Chapter 34: Her Prey
After witnessing a corpse falling out of a tree, Irene was more careful in her movements through the bit of the forest she stepped inside.
Certain there was nothing in front of her, she looked behind her, taking a moment to appreciate the life she was leading. Months before, her mother would have not allowed her to step foot outside of their home in such a way. Yet there she was enjoying herself in the wild and feeling like she was living a life that was meant for her.
Focus, she reminded herself. They hadn't stated that it was a competition, but seeing the others' determination sure made it feel that way.
Without a second thought, she stepped into the tree line and noticed birds grow quiet as the brown boots broke dried stems and fallen twigs. It was a relief that there were birds at all. That was her chosen prey and the deciding factor for the tree she was searching for.
There were a lot of pine trees around but what the girl wanted was something with a larger trunk so she could hide amongst the higher branches.
At the same time, she didn't want to go too deep into the forest because a good shot would be more available to her if she wasn't surrounded by trees.
Moving slowly between tree trunks, she set her eyes upon an aspen tree with a light-colored trunk that would have to work for her. It had a branch shaped like an arm that extended outwards but was decently hidden with leaves. Since the clothing she wore was mostly cream-colored and brown, she would at least blend in if she held still enough.
The girl used one of the lower knots as a step and she hoisted herself up enough that she could reach the branch she wanted to sit on. For one of the larger boys with the traveling party, they would likely reach the branch without issue but she imagined she would always have to be conscious of her height considering she would always be surrounded by men.
Once adjusted and balanced on the branch that was barely wide enough to sit sideways on top of, she pulled her legs closer to her chest and brought her bow to her knee so it was easily accessible. After hiding her red locks with her hood, she felt she was disguised enough to wait for prey.