Tangled Yarns: Breath-taking

scrub. Behind her, the sea hissed and whispered, calling her back, telling her to slow down and listen. She reached a turning in the path and stopped. Now she could see half the beach, and the white tossing waters of the surf, and the two men. They were pulling at something in the sandhill. Dragging something out into the open. Was it Elbee? She couldn't see from where she stood but she knew it must be. One man held the penguin down while the other one slipped something from his belt He looked around, as if to make sure he wasn't being watched. Edna saw a flash, like sunlight on a mirror, only it was a colder light, a steel light. The glint of cold metal.

"No!" she said, "You can't do that!"

The man with the knife scowled.

"Its that stupid kid!" he muttered, "She's still here!"

"I'll get her!" said the other man running towards her. He was hoping she'd be so scared she'd run to the other side of the planet.

Edna turned and started to run again, but the man was faster and he did not need to pick his way through the rank plants. His shoes protected his feet. He gained on her quickly and when he was close enough he pushed her forwards hard, forcing her to fall heavily into the ground.

"Come on!" he ordered.

Painfully, Edna got to her feet. She felt small, and thin, like a piece of cloth, beside the man. He was solid, with a round, bald head, and a roll of fat around his neck that seemed to sit on his collar like a cushion. He pushed Edna back down the path until she was standing in front of the other man again.

"Why didn't you keep going?" he asked, "It would have been much simpler?"

"I didn't want you to hurt the penguin," said Edna weakly.

"So what are we going to do with you?"

"I don't know."

"If we let you go home, you'll tell on us, won't you?"

"No," said Edna, but she knew she would, but not straight away.

The men had already decided what they were going to do with the girl. They glanced at each other, as if they were telepathic.