Balancer's Soul (54 page)

As Mark and Connor sped away from them
Sarah couldn’t help but look at her mate’s bottom. He looked so
tempting in those shorts of his. She also noticed that both Connor
and Mark traveled in a rapid yet measured pace that only
experienced hikers know how to travel.

Sarah happened to glance at Kara as
she saw the last of their men vanish from sight. She had a dreamy
yet sad expression etched on her expression. She asked
compassionately “Kara, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?” She adjusted the
long bow on her back, trying not to speak any further. She turned
to look at Sarah with a barely pouting bottom lip.

She pointed to where the boys vanished
like silent specters. “Has something gone wrong between you and
Mark?”

Kara looked straight ahead as she
answered. “I’m not sure actually.” She sighed uneasily. “I’ve known
Mark for about as long as Brother and he has always been so nice
towards the two of us. He never pressed himself against us, but he
is like family.” She glanced at Sarah for a moment. “The day
Brother had to track you down, Mark stayed with me that entire
night. It was one of the first times we spent so much time
together, alone and without interruption. We talked about many
different things and I got to really know him or thought I did. I
asked him why he lives alone and why he never talks about his
family. He had a look of longing, but like either he has never had
a real family or his family didn’t want him. He might be Brother’s
best friend, but he can sure be mysterious at times.”

Sarah touched her sister-in-law’s
shoulder. “One thing is for sure, you share your brother’s
compassion and observational abilities.”

Kara started laughing. “I could never
have half the instincts that my big brother has.” She looked at the
ground after remembering something. “That’s not all though.” Kara
looked up at her, wearing a fake smile. “Mark and I have been kind
of dating as long as you and Brother have. I love having him around
me all the time he makes me feel… I really can’t put the feeling
into words.”

“Whole?” Sarah supplied, trying to
help.

“That’s a good word.” She put her
hands behind her head as she walked. “During the school carnival;
that was the first time he actually kissed me and I was so happy.
He is a great kisser… but…

“That night I went over to
his apartment and we stayed up all night talking. It was weird
though…I thought that we would
do
more. You know what I mean?” She jiggled her
delicate eyebrows provocatively. “We didn’t though.” She looked
ahead again, still walking uphill and not even getting winded. She
didn’t lie about being an experienced hiker. “I can feel that he
wants to be with me. I can see it in those silver eyes of his.
Every time we get close though, he pushes himself away from me.
It’s really getting annoying. I know he’s hiding something from me
because it’s like he’s trying to protect me from some
secret.”

“Would you like my opinion?” Sarah
asked evenly, knowing the burden and value of secrets.

“Why do you think I’m spilling my guts
to you?” She said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone
else I have a boyfriend who doesn’t want to jump my
bones.”

“It seems to me that since I’ve known
him, he’s looking at life at a new angle now.”

“You have to give me more than that…
Stop being so vague.” She stopped walking and Sarah turned to look
at her holding her pack in one hand.

“You have seen the changes that Connor
has gone through recently?” Kara nodded in understanding. “Do you
also see how he always follows Connor around and listens to
whatever he has to say?”

She looked up, thinking, just like
Connor does. It is a strange habit they share. “You are right, but
what does it really mean?”

“This isn’t exactly the right answer,
but I think Mark is searching for something that he doesn’t know
how to find. When I see Connor serious, I know for a fact that
everyone will follow his command. He is a natural leader…if he
wants to be.” Kara nodded twice. “Mark, I believe, is trying to
find his place in the world and instinctively he’s following your
brother for guidance.”

“For guidance?” She tilted her head to the
side.

Sarah cracked a one sided shy smile.
“As humans, we hate being alone. We are social creatures. When we
come together with common interests or ties; some people have an
innate sense to become a leader and take charge. Connor is that
leader. Through his actions he shows his strength, compassion,
protectiveness and above all else, his heart.” Sarah touched her
chest over where her heart is and smiled to herself. “That’s why I
love him and why I will always be with him.” Sarah looked to her
right and witnessed Kara staring at her and wearing a pleased
smile. “Both you and Mark feel the same way towards him. Both of
you love him and follow Connor in your own way.”

“How will this help get Mark to make a
move?” She chirped.

“I think that this is the first time
he’s really falling in love with someone.” Kara’s eyes went wide.
“I think he’s watching and learning from Connor to see what love is
like and how he can understand it in himself.” She took a deep
breath. “Men learn about love quicker from another man who is in
love. They normally don’t ask another man about their love lives,
because they don’t need to. Most men learn by watching and
studying; unlike us women who learn quicker by asking questions.”
She looked directly in Kara’s twinkling eyes while speaking
delicately and clearly. “Let Mark learn from your brother and when
he finds his answer, I guarantee that you will be the first to know
everything.”

She nodded in careful consideration.
She then looked up in the canopy like Connor does when he’s
processing information. “That makes sense.” She turned to look at
Sarah again. “Was Brother like that with you?” Kara asked
seriously.

“In his own unique way, yes.” Sarah
admitted.

Kara started walking again and Sarah
caught up quickly. She watched the quiver at Kara’s left hip swing
back and forth along with her gentle strides. And she asked “Kara,
may I see one of your arrows?” She turned her head. Without looking
down she quickly pulled out an arrow by the tail end with her right
hand and handed it over. Sarah grabbed the arrow by the
shaft.

