#yoti

It was deep.

That sound of the sky and her voice.

Sarah held in her giggles as the winds rumbled and cooed along the heavy stones, the trees swaying in long groans. Music of the greenery, of the earth. That’s what her great grandmother said anyway, it was Freyda’s low throated humming that swept the forest. Sarah herself never wanted to take much stock in such whispers by the glowing coals, squatting by her aged elder and listening intently. It was better than laying in the dark, or trying to sleep while Freyda seemingly hummed.

Which to Sarah felt more like screaming as the storms flew by. 

But, the idea of something so large being able to make such a racket from humming. Well, that was unnerving. Like so many things were to the young girl. Even now as she lightheartedly bounced over a log, dwelling on the thought spooked her.

So she instead called out, “Kaleb! Kaleeeee??” Sing songy and wild haired she rapidly flicked her eyes along the trees, having to crawl over her next wooden obstacle instead of jumping. She perched on top of the bark and held her hands out from her sides, mimicking a flier as she almost lost her balance. The girl hummed, biting her lip as she felt herself wilt. Grey stormy eyes almost turning to worry when no call answered her.

Another soft hum.

“Kale..?” 

Her grandfather’s words echoed in the back of her mind, his scruffy streaked beard scratching her face as she was warned to never wander too far alone.

What if Kaleb hadn’t stormed off this way? Sarah suddenly felt small, a bob in her throat as she tucked her arms closer. She had seen her uncles shoot down large beasts that could just-

“You know there could be a snake under there, right?”

She yelped and promptly fell off the log, glancing under her once perch and scrambling back. A good sized hole was nestled under there- “C’mon Yoti seriously? You that fucking jumpy?” Wincing at the curse and now dirty from her fall Sarah shyly glanced up. Her cousin had stood to her right, now in a firm even stride across the fallen log. His not yet broad shoulders back, and frown firm as he scowled down at her. “What are you even doing out here? Poppa is gonna skin you for wandering out by yourself.”

His face set in that scowl, and hands now resting on the loops of his pants.

Sarah hummed weakly, before smiling a soft sweet smile. “I’m not by myself, you’re out here.” Her cousin blinked for a moment at that, opening his mouth before closing it again. Something swam there in his eyes, something Sarah knew meant that Kaleb wasn’t actually mad. He wasn’t actually angry when his cheeks were still so shiny, his voice wavering.   She took that moment to try and stand, still happily smiling at her much larger cousin. The mud, due to the recent storms that had the girl scared stiff, however felt no need to release her. Not fully. She slipped and landed with a wet splat, Kaleb finally looking at her again. Eyebrows shooting up, “Oh hey hold on!” Finally, he hopped off the log to tend to the small girl, helping her up and ignoring the mud on her fingers as he squatted down to her level.

“Damn honey, you got mud all over.” Sarah huffed and flicked her eyes down her skirt and promptly ignored it. Kaleb however did not, his eyebrows knitting together as the young girl wrapped an arm around his neck with a sweet giggle. “ It’s ok. I found you, that’s all that matters.” She chirped it as she snuggled close, Kaleb smelling of gunpowder and sweat. But she couldn’t care, not when one of his strong arms wrapped around her lean frame and he pressed into the hug. It always felt good to hug Kaleb, he made everything feel less scary. So for Sarah that felt like the only right thing to give him, especially when his eyes are so red rimmed and hair all knotted from him probably running his scarred fingers through it.

Sarah could maybe…Make things less scary.

Kaleb, at the grown up age of fourteen sniffed as he cuddled his eight year old cousin. Pressing his sharp nose into her sun bleached curls and gulping. They sat that way for a moment, the two of them. Sarah the usually meek minnow in Kaleb’s raging uproar of rapids. She patted his back with a small and already calloused hand, which made the boy who felt like he should already be a man clear his throat. “Ok pipsqueak c’mon, we gotta get you washed off before Gran sees you and pitches a whole nine yard,” he scooped her up very close to roughly as he stood, making the little girl gasp, “ever loving fit.” 

Sarah blinked and glanced down at her dress, a calico thing that’s barely too short for her. She had hit a growth spurt recently, something she was rather proud of. Biting her lip with a new anxiety she glanced at the boy. His earlier mood starting to flee her mind, his tearful stomp away from their Poppa. The angry embarrassed flush of his cheeks when him and the hunting party got back. “....You think she’ll…Be that mad?” Kaleb smiled his mean smile, which made Sarah rub at the dirt on her sleeve as her nerves spiked. “Oh yeah, teeth breaking horsewhipping mad.” Suddenly the dirt looked worse, darker and uglier, and Kaleb was being mean.

 Tears burned the young girl’s eyes as she bit her lip, and then the boy quickly back tracked. His eyes widening and a curt sort of guilt tugged his mouth into a frown. “Hey! No cryin! Shoot Yoti, gotta be such a worrywort all the damn time.” He adjusted his grip and began to walk, carrying the girl who turned on a dime and bared her teeth. She slapped his shoulder and sniffed, “I aint no worrywort! I don’t wanna be horsewhipped!” Her anger, much to Kaleb’s dismay, quickly melted into worried whines and a break to the last word. “No- Aw Yoti. I was messing with ya. We’ll go down to the creek bed, it should still be running a little. Get your dress scrubbed a little, yeah?” She glanced up, eyes still glassy but now intrigued. He smiled a wide smile, not his mean spirited grin but a real gentle one. That was the one he wore when he let Sarah sit in his lap when they rode their duckbill. That smile that he let slip when Sarah kissed his cheek and told him he looked handsome in his new hat.

It was the best smile. So Sarah smiled back, Kaleb’s rough thumb catching any stray tears like he didn’t even want them in his sight. Didn’t want the memory to linger more than necessary, that he made the little girl, the only one who is never really mad at him, cry. 

“Yeah! You could puddle around a little, get home quick as a raptor before Gran even knows what bit ‘er!” Soft giggles slipped from the girl as Kaleb bopped their heads, his red hair hanging in her face. 

Quick as a raptor, she couldn’t argue. Not when Kaleb was so happy, not when he was so right all the time.