Wander || Chapter 66

The cold water was a welcome sensation on Jude's bare skin. Unable to sleep, he had crept as quickly and quietly as a giant could out to the lake. Cicadas, crickets, and various nocturnal creatures created the soundtrack as he waded into the deep. 

So many thoughts racing through his head. 

He was getting married. Pen was pregnant with his child. Idina's contacts were going to spread the word in Bergen. He would serve twenty years in prison if he was caught. They had to get people to come out of fear; he knew the economy had been suffering ever since segregation laws went into increasing severity. But the government didn’t seem to care. 

Jude put back on his flannel pants and wiped his face clear of excess water. He sat on the bank and looked up at the stars. 

I swear I'm going to make everything right. 

~~~~~

Kanna's unease had grown to the extent where without speech or explanation, she'd taken a step in accepting some comfort. She and Penelope had fallen asleep in each-other's arms, like sisters would after a long night of talking about the world.

The night ended and the day of reckoning began with the soft light of the sun drifting dead through the trees, too faded to be counted as true, pure sunlight. The caravan started to come to life.

The smell of cornbread woke Jude up. But not even food could rouse Adrian this morning. 

"Why the hell do we even have to get up so early every single day? I'm sleeping in, dammit." He mumbled angrily in reply when Jude shook his shoulder. And that was that. 

Jude lightly trailed a finger down Penelope's blanket-covered form, then lifted the flap of the tent to exit and get started on the day. He wanted to gather as much intel as he could about Bergen's social lineup before making any kind of strategy.

Outside now, Jude was getting to know a handful of the gypsies. A familiar face surfaced: that little boy from last night was helping his father carry water to the horses. Jude waved. 

"You know I was just in ol' Berg last month. Barely recognize the place." A weather middle-aged craftsman shook his head, sitting in his place amongst men of similar trade, whittling away at blocks of cedar. 

"What do you mean?" Jude pried, crouching down several yard away. He assumed his presence could not possibly be a surprise, seeing as they would have seen him coming from over a mile away. The man with a hoop in one ear shrugged sadly.

"Unless you inherit a fortune, you can't afford much much of anything there any more. Complete segregation, just about, too. Makes keeping business like we used to a thing of the past."

Kanna roused as well upon Jude's awakening, mostly due to the rumbling through the ground of his steps. She sat up in bed and recovered Pen, who snuggled into the warmth of the blankets before Kanna quickly changed, eyes darting back to Adrian's large body in her line of vision. Something about her conversation with Pen the previous night had clicked. A softness found her eyes and inexplicably, she found her feet trekking the vast length of his body to find his head. 

"Adrian," She spoke in a gentle yet loud tone "It's time to get up now."

“Nnmm. Why?" He growled into his pillow and desperately held his comfortable position. 

With a fond tilt of the head, Kanna advanced and approached the lazy giant's head, laying her hand atop the crown of his head from where she stood at the top of his body on Adrian's pillow.

"We've got work to do." She ran her hands slowly through small sections of hair and smiled. “No doubt Jude has gone off to go make some breakfast for you both. You're hungry, aren't you?"

Nearly a minute stretched out with no response from the giant. 

"That feels good." Adrian mumbled. She had almost suspected him of ignoring her and falling asleep again. Lush green eyes fluttered open. A sleepy smiled tugged at his lips when the tiny woman came into focus. 

"I could get used to this kind of wake-up call."

Kanna had to admit that Adrian looked almost cute like this and a certain sweetness claimed the woman's features. She gave gave him an affectionate tap on the nose and smiled.

"I suppose this could become a routine."

He closed his eyes again and smiled, pleased by her response. For a minute more, he luxuriated in her undivided attention in the blessed stillness of the tent. Then, with a quiet (to a giant) moan of complaint, Adrian sat up.

"Mmph... What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and examining the light coming into the tent. After a quick look at the miniature pocket watch she wore as a necklace, Kanna craned her neck to look up at him.

"Nearly eight o'clock now." She answered and stowed the small watch in her blouse.

He shook his head and muttered something about how creation shouldn't wake until after nine. Adrian stretched out his arms over his head and scratched his whiskery chin. 

"Does smell like he's cooking... You, uh, slept okay?" He returned a more alert gaze to Kanna as he reached by his pillow for a shirt.

The school teacher nodded and stood up with the practiced grace of a geisha before descending his pillow. Kanna approached her bag and groped around inside before procuring a hairbrush.

"Very well, actually."

She glanced downward and smiled demurely, a dusting of pink on her cheeks as she slowly ran the teeth of the brush through her hair.

Grogginess clouded his inhibitions to an extent, Adrian didn't try to hide his lingering gaze on her.

Kanna sitting in his lap, running his fingers through her long black hair- like a thousand of individual strands of silk.

"Adrian..." 

His heart fluttered at the images that flashed through his mind, but he quickly busied himself with getting his razor, soap, and a washcloth out of his bag and setting them aside for later use that morning. 

