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wilder-minded · 3 years

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SFB Chapter 4

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Our school gave us a holiday every year for the few weeks that the Games were broadcasting, the Capitol deeming it of the utmost importance for most life to take pause. This meant that aside from the mines and some merchants, everyone was to take the time off to watch the torturous broadcast. As the daughter of the Mayor, I had been afforded the luxury of my father's library as a child, though stocked with Capitol-approved titles only. By now, I had read my way through all of the books I found interesting. I had loved helping our housekeeper tend to our small patch of flowers as a child, though I mostly occupied myself with reading or playing the piano.

On days like today when I had nothing to take up my time, I found myself on the piano bench playing my way through the keys in patterns that had become second nature over the years. My mother felt well enough to come downstairs and was perched in a chair by the window, wrapped in a blanket with her tea in hand. Some days, when the migraines hit especially hard, even the soft music from the piano was too much and I was confined to silence. But my mother always insists that she loves hearing me play, so I do today—for her.

Her eyes were focused on the life outside of the window, but I watched her quietly. Between my parents, I resembled my mother the most. We had the same wavy blonde hair and soft features, but my blue eyes came from my father. I had a distant memory of my mother mentioning to my father that I looked so much like Maysilee; a thought that put her in bed for three days after. I supposed I did after all, they were twins.

"I wonder how Emily is doing," she says softly, breaking the silence between us.

"Emily?" I respond, my fingers stilling on the piano keys as I try to place the name.

She nods wordlessly, her eyes still gazing through the window. "Her mother." It takes me a moment before I realize that she means Mrs. Everdeen. They must have been friends as children, I think. Mrs. Everdeen was the daughter of the apothecary in the district and grew up with the other merchant children. It made sense that they would have known each other.

"I'm not sure," I admit and she sighs sadly, her eyes finally moving from the window to the tea cup cradled in her hands.

"She must be..." she trails off, her voice wavering. "I can't imagine what she must be feeling." She's right, she can't. I was never at any real risk of being reaped, but neither was Prim. One slip of paper is all it takes, I supposed.

"I'm sure this is difficult on them. Katniss has been taking care of them since her father passed away," I tell her, moving from the piano bench to the chair beside her.

"Yes," she says thoughtfully. Her eyes meet mine finally and she gives me a soft, sad smile. I notice the dark circles under her eyes and the way her cheeks curve slightly in. The years of constant pain and dependency on morphling have taken their toll. No one really knew what happened to my mother, and my father once told me that the only relief she has had was the first few years of my life.

"Emily loved him so much," she confides, adjusting the blanket draped around her shoulders. "She heard him sing when we were young, and she never looked back."

"Were the two of you close?" I question, not used to my mother speaking of her past. This was something she had always kept to herself.

She sighs, her eyes gazing back out the window again. "She was our best friend as children." My mind pauses on 'our' before the realization that she means her sister. I nod without speaking, watching her quietly for a moment. I can see that she has retreated into her own mind, so I stand and lean over, kissing her cheek softly. I had always wished for a mother who was present. Frequently I would catch myself lost in a bitterness over what could have been, ashamed and guilty. My mother loved me, even if that didn't fit with my idea of how a mother should be.

I tried to busy myself with the housekeeper, assisting with odd jobs in the kitchen before an idea crossed my mind. I pulled a small satchel from the hall closet, filling it with various items from our pantry. As I turned to walk toward the front door, I noticed my mother watching me from a doorway with a small book in her hands. I recognized it, a poetry book with a songbird drawn on the cover. It sat untouched on our bookshelf for years. I had once tried to touch it, and that had been the only time my mother had raised her voice at me.

"Will you give this to her?" she asks, holding the book out to me as I walk closer. I don't need to ask who; she already knows where I'm going.

I nod, smiling softly as I take it from her and tuck it into a safe pocket of the satchel. "Of course, I will," I promise as she reaches out, rubbing my shoulder gently before disappearing up the stairs.

I slip out of the front door and start down the stone road toward the Seam. I pass silently through the alleys lined with merchant shops; the streets much quieter than they would normally be this late in the morning. Once I reached the Seam, I tried to navigate the dirt paths by vague memory and when I reached the small shack with a goat contained in a small pen at the side, I knew I had found my destination. I had remembered Katniss mentioning the goat her sister doted on a few times during school.

I had barely knocked on the door once when it opened, and Prim's small face peaked out with a small smile. "Madge?" she asked, the door opening more. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see your mother, can I come in?" I ask and she nods, letting me slip in beside her. It isn't until I turn to close the door that I see the eyes watching me from behind curtains across the street. I was used to it by now, but I could only guess that they were not used to seeing someone like me in their neighborhood.

