A young girl on the run - Part I
Lyrah lay still in her bed - listening. Had her aunt gone to sleep yet? Outside she could hear the lurking sounds of the night. An owl hooting in a tree, and somewhere in the distant a cat was meowing. But there was no sign of anyone else, other than herself, being awake inside of the little house - just on the edge of the city of Dale.
Slowly she removed the blanket from her body and got up in a sitting position on the side of the bed. Still no sounds coming from her aunt’s room. She stood up, still moving very slowly, trying not to make any noise that would reveal her being awake.
She stopped to listen again. Nothing.
Carefully, she started to change back into her day wear. A light brown linen dress and a pair of worn shoes. She put her night wear under her pillow and folded the blanket, before getting down on all four - reaching for a medium sized backpack she had kept under her bed for the last few weeks.
Every now and then she had taken a few of her aunts’ belongings that she had found in different drawers and cabinets around the house. A wooden cup, a tinderbox, a dagger, a small lantern and a few other things that could come in handy for what she had been planning for ever so long. Luckily, her aunt had not noticed.
Holding the backpack in her right hand, Lyrah supported herself with her left arm on her left knee while getting back up to her feet. Lyrah clenched her teeth together from the pain. The skin on her back had yet not healed properly from the last beating she had gotten a few days earlier.
Four days ago, Lyrah had come across a hungry puppy on her way back from the well.
The little ball of fur had followed her back to the house in spite of Lyrah trying to shoo it off. Her aunt did not care for any sorts of animals. After placing the two heavy buckets of water on the ground outside of their home, she had given in to the little fellows cuteness and gotten down on her knees - giving it a good scratch behind it's ears. It would still be a little while before her aunt would return from her daily errands, so Lyrah took the time to play with him.
After a little while, Lyrah decided to go inside and get something for him to eat. The puppy was very thin, and you could see the contours of its ribs. She hurried inside came back outside with half a cram in her hand. The dog ate it all - wagging its tale like never before. Lyrah smiled and ran inside once again to get some more.
Feeding the puppy the second half, the shadow of a tall woman
suddenly fell upon them. "What are you doing, girl!? Giving away our
food to a mere dog? We hardly have enough to get by ourselves from day to day - and you waste it like this?!"
Before Lyrah could do anything she heard the heart piercing sound of the puppy’s whimper as it got kicked away. The woman took a firm grip around Lyrah’s arm and dragged the struggling and crying girl into the house. She had passed out after the seventh hit by her aunt’s stick. And she had gotten nothing to eat for the next two days. That was hopefully the last time her aunt had ever laid her hands on her...
Lyrah took a deep breath before gently putting the folded blanket into the backpack. The temperature could vary a lot. And, like this night, the cool wind from the north could even make the most warm blooded person shiver. She sneaked silently out of her room, and into the kitchen. There she grabbed an empty water skin that lay on the kitchen counter, and a handful of crams - carefully putting them inside the backpack. She did not really care much for the taste of the biscuits, but this was not the time to be picky.
What was that? Lyrah froze as she had heard a sound coming from the room to her left. Her aunt’s room. She stopped breathing, and prayed for her heart to beat softer. There it was again! A creaking sound - as if her aunt was changing position in her bed. Lyrah let her breath out slowly, and continued moving back into her own room. This had to be the night she got away. She could not bear to stay with this monster of a woman any longer. Even though Lyrah could still hear some movements from her aunt’s room - she walked determined towards her window.
Holding her breath again, Lyrah opened the window and tossed her backpack outside - aiming for a mound of soft grass and moss. After giving the direction of her doorway a last glance, she climbed up on the widow frame and jumped out herself. Quick and silent she moved through the shadows as she headed to the closest city well - an empty water skin would do her no good. Lyrah filled it up and had a good drink. She let her heart rate drop before continuing.
She could still hear the owls, but other than that the night was silent. The stars were shining above her, and the moon was almost at its fullest. She moved around the great statue of Bard, the slayer of Smaug. The shadow from his drawn bow and arrow was pointing in the direction of the city gate - almost like it was showing her the way to freedom. Suddenly she remembered that the gate probably would be guarded by night – as it was by day. And as she got closer, she could see the silhouette of an armed man sitting on a small stool, leaning his back towards one of the pillars. Could she try to sneak past him?
Lyrah continued moving silently towards the guard. He did not move. Lyrah got a little closer and stopped to listen. She could see the man’s chest moving slowly up and down, but other than that he was completely still. Then she could hear the soft sounds of his breath, and there was even snoring sounds escaping his helmet now and then. He was sleeping! Slowly, she tiptoed past him, and once she had gotten at a safe distance – she ran.
She had no idea where she was heading - other than that she knew she was going south. She followed the river downwards, and to her right she could discern the huge forest of Mirkwood. The black silhouette of the tall trees almost got her to rethink what she was doing. She had heard stories about spiders and other creepy creatures lurking in there.. But she quickly shook off those thoughts and kept running. The only thing that was on her mind now was to get as far away from these parts as possible - in the fastest speed as she could.
With a tiny spark of hope growing in her heart, the twelve year old girl, wearing a backpack slightly too big for her, was now on her own in the huge world. Little did she know of what life would bring her after this night - of both bad and good.....
