Theo (need a title any suggestions?)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve
I should be excited, people. Instead I have an overwhelming urge to hide. I step off the road and hide in the bushes. It doesn’t take long for them to come into view.
Three of the ugliest men I have seen and their horses were uglier than they are. I gag at the smell as they come closer. I’m surprised I didn’t smell them earlier. The men appear, as they haven’t taken a bath in a very long time. Their beards are shaggy and haven’t been trimmed in a while. Their skin looks like they have been rolling in the dirt. The horses are so skinny you can count their ribs sticking out and they are a putrid gray color except for the horse being led by the last man. It is the most gorgeous white horse; even on the dusty trail there isn’t a peck of dirt on it. The horses’ head is drooping, and he is shuffling along. There is a large bag draped over the horse and tied with so many ropes it would appear that they don’t want that bag going anywhere.
As the horse passes my hiding spot it looks at me and whines. “Please shut up and don’t look at me.” I whisper. The horse’s eyes are haunting and begging me to help.
The man leading it jerks on the reigns, the horse drops it head and follows. If it were a person I swear it sighed. The horse balks after a few feet, stops, lifts its head and looks back at me. Our eyes meet and hold. I get a glimpse of a powerful horse and a mighty rider. “Alright, I don’t know what I can do but I’ll try to help. Please, behave yourself.” I beg the horse with my eyes. I hope he gets the message and behaves itself.”
“Come on stupid horse, get moving!” The man jerks the reigns the horse follows.
I have to help but I have no idea what to do. I carefully pick my way through the brush and follow. Every so often the horse turns its head to make sure that I am there. “Voice in my head where are you? I could use some advice right now.” I whisper. No voice answers back.
I follow all morning and into the afternoon. As the sun beats down on my head and I slip from bush to bush I begin to wonder exactly what I am doing. What is making me follow this horse? No horse is worth getting caught by those men, not even one as beautiful as this one. I know something isn’t right but what can I do? There are three men and one of me.
“Snap.” A branch breaks under my foot. I stop daydreaming and freeze. How could I have been so stupid not to watch where I was going? I slump down as small as I can get.
The men stop. “What was that?” ask the man in the lead.
“I didn’t hear anything?”
“I did so go and check it out.”
“Why do I have to check it out?” whines the second man.
“Because I’m the leader and he has the horse, now get moving.” Barks the lead man.
The man grumbles as he climbs down. “I always get the dirty work, go check it out yourself is what I should tell him but he’s the boss.”
“I wish I was invisible.” I whisper over and over again. The man is getting closer; I can smell the stink of unwashed body.
Very faintly in the back of my head I hear, “you don’t know invisibility, try something easier like a rock.” Then the voice abruptly shuts off.
“If you don’t have something nice to say, shut up. Can’t you see I’m invisible.” Why am I arguing with a voice?
“Rock.”
I curl up in a ball making myself as small as I can. “I’m a rock,” I whisper as I picture myself as a rock.
“There’s nothing her boss except a few large rock. The man pushes aside the bushes and looks right at my spot.
I hold my breath; he is only a few feet away from me. “I am a rock, a strong, unmoving rock, I am a rock.” I keep chanting that over and over again in my head.
“Your just jumpy boss, there isn’t anything here, you must have imagined the noise.” The man let’s the bush snap back into place and walks back to his horse.
“You might be right, I am a little jumpy, this cargo is priceless.” The leader admits.
The third man laughs. “What do you think they are going to do? Fight all three of us with magic to help them? If that were the case they would have done it already.”
“You might not believe in magic,” grumbles the first man. “You can laugh at me all you want but there is something about this situation that isn’t right and I don’t like it.”
The second man climbs on his horse. “Enough talk about magic. Let’s get moving, I don’t want to chase the prisoner down in the dark if he should break lose.”
The men move on. I wait until they are out of sight and then stretch. I berate myself. “Stupid, stupid. What did you think you were doing? Going for a Sunday stroll? Think about what they will do to you if you get caught.”
I stand up to follow and end up falling on my but, the world swims a little and my stomach feels queasy. I reach for my water bottle and take a long swig. I open my pouch and eat a handful of berries. I feel a little better so I start down the trail, only this time I stay in the bushes and pay more attention to where I am going.
With each passing step my head begins to pound. I wince at each step and concentrate on placing one foot in front of the other, moving as quietly as possible and as little as possible as not to jar my head. I hear them before I see them.
“Find a warm dry place to camp tonight, I want a decent hot meal.” Orders the leader.
His barking wakes me up. I hide farther in the bushes and wait to see what they are going to do. The leader takes the reigns of the white horse as the two men each take a side of the trail and start looking for a camping place. I wait for what seems to be an eternity with a pounding head. In actuality, only a few minutes pass when the man who was originally leading the horse comes back.
“Sir, there’s a good campsite up the road to the left. It even has a lean to shelter and a fire pit. Wood has been stocked pile, we can have a fire and eat hot food tonight.” The man turns and leads the way.
The leader follows. “Great, I’m hungry, lets get moving. I’ll set up camp while you go look for some fresh meat for dinner.”
“Oh no, I find a better hiding place or I might be dinner.” I look around and crawl deeper into the woods. Around the backside of a huge tree I find a perfect hiding place, a hollow in the tree. I grab a few branches and pull them over me. “Give them time to find dinner and set up camp maybe even eat before I go looking for them.” I order myself.