"I didn't think I'd still be here right now." His face was stoic, looking towards the entrance of the tent contemplatively. "I don't regret coming, don't get me wrong. But I never thought it would get this big."

Kanna finished brushing knots from her long silken locks and set her brush away in her bag again. She looked upon Adrian's thoughtful countenance, none of his large expression lost upon eyes that could not help but see every small detail. 

"I never assumed I would ever be involved with any of this but..." She rose again and remained where she stood, fondness shyly surfacing in her chocolate eyes. "...The most unexpected things can the best things, I find."

His eyes flicked over to her, crinkling at the corners. Beside his growling stomach, Adrian felt a foreign peace waking up beside her. He didn't know why. Maybe her calm demeanor was contagious. He lowered his gaze as he stood up and held open the tent flap for her. 

"Come on, let's leave her for her fiancé." Adrian tilted his head to indicate Penelope. 

Kanna smiled and headed out of the tent when Adrian opened the flap for her, giving him the benefit of a benevolent expression.

"You may...you may carry me, if you'd like to." She she pushed loose hair out of her eyes and glanced up toward him. 

Pen continued slumbering away.

Adrian followed Kanna out and promptly crouched down, reaching for her. 

"I thought you'd be sick of it by now." 

He didn't ask before he wrapped his hand around her, but the obvious care in the way his hand closed around her body made up for that. Adrian marveled once more at how she didn't even take up his entire palm before standing again. Jude was talking to an elderly couple and some type of voodoo mama over by the gypsy camp, but he had left a pot over a healthy fire near their tent. The smoke made Adrian's eyes water, so he sat on the other side... Only to have the breeze change direction.

Kanna pulled a white lace edged handkerchief from her pocket and placed it in front of her mouth and nose to block out the smoke.

"Honestly..." She gave a small cough.

Amir exited one of the wagons with Devon close behind, who was fixing his bowtie and had his spectacles folded neatly in his shirt pocket. The gypsy male spoke with a few women and managed to procure two bowls of oatmeal for the both of them before glancing around.

"Pen's still not up? Christ, she has to be the laziest woman alive."

"Seriously?" He glared at the fire, as if intimidating it into submission. He cupped a hand like a semi-dome behind her to block the smoke. He scooted to the left on the uprooted tree. After peering into the tent, Jude approached them.

"Morning." 

"Hey." Adrian greeted. He set Kanna on the seat beside him so he could help himself to a metal bowl of the bubbling soup. "You got any tiny bowls?" 

Jude pursed his lips at Kanna. "Actually, no. Pen brought her own.." 

He trailed off, promptly ducking into the tent. He clutched two doll-sized bowls in his fist when he reappeared. 

"Here." said Jude. Adrian received a tiny plastic bowl into his waiting hand. "Pen won't mind if we steal a couple." 

Jude dipped the other bowl into a full ladle and wiped off the mess that ran down the sides of the bowl. 

"The breakfast in bed card, huh? Nice." Adrian smiled knowingly. 

Jude flashed them a smile. "Be right back."

Adrian smiled and shook his head, then filled up the tiny bowl for Kanna. After handing it down to her, he quickly licked the fingers he had used to wipe the soup off the sides. 

"Mmm, I think there's onions in there."

Kanna received the bowl of soup and took a drink from the rim, testing the temperature with her dainty lips. She wore no make up at present and the lines of exhaustion beneath her eyes seemed more permanent, more prominent. She set her bowl down in her lap and waited for her food to cool enough to eat.

"Onions, certainly. Potentially cumin as well."

Goodness, talking to giants when sitting several stories below their faces could be hard on the neck... Kanna's head turned nearly straight up just to attempt to find his face.

"Mmm..." A sigh of noise of satisfaction came from above. Adrian swallowed a large bite and savored the heat streaming down his throat. "Yeah, definitely..." He scrutinized her upturned face. 

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" The question was casual enough, but he frowned at his soup as he spooned another broth-saturated carrot into his mouth.

"I'm alright." She glanced back at her own bowl.

I love you.

The words would not come so she trusted that they would know when the time was right on their own. Lifting her bowl, she gently blew on the contents before tipping the vessel back to consume a bit of soup. Kanna could feel the beginnings of a cold in her throat but it was hardly enough to keep her down. The soup worked magic to warm her insides and sooth her throat somewhat but there was no denying that she was getting a bit sick. No need to worry about a trivial cold for now.

Ade observed her with apprehension, but returned to his food alongside her. Devon said she had a weak immune system. She'd tell me if she was really sick... Right?

Within the tent, Pen had wrapped herself up into a blanket burrito, head covered and everything.

"Come on..." Jude shook Penelope's bag side to side, trying to get the proper silverware to reveal itself. He couldn't for more than two fingers inside the opening, but he managed to drag out two forks, a bulky skirt, and finally- a spoon. He repacked her bag and delicately released the minuscule piece of metal into the soup.

