[center]Scarecrow Jack Tatum[/center]




"Hey, I –" Jack barely got a word out before the Indian had disappeared into the darkness.

He looked at Owana.  She looked back at him, eyes large and round.  Jack held still, fearing that if he moved suddenly, the girl would panic and run.

"Owana?"  He said softly.  She may have nodded slightly.  He noticed she gripped that knife just like her daddy did.  Capably.

"Nice to meet you, Owana. I'm Jack.  I’m not sure how much you can understand me, but your daddy kind of put us in a pickle here.  Can you tell me something about this 'wolf'?  Or the evil men your daddy talked about?"

The girl stared back silently.

"Hm."  Jack scratched his head and thought.  Jack liked youngsters well enough, but he wasn't much a one for taking care of them.  He considered for a moment trying to find out where the girl lived and getting her back home, but the man had said "protect" in a way that had some force behind it.  It probably wasn't a geas, but it was important.  He'd have to keep the girl with her, at least for now.

"Well, maybe that's a discussion best left for the morning. Tell you what: let's take care of the basics of life first, and then when the sun is up we can see how things look.  Chances are, things won't look so bad when she's over the horizon."

He got up slowly and pulled his blanket off the ground.  She watched, eyes large and inscrutable.

"Here's a blanket if you’d like to use it.  I'm fine with my coat."  He walked partway around the fire, dropped the blanket, and returned to where he'd been sitting. He got his canteen and a spare hunk of bread and set them over there, too.

"And some food and water for you."  Owana didn't move.  She just sat and stared.  Jack smiled and gestured at the stash.  "Even the bravest of the brave need to eat and drink.  Tell you what: while you figger out what you want to do, I'll sing us a song…"