At the end of the shaft held a carved
wooden nock that would fit perfectly on the string. The vane’s were
made from plastic and colored a bright pink. The shaft of the arrow
was made out of a hardwood, she assumed oak, and the wood had been
stained a dark brown almost like the earth. She crested her shaft
with what looked like acrylic pink nail polish that was in three
separate rings, spaced a half inch apart. The point of the wooden
tip was sharpened to a point and fire-hardened, but it didn’t have
any barbs. “Why don’t you use an arrowhead? That would keep the
arrow in its intended target.”

Kara kept walking as she said. “I
don’t like killing animals unless I have to or unless I was
starving and had no other choice. I would rather wound or
incapacitate them if given a choice for me to escape.”

“Hmm, that’s
interesting.”
“Just like your brother.”
Sarah said under her breath, but Kara heard it and smiled. “Where
did you get those arrows from?” She handed the arrow back, trying
to return to the subject.

She slid it back into her quiver. “I
made them myself.” She looked straight ahead. “Brother was never a
good Marksman with any projectiles. He can throw with deadly
accuracy, but he is more the hand to hand fighter type.” She
flashed a smile. “Me on the other hand, I’m a Marksman. I have
rarely missed a target that was in my sights.” She knelt at the
ground and studied the earth. She moved some leaves over. “This is
Mark’s print without a doubt, we’re still in their
trail.”

Sarah felt for her bond with Connor
and knew she was right. “How do you know its Mark’s?”

“Brother’s feet are larger,
but Mark’s impressions are heavier. Brother never leaves tracks
unless he forces himself to do so. He has to
think
about it. It’s always
perplexes me that a person his size does these things.” She said
standing up. “Any other tests you want to give me?”

“Ok how about this!” Sarah walked over
to a fern and snapped off a small leaf. She walked back and handed
it over to her. “About how long ago did it rain?”

Kara studied the leaf intently. She
snapped it in half and looked along the break. “I would say about
two and a half to three weeks ago.” She said throwing the leaf
down.

“Not bad!” Sarah was honestly
impressed. “What kind of flower is this?” She pointed at a sunny
spot that held a large, bright reddish-orange flower.

“That’s easy. It’s a Wood Lily.” She
said instantly.

They walked for over two hours,
testing each other back and forth with each new plant they came
across. Sarah also noticed that all of the fruit bearing plants
were completely stripped of vegetation and some trees had odd marks
on their trunks.

Every now and then either Kara or
Sarah would kneel down to make sure they were still on their trail
that the men left. Sarah forced herself to keep up the pretense of
tracking even though she strongly felt the bond with Connor. They
had been stationary for some time now. Their path suddenly turned
to the left side of the trail and they left an obvious sign for any
to follow.

He carved into a tree ‘This way
ladies’ and an arrow underneath pointing to the east.

Kara put her hand to her forehead and
sighed. “Brother, you are such an idiot.”

“At least we know we didn’t lose
them.” Sarah added.

“There’s that.” Kara agreed with a
small laugh.

In about thirty minutes Sarah knew
through the bond that Connor was close. She looked up and saw there
remained nearly two hours of sunlight left. She didn’t tell Kara
how close they were, but she knew as well.

Before Sarah heard anything Kara said
“I hear a fire crackling! They must be finished building up the
camp site.” She took a deep breath. “Brother! Mark! We made it!”
She yelled in her quick, chirpy voice.

“We know Kara! I heard your footfalls
a minute ago.” Connor called back. And Sarah could hear Mark
laughing.

They entered a small clearing with
short green grass that covered the ground. There were two logs and
between the men sat a fire pit. Two people could sit on one of the
logs and three on the other. Connor sat at the larger one while
Mark took residence on the other, shorter log. Above the flames of
the fire hung a large metal bowl that looked to be filled with
water that had just begun to boil.

Behind Connor stood a big, opened
front, lean-to shelter that had a small canopy that provided shade
and another runoff incase it rained. The shelter not only had a
back steeped wall, but three more sides. Two of the walls blocked
the outer sides of the shelter and the third wall sat in the
middle; separating the shelter in two rooms. It had been designed
to shelter each couple. And there were two litters that made a
raised bed that stood about a six inches off the ground. No one
would have to suffer by sleeping on the cold ground. On the top of
each of the two litters laid open were their sleeping
bags.

Connor continued looking at Sarah with
a smile on his face. That smile can make even a sunset seem boring.
He stood saying “Does this appease you?”

“It suits me nicely.” Connor walked up
and unsnapped the clip between her breasts and helped remove the
pack. Sarah was lucky to be a Balancer or else her legs and back
would be in excruciating pain after such an arduous hike. Holding
the pack in one hand, he kissed the top of her head.

He walked over to a tall tree, sat the
pack on the ground and then reached up and untied a piece of rope.
He let the packs that were tied to the other end of the rope slide
down to the ground. He tied her pack to the rest of them, hoisted
the bags back into the tree and tied the other end back to the
limb.

She thought to him.
“Why are you putting our packs up in the
tree?”

“There are animals that
will make quick work of our meager supplies. We only brought enough
for three days. Even if something does get to our supplies I can
find us food without fail.”

“What kinds of animals live
around this area?”
She wanted to know what
to keep an eye out for.

He turned to look at
her.
“Animals like; raccoons, opossums,
foxes, wolves, black bears, skunks and other critters along that
line.”
He walked up and took her hand and
interlaced their fingers with a spine-tingling smile.

Connor turned her around to sit by the
welcoming fire. Kara took off her bow and laid it on the ground,
next to the log, but out of reach from the pit. Still standing, she
unfastened her belt and sat the quiver next to the bow.

Mark’s eyes were carefully watching
her as she finished setting her things down. She stepped over the
log and sat down on it; touching thigh to thigh with him. She
looked at him and smiled. “Where is the closest water
supply?”