Freaking finally. This whole 'breakfast in bed thing is harder than I thought. 

"Dear God, girl..." His heart throbbed at the sight of the tiny bundle that was his future wife. He picked her up, blankets and all. 

"You are the cutest lump in the morning, I hope you know." He smiled and slid a couple fingers under the cover to untangle it from her. "Pen... Come on, I made you breakfast and everything." He laughed gently.

The lump of pregnant cleric gave a grunt before the scent of food hit her. A bushy mass of auburn hair presented itself in a thicket of tangles and a pair of veiled, bleary eyes dizzily found Jude’s.

"Mmnph."

Jude kissed the top of her mussed head and held her against his cheek. 

"Getting nippy outside." He put her down next to the inviting bowl of soup, hand retreating back to his lap. His eyes wandered while she started eating, catching on what looked like a folded white sheet sticking out from her things. 

"Is this my handkerchief?" He held up, smiling widely as the memory flashed through his mind. "I can't believe you kept this thing.."

"What, you think I wouldn't?"

Pen yawned but there was a tired smile in her sleep slurred words. She rubbed her eyes and woke up a little bit more before attempting to eat something. After a few bites, she spoke up again.

"You so generously gave that to me. It's special."

Jude shrugged, laying it aside. "Never really thought much about it." 

He readjusted himself to a more comfortable position on the ground. 

"I talked to Idina and some of the elders. They sent scouts out to Bergen an hour ago. They're keeping a low profile for now, finding some contacts in the underground, she says."

Pen scooped more wildly flavoured soup into her mouth and savoured the perfection of well made food. She gestured with an empty spoon positively

"That's a good idea, actually."

She took another few bites of soup and swallowed them down

"Get us a strong base and then we can build."

He nodded. "It's going to be slow growth, as far I can tell. After we get their report, we'll start spreading the word and see who the vocal are." He paused, a perplexed frown crossing his face. "... You don't have morning sickness, do you? I thought that came, uhm, later." 

The clinking of spoon against metal bowl intermixed with the sounds of birds chirping, leaves rustling, and Kanna and Adrian talking Indistinctly outside.

Pen let out a small laugh before endeavoring to reassured her future husband and father of her child that everything was fine

"I'm not going to start getting snippy and pukey for a little bit yet. Don't worry."

"..Right." He gave her a sheepish expression and leaned on his arm nearest her, eyes fixed downward at her small pajama-clad figure. "Anything else I should know? I thought it was pretty straight-forward after the bumpy part." 

"Pregnancy is both straightforward and incredibly complicated."

Pen explained then downed the rest of her soup, thoroughly starved. 

"No woman's experience will be the same but there's enough similarities to give me an indication that this is not gonna be a super fun road."

During a moment of silence in between exchanged words, Kanna placed her hand over her mouth and stifled a cough. Although the cough was slight, Adrian looked at her as if she had uttered a death sentence. His words died on his tongue, forgotten.

Another round of coughs loosed themselves and she had to pause once they'd ceased to catch her breath, though she downplayed absolutely everything. Kanna glanced up toward Adrian's panicked expression and she sighed

"There's no need to look like that, I just had a sudden cough. I'm fine."

Adrian set his empty bowl on the ground. 

"Devon... May have told me that your health history isn't the strongest." 

He explained the origin of his heightened concern. Adrian searched her face, making note of the dark circles on her eyes, trying to find any early signs of something serious. Maybe she was right; it was just a cold. 

"Do you wanna sit in my lap or something? You're going to get a crick in your neck if you keep that up.”

Kanna's jaw clenched and she lifted it up a fraction, pride taking control

"I'm perfectly fine, Adrian. Stop worrying."

The moment those very words had left the woman's mouth, a fresh round of coughing assaulted her throat and lungs. Still, she insisted- “It's nothing, I'm alright."

Adrian's eyes narrowed. He took offense that she would dare to lie to him about her health. 

"Bullshit." He plucked her off the of and held her in front of his face in an open palm. 

“I don't know what you think you're proving to yourself by pretending you're okay." He looked her right in the eyes. "It's not worth it."

“Adrian, put me down." Having found herself abruptly in the air and directly before a giant's stern face, Kanna felt herself stiffen. "I'm fine. There is no need for any of this."

"No." Adrian refused to relent on her position. One benefit of her being human-sized was that her resistance could be easily controlled. He liked being in control; it was completely opposite of what he had experienced during Verity's wretched struggle with heath. 

"Kanna, those were not cute little coughs. It sounds like a lung issue. Are you seriously going to sit around until it becomes full-blown pneumonia?"

"I..." She paused and tried to formulate a rebuke, fisting her hands by her sides.

"There isn't time for this. I'll be alright. It's nothing but a cold. I'd....I'd slow everyone else down when they need to expend energy elsewhere." Kanna drew in a deep breath and gave Adrian an intense look. "Now put me down! I'll be fine, for heaven's sakes!"

She could feel the unpleasant scratch of a cough in her throat and she resisted it. Adrian fixed her with a hard look. 

