The Boys of Lionshire (Part Two)

A Story by B.J. Mills

The orphaned boys of Lionshire are astounded at their new arrival. Ian, though historically a loaner, finally finds a friend in the midst of turmoil.

The crowd didn’t make a sound. We all continued to stare in amazement at our new arrival not believing what we were seeing with our own eyes. In all the years we had been here, we’d never had a girl in our group, let alone one as beautiful as her.

I swallowed hard and finally got up the courage to speak to her. “What’s your name?” I asked through trembling lips.

“What does it matter what her name is?” Bastion responded. “This is a boy’s only camp!”

The girl just ignored him.

“My name is Sara. Where am I and how did I get here?”

“Well, Sara”, Freddy replied, “You tell us how you got here. If you know, you’ll be the first.”

“Don’t talk to her, Freddy”, said Bastion. “She’s no good to the group. Girls are weak and useless. I can’t believe it’s been a year since the last new arrival and they send us her.

Sara stood tall and straightened her shoulders out. If what Bastion said bothered her in any way, she didn’t show it. I was surprised at the bearing of this girl; a lesser person would have slunk off to the shadows in shame.

“I’m as good as any of you”, she said firmly. “How dare you say I’m weak and useless because I’m a girl. I can’t help what I was born as and I definitely didn’t ask to come to whatever it is you call this place.”

“Lionshire”, I said. “That’s what we call this place.”

Bastion kicked a rock from the ground which hit Sara squarely in the shin. She didn’t flinch and continued to stand her ground. I studied her high cheekbones and slender frame and I began to feel a feeling I had never felt before. I didn’t know what it was, but a warmth began to consume my body.

“My name is Ian”, I told her. “None of us know how or why we’re here.”

I felt a need to make our new arrival feel welcome in a way I never had. From the day I had arrived at Lionshire, my life had been miserable. I was never given a chance or taken seriously. I didn’t want Sara to have to go through the same thing I did nor did I want to lose an opportunity to make a good impression on her.

“The new arrival ceremony has concluded”, announced Bastion. “And since Sara and Ian have already made friends, Ian can help her build a hooch on the outskirts by his.”

The boys began to slowly disperse leaving Sara and me to ourselves in the center of the camp. As the boys left, so did any confidence I mustered up over the last few minutes. I had never really talked to a girl and I wasn’t sure how to proceed.

“Tough crowd”, she started, “Where are the outskirts and what is a hooch?”

I smiled at her, and when I did, I started to feel hot all over. I wasn’t sure if it was the fire or if it was her impenetrable green eyes, but it was definitely warming up

“Follow me”, I said. “The outskirts are over there”, I said pointing towards my hooch.

We walked in silence towards my hooch, passing by the newly prepared obstacle course and the repelling tree. I felt bad for her because I knew I was the only one who would give her a chance. But on the other hand, I was ecstatic to finally have company. Especially her company. I couldn’t believe my luck.

When we got to my hooch, she frowned.

“Is this where you sleep?” she questioned.

“Yeah. It’s my hooch”, I replied. “It isn’t much, but it keeps the rain off of me.”

She sat on the ground next to my hooch and stared off in to the woods. As I watched her in silence, her eyes began to well up with tears. I didn’t have to wonder what she was thinking because I’d been in her shoes before. A young person, unexpectedly torn from a life of comfort only to be cast in to a world of primitive uncertainty.

As I continued to watch her, a single tear escaped the bounds of her eyes and slipped silently down her freckled cheek. This was a much different person than I had seen only moments before. I wanted to comfort her but I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

“It’ll be o.k.”, I said softly. “And don’t worry about Bastion; he’ll come around sooner or later.”

She quickly brushed the tear off of her cheek and hugged her knees. “I’m not worried about Bastion, I’m worried about myself. What did I do to deserve this?”

I sat down next to her and placed my arm around her shoulder. For a moment, I thought she would pull away from my embrace. When she didn’t, I hugged her tighter, feeling her warmth against my body. I couldn’t remember the last time I had hugged someone, but this felt good in a way I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

She leaned in to me as more tears began to flow from her eyes. I reach up and wiped them away and looked in to her dazzling eyes. Even moist with tears, they were still incredibly mesmerizing.

“Don’t worry about where you’ll sleep tonight”, I said, “You can sleep in my hooch. I’ll sleep outside on the ground.”

“I couldn’t possibly " “, she started.

I cut her off”, I insist I said. “We can work on building yours tomorrow”, I lied knowing full well I wouldn’t be of much help to her, “It’ll be too dark to start on yours tonight.

And with that, she got up and moved in to my hooch and curled up on my pallet. I was still awestruck at her beauty as she laid her head on her hands and closed her eyes. A wisp of her brunette hair fell across her face and tickled her nose. I could smell the smoke from the fire pyramid on us as I reach over and brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

She sat up and looked in to my blue eyes. “Thank you”, she said, “Thank you for everything. I don’t know why I’m here, but at least I have a friend to help me through this.”

A friend, I thought. The words sounded good to me and I was content. “You’re welcome,” I said, “Now get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow.”

She closed her eyes again and drifted off in to a restless sleep. I pulled Tommy’s old jacket from the foot of my hooch, folded it in to a makeshift pillow, and laid my head on it. Who was this girl, I thought? What it she doing here? I would have never guessed just how important she would become to me over the next several days. Without a worry in the world, I slipped off in to peaceful sleep. I had finally found a friend.