Mrs. Everdeen stood over a wash tub; her arms wet up to the elbows as she worked over some clothes. Their small one room home had the few windows open to let the summer breeze pass through, the small television playing quietly in the back corner. "Miss Undersee, is everything alright?" she asks, using a towel tucked into her belt to dry off her hands as she comes around the table toward me.

I nod reassuringly, my fingers pulling the satchel from my shoulder. "I wanted to bring some things by for you, we have far more than we need..." I say, trailing off as she helps me lift it onto the table. I reach in, pulling out the small book.

I run my thumb along the binding before holding it out for Mrs. Everdeen. "My mother wanted me to give this to you," I tell her, watching her eye fix on the cover. As she takes it from my hands, her fingers brush along the edges of the drawing on the cover. I see the creases in the corner of her eye deepen before she shakes her head, blinking quickly.

"This was her sister's," she says quietly, suddenly grabbing my hand. "Tell her I said thank you?" I nodded in agreement, noticing the tears in her eyes—eyes that looked similar to my own.

"Of course," I promised, both of my hands gripping hers. If she had been close with my aunt, I realized that Katniss wasn't the first person that the Games had taken from her. We let go and she moved to place the book on a small shelf with a beautiful tea set.

"Would you like to stay for a while?" Mrs. Everdeen asked, gesturing toward where Prim was curled up by the tv on a small chair. "I'm just getting some things done, but I'm sure she'd enjoy the company."

I accept the offer, taking a spot in a chair beside Prim. As she filled me in on what had happened that morning, I noticed a cat slink in from the open window. He automatically strode over, weaving himself between Prim's legs before she scooped him up in her arms. "What's his name?" I ask, reaching over to scratch the top of his head. He seems to like this, giving me a small purr as Prim strokes down his back.

"Buttercup, I've had him since he was a kitten. Katniss hates him, but she let me keep him," she says proudly as the cat jumps down, fixing the tousled fur on his back end. "My goat's name is Lady."

"I love that," I smile and I see her eyes light up for the first time since I had arrived. Nearly everyone loved Prim, and it was easy to see her gentle nature even just in passing. It was easy to see why Katniss took her place; Prim would have no chance in that arena.

I listened as Prim told me about all of the animals she had attempted to keep as pets, her mother chuckling behind us at the memories, when there was a knock at the door. It swung open and Gale stepped in, his game bag hanging heavy at his hip. He and Mrs. Everdeen immediately get to work sorting through the game and herbs that he brought for her, and it's a few moments before he notices Prim and I across the room.

"Hey, Prim," he says, his smile warm toward her. "Undersee," he nods toward me, though I notice that his smile lingers for just a moment.

"Hawthorne," I return the greeting, Buttercup now weaving himself between my legs.

"I didn't think he liked anyone but Prim," he comments, gesturing at the cat as he pulls over a chair beside Prim.

"He likes people who like him," she retorts, her tone with a slight teasing edge. He chuckles and reaches over to mess up her hair.

"He's only useful for keeping the rats away," he shrugs, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before he looks at the television. The cat turns back to look at him, giving him a half-assed hiss almost on cue before stalking off. "So what's new?" he asks as he rests his elbows on his knees, nodding his head toward the tv.

Prim shrugs, playing with the end of one of her braids. "She was hiding in a tree for most of the morning. The career pack killed a girl right by her and I was scared that they would find her, but they didn't. And... Peeta is with them... the career pack," she tells him, her voice quieter.

"Why would he do that?" he says bitterly, a crease forming between his brows. Prim just shrugs and I say nothing. I am perplexed by this as well as I think back to the gentle boy I had crossed paths with occasionally. He definitely was no Career tribute. Then a thought occurs to me; he might be trying to protect her.

"She's hunting now, but I don't think she's found water yet," Prim finishes and I notice the cat has perched himself at her feet yet again.

"She will, she knows what she's doing more than anyone else in there," he reassures her and Prim gives him a small smile in return.

"This is the most ideal arena she could have hoped for," I chime in and they both nod in agreement. The arena looked so much like the hills surrounding our district. We settle into silence, watching the Games with occasional comments. An hour passed before Gale got up to leave, refusing the trade Mrs. Everdeen tried to give him.

"When do you start?" she questions, finally convincing him to take a salve for his mother's hands that she had made.

"The week after next," he tells her and I think back to our conversation the day before. "I'll try to get ahead on hunting so both families are okay." She thanks him, and his eyes meet mine as I give him a small, sad smile. He disappears out the door, game bag in tow before Prim and I turn back to the screen demanding our attention.

#the hunger games #catching fire #gale hawthorne #madge undersee #gadge #gale x madge #fanfic #ao3 #slow fire burn

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