~~~

Penelope stood up, walked towards Jude's arm and sat down against it.

"The benefits out-weigh everything else."

"I'll be with you every step of the way. Even when the pukey-cranky parts." 

He nudged her playfully with his knuckle, a bright smile sealing his promise. Pen laughed and turned her face so that her cheek could nuzzle Jude's arm

"I'm seriously sorry in advance for that. It's gonna suck."

"It's not forever." Jude shrugged. "I think I can tolerate a grumpy Pen for a couple months. Besides... If you get out of hand, I can always drop you into my pocket for a few hours." 

He shot her a rascally grin. Pen gave Jude's immense arm a punch, confident that it would have no more effect than a poke.

"Sorry to disappoint but I don't think there's many places that can hold this girl very long." She giggled and shuffled closer to her fiancé's torso.

"I can think of a few places." Jude's voice dropped into a velvety decibel. 

He saved her the trouble of climbing his shirt and laid beside her, gathering her close to him. Pen giggled and snuggled up to Jude's chest, placed both hands where she could reach.

"Is that an invitation?" She smirked coyly, tone entirely suggestive.

"Absolutely." 

The thought of how he loved her laugh trickled through his mind. Jude rested his arm behind her, urging her hands to wander elsewhere on his body.

"Aw, that's sweet." Adrian appeared in the entrance to the tent. Jude leaned away to look at him, wearing a disgruntled expression. 

"What do you want?" He kept his arm around Pen in an effort to hopefully salvage the moment so after the interruption. 

"You two can go back to having fun. I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading into town. Kanna's under the weather and asked me to take her to a doctor." Adrian smiled calmly, completely concealing Kanna's objections within his fist. 

Jude sat up a little, frowning. "I had no idea she was sick."

"It's not too serious yet. But she knows how important it is to nip these things in the bud." He clicked his tongue. Jude exchanged a glance with Pen. 

"Give her my best wishes." He said sympathetically.

Kanna struggled futilely in Adrian's constricted fist, arms jerking about and legs moving as well. I am going to murder him for this! Her objections only wound up causing her to cough furiously, lungs inflamed. She felt dizzy from her exertion and her world spun but she kept struggling stubbornly.

Pen gave a similar nod of empathy and smiled up toward Adrian, silently wishing for him to hurry along so that she might continue her moment along with her fiancé.

"Hope she feels better."

She traced circles over Jude's chest, waiting for Adrian to vacate.

An oddly perky smile tugged at Adrian’s full lips.

"I'll pass it along." He promised as he ducked out of the tent.