Poppy ducked away from his arm and reached for the stick. When the dust cleared, Poppy had her hand on the right side of the stick, and Francis had his hand on the left side.
"Make me," she responded, her brow raising in a challenge. A smile threatened to spill onto her face, but she kept her face mostly serious, except for the slight twitch at the corner of her lips.
"Look, I'm not going to let go, and I'm obviously stronger than you, so you might as well give up now." He began slowly pulling it towards himself, inching back as he did.
She pulled the stick and turned slightly so that she was facing him from the side, and she braced the stick against her hip, her eyes bright with mischievous intent. "But I have four siblings, you forget," she said. "I have spent my childhood doing things like this. Maybe you should give up."
"Oh, come on Francis," she said sweetly, stepping closer to get a firmer grip. "Do you really want to fight me on this?"
She watched him carefully for a moment, and then yanked on the stick quickly, hoping to startle it out of his hands.
He didn't let go, but was surprised a bit. He lifted it, hoping he would reach high enough she would have to let go.
She stood on her tip toes and stayed with it and pulled in back down, frowning at him. "You're not playing fair," she chided.
She turned so that the stick was resting across her hips with her back to Francis. His arm was forced into a position that wasn't painful, but uncomfortable. She looked over her shoulder at him, her expression teasing him. "Your move," she said, raising an eyebrow.
She laughed with glee, stepping away from him. "That sounds like something a sore loser would say," she said, placing the stick with the rest of the pile.
"You can believe whatever you want, but if I really wanted the stick I could have easily taken it." He dropped the last stick into the pile.
She chuckled lightly, a look of skepticism crossing her face. "Oh, yes," she said, nodding. "I'm sure that you could, if only -" She stopped mid sentence and cocked her head, a look of interest crossing her face. "Do you hear that?" The sound of buzzing, like machinery, came from within the forest. It was followed by the unmistakable crash of a falling down tree.
