Chapter 114

An awkward silence fell between everyone, deep enough for the sounds of the forest to gain strength in my ears again. Richie had not said it as a joke, but in a very serious tone, and he did not add anything else after that; he just limited himself to carrying the heavy deer that he had hunted alone on his shoulder once again. We didn’t have much else to do in that place, so we followed suit and, after collecting the remaining prey, we returned to the village to change our fur and clean the wild meat in Richie’s shed.

I let Chris, Richie, and old Ivan walk ahead a little, chatting quietly, and I stayed further back with Sebastian. I cleared my throat, to say:

“So you’re not courting Hilda? Because, the truth—”

He didn’t remember anything conclusive, but while he had the cast on his leg they had hit it off and continued to get along very well, even though Hilda had returned to her brothers’ cabin. Sebastian was very protective of all women, but when he addressed Hil