Promise: The Scarred Girl Read Online Free Page B

is a large fully packed carriage, next to it is two well-fed brown cows plucking grass from the partially snow-covered ground. Nea remembers what happened only vaguely. She remembers the snow and feeling helpless and being forsaken by the world. She remembers coming upon a raging fire on the other side of the river. She remembers failing to be able to cross the river and losing her footing and would have drowned, if someone hadn’t helped her. A low chuckle awakens her attention and cautiously she looks around. She sees a little boy squinting at her from behind the tent door at her.
    “Did you rest well?” He asks with an impish grin and enters shyly out of his hiding. He cannot be much older than ten years old. His skin is tanned by the sun and there are few freckles on his nose. When he speaks, Nea notices a revealing flash of a small tooth gap.
    “If I would lie around lazing all day, my mother would tan my hide. She says we must all pitch in if we want to survive.”
    The little boy approaches closer and closer. Nea does not know what to say. He looks toward her expectantly.
    “Where is my backpack?” is the only thing that exits her lips. At the moment she said it, she realizes how rude it must have been.
    “We laid it out to dry in the sun.” He reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a folded paper, along with Nea’s compass and stretches his hand out to give them to her. “You had these in your coat pocket; unfortunately, hardly anything can be seen on the map.”
    Nea takes the items from the child’s small warm hands.
    “How nice that you’re awake!” The large well-fed woman stands in the tent entrance and smiles broadly. As she approaches, it is immediately apparent that the boy and this woman are related. They both have the same grin and freckles. The woman wears her hair down, which is a warm red color and falls loosely over her shoulders. She wears brown overalls and a colorful flannel shirt to protect her body from the elements. Although she is clearly overweight, he face radiates something beautiful and caring. She reminds Nea of one of her aunts who had a farm. When the woman places her warm calloused hand on Nea’s forehead, she says, “You do not have a fever!”
    When she smiles at Nea, she looks just like the little boy, she is also missing some teeth, but to Nea, it just makes her look even friendlier. She looks at Nea and seems to be waiting for some kind of response. When none comes, she holds her hound out to Nea and says, “I’m Luica and this is my son, Zippi.”
    “I’m Nea,” she replies shyly and takes Luica’s outstretched hand.
    “You need to eat, would you like some stew, Nea? This will definitely help you to get your strength!”
    Nea silently nods. She feels very comfortable with these two, even though she knows nothing about them except that they have saved her life. Nevertheless, even though she is friendly with them, she still fears them. She learned long ago that a return favor would be required before she would be able to go on her way, but she does not want to think about that at the moment, so she takes her boots and coat out of the storage bin and drops the washed-out map and compass into the coat pocket.
    She follows Luica and Zippi from the tent. Outside another fire burns, an old man stands near it, chopping firewood with an ax. When he sees Nea, he grins and waves to her. Luica introduces him, “This is my father, Harold.” A little further on, Nea sees the cows graze, as well as three goats and four cages on the ground in front of the carriage, in front of which are several chickens that peck at grains on the ground.
    “The three of us travel around with our animals and swap eggs and milk for food or whatever else we need to live,” Harold said.
    Zippi pushes a steaming hot bowl of steaming broth containing carrots, potatoes, and leeks into Nea’s hands. It’s been ages since she last ate fresh vegetables. The soup smells simply delicious and Nea