[color=D6CC88]With her decision to stay with the group for now made, Amuné paid the rest of them a little more attention.  It looked like they were getting ready to move again.  Ethan suggested she be in the middle of the group, but while it might have made sense to him it was the very last thing she wanted.  If he wanted to watch her then [i]he[/i] would walk with [i]her[/i] -- after all, Wyth was very good at watching her and keeping her safe.  She didn't think of the wilderness as frightening, but the people, they were.  Most of the group didn't even consider that a girl of ten couldn't walk as fast as they, not even Adrian.  She had to push herself to keep up, and even then she ended up lagging behind.  It was just as well.  With most of the adults in front of her she could see what they were doing, and that was reassuring.  The Ydran woman with the black leopard had moved off somewhere, and that was fine with Amuné.  She hadn't decided about most of them.  Ethan was closer, maybe closer than she wanted.  But she did need to thank him, didn't she?

"Um."  It took a second try before she managed to find her nerve.  "Uh, thanks...for the meat, I mean, and...y'know.  For saying you'd help.  Even if Wyth wouldn't hurt me, I guess you don't know that."  She paused.  "He's really not scary, you know.  I mean...not if you're not trying to hurt us."  Even now the great cat paced at her side, tolerant as ever of her fingers tangled in his coarse fur.  Amuné fell silent again after that at least for a few minutes.  Her thoughts, however, were anything but quiet.  One of the people had said there was a beach, hadn't he?  So that meant a body of water.  Could she have made it all the way to the sea?  That was a long way from home, according to her daddy's maps.  Was it far enough to be safe?  She didn't know if anywhere would really be safe.  Nor had she been given any instructions beyond running.  Tears sprang to her eyes unbidden and the girl tried to wipe them away unobtrusively.  One step at a time, wasn't that what Mommy always said?  For now, she was heading for the town, and if she could she'd take flint and steel before going off on her own again.  After that...she'd have to see.[/color]