Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Untitled

She dashes back into the room and grabs the book from the chair, where it still lay discarded.  “Finally it is going to provide some real entertainment,” she thinks.  Ayden goes to the door and tries the knob.  It opens easily.  She pulls the door carefully open and pokes her head into the hall.  The hall is deserted.  She looks to the staircase Master Hunter used when they came in last night.  It is halfway down the hall.  She chews on her lip trying to decide if she can make it.  She makes one more quick check of the hall and pulls the door closed on the book, wedging it in so the door will appear closed but will not lock her out.  She dashes for the stairs.  They are empty.  She carefully creeps down step by step to the ground level.  When she reaches the first floor she remembers the commotion outside with the grape vats and almost turns back to her room, but she hears voices behind her and knows there is no turning back.

She takes a deep breath and whispers, “Ayden what is wrong with you?  You can do this.  It is just a fruit tree in a garden and you are going straight back to the room.”

She opens the back door of the Inn slowly and looks around.  The vats are empty and there is no sign of any workers in the fields.  She can hear loud voices and laughter coming from within the inn.  Somewhere inside it sounds like a large crowd having a party.

She ventures out into the sunshine, a small taste of freedom.  She tugs at the bottom of her shirt feeling self-conscious about it now that they are off the beach.  Timidly she moves to the end of the inn.  As she rounds the corner the tree comes into sight.  “All most there, Ayden,” she tells herself.  Reaching the front of the inn is easy and she peers up and down the drive to be sure no one is around.  She is surprised how uneasy she feels just walking around outside alone.  It makes her feel a little silly to be so insecure.

She darts across the drive and finally reaches the shade of the tree.