Page 13 (2/2)

I lie onernails that are beginning to chip off Good I&039;ve had enough fire for a lifetime

I bathe the blood and ash from my face I try to recall all I know about burns They are common injuries in the Seam where we cook and heat our homes with coal Then there are thewith my mother to help hi the miners had written him off, told the family to take him home to die But they wouldn&039;t accept this He lay on our kitchen table, senseless to the world I got a gli, charred flesh, burned clear down to the bone, before I ran from the house I went to the woods and hunted the entire day, haunted by the grueso, memories of my father&039;s death What&039;s funny was, Prim, who&039;s scared of her own shadow, stayed and helped My mother says healers are born, not made They did their best, but the man died, just like the doctor said he would

My leg is in need of attention, but I still can&039;t look at it What if it&039;s as bad as the man&039;s and I can seethat if a burn&039;s severe, the victiht not even feel pain because the nerves would be destroyed Encouraged by this, I sit up and swing ht of my calf The flesh is a brilliant red covered with blisters I forcequite certain the cameras are on my face I can&039;t shoeakness at this injury Not if I want help Pity does not get you aid Adive in does I cut the re off at the knee and examine the injury more closely The burned area is about the size of my hand None of the skin is blackened I think it&039;s not too bad to soak Gingerly I stretch outthe heel of et too sodden, and sigh, because this does offer some relief I know there are herbs, if I could find the, but I can&039;t quite call them to mind Water and time will probably be all I have to ith

Should I bebut still too heavy to be healthy If I do continue away froht into the weapons of the Careers? Besides, every ti from the water, the pain rebounds so intensely I have to slide it back in My hands are slightly less de They can handle sear back in order First I fill h tiin to rehydrate my body After a time, I force myself to nibble on a cracker, which helps settleExcept for a few black marks, it&039;s relatively unscathed My jacket&039;s anotherand scorched, at least a foot of the back beyond repair I cut off the daarment that comes just to the bottom of my ribs But the hood&039;s intact and it&039;s far better than nothing

Despite the pain, drowsiness begins to take over I&039;d take to a tree and try to rest, except I&039;d be too easy to spot Besides, abandoning e my supplies, even settle my pack on my shoulders, but I can&039;t seem to leave I spot some water plants with edible roots and make a small meal with my last piece of rabbit Sip water Watch the sun o anyway that is any safer than here? I lean back on my pack, overcome by drowsiness If the Careers wantinto a stupor Let them find me

And find me, they do It&039;s lucky I&039;m ready to move on because when I hear the feet, I have less than a un to fall Theacross the pool, flying into the underbrush My leg slows me down, but I sense my pursuers are not as speedy as they were before the fire, either I hear their coughs, their raspy voices calling to one another

Still, they are closing in, just like a pack of wild dogs, and so I do what I have done h tree and begin to cli because it requires not only exertion but direct contact of h, and by the time they&039;ve reached the base of my trunk, I&039;m twenty feet up For a moment, we stop and survey one another I hope they can&039;t hear the pounding of my heart

This could be it, I think What chance do I have against them? All six are there, the five Careers and Peeta, and my only consolation is they&039;re pretty beat-up, too Even so, look at their weapons Look at their faces, grinning and snarling at me, a sure kill above theisters They&039;re bigger and stronger than I am, no doubt, but they&039;re also heavier There&039;s a reason it&039;s hest fruit, or rob the h at least fifty or sixty pounds less than the smallest Career

Now I s with you?" I call down cheerfully

This takes them aback, but I know the croill love it

"Well enough," says the boy from District 2 "Yourself?"

"It&039;s been a bit warhter from the Capitol "The air&039;s better up here Why don&039;t you come on up?"

"Think I will," says the sairl from District 1, and she offers him the silver bow and sheath of arrows My bow! My arrows! Just the sight of thery I want to screathem I try to make eye contact with hiaze as he polishes his knife with the edge of his shirt

"No," says Cato, pushing away the bow "I&039;ll do better with my sword" I can see the weapon, a short, heavy blade at his belt

I give Cato tiain Gale always says I remind him of a squirrel the way I can scurry up even the slenderest liht, but part of it&039;s practice You have to knohere to place your hands and feet I&039;m another thirty feet in the air when I hear the crack and look down to see Cato flailing as he and a branch go down He hits the ground hard and I&039;ets back to his feet, swearing like a fiend

The girl with the arrows, Glih, the naive their children are so ridiculous - anyway Gliin to crack under her feet and then has the good sense to stop I&039;h now She tries to shoot me and it&039;s immediately evident that she&039;s incoed in the tree near ly above her head, as if this was the sole purpose of retrieving it, when actually I et the chance I could kill them, everyone of them, if those silver weapons were in round and I can hear the theht has arrived and theirof attack onFinally, I hear Peeta say harshly, "Oh, let her stay up there It&039;s not like she&039;s going anywhere We&039;ll deal with her in theI&039;one, leaving me to feel the full potency of my burns I scoot down to a fork in the tree and clu bed Belt &039;s toomy calf out in the open air I drizzle water on the wound, one I&039; ht, ill theto willdown for the night, singing lullabies to their young Night creatures eh the s tree - a possuht from the Careers&039; torches Suddenly, I&039;m up on one elbow Those are no possulassy reflection too well In fact, those are not aniht, Ime silently fro has she been here? The whole time probably Still and unobserved as the action unfolded beneath her Perhaps she headed up her tree shortly before I did, hearing the pack was so close

For a while we hold each other&039;s gaze Then, without even rustling a leaf, her little hand slides into the open and points to so above my head