“…should be all right now…”
“…not so sure.”
“We’re fine, Linus. Trust me.”
Voices slowly woke Violet from her nap. She was confused at first: her back ached, and her bed had become oddly mossy. It took her only a few seconds to realize that she was not at home, waking up from a horrible dream. It was sunset, she was deep within a forest, and two people were speaking very, very close to where she sat. Out of instinct, Violet crouched down behind her fallen log. Peering over it, she first noticed that Maple had wandered off to graze, and thus remained out of sight. The speaking strangers stood just a few feet to the left of where Violet hid. For the moment, they didn’t notice Violet’s presence.
Facing her way was a black man with thin glasses and a tight-fitting derby cap. He wore suspen
