Chapter 59 - Sweet Sorrow

What would have been a very pleasant afternoon, now felt a bit too warm and sticky for Narteb and the gang, who were dashing through the streets of Haze, trailing Bethany as she led them to the East Gate.

Eventually, they reached a massive stone archway; the shade they felt as they passed underneath was a brief but welcomed reprieve from the sun.

“We made it!” said Bethany, “I present, the East Gate!”

“Yay!” said Pip.

Bethany led them out of the brown, bustling city and they were rewarded with a glorious view of green, undulating hills, peppered with trees.

“The copse!” said Pip, pointing to a small group of trees beside the main road.

“But no group of people…” said Skaife.

There was only one other person here.  Parked underneath a tree with many soft, leafy branches that drooped down like shaggy hair, was a teenage boy, who looked the very definition of pensive.

“He looks sad,” commented Skaife.

The gang approached the boy, who was so deep in thought he didn’t notice them until Skaife was almost standing on top of him.

“How’s it going?” said she said.

The boy looked up at her and said, “To be honest, my heart feels heavy.  And aches.”

“Love?” said Skaife.

The boy’s grimace answered the question.

Skaife was silent and waited for the boy to continue.

“There is this girl I’ve liked for years.  She left today, perhaps forever.  Just then, I finally told her that I liked her.”  A slight smile formed on his face when he said the last part, like a glimpse of the sun behind a cloud.

“That’s really brave of you,” said Skaife.

“It was really hard,” said the boy, “But I did it.  I wish I’d done it sooner.”

“I don’t know if this will help,” said Skaife, “But I think sometimes we learn lessons in life, and it can help us if it happens again in the future.  I don’t know.  Or maybe if we did everything perfectly the first time, would life be too boring then?”

The boy took in her words but said nothing.

“By the way, I’m Skaife.  And these are my friends, Narteb and Bethany.  And that’s Pip.  He’s not really my friend but I tolerate him.”

“Oy!” said Pip.

The boy laughed.  “I’m Lairy.  Pleased to meet you all.  You guys are from Tuscan?”

“The accent gives us away?” said Skaife.

“A little,” smiled Lairy.

“I’m actually from around here.,” Bethany piped in, “Have you heard of Aido?”

“Aido?” said Lairy, “Aidon’t know where that is.”

Narteb and Pip started laughing.

“You guys are a long way from home,” said Lairy.

“We have this page from an old book,” said Narteb, “But it’s in an ancient language we can’t read.  Bethany said she has a friend who might be able to.”

“Lyris,” said Bethany.

The boy looked stunned when he heard the name.  And then he started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” said Bethany.

“Lyris is the girl I liked!” said Lairy, “What a small world this is.”

“You think it’s the same Lyris?” said Skaife.

“There is only one Lyris,” said Bethany and Lairy at the exact same time, in the exact same tone.  They both looked at each other and gave each other a high-five.

“Unfortunately, you just missed her,” said Lairy.

“After all that running!” said Pip and he collapsed onto the ground.

“But I can tell you where she was headed,” said Lairy, “She’s headed to the city of Raima.”

“Fantastic!” said Narteb, “We have another lead.”

“Thank you so much,” said Skaife and she leant in and kissed Lairy on the cheek, “I hope you feel better soon.”

Lairy touched his cheek and blushed, “Shucks, I feel a bit better already.”

The rest of the crew bid the boy farewell and gathered on the main road.

Narteb turned to Bethany and said, “Thanks so much for helping us! We can take it from here.  I know you’ll want to return to your family and life after all this time.”

“Yes, I miss them a lot,” said Bethany, “I really wish I could have helped you find Lyris.”

“You’ve helped us so much already,” said Narteb, “ We would have had no idea where to start looking if it wasn’t for you.”

“And if it wasn’t for you, I’d still be trapped on that island,” said Bethany.

Narteb and Bethany hugged, and it was warm and satisfying.

“I know you will save your mum,” said Bethany firmly.

Narteb’s eyes smiled.

“If you ever pass through Aido, please visit me!” said Bethany.  Then she borrowed some pencil and paper from Pip and drew out a map for them, showing the way to Raima.  She added in as much detail as she could and gave them as many tips for the journey as she could think of.

When she was done, she bid them farewell and watched her three friends walk off down the East Road, further and further, until they became mere dots on the horizon and waited still longer until even the dots themselves could no longer be seen.