I put half of the candies into his pocket and told him cautiously, “Hide them well.”
Arron looked at his stuffed pocket and showed me a helpless expression when he lifted his head. “Did Miss Sofie give them all to you?”
I nodded and threw a strawberry flavored candy into my mouth.
“You haven’t told me why you stole Mommy’s phone yet,” Arron asked.
“I didn’t. It was in her pocket.” I crossed my legs and leaned back leisurely, as if challenging him to question me more.
He scoffed at how smug I was. “I saw it. You stole Mommy’s phone while we were in the car. I don’t know what you did, but you certainly did something to her phone.”
“Of course I did something important, my silly brother,” I murmured, raised my hand to adjust the small buns sitting on my head, and straightened the strawberry hair band.
Beryl’s POV
“You’re aware how sharp and sensitive Mommy is, so you have to be careful. Don’t give yourself away,” Arron reminded me, worry was almost tangible from his voice.
I shook my head at how anxious my brother was. It seemed he did not have his full confidence that we could pull this off. “Oh, don’t fret. Mommy’s phone will automatically turn off once we’re ready to escape. I figured the camp will definitely call her if they found out we’re missing, and if Mommy would unfortunately manage to find us, it’ll be the end of our plans. So I enabled the auto power-off function on her phone in advance.”
I initially got the idea from Alva. I heard she took Mommy’s phone on their first encounter.
Following my plan, Arron and I were set to hitch a ride in a van and leave the camp for the neighboring city tomorrow morning. I had previously inquired about a caravan that would deliver goods to the imperial city. The perfect disguise for us was to pretend to be some businessman’s children and get in the van. That part seemed to be foolproof, so I had faith it would work out well.
Once we arrived at the imperial city, even if we were busted, we could just call Mommy to pick us up. Arron and I have already memorized Mommy’s phone number just in case the situation called for it.
It was anticipated that Mommy would be beyond livid at us for doing such a stunt, but even if it were to happen, it would not really matter. I knew that she wouldn’t send us away.
“But it’s still risky. If you haven’t noticed the imperial city is many many miles away! What if we encounter any danger on our way there? And how can you be sure that the caravan is safe? What if we encounter traffickers who prefer to abduct kids? Imagine how anxious Mommy will be if she won’t find us.”
Arron sported a heavy countenance. It was evident how deep he had been thinking this through.
I hauled a sigh. His concern was not uncalled-for; it was necessary. We were still kids, anyway.
“Arron, throw all your worries out the window. There aren’t that many accidents nowadays. I know we’re still kids, but sometimes we have to manifest braveness from within ourselves. In order to be by Mommy’s side and see the imperial capital, that braveness I’m talking about…” I placed my hand against his chest, trying my best to persuade him. “We badly need to have that.”
Arron put on his thinking face, lowered his head, and said in a low voice, “I just don’t want to worry Mommy-that’s what I don’t want to happen.”
“That’s the point, Arron. We have to hurry and keep up with Mommy. Then she won’t need to worry about us anymore! I estimate the caravan to be as fast as Mommy’s troop.” I patiently comforted my brother, thinking that if he hesitated any longer, he would leave me with no choice but to knock him out tomorrow and let Ian carry him. I had no room for hesitation to be brought with us on our trip tomorrow.
“How about we just beg Mommy to take us with her?” Arron suggested.
“You’re a coward! Do you even hear yourself? Mommy doesn’t want to take us with her. If she does, she wouldn’t have packed her things without us knowing.” Arron got on my nerves, and I turned my back against him. That was the last straw of my patience, and he effortlessly cut it.
Arron gently tugged the hem of my clothes and voiced out his grief. “I’m not a coward, Beryl. I just don’t want Mommy to be worried about us. If something happens to us, she’ll be very sad.”
My anger dissipated in an instant. I turned on my heels and faced him with a straight face. “Don’t worry. I know witchcraft and can protect us when necessary. We’ll surely arrive at the imperial city safe and sound. Just trust me, okay?”
He remained tight-lipped, while I hoped he was completely persuaded. Another sigh escaped my lips as I tried my best to pacify his restlessness and dispel his idea of calling Mommy instead of considering my plan.
At this time, the stout teacher came over with two strawberry cakes in her hands and gave us one each. But I refused the cake this time by pushing it away from me. I did the same for Arron’s.
“We had too much dessert today; we can’t eat any more.”
“It’s okay. I won’t tell your mommy,” the teacher said with an unwavering smile.
I shook my head and stood my ground. “We appreciate the gesture, but we have promised Mommy to strictly discipline ourselves and not to break our promise even when she’s not around.”
The mere mention of Mommy had me missing her even more. Before, whenever she restricted us from having desserts, we always had the urge to go against her. Now that she wasn’t with us, I surprisingly wanted to behave myself.
The teacher showed a relieved expression, and a small smile cracked on her lips. “Well, you must at least tell me if you’re hungry.”
“Okay,” I answered obediently.
Beryl’s POV
Once the night activity ended, the teacher accompanied me and Arron back to our exclusive tent.
Thick blankets were waiting for us in the tent, and even the prepped bed was soft-just how we liked it. Our favorite dolls were also lying on the bed. It felt as though Mommy had just been here and arranged all of this for us.
I flopped myself on the bed and raked the dolls with my arms as I rolled around. My blood rushed against my veins as excitement shot through me. I began to hope that tomorrow would arrive sooner than any logic could beat.
“Beryl, apply the mosquito repellent.” Arron climbed onto the bed with a green bottle in his hand.
I sat up straight and rolled up the legs of my trousers. There were indeed mosquito bites on the exposed parts of my ankle. Perhaps I was too preoccupied that I hadn’t really paid attention to other things while we were out on the camp.
I dug my nail on the bites to form a cross out of it and giggled at my handiwork. Arron gently slapped my hand away and applied the ointment on the area. The night was cold outside this tent, but the minty ointment was colder and it made me shiver.
Neither Arron nor I had expected the exaggeration of my reaction. It amused him. I could make out how he was thinking that I was really out of it.
I gave him a cheeky smile and a pinch on his face. I was just elated. I loved my mommy and my brother, and no one could change it.
Arron finished applying ointment to the last bite mark on my ankle. I waited for him to finish washing his hands so we could brush our teeth together. We tidied ourselves and went to bed.
Then the day we had waited for had finally come. Before dawn on the third day, right when everybody else was having a good night’s rest, I woke Arron up to help me start packing up. After making sure everything was ready, we covered ourselves with thick coats, a scarf, and a baseball cap.
We made sure to put the candies in the bag and tie our shoelaces tightly. We wouldn’t be risking to blow this plan if we easily fell down with our shoelaces loosened.
Just when we were ready to go out, some noise came from outside the tent. I signaled Arron to keep silent. Whoever was outside, they could blow our cover. I unzipped the tent and a fluffy wolf head squeezed in.
It was Ian!
I was so happy it was him. I asked Ian to come in.
Arron was also surprised. He scratched Ian’s ear before asking me, “Did you ask Ian to come here?”
“No, I didn’t. I guess he knew we were going to run away.” I walked around Ian and eyed him happily.
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