Chapter 3: “Kerry”
Finding this cave was a stroke of good fortune.
It was dangerous to wander around for too long in monster territory, but this cave was here. It was probably fairly well-hidden, but the sharp-eyed Riley spotted it with no problem. They’d make this place their hideout for now. There was no place for these girls in the human countries, after all.
The catkin girls were originally children from a settlement. However, due to the monster territory expanding, fewer crops were being harvested and less game was hunted, so the settlement struggled to maintain itself. When the four of them learned that their families were thinking of selling them off, they ran away.
However, children would have a hard time surviving on their own. There was already little to eat around the settlement, after all. Because they were so close to monster territory, they could be attacked by vicious monsters as well. And if the people from the settlement found them, they’d be dragged back and, this time, sold off somewhere.
The oldest, Kerry, desperately escaped with her three childhood friends.
They ran to the next settlement, hid until it seemed like they wouldn’t be found, then scavenged for food from the fields. They waited until after dark and snuck into a house near the outskirts of the settlement. All they had were the clothes on their backs, and if it were any colder they might have all perished. They needed warmer clothing. While searching the kitchen for salt, the youngest, Marion, happened to find a pile of laundry. That would be worth taking.
Then the house’s owner woke up. They were discovered. If they didn’t run, they’d be sold off. The second youngest, Remy, got caught. There’s no way they could run now. Marion threw the laundry at them, completely covering their face. They let go of Remy. It was now or never. If this person wasn’t silenced, the girls would be caught and sold. She grabbed a knife that was nearby. The person had crouched down while getting the clothes off their face; she stabbed them in the back of the neck. She was shocked at how far it went in. After jerking back, they fell to the ground flailing, then didn’t get back up.
She felt no guilt. Only relief. All four of them felt that way.
The second oldest, Riley, found a whetstone. She always had sharp eyes. The knife was used to cook dinner, and had probably just been sharpened. That’s why it slid in so easily. How lucky. For them, at least.