The Mystery of Anaia St. Claire

A New Friend

I collected myself for a moment and looked through the opening once again to see the man dousing my parents' bodies in some liquid that smelled like gasoline. Then, with one match set the entire lobby on fire. I fell apart in tears again. I won’t even have their bodies to bury. With that, I heard his heavy boot steps fade into the distance, then the sound of a car driving away. I quickly ran to the entrance of the cellar and tried to get out, blinking my tears. I tried to force the door open with all of my might. That’s right. Mama Dettle had locked me in here. I was trapped.

I quickly looked around the cellar that was now brightly lit and smoky due to the fire. I coughed loudly as I wrapped a scarf around my mouth so I could breathe through the smoke easier. I searched the cellar until I had found a tiny crawl space on the other side of the cellar. I could feel a cool draft coming from it, which meant that it led to the outside. I quickly fell onto my belly and started crawling. I had gotten halfway down the crawl space when I heard the floorboards start to collapse. I started crawling for my life. If I didn’t get out of here quick enough the entire house would collapse on top of me. When I made my way out of the crawl space into the cool night air, the crawl space collapsed completely behind me, causing a plank of wood to land right on top of my ankle. I screamed out in pain as I kicked the plank of wood off with my opposite foot and sat up against a tree. I looked down at my ankle. It had to have been at least a third-degree burn. I ripped a piece of my shirt off and tied it around my burn. I sighed aloud as I slowly stood up and looked at the inn, now a heaping pile of burning wood. I felt bitter tears stream from my eyes. “Mama, Papa, you taught me never to hate people so I will do my best to do just that. May you rest in peace. Heaven was made for souls like yours.”, I said in a whisper as I ran to the stable and grabbed the family horse. As I was putting my saddle on its back, I had suddenly remembered something Papa told me: “Anaia, if you are ever in any danger to where Mama and I can’t protect you, head to Kamari. Kamari is a village north of here, way up in the mountains. We have many friends there that will take you in.” I blinked and quickly got on the horse. He knew. He knew that this would happen. He knew that there would come a day that they would be found. I bit my lip at this realization. As I continued to look back on my life, they had groomed me to survive on my own. Papa had taught me how to hunt, how to use a gun properly, how to ride horseback, how to hide in plain sight, how to navigate the stars. It was all for this moment. I rode off into the night full speed ahead with the salt of my tears burning my eyes.

I must've ridden for a day straight. I could tell that the family horse was straining to take each step. I hopped off the horse and gently patted her face. "Sorry old girl. I should've taken a break long ago. Here, there's a lake just a few feet up ahead. Think you can hang on just a little longer?", I asked. The horse neighed warmly at me, nuzzling my nose. We continued to walk side by side until we got to the lake. I tied her reins to a tree so she could rest. I then gathered apples from a nearby apple tree and left a pile of them in front of her. She gave me a thankful snort and instantly started eating. After catching a whiff of myself, I disrobed and took a dip in the lake, and washed my clothes soon after. I wrapped myself up in Papa’s cloak as I waited for my clothes to dry. He always kept his favorite cloak in the horse’s saddle. I leaned up against my sleeping horse and stared up at the sky. Papa used to take me cloud-watching all the time and now, here I am alone...without him. Cloud watching isn't as fun without him. I closed my eyes and felt a tear escape the corner of my eye. "Come on, Anaia. You have to be strong. Don't waste your time crying. Just keep moving. That way, our sacrifice won't be in vain.", I heard mama's voice say. I sat up quickly. It was almost as if she had whispered it in my ear. I sniffled and wiped my nose as I slowly stood up. I heard you, mama. I won't waste my time crying. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. I'm going to live. I will miss you both every single day but I will live on so that your memory will be kept alive. Suddenly, I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me. It was so loud that my horse woke up. She neighed gently and sniffed my face. "I know, girl. I heard it, too.", I said as I grabbed Papa's old field knife from her saddle and carefully approached the rustling bush. As soon as I had made the first step, someone jumped out and frightened me so badly I had fallen back on top of my horse. My hood fell over my head, covering my eyes. "Whoa, sorry about that. I was hunting some squirrel and didn't see you there. You okay?", I heard the person say. I carefully pulled my hood back and saw a large, muscular man with dark skin, bright brown eyes, and sandy colored hair pulled back into a wolf’s tail. He was very rugged and wore clothes that resembled something like that of a bandit. I slowly rose, gripping my cloak to my naked frame. "It's alright.", I said. The man smiled and winked charmingly at me. I looked away. "I'm Mateao Zamara and you are?", he asked as he extended his hand out to me. I carefully shook his hand. "I'm Anaia St. Claire, nice to meet you.", I said. He then sat down in front of me. "So, what's a pretty girl like you doing out here all by yourself? It's not safe out here. Don’t you know that you could get yourself hurt or even kidnapped?", he asked as he ate some berries from his pouch. I sat down on my knees in front of him and sighed. "My home was destroyed and my parents were murdered. Papa always told me that if I were ever in trouble to travel to Kamari in the mountains.", I said as I stared down at my hands. The man was silent for a moment before speaking. "I see. I'm so sorry for your loss. You're unbelievably brave for traveling on your own but do you know that you're taking the long way there?", he asked. I looked up at him, shocked. "Yep, you'll add an entire day to your journey if you keep going the way you are. But, if you take the pass through the woods there, you'll be there by nightfall. Just be very careful and watch your step. That place is covered in bandit traps.", Mateao said. I stared at him for a moment. Why? Why is this perfect stranger trying to help me? He doesn't even know me. "What? Don't tell me you're falling in love with me.", he said with a goofy grin. I blinked and looked away, pouting. "No, I was just wondering why you're helping me. You don't know me.", I said. Mateao giggled and shook his head. "I have to know someone in order to help them? That sounds boring. Besides, I can tell you’re good people and you've already been through enough.", he spoke as he tossed a berry to me. I smiled slightly and gobbled the berry down. Mateao watched me closely as I did so with this strange look on his face. I made eye contact with him but he continued to stare. "What is it?", I asked. He pointed to my cloak. "Where...where did you get that cloak?", he asked.