailed off as a sadness, one too heavy for a girl of six years to fully
understand, settled in her heart at the mention of home.
Trying to keep both of their spirits up, Levera answered
cheerfully, “Well, Tho- Uncle Thomas doesn’t like to stay in one
place for too long. Most…families like ours move around so… they don’t get too
tired of looking at the same thing every day. Besides, this way you will get to
see the sea. You told me you haven’t seen it before, right?” Ruby’s face
brightened. “No! It sounds so pretty
when you told me about it! When will we see it?” Levera laughed at the
little girl’s excitement. “That is a
question you should ask Uncle Thomas when you see him.” She closed the last
box and fastened it with twine as to keep it shut when a man walked through the
open door.
“Thomas sent me to
see if you are ready to load.”
“Yes, I am ready. I
have placed things in that corner that will need to be packed last so that I
can reach them easily.”
“Will do,” the
man answered as he moved toward a box to pick it up. “Can I watch them load the wagon? Please??” cried the small girl
from her chair. Levara smiled and moved behind the chair. “Of course you can. Let me take you outside,” she answered as she moved
the breaks for the big wheels on each side of the chair so that the chair could
be rolled.
Having been burned very severely, Ruby could not yet walk
very far and it was too painful for her to be carried everywhere. This way, she
could move around and everyone had come to love her as their own. It helped
Ruby get through the days when she remembered that her mother, father, brother,
and others from home would not be with her anymore. No one spoke of that
terrible day because they wanted to spare little Ruby the horror until the day
she was ready to fully understand. All they knew was an explosion had happened
in a nearby cavern, most likely a mine of some kind, and everyone but Ruby had
died. She had been thrown from the mouth of the cave, parts of her clothing and
body on fire. Luckily for her, men had been out hunting for food when they
heard the explosion. They had been able to put out the fire on her clothes and
one of them ran her back to the village. Ever since that day the men and women
of the mercenary group, the WindStriders, had accepted her and were determined
to give her a second family.
Levera rolled Ruby outside and placed her under a tree where
she would be able to watch but stay out of the way. Everyone they passed stopped
for a second and waved hello to the woman and child before continuing the
packing. “What’s the name of the place
we are going?” Ruby asked as Levara turned to leave. “Zetra Port. It is south of here, on the shores of the Sea.” She
left as the girl rolled the words over her small tongue, trying to say them.
The healer returned to her cabin to see if she could be of any use, as it was
almost mid-morning and Thomas wanted to leave by mid-day.
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