Born 01 - Born

walks up to me. She looks older, maybe thirty. She's dressed in a long gathered skirt and a blouse. She's pretty in a simple way. She looks at Meg and smiles in a motherly way. "We need to get you cleaned up and get some food in that belly. You look like you must be starved." She looks at the man next to me. "Watch him for me while I get her taken care of?"
    The man nods and kneels next to the boy who is shrieking and hugging my huge wolf. Leo pants, contented.
    "His name is Leo. Be careful. Okay, Andy?" The man puts a hand out for Leo to sniff.
    Meg gives me a pleading look as she is dragged off. I want to reach for her but I don't. The woman with the brown hair has dark doe eyes that instantly make me comfortable.
    I look around and notice that there are fires everywhere. Small tents line the forest and lean-tos are staggered amongst them. I've never seen anything like it. Clothes hang from lines in the trees. The canopy provides the perfect shelter. I feel like I've entered a sacred site. Everyone is bustling about, as if on a mission.
    "This is like the Shire," I mutter.
    "You've read The Hobbit?" he almost sounds like he's whispering.
    My neck almost snaps as I look back at him. "Yes. Have you?"
    He nods and pats Leo once more.
    "Wolfie, wolfie, wolfie." The white-haired angel cries into Leo's dark fur. Leo looks done with the hug. He struggles to escape.
    "He's done," I warn.
    The man pulls him off, making the boy make an ungodly noise. "Nooooo, Will. I wanna hug the wolfie. I wanna wolfie. Miiiiine."
    I gasp, "Will?" The eyes and the smile. He looks almost exactly like they do. "Anna and Jake's brother Will?"
    His face drops. "Anna and Jake? My brother and sister?"
    I nod.
    His face grows savage. He lets go of the boy and grips my arms harshly. He shouts into my face. "Where are they?"
    I point. "I thought they were here."
    Leo doesn’t like the struggle going on. He leaps in between us and knocks Will to the ground.
    He has him by the scruff of his shirt and is making a noise I've never heard before.
    "Leo."
    He ignores me. I sit on the ground and make a whistle sound. He tugs once more on the shirt and backs away. He turns and saunters to me. He's overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed. He curls up in my lap. I stroke his ears. He trembles.
    Will stands up and walks to me. Leo growls and snarls in my lap. I look up at Will. "I wouldn’t move if I were you."
    His dark eyes play in the dim light of dusk. "They're alive?"
    I nod. "Last time I saw them."
    His jaw tenses.
    I turn to see a ruggedly handsome man walking up to where we are. "Will, I need to go over some things with you."
    The white-haired boy sees the man and starts his tirade all over again. He is stamping his feet and pointing at Leo, who trembles. I wrap my arms around him and glare at the young boy. I hate children.
    "Stop that, you little brat. You'll get us all killed." I hiss at him. The noise will no doubt draw the others or worse.
    Will laughs at me, but his expression is lost.
    Meg walks up to me in a clean dress with patches. Her hair is slicked back and wet. Her face is stark without the film of dirt she has been covered in since I met her. She is holding a platter of sorts covered in meat and something white.
    "Em, thith ith cheeth. You have to have thum." Her mouth is near bursting as she speaks. I grimace watching her stuff her gourd, as my Granny always said.
    She sits beside Leo and me. He raises his face instantly and starts eating from her plate. She doesn’t even bother to fight him for her food. I suspect she brought it to share with him. His body vibrates as his jaw reaches for the food.
    The man beside Will has picked the boy up. He's crying and reaching for the brown-haired lady with the doe eyes.
    "You little monkey." She twirls him around. She loves him so much. I can see it on her face. I think she loves everyone in the whole world.
    Meg sits cross-legged with her skirt hiked up. I laugh seeing her tanned legs and underwear.
    The dark-haired lady scowls."Megan, sit like a lady."
    Meg looks up with a drumstick of a bird hanging from her lips. Leo makes the same face with a large chunk of dark meat.
    Will bursts into fits of laughter.
    Meg frowns at me. "Wha…?"
    I shake my head. "Nothing." She brings levity that no one can resist.
    "I can see your undergarments, Megan."
    Meg looks up at the dark haired lady and frowns. "Then give me back my pants. Or stop looking."
    I snicker at her saucy ways.
    The doe eyed lady frowns. "Those