Page 51 of Haze of Obedience

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"You are."

"Can we not do this?"

"Do what?"

"Stop asking me questions." She sniffles.

I hesitate, but finally, remove my hands. "Go sit down and I'll make dinner."

She closes her eyes and exhales hard. "Fine."

It doesn't take long before the fire is burning bright. I deskin the snake near the river, throwing the meat into the bag and tossing the remains far out into the current. I wash my hands and knife then sit next to Zoe.

I get out my seasoning and toss it into the bag and shake it up.

Zoe is rocking back and forth with her arms around her knees and tapping her fingers on the sides of her legs.

"What's going on, my Little Diva?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing."

She taps her fingers quicker.

"You hungry?"

She grimaces at the snake then turns away.

I wrap it around a stick and lay it over the fire. "You really have something against snakes, don't you?" I try to tease her, but it comes out flat.

She won't look at me, and I'm not sure why. I decide not to push her and pull the bag of items I bought for her at the store out of my sack.

I unwrap a slippery elm lozenge and place it next to her lips. "Take this."

She turns. "What is it?"

"The slippery elm."

"I didn't get to look at the ingredients. What's in it?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

She scrunches her forehead and continues to rock.

"Zoe, take it. It should help your throat."

She takes it but doesn't put it in her mouth. She drops her head into her knees.

I scoot closer and put my arm around her back, and she freezes. "Besides being an ass earlier, did I do something to hurt you?"

She slowly shakes her head. "No."

I tug her closer to me. "Want to tell me what is going on?"

"I don't know why this is happening right now," she whispers.

"What's that?"

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