Nina hadn't taken more than a dozen steps before a voice cut through the silence.
"You've been following us."
Her heart lurched.
She froze immediately.
Seven pairs of eyes were already watching her. Three women, Two men, An elderly man leaning lightly on a worn wooden staff and a teenage boy who couldn't have been much older than fifteen, clutching a short spear with both hands.
No one pointed a weapon at her.
But every hand drifted a little closer to one.
The older man rested his palm on the handle of a rusted machete hanging from his belt.
One of the women quietly shifted so the two children walking beside her were behind her instead. The teenager swallowed nervously but didn't lower his spear.
Nina slowly lifted her remaining hand. "I don't want trouble."
Nobody answered. The silence stretched.
She forced herself to stay where she was, Running would only make them suspicious. Walking closer would be even worse. "I just…" Her voice caught.
